Credit: Malcolm France via YouTube & Fox
Frankie Muniz Gives Heartbreaking Answer To Fan Who Asked Where Dewey Actor Has Been Since Show
Frankie Muniz has provided Malcolm in the Middle fans with an update on the actor who played Dewey and where he’s been since the show.
Long before binge-watching was the norm, Malcolm in the Middle had families glued to their screens every week.
The hit American sitcom burst onto screens in 2000 and quickly became one of the most talked-about comedies on television.
Centered around Malcolm – a painfully self-aware teen genius stuck in a wildly dysfunctional household – the show thrived on chaos, cringe-worthy honesty, and the kind of sibling warfare that felt a little too relatable.
But what really set it apart was its style. No laugh track. No glossy, picture-perfect family. Just rapid-fire jokes, fourth-wall breaks, and pure mayhem. Viewers couldn’t get enough.
Over seven seasons, Malcolm in the Middle became a ratings success and an awards darling, picking up multiple Emmys and turning its cast into household names – including a scene-stealing dad performance from Bryan Cranston that fans still quote today.
xMore than two decades later, the show remains a cult favorite, constantly rediscovered by new audiences who realize that dysfunctional family life never really goes out of style.
Life after Malcolm in the Middle
Now, more than two decades after the show first aired, fans are revisiting the series – and asking one big question: whatever happened to Dewey?
As nostalgia for Malcolm in the Middle continues to surge, viewers are growing increasingly curious about who played the lovable youngest sibling – and why he seemingly disappeared from Hollywood altogether.
So, what has the cast been up to since leaving Malcolm in the Middle?
Over the years, Frankie Muniz has kept himself busy in a number of ways.
He popped up in shows like Criminal Minds and Last Man Standing, and even swapped scripts for sequins when he competed on season 25 of Dancing with the Stars.
But that’s not all – Muniz also followed his passion for motorsport. In 2024, he revealed he would be joining Reaume Brothers Racing as a full-time driver for the 2025 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
Jane Kaczmarek, meanwhile, continued to build a steady television career.
In 2008, she took on the role of Judge Trudy Kessler in the TNT legal drama Raising the Bar. More recently, she has appeared in series including This Is Us, Carol’s Second Act, Mixed-ish, and The Changeling, proving she’s remained a familiar face on the small screen.
As for Bryan Cranston, his post-sitcom trajectory was nothing short of extraordinary.
Just two years after Malcolm in the Middle wrapped, he transformed into chemistry teacher-turned-drug kingpin Walter White in AMC’s critically acclaimed Breaking Bad – a role that earned him six Emmy Awards.
His success didn’t stop there. Cranston has also won two Tony Awards for Best Leading Actor in a Play, and his portrayal of Dalton Trumbo in Trumbo secured him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in 2015.
He has since appeared in a wide range of projects, from Godzilla and Power Rangers to Isle of Dogs, Asteroid City, and The Phoenician Scheme. On television, he led both seasons of Your Honor on Showtime and featured in three episodes of Apple TV+’s The Studio.
Christopher Masterson, who played Francis, continued acting after the show ended, making guest appearances in series such as White Collar, Men at Work, and Haven.
Outside of Hollywood, however, he developed a second career as a DJ, revealing in a 2012 interview with A Drink With that he had started experimenting with turntables several years earlier.
Justin Berfield, best known as Reese, took a different route. Rather than staying in front of the camera, he transitioned into producing.
In 2010, Variety reported that Berfield and his producing partner, Jason Felts, had launched Virgin Produced – a Los Angeles-based film and television development and production company.
More recently, he served as an executive producer on the 2022 E! reality series Relatively Famous: Ranch Rules.
Of all its former stars, however, it’s Erik Per Sullivan – who played Dewey – that fans are most curious about, having remained almost entirely out of the public eye since the show ended.
Frankie Muniz explains Erik Per Sullivan’s exit
With a Malcolm in the Middle reboot officially on the way, fans were quick to scan the cast list – and many noticed one very obvious omission.
Per Sullivan’s name was nowhere to be seen in the announcement.
The actor, who played fan-favorite Dewey throughout the show’s original run, has largely stayed out of the public eye in the years since the sitcom ended. So when news of the revival broke, viewers immediately began asking the same question: would Dewey be returning?
According to his former on-screen brother Frankie Muniz, there’s a simple explanation.
“He’s very happy in the life that he’s created outside of the entertainment world,” Muniz told the New York Post. “And he made the decision that he didn’t want to get back into it – which we completely respect.”
The actor added that he and the rest of the Malcolm in the Middle cast didn’t want to ‘force’ Per Sullivan ‘to do something he didn’t want to do.’
Caleb Ellsworth-Clark, who you may recognize from Fargo and The Expanse, is taking over Dewey’s role in the revival.
This isn’t the only time Muniz has been asked about Per Sullivan and what he’s up to, as he’s previously provided an update that left some fans emotional.
“To be honest, I don’t know what he’s up to,” the actor admitted in 2017. “I hate to say that because I’ve talked to him a few times since the show ended.
“I’ve talked to his parents a lot. When I was in the band, we went and played in the city where he lives and his parents came to the show but unfortunately he couldn’t make it.
“But one thing I know, some actors or some people just got to do it when they were a kid and then they wanted to experience other things and kind of live a more normal life out of the spotlight.
“I think that’s what he wanted to do so good for him.”
Per Sullivan’s life after fame
Per Sullivan left Hollywood almost two decades ago to focus on his education, reports TMZ.
According to IMDb, his last role was in the 2010 film Twelve.
After stepping away from acting, Per Sullivan enrolled at the University of Southern California for a period of time. According to E! News, he is now pursuing graduate studies, focusing on Victorian literature.
Cranston spoke of Per Sullivan’s educational pursuits on David Spade’s Fly on the Wall podcast, where he said (via The Hollywood Reporter): “He’s actually going to Harvard.
“He’s really, really smart, and I think he’s getting his master’s at Harvard right now. He said, ‘Oh God, no, I haven’t acted since I was nine or something. So I’m not into it.'”
Cranston added: “I talked to Erik and I said, ‘Hey, we got the show! It’s gonna come back.’ He goes, ‘Oh, that’s fantastic!’ And I go, ‘Yeah, so we’re looking forward to having you back.’ He goes, ‘Oh, no, no, I don’t want to do it. But it’s fantastic that you are.'”
While some fans may be disappointed that Dewey won’t be returning, Per Sullivan’s choice is far from unusual. Many child stars decide not to pursue acting into adulthood, opting instead for quieter, more traditional paths away from the spotlight.
By all accounts, he’s focused on his education and building a life on his own terms — something that deserves respect. Still, for those who grew up watching Malcolm in the Middle, it’s hard not to feel a little nostalgic knowing the same old Dewey won’t return in the reboot.
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