Frasier actor Kelsey Grammer has revealed why his co-star David Hyde Pierce will not return to play Niles again in the show’s revival.
“David basically decided he wasn’t really interested in repeating the performance of Niles,” Grammer told People.
He also opened up about how Pierce’s absence ended up shaping the show.
“In a very funny way, it just took us to a new place, which was what we originally wanted to do, anyway, which was a Frasier third act,” he said in the interview, “It’s an entirely new life for him.”
Related: Frasier revival series fate finally revealed
Back in June, Pierce had told Vulture about why he would not return to play that character again.
“That whole time of my life [doing Frasier] is deeply important to me. And I would never disrespect that in such a way as to say just offhandedly, ‘Oh, no, thanks. I’m not going to do that again.’ It’s too valuable to me,” he said at the time.
“But by the same token, because it’s so valuable to me, I also wouldn’t do it just to do it. And I believe it can be done without me, too — finding new stories to tell, in the same way that Frasier did after Cheers,” he added.
The premise of the revival will see Frasier starting over in a new city among a new cast of characters.
Related: Frasier’s Kelsey Grammer says reboot will honour late John Mahoney
Grammer has said that the show will explain the absence of Niles, as well as that of series characters Daphne and Roz.
He also added that the show will address the passing away of John Mahoney, who played Frasier’s dad Martin Crane, in the first episode of the show.
"His loss is and was devastating and must be given the proper attention in honour of the extraordinary man he was and the contribution he made to the show and to the acting profession," he told Fox News Digital.
"We will most certainly be honouring him according to his merit. A man of merit he remains to this day,” he added.
Frasier will stream on Paramount+ in the US.
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