#David Hyde Pierce Explains Why He Didn’t Join ‘Frasier’ Revival

David Hyde Pierce has no plans to reprise Dr. Niles Crane on the new Frasier revival despite the acclaim he received for his portrayal on the original NBC sitcom.

Pierce, 64, who won four Emmy Awards for his putting his unique and comical spin on the role, explained his reasoning during an interview with the Los Angeles Times, stating he “never really wanted to go back.”

“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,” said Pierce, who currently stars in Max’s Julia as Paul Child, Julia Child’s husband.

“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. And I just thought, ‘I don’t want to be committed to a show and not be able to do stuff like this,'” he recalled. “And I also thought, ‘They don’t actually need me.’ 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.”

Pierce previously discussed his experiences working on the original Frasier with PEOPLE in 2022, describing that period of success in 1993 as a “complicated time.”

“We were smack in the middle of the AIDS crisis, and being gay, being out, being not out, were questions that I didn’t have to answer in New York, because in theater, no one cared,” the seasoned stage actor explained. “It took me a while to figure out how to just be me with all this attention and celebrity. I tried to thread that needle for a long time in terms of wanting to live my life and live it openly and not be forced to say anything in particular.”

“I was doing an interview with TV Guide, and they [asked], ‘Are you dating someone?’ I said, ‘My life is an open book. Just don’t expect me to read it to you,'” he continued. “I thought that kind of said it all. I thought that was enough. Now looking back, I think I tried to not have to make speeches, but there are things more important than what I was trying to accomplish. Ultimately, when I knew I was coming back to the theater [after Frasier ended], I started talking very publicly about [my partner] Brian.”

Paramount+’s Frasier reboot, which arrives nearly 30 years after the debut of the 1993 series, sees Kelsey Grammer return as the beloved bougie psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane, who moves from Seattle back to Boston to be closer to his grown-up son Frederick a.k.a. Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott). The cast is rounded out by new additions, including Nicholas Lyndhurst, Toks Olagundoye and Jess Salgueiro.

Pierce aside, many of the original cast will not return, including John Mahoney, who portrayed Frasier’s father Martin and died at the age of 77 in 2018.

However, Bebe Neuwirth, who played Frasier’s ex Dr. Lilith Sternin on Cheers and reprised her role several times on the original Frasier, as well as Peri Gilpin, who portrayed Frasier’s radio show producer, have already popped up as guest stars this season.

Lilith, for her part, reconnected with Frasier for their son Freddy’s birthday party, which made for a tense yet comical reunion that reminded viewers that whenever Neuwirth and Grammer are onscreen together, laugher follows.

“It’s always a pleasure and a great time visiting Lilith and Frasier,” Neuwirth exclusively told PEOPLE of the reunion in November. “So fun to be back in that wonderful character.”

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Frasier airs Thursdays on Paramount+.