Malcolm in the Middle star looks unrecognizable after declining a return to show's reboot

For years after Malcolm in the Middle came to an end, Erik Per Sullivan stayed away from the entertainment industry.

However, as the television show is nearing a reboot, the star who played Dewey Wilkerson was spotted all grown up. As the youngest of the Wilkerson children, Dewey was often considered to be eccentric and having some oddball quirks. While some of his co-stars are making a return, Erik isn't set to embrace the beloved character again.

He was seen last week in Boston, being photographed in public for the first time since 2007. Erik bundled up in a dark brown peacoat, which was layered over a gray sweater. He matched the look with gray slacks and popped on a gray hat. In one photo, he carried a cup of coffee with him while, in another, he held brown paper bags.

Unlike Erik, Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, and Bryan Cranston will be coming back for the much-anticipated reboot. Dewey will be played by Caleb Ellsworth-Clark.

While he doesn't want to make a comeback, Erik was confirmed to be doing fine by one of his former co-stars, Jane Kaczmarek. In a YouTube video with Malcolm France last year, she said, “We did Malcolm for seven years, he started when he was seven, ended when he was 14. He wasn't interested in acting at all. He goes to school at a very prestigious American university that he has asked us all to be quiet about. He loves Charles Dickens, he is doing graduate work in Victorian literature. I admire it because so many people think being in show business is the greatest thing in the world, and it’s not for everybody.”

After Malcolm in the Middle, Erik is only credited for a handful of projects. According to IMDb, he appeared in Once Not Far from Home, Arthur and the Invisibles, and Mo. His most recent project was Twelve, where he played Timmy in 2010.

Fans are devastated that he's not coming back to the show. In fact, some believed it would have been better for the show creators to just write him out of the plot rather than recast his role altogether. One on X, formerly known as Twitter, wrote, "This is sad. It will be terrible and not the show it was. Hollywood has lost the plot on creativity.”

Another added, "This almost makes me not even want to watch it. If the actor doesn’t want to come back, then just leave the character out of the show. Why in the world do they think replacing him with another actor is a good idea?”

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