Popular US sitcom Malcolm in the Middle is set to return for a four-episode special on Disney+ – but with one notable absentee.
Erik Per Sullivan, who played Malcolm’s younger brother Dewey, will not return because he is no longer an actor.
The much-loved character will now be played by Fargo actor Caleb Ellsworth-Clark instead, according to US publication Variety.
Frankie Muniz will reprise the titular role, alongside his on-screen parents, Lois and Hal, played by Jane Kaczmarek and Breaking Bad star Bryan Cranston.
Speaking about Sullivan last year, his former co-star and on-screen mum Kaczmarek confirmed he is “very, very well”.
“He did Malcolm for seven years, he started at seven, he ended at 14,” she told fan site Malcolm France.
“He wasn’t interested in acting, at all.”
Kaczmarek added that Sullivan, now 33, was studying Victorian literature at “a very prestigious American university” and loved the works of Charles Dickens.
“I admire it because so many people think being in show business is the greatest thing in the world. It’s not for everyone.”
Sullivan also appeared in children’s TV series Come on Over and voiced Mino in Arthur and the Invisibles, both in 2006. His last acting credit was in 2010 teen crime drama Twelve, when he was about 18, and he has kept a low profile since.
He was absent from several Malcolm in the Middle cast reunions.
It’s not known whether he is still at university or what he is doing now.
The Emmy Award-winning Fox TV show that he is best known for, Malcolm in the Middle, premiered in 2000 and ended in 2006, after seven seasons.
The single-camera comedy series followed the dysfunctional working-class family of child prodigy Malcolm, who was often seen making asides to the camera to comment on their failures.
The musically-gifted Dewey often fell victim to his brothers’ pranks and developed a high tolerance for pain, often scheming to get one up on his brothers and parents.
Due to a misunderstanding at school, Dewey was placed in a class well below his intelligence and, as a result, served as its self-appointed teacher.
After the birth of their youngest brother Jamie, Dewey became the first to break the cycle of tormenting the baby of the family.
The sitcom, often listed as a modern classic of the genre, is set to begin production once more in Vancouver, Canada, in the coming weeks.
Malcolm now has a teenage daughter – portrayed by Keeley Karsten – and the synopsis for episode one says the pair will get “drawn into the family’s chaos when Hal and Lois demand his presence for their 40th wedding anniversary party”.
Christopher Masterson, who played Malcolm’s oldest brother Francis, and Justin Berfield, who played Reese, will also both return for the reboot, according to Variety, while Kiana Madeira will join the show afresh as the eponymous star’s girlfriend.
Also, Riverdale actor Anthony Timpano will play Jamie while Vaughan Murrae will feature as their youngest sibling, Kelly.
