Whatever Happened To Brick From The Middle?

In 2009, ABC introduced us to one of TV's greatest Indiana-native families with "The Middle." With names like Patricia Heaton, who was coming off the success she'd seen as part of the cast of "Everybody Loves Raymond," as well as "Scrubs" actor Neil Flynn, the ABC original was bound for similar success. Various cast members from "The Middle" rose to stardom, too, like Eden Sher, who played the bright-eyed Sue Heck, and Charlie McDermont, who played the himbo older brother Axl Heck. None was as prominent, however, as Brick Heck's growth, the awkward younger sibling of the Heck family.

Played by Atticus Shaffer, he was the only actor who remained after the originally unsuccessful 2007 pilot. From there, Shaffer sustained a stunning transformation as one of the show's more memorable characters. This followed him well beyond "The Middle," as he remained a relatively busy child actor throughout his nine-season gig. Once the show ended in 2018, Shaffer continued to enjoy similar success, albeit away from the public eye. While this may have caused his "The Middle" fans to wonder about his whereabouts, Shaffer is far from removed from his prior life as an on-screen actor. From voice-acting gigs to a career as a content creator, the 27-year-old is still quite active as a creative.

Despite Atticus Shaffer's admission of wanting just one more season of "The Middle," creators deemed it necessary for the series to conclude on its ninth season. While it was certainly bittersweet to see it go, this left Shaffer with a mountain of opportunities to explore. One such opportunity saw him appear in "I'll Be Next Door for Christmas" in 2018, marking his first gig after his departure from "The Middle."

This was a brief role that involved the same qualities he was used to. As a comedy, the movie follows Nicky, a teen embarrassed by her family's over-the-top Christmas celebration antics. As a result, Nicky plots a scheme to prevent them from humiliating her while her boyfriend, Tanner, visits her for the holidays. As part of one of her schemes, Shaffer portrayed Archie, a socially awkward actor who auditions to portray one of Nicky's fake family members for her Christmas dinner. The comedic plotline served as a great segue for Shaffer's now-budding career outside of "The Middle." 

The Christmas movie was a fairly illustrious project, as actors like former "King of Queens" actor Nicole Sullivan and Beth Littleford from "Dog with a Blog" all played a part. As for its lead, we saw Juliette Angelo in the midst of her stint as a brief cast member on "Shameless" portray Nicky.

Since 2007, Atticus Shaffer has been a working child actor. The time in which he rose to stardom was unique, however, as social media quickly became a prominent aspect of everyone's lives. For Shaffer, social media wasn't a priority. So much so that it took him a while to even consider joining various platforms like Instagram and X. Although he did have a Facebook page, Shaffer didn't fully commit to this way of life until 2018 when he joined Instagram. In a YouTube video titled "I have Instagram ... finally," Shaffer noted that it took him "a very long time to get involved in social media."

Shaffer had a unique issue where various fan pages with his name were heavily inundated on various platforms. It became problematic for Shaffer since these pages were portraying to be him, which was something he was uncomfortable with. Nonetheless, this forced him to be a little more creative when naming his profile. This became apparent in 2023 when he joined X as "TACTICALHOBBIT1." In his first post on the platform, he informed his fans that this account was truly him.

Alongside his stint on "The Middle," Atticus Shaffer has become a prominent voice actor in his own right, which he has deemed to be more "freeing" than acting on camera. He voiced Albert Glass in "Fish Hooks," after which Shaffer's collaborative relationship with Disney granted him a role in the 2015 movie "The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar" (a sequel to "The Lion King") where he voiced Ono, an intellectual egret who was a consistent side character throughout the movie. Disney turned this into a brief mini-series called "Lion Guard: It's Unbungalievable" in 2016. A full-fledged series came out that same year under the name "The Lion Guard," which saw Shaffer reprise his role as Ono yet again.

"The Middle" ended in 2018, but Shaffer continued his gig in "The Lion Guard" until 2019. It became clear that the show had a special place in his fans' hearts, as during a live Twitch stream in 2020 Shaffer fielded a question regarding whether there would ever be a readaptation to "The Lion Guard." While there was some promise in there being a sequel, the show's future was ultimately left up in the air (via Facebook). As for Shaffer, he noted that during a 2025 episode of "Atticus Shaffer Eats" that "The Lion Guard" was not only one of his favorite acting jobs, but one in which he wishes "would actually come back."

