“Frasier” star David Hyde Pierce explained his absence from the recent reboot of the series and said as much as he loved the show he “really never wanted to go back” after the original show ended in 2004.
The 64-year-old actor, who famously played Dr. Frasier Crane’s brother Niles Crane on the popular NBC sitcom, said he realized when they were in talks about the reboot on Paramount+ that chapter was behind him, Deadline magazine reported.
“I never really wanted to go back,” Pierce said. “It’s not like I said, ‘Oh, I don’t ever want to do that again.’ I loved every moment. It was that I wanted to do other things.”
“And when we got into real talks about the reboot, I had just started on the ‘Julia’ TV show and was working on a musical and going to do another musical, not this one [Here We Are],” he added. “And I just thought, ‘I don’t want to be committed to a show and not be able to do stuff like this.'”
David Hyde Pierce On Not Joining The ‘Frasier’ Reboot: “I Wanted To Do Other Things” https://t.co/OlPZOs6PWK
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) December 11, 2023
“And I also thought, ‘They don’t actually need me,'” Pierce continued. “Frasier has moved on to a new world. They have new characters. And I think I’m right. It’s doing great. And the new people they have are great.”
The “Frasier” reboot launched in October on the streaming site with Kelsey Grammer reprising his role as the lovable Dr. Frasier Crane, a radio psychiatrist. The original NBC sitcom ran for 11 seasons and scored dozens of Emmy awards.
Grammer previously said he’s “thrilled” with the reboot, saying he’s “excited to play Frasier again,” People magazine noted.
“We’ve been working on it honestly for about six or seven years,” Grammer said. “It’s been on the slow burner. We were like, this is not a bad idea. Maybe this is a good idea!”
When asked about why Pierce wasn’t coming back, Grammer previously said, “David basically decided he wasn’t really interested in repeating the performance of Niles.”
“We’ll certainly be responsive about the fact that there was a brother and such,” he added. “But the new world for Frasier is one of new friendships — and some new twists and turns he didn’t know were still in there.”