Sam Rockwell Still Gets Paid for Role He Never Played in ‘Lean on Me’
Sam Rockwell was let go from 1989’s Lean on Me before his scene was filmed, but he’s still getting paid for the role that never was. He had been hired to play a minor role in the movie that eventually went to Michael Imperioli.
On a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Oscar winner told host Josh Horowitz that he auditioned for Lean on Me alongside Michael Imperioli and Kevin Corrigan. The three aspiring actors drove to New Jersey together to audition for a single line in the movie.
Sam Rockwell’s Peculiar ‘Lean on Me’ Experience
The Iron Man 2 actor said he secured the role, but they “never got to my scene.” Because Rockwell only had one line in the movie, production didn’t think it was worth it to pay him for a whole week of filming. So, they paid him for a day, fired him, and brought on Imperioli to play the part instead.
“I still get residual checks for that even though I’m not in it,” Rockwell said.
Michael Imperioli’s Debut and Self-Doubt
Lean on Me was Imperioli’s film debut. While he secured the role over Rockwell in the end, Imperioli has said that his experience on Lean on Me made him feel like he was a “horrible” actor.
In the movie, Imperioli plays one of the high school students expelled in a big assembly by principal Joe Clark (Morgan Freeman). He has one line: “Hey, I’m gonna be a star.”
Imperioli shared with The New Yorker that director John G. Avildsen was not happy with his delivery and told him, “You’d better give me something or you’re out of here!”
“I was horrified,” Imperioli told the outlet. “I think, I’m horrible, I suck.”
Of course, Imperioli proved himself and Avildsen wrong, going on to star in hits like Goodfellas and The White Lotus.
A Shared Path: Rockwell and Imperioli’s Intertwined Careers
Lean on Me would not be the last time Rockwell and Imperioli would be cast in the same roles. In another sliding doors moment, Imperioli was initially supposed to be in Woody Allen’s 1998 film Celebrity, but had to drop out to star in a show called — you may have heard of it — The Sopranos. Rockwell took his place in the movie.
