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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Entertainment
Marita Moloney

Where the stars of Malcolm in the Middle are today - meth kingpin, life-changing accidents and Scientology

It's hard to believe that Malcolm in the Middle first hit our TV screens 21 years ago.

The sitcom followed a dysfunctional American family with the genius, Malcolm, stuck at the centre of the chaos.

He is often mocked by his fellow students in school for having to take special classes, with the cohort of intellectuals known as 'Krelboynes'.

At home, he must contend with his hotheaded and stubborn mother, Lois, and his manic yet loving father, Hal.

As the third of four brothers, Malcolm must suffer on amid the idiotic and sometimes cruel antics of his siblings.

His eldest brother, Francis, is the trouble-maker, followed by the dimwitted Reese.

Dewey is the youngest of the family and is musically talented. In season four, the family welcomed another member, Jamie.

The series ran until 2006 across seven seasons and 151 episodes and was acclaimed by viewers and critics alike.

Some of the show's stars have gone on to huge success, while others have stepped away from public life.

Here's where the actors from Malcolm in the Middle are today:

Frankie Muniz - Malcolm

(Rex, Splash)

Frankie Muniz brilliantly depicted Malcolm's frustration and desperation to fit in as a teen genius navigating high school.

Thanks to the success of the show, Muniz became a child star, earning an Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations.

He went on to have roles in a number of movies, including Deuces Wild, Big Fat Liar, Agent Cody Banks, and Racing Stripes.

In 2008, Muniz put his acting career on hold to pursue an open-wheel racing career, and competed in the Atlantic Championship.

From 2012 to 2014, he was a drummer in the band Kingsfoil.

In 2012, at the age of just 26, he was hospitalised after having a transient ischemic attack, then suffered a second one in 2013.

While appearing on Dancing With The Stars in 2017, he said: "I'm not actually sure how my memory loss started. I have had nine concussions and I've had a fair amount of mini-strokes."

Frankie married his long-term girlfriend Paige Price in February last year. They welcomed their first baby together last month.

Bryan Cranston - Hal

(Rex, Getty)

Bryan Cranston is the most successful alum from Malcolm in the Middle.

For many years he was always associated with his role as the long-suffering patriarch in the show.

That all changed when he was cast in the role of Walter White in Breaking Bad.

His performance is often lauded as one of the greatest in television history, earning him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series four times.

Breaking Bad also earned Cranston five Golden Globe nominations (with one win) and nine Screen Actors Guild Award nominations (with four wins).

He has several other TV shows and blockbuster films under his belt, including Saving Private Ryan, Argo Godzilla, , Little Miss Sunshine, Trumbo and Drive.

Most recently, he has commanded the leading role in the Amazon Primer series Your Honor.

Jane Kaczmarek - Lois

(Rex, Splash)

Lois was a force to be reckoned with on Malcolm in the Middle, and she had her hands busy trying to keep her boisterous clan in check.

Her performance earned her three Golden Globe nominations and seven Primetime Emmy nominations.

The series led to more comedic roles, including in Law & Order, The Middle, Frasier and most recently in Mixed-ish.

Kaczmarek underwent a hip replacement in April 2004, due to chronic arthritis.

She recovered quickly, and used an X-ray of her new hip for her Emmy campaign the following summer, advertising herself as "the only Emmy nominee with an artificial hip".

Christopher Kennedy Masterson - Francis

(Rex, Splash)

Francis was the eldest brother in the family and his disruptive ways led to a stint in military school.

He divorced his parents and travelled around the country, getting a job at a Wild West-themed ranch, but largely featured less on the show than the other characters.

In real life, Christopher Kennedy Masterson has appeared in a string of movies, including Scary Movie 2, Wuthering Heights and Intellectual Property.

He also guest starred in three episodes of That '70s Show, alongside his brother, Danny.

He also played Scotty O'Neal in the movie My Best Friend's Wedding, and did voiceover work on The Wild Thornberry.

Masterson, like his brother Danny, is a follower of Scientology, and the two have invested in restaurants together.

Justin Berfield - Reese

(Rex, Splash)

Reese and Malcolm were chalk and cheese in the show, with his ill-advised plans often going awry.

He would also always use violence when outwitted by his smarter brothers.

Once the series was over, Berfield concentrated on production work, although he made a one-off appearance in the series Sons of Tucson in 2010.

His other acting credits include in Hardball, The Boys Are Back, The Mommies, and Unhappily Ever After.

As well as participating in lots of charity work, Berfield seems to spend much of his time working behind the camera lens at a Virgin Produced film and television production company.

Erik Per Sullivan - Dewey

(Splash, Rex)

Dewey was the youngest child in Malcolm in the Middle until the birth of Jamie, and often falls victim to his brothers' pranks.

Sullivan, who is now 29, was born in Sweden and speaks some Swedish.

He has played a variety of characters in film and on television, including the title role in the independent film Mo, and voicing Sheldon the Seahorse in both the animated film and the video game Finding Nemo.

He was also a starring role in the movie, Christmas with the Cranks.

In 2005, along with Malcolm co-star Jane Kaczmarek, he wrote the afterword to the children's book Together, which is about farming and was inspired by the nonprofit organization Heifer International.

Sullivan's last known acting credit was appearing in the 2010 film Twelve.

He has since kept a low profile, notably missing from several Malcolm in the Middle cast reunions

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