Jane Kaczmarek "admires" Erik Per Sullivan for rejecting the Malcolm In The Middle revival to focus on academia.
The 70-year-old actress has returned alongside Bryan Cranston as parents Lois and Hal for the new series Malcolm In The Middle: Life's Still Unfair, and Erik is the only cast member from the original ensemble not reprising their role, with Caleb Ellsworth-Clark stepping in instead.
Speaking to Extra, Jane said: "I admire [Erik] so much for being a young man who knows exactly who he is and exactly what makes him happy.”
The former child star, who played youngest son Dewey in the original sitcom, has left acting behind and is now studying for his master's degree at Harvard.
His former castmate and on-screen dad Bryan quipped: "Huge mistake to go into academia as opposed to show business!”
And 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."
In another interview, Jane has revealed Erik was offered "buckets of money" to return, but he stood his ground.
She told The Guardian newspaper: "He’s studying Dickens and is an incredible student – they offered him buckets of money to come back, and he just said: ‘No thank you.' "
The revival, which comes two decades after the original show aired, sees Frankie Muniz return as Malcolm, while Justin Berfield, Christopher Masterson and Emily Coligado are all back as Reese, Francis, and his wife Piama respectively.
Reflecting on the long gap between the two shows, Bryan pointed out: "The boys in the show are now right around the same age that we were when we first started.”
Jane joked that her on-screen husband's decision to return was to get a break from his grittier projects like Breaking Bad.
She teased: “I always say because he was tired of killing people on all the other shows he did.”
And Bryan admitted: "I was kind of mean and rotten on several other things.”
