After all these years, it may as well have been Erik Per Sullivan saying, You’re not the boss of me now! While the Malcolm in the Middle revival has wrapped filming and is headed to Disney+ towards the end of the year, the big question was: Where’s Dewey? Out of the spotlight for decades, Erik Per Sullivan is the sole core cast member not returning to Malcolm in the Middle; but it wasn’t for a lack of trying on the part of TV dad Bryan Cranston.
Bryan Cranston took back to his paternal duties quite easily when he told Erik Per Sullivan that not only was Malcolm in the Middle returning but he couldn’t wait to join him in front of the camera again. “I talked to Erik and I said, ‘Hey, we got the show! It’s going to come back.’ He goes, ‘Oh, that’s fantastic!’ And I go, ‘Yeah, so we’re looking forward to having you back.’ He goes, ‘Oh, no, no, I don’t want to do it. But it’s fantastic.’”
Not unfamiliar with being the topic of “Where Are They Now?” investigations into the whereabouts of child celebrities, Erik Per Sullivan has gone on to prefer studying Victorian literature over teleplays. Cranston continued, “He’s actually going to Harvard. He’s really, really smart, and he’s getting his master’s at Harvard right now. He said, ‘Oh God, no, I haven’t acted since I was 9 or something. So I’m not into it.’” Sullivan’s most recent acting credit actually came in 2010 when he was 18, but now that he’s inching towards his mid-30s and tending to his collegiate duties, no doubt he’s a little rusty regardless.
Instead of writing off the character entirely (by, say, shipping him off to an Ivy League school to study Charles Dickens), Erik Per Sullivan will be replaced by Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, which seems to be a solid enough choice based on looks alone.
We’ll have to see how the Malcolm in the Middle revival does without Erik Per Sullivan, but we wish him luck in his endeavors outside of the industry.
Are you looking forward to the continuation of Malcolm in the Middle? How much of an impact does replacing Dewey have?
