Sam Rockwell has revealed he still receives residual checks for the 1989 film Lean on Me, despite his scene being cut before filming began.
The Oscar-winning actor recently made a surprising confession during an episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast and revealed he still receives residual payments for the 1989 film Lean on Me—even though his scene never made it to the camera.
Sam Rockwell recalled how he, Michael Imperioli and Kevin Corrigan drove together in a van to audition for a one-line role in the film, which starred Morgan Freeman and Beverly Todd. Sam Rockwell ultimately booked the part but said the production never actually filmed his scene.
“They had to let me go because they didn’t want to pay me for a week,” Sam Rockwell said, explaining that he was only compensated for a day of work. “They were like, we can’t pay him a week for one line.”
Michael Imperioli ended up taking the role, but Sam Rockwell revealed that, to this day, “I still get residual checks for that even though I’m not in it.”
This isn’t the first time Sam Rockwell and Micheal Imperioli’s careers have overlapped. The White Lotus actor shared that he was later cast in 1998’s Celebrity—a role initially meant for Michael Imperioli. The Woody Allen-directed film starred Kenneth Branagh, Judy Davis, and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Sam Rockwell was asked to bleach his hair for the part.
“I said, ‘I’m not dying my hair bleach blonde for like five lines. What are you, crazy?” Sam Rockwell recalled. But after learning that Michael Imperioli had dropped out of the role to pursue a small pilot called The Sopranos, Sam Rockwell changed his mind. “I said, ‘All right, I’ll dye my hair.’ And I bleached my hair.”
That “little pilot,” of course, turned out to be a massive success, running for eight seasons and earning Michael Imperioli an Emmy Award and television icon status.
Even with scenes cut or swapped roles, Sam Rockwell has built an impressive and often surprising career—complete with unexpected paychecks from projects he never quite made it into.
