Erik Per Sullivan is the star from the original “Malcolm In The Middle” who is NOT returning for the upcoming reboot … and it looks like civilian life is treating him just fine.

Check out these photos of the seemingly retired actor living a humble life in Boston, MA … he was just getting home from a grocery run when photogs snapped him on the street.

Erik famously played Dewey Wilkerson on the OG ‘Malcolm’ … and he reportedly turned down “buckets of money” to return for the Disney+ reboot, which debuts later this week.

Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, and Bryan Cranston are all reprising their roles … but not Erik. He left Hollywood almost two decades ago, and now he’s reportedly pursuing a master’s degree from Harvard.

Erik sounds like a pretty smart guy … he’s said to be studying Victorian literature at the Ivy League flagship.