Former Malcolm in the Middle star Erik Per Sullivan, who played youngest bro Dewey in the original series, has put his foot down about not wanting to participate in the upcoming reboot series Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair — and his former costars feel for him when it comes to the attention he’s getting as a result.
“He’s a good guy, and I love Erik,” Justin Berfield, who plays Malcolm’s older brother Reese, explained to Howie Mandel on an episode of his Howie Does Stuff podcast that debuted on April 28. “I actually feel bad because he wants to stay out of the business and I’ve been seeing paparazzi shots of him. And I’m like, just leave Erik alone. He didn’t want to come back to the show. No hard feelings.”
Berfield also stood by the fact that Sullivan didn’t regret his decision to stay out of the reboot series. “No. I know they asked him a whole bunch,” the actor, who returned to reprise his role from the original 200 series, explained. “They asked him like four or five times, and every time he was like, ‘No.’”
Sullivan’s decision not to rejoin the cast has been the subject of discussion for quite some time now. Recently, the show’s matriarch, actress Jane Kaczmarek revealed that he was offered “buckets of money to come back” but that he said no because he is “studying Dickens and is an incredible student.” It was previously reported that Sullivan was pursuing his Masters degree at Harvard University, which is a pretty solid reason to sit things out.
Caleb Ellsworth-Clark took over Sullivan’s role as Dewey in the revival, which was first announced back in June 2025. The new series premiered on April 10 and is now available to stream on Disney+.
Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
