One Actor’s Absence From The Malcolm In The Middle Reunion Had Fans Asking Questions

To say that Malcolm In The Middle was successful doesn’t really cover it. Running for seven seasons and 151 episodes, the series debut in 2000 was enjoyed by in excess of 23 million people. The sitcom scooped 46 of the 116 awards for which it was nominated, and it remained popular across its run.

Even today, it’s remembered as a great sitcom. That’s got a lot to do with a cast that oozed talent, and of course, the wonderful roles they were given to play. Names such as Bryan Cranston, Jane Kaczmarek, and Frankie Muniz as the eponymous Malcolm shone as part of the off-kilter Wilkerson family.

Of course, some of those names have gone on to just as big if not necessarily better things, particularly Cranston and Muniz. They’re instantly recognizable, but you might not know Sullivan if you passed him in the street. And it remains a mystery to fans what became of the boy who played Dewey.

A native of Worcester, Massachusetts, Sullivan is an interesting guy in his own right. Begin with the uncommon name. It’s likely a product of his mom, who’s Swedish by origin. And Sullivan himself speaks her native language as well as English. While he was in most respects a normal kid, he excelled at taekwondo, as well as showing some talent as a musician.

Stardom in a TV show didn’t get him out of going to school. He went to a Rhode Island private school in his early teens, going on to Philips Exeter Academy, in the town of Exeter, New Hampshire. According to his IMDb biography, he was a bright child, on the honor roll throughout his schooling.

But at the same time as being educated, Sullivan was becoming a TV star. His career began modestly, with a bit part in 1998’s action blockbuster Armageddon. He next showed up in 1999’s The Cider House Rules, as Fuzzy. Although a small role, the film was well received, and it was a stepping stone to a much bigger role.

That role was of course as Dewey in Malcolm In The Middle. He was the youngest son of the Wilkerson family, a wacky character. He played the part throughout the whole of the show’s run, appearing in every one of the 151 episodes. And he didn’t just turn up and collect a check. No, he did a great job, gaining two nominations for a Young Artist Award.

Sullivan didn’t just appear in the sitcom. Far from it, and he didn’t just get parts as some cute kid. No, he was cast against type in horror flick Wendigo in 2001. In that film, he had the role of Miles, the main character’s son. Although critics didn’t rave about the movie, it was reasonably well received.

In the same year Sullivan popped up again in Joe Dirt. In fact, he played the title character as a child. He scored another role a year later in a bigger film, Unfaithful, which saw him play alongside huge names such as Richard Gere and Diane Lane. This gave him decent exposure, given that Lane scooped an Oscar for her performance.

Now, if you’re a fan of Malcolm, you might well figure you’d recognize the characters’ voices. But did you spot Sullivan in Finding Nemo? Yes, he’s Sheldon, the seahorse, who wins viewers’ hearts with his loveable nature. There’s one hilarious scene in which Sheldon mispronounces a boat as a “butt.”

That wasn’t a huge part, but it did lead to a bit more work for the youngster. He could also be heard in the video game version of Finding Nemo, once more acting the part of the seahorse. And he could also be heard in the animated movie by Luc Besson Arthur And The Invisibles, where he took on two separate roles.

Sullivan wasn’t so cute in Christmas with the Kranks, a 2004 holiday flick. He played young annoyance Spike Frohmeyer in the comedy. Alongside him was a cast representing something of a Who’s Who of comedy at the time, including Dan Aykroyd as his dad Vic, Home Improvement lead Tim Allen, and A Fish Called Wanda’s Jamie Lee Curtis.

After that string of small, but decent roles, things looked rosy for young Sullivan. And others from Malcolm went on to very successful careers. For instance, Cranston burnt up the screen as Walter White in Breaking Bad and then got an Oscar nomination for his part in Trumbo, just one of many films to be graced by his talent.

His screen wife, Kaczmarek, was if anything even more feted during the show, being nominated for an Emmy in each season. Amazingly, though, she never won one. She went on to be seen in all sorts of shows, although some that she starred in didn’t have anything like Malcolm’s level of success.

