Sam Rockwell reveals he gets residual checks for ‘Lean on Me’ despite not being in it

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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Of course, Imperioli proved himself and Avildsen wrong, going on to star in hits like Goodfellas and The White Lotus.

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.

Listen to the full Happy Sad Confused episode with Sam Rockwell below.