Erik Sullivan walked away from Hollywood: here's why

Erik Per Sullivan, best known as Dewey from Malcolm in the Middle, chose to leave Hollywood behind after the series ended.

He committed instead to a life focused on academics.

Following his final film role in the 2010 thriller Twelve, Sullivan stepped away from acting entirely.

He traded scripts for textbooks and eventually pursued graduate studies at Harvard in Victorian Literature.

It is pertinent to note that his former castmates, including Frankie Muniz, Bryan Cranston, Jane Kaczmarek, Justin Berfield, and Christopher Masterson, are reuniting for a four-episode revival streaming on Hulu April 10.

However, Sullivan declined to return.

Producers reportedly offered him significant money to reprise his role, but he turned it down.

“He’s studying Dickens and is an incredible student,” Kaczmarek explained in an interview with The Guardian.

He added that Sullivan simply wasn’t interested in acting anymore.

Sullivan began Malcolm in the Middle at age seven and wrapped the series at fourteen.

Afterward, he appeared in only a handful of projects before stepping away from the industry altogether.

His former co-stars have emphasized that he is doing well, living a quiet life in Boston, and has no desire to return to the spotlight.

As Kaczmarek summed up, “So many people think being in show business is the greatest thing in the world, [but] it’s not for everyone.”