Christopher Masterson, who starred as the oldest child, Francis, was seen less but perhaps to greater effect than Kaczmarek. He played in big popcorn movies such as Wuthering Heights and Scream 2. He was passed over, though, for Pirates of the Caribbean. These days you’re more likely to hear him than see him, since he is a successful DJ.

As for Malcolm himself, Muniz went from strength to strength. He was teen of the moment, scoring roles in Agent Cody Banks and Big Fat Liar. Having been the lead of a hit sitcom, those parts brought him fat pay checks. He probably danced for joy, which makes his third place on Dancing with the Stars no surprise! He’d later host the junior version too.

Muniz tried his hand at something just a bit different when he took up racing cars for a living. But that ended in tragedy in 2009 when he experienced a horrendous smash. Perhaps the worst outcome of that was that he suffered amnesia. The memories that he lost included his time making Malcolm in the Middle.

As for Sullivan, he went on to a limited career in movies. He featured in a short called Once Not Far From Home, which received good reviews. In 2006 he scored a bigger role as the lead in Mo. This film took a look at Marfan syndrome, which although it’s no laughing matter made a good subject for a comedy drama.

But although these seemed to be the green shoots of a continuing career, those shoots didn’t really flourish. Sullivan showed in a film in 2010 called Twelve, all about drugs and murder, but that was just a small role. After that, nothing. There’s no sign that he’s appeared in anything else since then.

And Sullivan doesn’t do anything to put himself in the public eye, it seems. When the cast of Malcom In The Middle got together for a reunion to boost charity, there was no sign of him. It seems that the actor left stardom behind in his childhood, and now he has no use for it at all.

Yes, Sullivan’s life seems to be very much under the radar. He hasn’t been so much as interviewed since Twelve. He does have an online presence, although it’s not clear whether his Instagram site is personal or is run by someone else. At the time of writing, no one had posted anything on it for more than a year.

Back in 2009 Muniz wrote on Twitter that he’d had a chat with Sullivan. He hadn’t spoken to him in four years, so it was worth mentioning. And he had some news of his fellow child star. It seems that Sullivan had carried on with his education, attending the University of Southern California.

Naturally, after being in such a big show, people are curious what became of the actor and still remember him fondly. In 2015 one posted on Reddit, “Dewey is one of my favorite characters on the show. And on the last three seasons, in my opinion, he showed to be smarter than Malcolm, and even more mature that Malcolm and Reese sometimes. But they would always ignore him, or diminished everything he did.”

The poster was not alone, as another replied in the same spirit. They wrote, “Yeah Dewey is the family MVP. He comes out the best adjusted and will (hopefully) have done very well in life. Technically, I believe that Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey are all middle children. Not the baby, not the adult.”

One person did have news about Sullivan. They wrote, “He doesn’t join reunions because he’s been out of the public eye. Frankie Muniz has said he’s contacted him and ‘received his answer’ about a new season, so it’s likely if it did ever get renewed for one reunion season there’d be no Dewey :(.”

Sullivan might have disappeared, but he left his mark, and not just on fans. Kaczmarek reminisces about his relationship with Cranston, who it seems was very fond of the youngster. When Cranston got a Walk of Fame star, she said, “Some of my fondest memories are of Bryan taking care of those boys, the kids who played our naughty children.”

Cranston was so taken with Sullivan that he had him to stay for weekends at his family home. This was special for the kid because he was staying in an apartment with his mom while the show was shot, so it let him “spend some normal time with a normal family.” It also allowed his mom a break.

It certainly seems as though Sullivan had found a home from home. He even spent holidays with the Cranstons, including Halloweens. Cranston would “treat” the lad to “his extra special, much beloved, very thin buttermilk pancakes that no one really liked except Bryan.” But it’s not known whether the youngster is still in touch with the Breaking Bad star or what he’s doing today.

Sullivan isn’t the only star of Malcolm In The Middle who gave up on the world of acting, though. Justin Berfield was seen in bits and pieces in the years after the series ended. But then he shifted to the other side of the camera. He now helps to produce a pair of shows in the world of reality TV.