School of Rock kids reflect on being treated like “freaks” after filming

Some of the former young actors who appeared in School of Rock reflected on how they were ostracized by their classmates.

It may be hard to believe, but the teen-centric rock film School of Rock premiered in theaters almost two decades ago.

Starring Jack Black, Miranda Cosgrove, and a host of other talented young people, the movie followed a fake substitute music teacher as he conned his way as he teaches his pupils the awesome world of rock and roll by entering them into Battle of the Bands.

Though the movie promoted individuality and being yourself, a lot of the young cast found themselves being bullied by their peers when they finished filming.

School of Rock cast were outcasts due to the film

The School of Rock cast recently gave an oral history about the movie to Rolling Stone for the movie’s 20th anniversary.

According to Brian Falduto, who played the band’s costume designer Billy, he “didn’t even know what being gay was at the time. I was just being myself and having a great time,” but being at school was “more difficult” when they finished filming.

Falduto’s co-star Veronica Afflerbach had a similar experience as she recalled not wanting to act anymore because “kids are brutal.”

Joey Gaydos Jr., who played the band’s guitarist, Zach, also recalled having a tough time in school stating, “I came back to school, and I was like a three-headed freak, basically. I came back with all this culture in my brain to a pretty one-horse town outside of Detroit.

“And I was looked at like a complete weirdo, and that was hard. People thought I had it all going on. I couldn’t believe it.”

It’s tough to see such young actor be beaten down by their classmates, but at least they all recalled nothing but happy memories when making School of Rock.

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