Twenty years on, School of Rock remains one of the most fun, beloved movies of the early part of the 2000s. But it got off to a tough start, as Richard Linklater recently revealed that he had to fire one of the original child actors on School of Rock for having a massive ego.
In a new oral history published in Rolling Stone, Linklater said that School of Rock got off to a rough start before cameras even rolled, as the original Marco (eventually played by James Hosey) was upset about his lack of lines. “I shouldn’t even be saying all this publicly.… It was in rehearsals. There was a kid who wasn’t with the program, so there were tough decisions to be made. I think he wanted a bigger part.”
School of Rock actress Caitlin Hale (Marta) confirmed, saying, “Rick is correct. I don’t want to shit on anybody, but he was unprofessional,” while another reunion attendee, Veronica Afflerbach (Eleni), criticized the unnamed actor for “counting lines and creating a culture of competition. We never counted lines.” Rivkah Reyes (Katie) added, “He was giving know-it-all energy. It’s so cheesy that I’m about to quote it, but we were serving society by rocking, and there was no room for ego in that.”
Linklater concluded that the experience gave him a little edge when it comes to being on set. “I always tell people: “Hey, don’t f*ck with me, I fired a kid on School of Rock.”
As it turns out, it seems like Linklater made the right choice with the entire School of Rock cast, as they proved to be one of the most charming, diverse and affable ensembles of child actors ever put together on the big screen. And mostly because of them – and of course Jack Black, leading the class as Dewey Finn – School of Rock lives on. But it’s not just moviegoers who cherish School of Rock but Black, too, saying it’s “the one that’s nearest and dearest to my heart, because it was so much a part of me — that character with the love of rock and not really fitting in the world of rock…I got to do the movie that I was born to do. It didn’t really matter if I did anything else after that. There’s my tombstone. I can just chill and relax now, because I did it.”
School of Rock received a Steelbook release just this week in celebration of its 20th anniversary.
Why do you think School of Rock is still talked about two decades later?