This 1989 Morgan Freeman Movie Still Haunts These A-List Stars
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key TakeawaysIn 1989, Morgan Freeman rocked the box office with the release of Lean on Me about a real-life Paterson, NJ principal who turned around a failing high school. The movie is over 36 years old, but two A-list actors are still sweating about their roles.
On the June 20 episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Sam Rockwell recalled that booking a one-line role in the film was a very Hollywood tale.
"They never got to my scene, so they had to let me go because they didn’t want to pay me for a week," he shared. "So, they gotta pay you for a day player or pay you for a week. So, they let me go. They didn’t fire me, they just sort of let me go because they were like, ‘We can’t pay him a week for one line.'"
Sam Rockwell attends the Saint Laurent Menswear Spring/Summer 2026 show as part of Paris Fashion Week.Dominique Charriau/Getty Images
Eventually, they needed that one line back in the film, so role went to his buddy, Michael Imperioli, who had auditioned the same day as Rockwell. It wasn't a losing experience for the Oscar winner though.
AdvertisementAdvertisement#«Rmekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe AdvertisementAdvertisement#«R16ekkr8lb2m7nfblbH1» iframe"And I still get residual checks for that, even though I’m not in it," he added.
The White Lotus star isn't bragging that he stole away that one line from Rockwell because his experience with Lean on Me director, John G. Avildsen, wasn't exactly a walk in the park.
Michael Imperioli.A&E Networks
“He was very impatient,” Imperioli told The New Yorker in March 2024. “He was not very nice, to be honest. I think he was overwhelmed because there were, like, a thousand high-school kids in this. He made me audition in the cafeteria during the lunch break with, like, hundreds of kids. It was horrible. I had one line.”
The early career setbacks didn't hurt either of their careers though. Rockwell won an Academy Award for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri in 2018. Imperioli won an Emmy in 2004 for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in The Sopranos.
Related: 'F1' Star Reveals Unintended Consequence of Filming
This 1989 Morgan Freeman Movie Still Haunts These A-List Stars first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 29, 2025
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