'Malcolm in the Middle' Actor Erik Per Sullivan Stopped Acting After Series Finale

Some of the best-loved sitcoms have produced the biggest stars, but not every actor wants to stay in the spotlight after their big break is over. Malcolm in the Middle, the beloved sitcom that aired from 2000 to 2006, has a whole cast of characters who have mostly moved on to other roles since its end, but what about Dewey?

Erik Per Sullivan, the actor who portrayed the plucky younger brother of Malcolm, has been noticeably absent from reunions and interviews, so what happened to him?

Malcolm in the Middle made stars out of many of its cast members — but not everyone used that platform to launch themselves into careers in acting, like Frankie Muniz did. According to his IMDb page, Erik Per Sullivan, the actor who portrayed Dewey on the hit sitcom, only took a handful of roles after Malcolm in the Middle aired its series finale in 2006.

That same year, he appeared in the short "One Not Far From Home" and voiced Baby Bug in the animated film Arthur and the Invincibles, but his projects wane after that.

In 2007, he played the titular Mo in the dramady film, marking his final big role. He rounded out his acting career in 2010, playing Timmy in Twelve before seeming to quit acting altogether.

Since then, there have been plenty of discussions about Malcolm in the Middle potentially being rebooted, though it seems if it does, it would have to do so without Dewey. Erik has not given any interviews about a reboot or attended any of the cast reunions, making it clear he's not interested in returning to the once-beloved sitcom. Though it seems he was poised for success, with other big credits like Finding Nemo under his belt, Erik seemed to disappear entirely from the public eye.

Despite having more than 70,000 followers on Instagram, it seems that Erik has decided to keep what he's currently up to cryptic. The former actor occasionally posts on his page, but these posts are often throwback photos from his time on Malcolm in the Middle and images without much context. Because of this, it's not clear what he's up to now, though it seems he leads a relatively normal life.

It seems that Erik has also stepped away from friendships with his former co-stars. Frankie said, per ScreenRant, that Erik left acting to pursue a normal life, but that they're not in contact anymore — likely part of Erik's goal to lead a normal life.

"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," he said. "I think that's what he wanted to do so good for him."

Jane Kaczmarek, who played Lois Wilkerson, Dewey and Malcolm's overbearing mom in the series, recently shared that the former actor is "well, he's very, very well," per LADbible. She mentioned that he started acting in Malcolm when he was only seven and stopped when he was 14.

Today, Jane says Erik "goes to school at a very prestigious American university that he's asked us all to be quiet about, and he loves Charles Dickens." She added that he's studying Victorian literature as a graduate student and said that while many believe "being in show business is the greatest thing in the world, it's not for everyone."

So, there you have it. It seems like Erik traded in the screen and spotlights for a seemingly normal life.