The folks behind the much-anticipated Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair apparently pulled out the big guns to lure Erik Per Sullivan out of acting retirement. Too bad it wasn’t enough to get the young man who played the inimitable Dewey to take a break from studying literature at Harvard.
In an interview with The Guardian, star Jane Kaczmarek said Per 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.’”
Per Sullivan is the only castmember from the original ensemble to be recast for the upcoming four-episode revival of the old Fox comedy series. Caleb Ellsworth-Clark will play him, instead.
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In the revival, titled after the original series’ theme song, Malcolm is dragged back into his family’s orbit when Hal (Bryan Cranston) and Lois (Kaczmarek) demand his presence at their 40th anniversary party.
The trailer for the revival features the return of Frankie Muniz as Malcolm, Cranston and Kaczmarek as the parents as well as Christopher Kennedy Masterson and Justin Berfield as Malcolm’s brothers Francis and Reese, respectively, and Emy Coligado as Francis’ wife Piama. It also introduces Anthony Timpano and Vaughan Murrae as the youngest siblings Jamie and Kelly — seen as a baby/toddler (Jamie) or not at all (Kelly) on the original series — as well as Keeley Karsten as Malcolm’s daughter Leah and Kiana Madeira as his girlfriend Tristan.
Life’s Still Unfair will premiere April 10 on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for bundle subscribers in the US and Disney+ internationally.