2018 was a busy year for Atticus Shaffer. As his time on "The Middle" came to an end, other ventures were on the horizon. In addition to his role in "The Lion Guard," Shaffer (amongst other notable names) was enlisted for the Amazon series "Pete the Cat." Based on the children's book of the same name, the adaptation was a comedy-slash-music-based children's show that showcased Pete's adventures with his furry friends. In it, Shaffer played Grumpy, a laid-back, anthropomorphic toad who is part of Pete's diverse friend group. 

Shaffer's inclusion in the show was announced in August 2018 alongside Jessica Biel and Jacob Tremblay. The show's cast also included figures like Alyson Stoner and the legendary voice actor Tom Kenny. Created by Jeff "Swampy" Marsh, who created the Disney Channel hit cartoon "Phineas and Ferb," "Pete the Cat" was a fairly successful project which spanned over 40 episodes in two seasons. Although Shaffer remained relatively silent about this venture, he participated in live events on Instagram promoting the series while also prompting his followers to give the show a watch during its Valentine's Day special in 2020.

From his rise to stardom, Atticus Shaffer has been outspoken about his Christianity. Though he was raised in a Christian home, he didn't fully commit to the religion until he was 15. Since then, he has lived a life led by his faith. In a 2019 interview with Pure Flix, however, Shaffer admitted that he's not one to force his beliefs onto anyone. "I've never been a person that thinks I should Bible thump or anything like that," he explained.

Since Shaffer has found himself on social media, he has kept his Christian beliefs at the forefront. On many occasions, he's either collaborated with Christian-led channels, uploaded videos of himself spreading the word of God, or tweeted different Bible verses for his followers. In turn, this has made him a somewhat prominent religious figure, which he discussed in his 2020 appearance on the "Life & Laughs" podcast. While fielding a question regarding a future in being a minister, Shaffer explained that although he's not a traditional minister, he is, in a sense, doing a similar job. Whether it be on Twitch or YouTube, he noted that he tries to make his content as "Christ-centered" as possible. "I'm not afraid and I don't shy away from every opportunity that I get to bring up about the word of God, to bring up about Jesus, and have those Christ-centered discussions, and really have fellowship," he stated.

2020 proved to be a unique time for actors as COVID-19 effectively shut down potential projects for an uncertain period. Atticus Shaffer found this disheartening as it prevented him from moving forward in his career. Despite this, Shaffer did get to make a cameo in the Netflix original "Never Have I Ever" that same year. In the episode "...started a nuclear war," Shaffer plays a kid who acts as a delegate for Russia in a model U.N. debate group.

His appearance was brief, but memorable for those who know him as Brick in "The Middle." It came as a shock to Kira Dineen from DNA Today, who, during her interview with Shaffer in 2022, asked him about the brief appearance and what his experience was like working on the series created by a former cast member of "The Office," Mindy Kaling. "It was so terrific," he stated. "Even though I never had the chance of actually meeting her, she hires excellent people. Everybody from the director down to production assistants were the most lovely people that I've had the chance of being able to work with in the industry. I absolutely adored it."

While the pandemic left actors scrambling for other relevant means to keep them afloat, Atticus Shaffer noticed an apparent shift in the rise of content creation. In a generation highlighted by social media, Shaffer used his forced time away from sets to upload videos to his YouTube channel. He explored various forms of content, but his true calling was his love for food, which he'd display through his series, "Atticus Shaffer Eats."

During his 2020 appearance on the "Life & Laughs" podcast, Shaffer described himself as a "Hobbit" who likes to eat several small meals a day. "Here's what you have to remember: I'm a Hobbit. So, when you read 'The Hobbit' book, what are the meals there? You have breakfast, second breakfast, elevenses, luncheon, afternoon tea, dinner, supper, and then there might be a snack. Yeah, that's me," he quipped. Luckily for him, he saw this as a potential passion he could use for his YouTube channel. From reviewing Chuck E. Cheese pizzas to Polish snacks and Panera Bread to El Pollo Loco, Shaffer enjoys uploading food content. Aside from hitting the mukbang demographic, it also turns into a Q&A where he sits in his car and has general conversations about life with his viewers.

