Berfield, now 40, stepped away from acting after the series ended in 2006, explaining in his first interview in nearly 20 years that he chose a quieter life. “I fully just stopped acting,” he told The Joe Vulpis Podcast, revealing he shifted to behind-the-scenes work as a writer and producer. “I just never reached that level where I was in huge demand… I had no intention of ever becoming like Leonardo DiCaprio. That was never my goal.”
The former child star described himself as “low key” and shared that he has spent recent years as a stay-at-home dad, raising two children with his wife, Liza Almeida. He admitted his absence from interviews was simply because he had no projects to promote. “I’m just chilling at home with my kid,” he said.
Berfield will return to the screen in Hulu’s four-episode revival, Malcolm In The Middle: Life’s Still Unfair. The limited series follows Malcolm as he’s drawn back into his family’s world for Lois and Hal’s 40th wedding anniversary. Original cast members Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, and Christopher Kennedy Masterson reprise their roles, though Erik Per Sullivan, who played Dewey, has retired from acting and is replaced by Caleb Ellsworth-Clark.
The original sitcom, which aired from 2000 to 2006, chronicled child prodigy Malcolm navigating life in a chaotic family. Cranston commented on the revival, “It’s only four episodes… It’s hard to fit in 20 years of stuff into four 30-minute episodes, right? But I think people are going to be very happy with what they came up with.” Muniz added that filming the reboot exceeded his expectations, saying, “I loved it so much, way more than I ever thought I could have.”
