Since retiring from acting, Erik Per Sullivan has chosen to keep his personal life out of the public eye. Recently, however, he made a rare appearance in public after almost two decades.
At the age of 33, on March 26, Per Sullivan, well-known for his role as Dewey on Malcolm in the Middle between 2000 and 2006, was captured on camera in Boston. He was seen sipping on a coffee, dressed in a brown coat, a newsboy cap, green pants, and boots.
The timing of Per Sullivan’s public appearance coincided with the news from Variety confirming that the character of Dewey in the upcoming Malcolm in the Middle reboot on Disney+ would be portrayed by Caleb Ellsworth-Clark.
After wrapping Malcolm in the Middle in 2006, Per Sullivan appeared in 2010’s Twelve before taking a step back from acting to focus on his education. According to E! News, Per Sullivan is now a graduate student studying Victorian literature.
Although he has managed to stay out of the spotlight, Per Sullivan’s on-screen mother, Jane Kaczmarek, recently said that he is doing “very very well” and just lost interest in acting after Malcolm in the Middle.
“He did Malcolm for seven years,” Kaczmarek, 69, shared during an appearance at the Paris Manga Sci-fi Show in April 2024. “He started at 7, he ended at 14. He wasn’t interested in acting at all. So many people think being in show business is the greatest thing in the world, [but] it’s not for everyone.”
Malcolm in the Middle, a Fox sitcom which ran for seven seasons, followed the life of a dysfunctional working-class family with a focus on the intelligent middle child, Malcolm (Frankie Muniz.) Aside from Per Sullivan, Kaczmarek and Muniz, 39, the series also starred Bryan Cranston, Christopher Masterson and Justin Berfield.
In December 2024, Disney+ announced that there would be a four-episode Malcolm in the Middle revival coming soon with Muniz, Cranston, 69, Kaczmarek, Masterson, 45, and Berfield, 39, all reprising their roles. The miniseries will revolve around Hal (Cranston) and Lois’ (Kaczmarek) 40th wedding anniversary — which Malcolm and the other brothers will play a role in.
“Malcolm in the Middle literally changed the face of the television comedy landscape when it premiered two decades ago, redefining what the genre could be,” Karey Burke, the president of 20th Television, which is producing the series with New Regency, said in a statement at the time. “When [Malcolm in the Middle creator] Linwood Boomer suggested it might be time to bring everyone’s favorite dysfunctional family back for a bit of a reunion, we couldn’t think of a more iconic and influential series to revisit, along with a truly brilliant cast to reunite.”
Aside from the main cast, the revival series will also feature newcomers Ellsworth-Clark, Kiana Madeira, Keeley Karsten, Anthony Timpano and Vaughan Murrae.
