by Stephanie SoteriouBuzzFeedBuzzFeed StaffI’m an innately nosey and chronically online celebrity and pop culture journalist, with my specialist areas including deep-diving lyrics and calling out Terrible Men™.

As you may know, the highly anticipated Malcolm in the Middle sequel, Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, is finally being released on Friday.

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The four-episode miniseries takes place almost 20 years after the original show came to an end, and will see Frankie Muniz return as Malcolm, who is now living happily with his girlfriend and daughter after distancing himself from his family.

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However, Malcolm’s life will be thrown into chaos when his parents demand he attends their 40th wedding anniversary party, with pretty much all of the original cast returning to the show — including Bryan Cranston as Malcolm’s dad, Hal, Jane Kaczmarek as his mom, Lois, Christopher Masterson as Malcolm’s eldest brother, Francis, and Justin Berfield as Reese, Malcolm’s other older brother.

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But one familiar face that you won’t be seeing on screen is Erik Per Sullivan, who is now said to have refused “buckets of money” to reprise his role as Dewey — Malcolm’s younger brother.

For reference, Erik was just 9 years old when he was cast in the original series, which aired between 2000 and 2006.

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During this time, he also appeared in other projects, including the 2004 movie Christmas with the Kranks, and voicing Sheldon the Seahorse in Finding Nemo.

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However, Erik’s last acting credit was an appearance in the 2010 movie Twelve, when he was 18 years old. Since then, he has taken a huge step back from the public eye and keeps an incredibly low profile.

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In fact, Erik — now 34 years old — had already skipped several Malcolm in the Middle cast reunions when the sequel series was announced, with his former costars explaining that he is instead focused on his studies.

In 2024, Erik’s former onscreen mom Jane told Malcolm France that she keeps in touch with Erik, and that he is “very, very well.” She added that he is currently studying Victorian literature at “a very prestigious American university,” saying: “I admire it too, because so many people think being in show business is the greatest thing in the world. It's not for everyone.”

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And during an appearance on the Fly on the Wall podcast last year, Bryan echoed Jane’s sentiment as he revealed that Erik was fully supportive of the show’s return.

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He said: "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.'"

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"He's actually going to Harvard," Bryan then explained. "He's really, really smart, and he's getting his master's at Harvard right now.”

More recently, Jane revealed just how hard showrunners tried to lure Erik back for the new series, saying in a new interview with the Guardian that he was offered serious amounts of cash to return. For what it’s worth, the former child star has an estimated net worth of around $5 million.

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She said: “He’s studying Dickens and is an incredible student — they offered him buckets of money to come back, and he just said: ‘No thank you.’”

And many people can’t help but be impressed by Erik sticking to his guns in this way, with one comment on a Reddit forum about Jane’s revelation reading: “I mean, we're always harping on billionaires who can't get enough money and here we have an example of someone who made a lot of money and decided that they didn't need any more to be happy. Good for him. We need to stop glamorizing greed.”

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“Dewey took that bag & settled down, very smart decision. I'm very happy to hear that Erik's going to school to get a degree, wish nothing but good luck for him,” somebody else wrote. Another echoed: “Good for him. He has his priorities in order, it seems.”

“If I had the money, I would also be studying English literature. Glad he's found his passion in life,” one more shared, while another concluded: “I mean if you're already rich, it only makes sense to pursue what actually makes you happy. Way better than the people that sacrifice everything to make pointless amounts of money.”

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Erik is the only original cast member not returning for the new series, with Caleb Ellsworth-Clark taking on the role of Dewey instead.

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Malcolm In The Middle Erik Per Sullivan Reject Reboot: Reacts