Kwapis was pleased with how the original characters melded with the new faces in the family

NEED TO KNOW

• Ken Kwapis served as a director and producer on Malcolm in the Middle
• Speaking to PEOPLE about his return for Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair, Kwapis discusses what it was like getting back into the family groove with the cast
• Kwapis praises the show’s newcomers for helping round out the family dynamic in a special and meaningful way

Ken Kwapis is thrilled to find himself back in Malcolm's world.

The Malcolm in the Middle director and producer tells PEOPLE that coming back for the revival — Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair, now available on Disney+ —is like truly coming home again.

"As soon as we started shooting, the core cast members slipped back into their roles so quickly. It was as if the series hadn't ended," Kwapis, 68, tells PEOPLE.

"And it felt very clear that the original characters still made sense," he continues. "It wasn't like, 'Oh, should we change it now that these characters are older? Should it be less chaotic, should it be less in your face, as it were?' But it felt like, again, as soon as the actors started playing those scenes, there was no reason to change what was working in the first place."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The original cast of characters — including Bryan Cranston, Frankie Muniz, Jane Kaczmarek, Justin Berfield and more — was joined by some new faces, which Kwapis says brought a beautiful, fresh energy to the family dynamic.

"A wonderful surprise was how quickly the new cast members — like Keeley Karsten, who plays Malcolm's daughter, Leah, and Vaughan Murrae, who plays the new member of the Malcolm family, Kelly, and of course, Kiana Madeira, who plays Malcolm's girlfriend, Tristan — became part of the ensemble. It felt as if they'd always been part of the Malcolm family."

Kwapis has particularly enjoyed "the rapport between Frankie and Keeley."

"To play Malcolm's daughter, you need someone who projects intelligence the same way Frankie Muniz does. You need someone who can go toe-to-toe with Malcolm. You need someone who's clearly as smart and complicated as Malcolm is. And I think Keeley just hit it out of the park," he praises.

"And for Frankie, what was wonderful was he gets to be both a good parent, but also he acts incredibly childishly at the same time. So he gets to be an adult and a child in this story."

While the revival tells one chapter of the family's story, there's no word on what the future may bring. Kwapis says if he did get to revisit the zany group again, he'd want to expand on the father-daughter chemistry between Malcolm and Leah.

"The chemistry between Frankie and Keeley was so delicious, I just feel like it'd be wonderful to continue that story," he shares.

Malcolm in the Middle: Life's Still Unfair is now streaming on Disney+.

Source link