Rockwell Reveals He Was Cut from ‘Lean on Me’ But Still Earns Residuals

LOS ANGELES, CA — Actor Sam Rockwell shared an intriguing story about his early career during a recent appearance on a podcast hosted by Josh Horowitz. The 56-year-old actor revealed that he was technically cast in the 1989 film ‘Lean on Me‘ but ended up cut from the final version.

Rockwell recalled that he and his fellow actors drove to New Jersey together to audition for the film, based on the real-life story of educator Joe Louis Clark, played by Morgan Freeman. ‘Kevin Corrigan and I drove in a van to New Jersey to audition for one line in Lean on Me,’ he said.

Despite getting the part, Rockwell was ultimately let go because the film’s producers decided not to film his scene. ‘They either have to pay you for a day player or a week. So they let me go… because they were like, ‘Eh, we can’t pay him for a week for one line.’ And they hired Michael Imperioli instead,’ Rockwell explained.

Interestingly, Rockwell still receives residual checks for the film, despite not appearing in it. ‘I still get residual checks for that even though I’m not in it,’ he added.

Later in the podcast, Rockwell recounted another encounter with Imperioli during the filming of Woody Allen’s ‘Celebrity.’ He was initially resistant to dye his hair blonde for a minor role but eventually caved when he learned he was replacing Imperioli, who had dropped out for a pilot called ‘The Sopranos.’

Most recently, Rockwell has been recognized for his performance in the HBO series ‘The White Lotus‘ and is set to reprise his role as ‘Mr. Wolf’ in the upcoming animated film ‘The Bad Guys 2,’ which premieres in theaters on August 1.