Why Malcolm in the Middle star Erik Per Sullivan turned down 'buckets of money' to return for reunion series

The cast of Malcolm in the Middle have reunited for an upcoming limited series – with the exception of one key cast member. 

Erik Per Sullivan, who played the family's youngest son Dewey in the sitcom, turned down an incredibly lucrative offer to be part of the four-episode series.

Sullivan, now 34, is busy studying literature at Harvard and is too focused on his education to return to Hollywood.

Speaking to The Guardian, Jane Kaczmarek, who plays family matriarch Lois, said that Sullivan is 'studying Dickens and is an incredible student. They offered him buckets of money to come back, and he just said, "No thank you."'

He has since been replaced by actor Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, who is portraying Dewey in the Disney+ series, Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair.

Sullivan currently has no public social media accounts and hasn't appeared on screen since taking a small part in the 2010 crime thriller Twelve.

It comes after Malcolm in the Middle star Justin Berfield resurfaced after spending years out of the spotlight.

Berfield portrayed Malcolm's older brother Reese in the hit sitcom, but left the acting world after the series ended in 2006.

Now 40, the actor recently broke his silence in his first interview in almost 20 years and revealed why he stepped away from Hollywood stardom.

'I fully just stopped acting,' he told The Joe Vulpis Podcast, adding that he started working behind the scenes as a writer and producer.

'I just never reached that level where I was that in demand, I guess,' he continued.

'I had no intention of ever becoming like Leonardo DiCaprio. Like, that guy, he's huge. He starred in TV, did comedy, and then he exploded but that was never my intention as an actor.' 

Berfield described himself as 'low key' and admitted that he's spent the last several years as a stay-at-home dad to his two children, whom he shares with wife Liza Almeida.

When asked why he hasn't done interviews in almost two decades, Berfield admitted that it was because he never had any projects to promote.

'I've always said no because I wasn't working on anything. I'm just a stay-at-home dad so why am I gonna do a podcast?' he said.

'I'm just chilling at home with my kid,' he added.

Despite exiting the spotlight, Berfield is making a comeback in the four-episode revival of Malcolm in the Middle.

Titled Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, the limited series reunites the original cast as they celebrate Lois and Hal's wedding anniversary.

'After shielding himself and his daughter from his family for over a decade, Malcolm is dragged back into their orbit when Hal and Lois demand his presence at their 40th anniversary party,' the official synopsis reads.

Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek and Christopher Kennedy Masterson are all back for the new series. 

The hugely popular sitcom ran from 2000 to 2006, and centred around child prodigy Malcolm (played by Muniz) as he navigated life within his dysfunctional family.