Bryan Cranston & Jane Kaczmarek on Erik Per Sullivan Declining ‘Malcolm’ Revival (Exclusive)

Bryan Cranston and Jane Kaczmarek are back as parents Hal and Lois for the new revival “Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair.” 

“Extra’s” Derek Hough spoke with Bryan and Jane about reuniting with everyone after 20 years, and they also reacted to Erik Per Sullivan turning down the revival.

Erik, who played their youngest son, Dewey, is focused on studying for his master’s degree at Harvard.

Jane raved, “I admire him so much for being a young man who knows exactly who he is and exactly what makes him happy.”

Bryan joked, “Huge mistake to go into academia as opposed to show business!”

Jane added, “That what I admired, you know. Everybody wants to be in show business and this kid, who is so beloved, says, ‘Thanks, but no. I love what I’m doing now. I love my life now. I saved my money well when I was a child actor and can go have a good time and I’ll enjoy watching.’ It’s remarkable."

As for reprising their characters, Jane called it “surreal” and Bryan noted how “comfortable” it was slipping back into the characters. 

Jane said, “To be in a living room again that was so much like our living room and kitchen, to be with each other again, not only just as actors but in these characters, our writers, our director — talk about time in a bottle.”

Bryan explained, “It’s almost like when you wake up from a vivid dream and you go, ‘Wait a minute, this seems so real.’ It was very much like déjà vu.”

Two decades have passed since the original series aired. Bryan pointed out, “The boys in the show are now right around the same age that we were when we first started.”

Jane chimed in, “They all have children.”

As for why Bryan wanted to reprise his role, Jane commented, “I always say because he was tired of killing people on all the other shows he did.”

After “Malcolm in the Middle” in 2006, Bryan played the iconic character Walter White in “Breaking Bad.”

Bryan laughed, “I was kind of mean and rotten on several other things.”

In all seriousness, Cranston shared, “We’re in a challenging period in our lives and there’s a lot of vitriol between liberal and conservative and it’s like, ‘How can we bring this all together?’ It’s through laughs and love."”

Bryan dished on getting to do a song and dance number in the revival! 

He joked, “I was channeling my Derek Hough as much as I could… As you know, sir, it is a lot of work."