With the rise of collectible trading card games, spanning from Magic: The Gathering to Pokémon, a medium that was once a thing of the past has become a notable pastime for many. Celebrities like Logan Paul have spent millions of dollars on rare finds. Back in 2021, Atticus Shaffer hopped on this wave early on through a series of Yu-Gi-Oh-themed content.

Based on the children's show that came with its own card game, Shaffer invested time into showcasing his collection of trading cards in 2021. Given his career as a content creator, he had an incentive to base some of his videos around this longstanding passion. He'd showcase his findings in various box-opening videos ranging from different seasons, but he wasn't just a collector. In February 2021, Shaffer took to Instagram to share that he entered a competitive Yu-Gi-Oh tournament.  He also uploaded a personalized Cyber Dragon deck profile to his YouTube channel for those interested in the competitive aspect of the card game. Due to the pandemic, Shaffer did the competition remotely, which was a great pastime for the content creator as it showcased his various interests to his followers.

It wasn't strange to witness a once-prominent star turn to the platform Cameo for profitable gain. We saw names like Big Ed from "90 Day Fiancé" increase his net worth thanks to his Cameo side gig, for one. The same can be said for Atticus Shaffer, whose time as Brick in "The Middle" made him a big hit on the celebrity-centric site. The platform served as a pipeline for fans to connect with their favorite celebrities, whether it be personalized birthday wishes or just general advice. Shaffer joined the platform in 2022 and has remained a notable face on there since then.

In the video, Shaffer noted that he "absolutely loved" interacting with his fans through the site. This continued to be a common theme for Shaffer as he sent more personalized videos over the years. One fan recorded his and his spouse's reaction to receiving a cameo from him in 2025 for Christmas, which Shaffer then uploaded to Instagram with a lengthy caption expressing his gratitude for the side gig. "To this day, this is one of my favorite reaction videos I've ever received while on Cameo," he wrote. "I think we all need to understand and appreciate that something as simple as personal acknowledgement can be such an immense blessing to people."

Although he got his start as an on-screen actor, Shaffer has gone on to do several voice acting gigs, including "Harvey Girls Forever!" "Arlo the Alligator Boy," and the "Adventures in Odyssey" reboot. His most recent project to date has him back working with Disney as the voice of the main antagonist, Wayne Riley, in the animated show "Firebuds."

The Disney Junior original chronicles a young boy on various adventures with his firetruck friends. As a recurring character, Shaffer joined an illustrious cast that consisted of names like Jecobi Swain (who made various appearances in "Raven's Home," "Abbott Elementary," and "Home Economics") as well as Yvette Nicole-Brown (who's known for her roles in "Drake & Josh" and "Community"). The star-studded cast was even more apparent when Shaffer appeared alongside his various cast members to share their gratitude for first-world responders in September, 2022. That same month, Shaffer took to Instagram to announce the show's premiere after receiving some "Firebuds" items in the mail. "I absolutely love being a part of this wonderful series, and I am so excited to be able to share it with all of you, and for you all to be able to see it!," he wrote.

Although "The Middle" has been Atticus Shaffer's most notable role in his career, 2008 proved to be a major year for him in another way. As a child star making his way through brief appearances in "The Class" and "Days of Our Lives," Shaffer had the privilege of sharing the screen with Will Smith in "Hancock." Though he only appeared as the little boy at the bus stop who called John Hancock an "a**hole," the scene was immensely memorable.

Rumors of a sequel began to circulate in 2025 after Smith seemingly confirmed there were plans to make a sequel during his appearance on xQc's live stream on Twitch (via Deadline). Of course, this caused fans to speculate about potential plans for the sequel. Shaffer decided to take to Instagram to tease his desire to reprise his brief role. "Just heard that they are making 'Hancock 2.' I think it's fantastic news, and it's exciting when good movies get sequels, especially in this case, where it's 17 years later. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie when it comes out. Just curious though ... who here thinks it'd be cool to have me make a cameo in the sequel, reprising my role from the original?" he wrote, in jest. "I think that'd be insanely fun. Just saying."