Two decades before viewers began booking time with The White Lotus, series creator Mike White struck a chord with the movie School of Rock. White wrote and co-stars in director Richard Linklater’s comedy that features Jack Black as Dewey Finn, an aimless musician turned substitute teacher at a tony elementary school who convinces students to form a band.
White penned the lead role for former neighbor Black after taking inspiration from a 1976 album that a Canadian teacher had recorded of his students’ cover songs. “I don’t think I would have ever come up with this idea if I hadn’t lived next door to him,” White told THR back then of Black, the longtime frontman for satirical group Tenacious D. Producer Scott Rudin sent the script to Linklater, who found it formulaic and passed. “Then I got a call from my agent,” Linklater has said. “She’s like, ‘Rudin is not accepting your pass.’ ” Ultimately, the director worked with White to up the realism, with tweaks like Dewey soundproofing the classroom. For the student roles, Linklater prioritized musically inclined performers with little acting experience, including future iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove.
School of Rock premiered in Toronto before Paramount released it Oct. 3, 2003. The sleeper hit collected $131 million worldwide ($227 million today) and spawned a Broadway musical, a Nickelodeon series and School of Rock music programs for aspiring performers. The film’s young stars remain close — two of them even tied the knot this year — and have a group chat titled “Schnayblay,” a riff on the name of White’s nebbish character, Ned Schneebly. Rivkah Reyes, the movie’s bassist, tells THR, “Of course we’re all in the group chat talking about White Lotus.”
This story appeared in the April 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.