Finn Wolfhard‘s cameo in the Malcolm in the Middle revival isn’t so surprising after he went out of his way to get a role — despite not being offered much of a paycheck.
During the finale, which premiered on Friday, April 10, Wolfhard, 23, was spotted in several scenes as Lois’ (Jane Kaczmarek) assistant who helped make her and Hal’s (Bryan Cranston) anniversary party as perfect as it could be.
“He was a big fan of the show. He wanted to be on the show in some way or another,” Cranston, 70, revealed exclusively to Us Weekly. “He talked to [creator] Linwood [Boomer], and Linwood said, ‘I have a role for you if you want to do it.’ He goes, ‘I’m in.’”
He continued: “It’s wonderful to know that all these guest stars who were a part of the fabric of that show all those years ago are still game to return. They still wanted to be a part of this. We wanted them to be a part of it. They’re an extension of our family.”
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Kaczmarek, 70, also addressed getting to share the screen with Wolfhard, which earned her some cool points with her family, adding, “I texted my daughter immediately.”
Boomer, also 70, elaborated on his offer to Wolfhard at the red carpet premiere for the show.
“He called us and said,’I love this show. Can I come visit the set?’ We had one part we haven’t cast yet. We offered him a little part but said, ‘We don’t have any money. It’s not like we have money and it’s not your [kind of] money,’” the screenwriter recalled. “He said, ‘That’s fine.’ So we spent the whole day just being very excited having him around. He’s a charming and really cool guy.”
Executive producer Tracy Katsky was thrilled to see how much Wolfhard loved the original show, saying, “He knows more about the series [than you would think]. He would come to people and say, ‘Season 4, episode 2 is when this happened and that happened.’ He knew it so well. He was so excited about working with Jane and being yelled at by Lois. He was like, ‘I have a line.’”
The sitcom, which originally ran from 2000 to 2006, followed a dysfunctional working-class family. It starred Frankie Muniz in the lead role as child prodigy Malcolm. In addition to Muniz, Cranston, Kaczmarek, Christopher Masterson and Justin Berfield reprised their respective characters. In addition to the main cast, Kiana Madeira, Anthony Timpano, Vaughan Murrae and Keeley Karsten were cast in key roles as well.
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“I couldn’t believe how comfortable and at home I felt in minute one of being Malcolm again. I was obviously a little nervous having stepped away from him for so long,” Muniz, 40, told Us. “Getting to work with everybody, you want to have that same dynamic that people know from the show. But literally on the first day, I felt right at home in these four episodes.”
He continued: “What I was surprised about was how much fun I had getting to be Malcolm and getting to do all that. I remember being really — if I can talk about myself this way — just proud every day when we finished filming what we were making and what we were accomplishing each day on set. That felt really good because I hadn’t had that many times in my life as an actor where I genuinely felt like I got everything out of what I was trying to portray. I was really, really surprised and happy about that.”
Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair is streaming now.
