Jack Black confirms School of Rock 20th anniversary reunion: Where are the kids now?

The hit musical comedy written by Mike White was released in 2003. Since then the cast have gone off in a range of directions, with many leaving acting behind
Seren Morris6 April 2023
The Weekender

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Jack Black has revealed that he intends to reunite with the cast of School of Rock to celebrate the film’s 20th anniversary.

The hit musical comedy was released in 2003 and starred Black as Dewey Finn, a fake substitute teacher who forms a band with his students in an attempt to win a Battle of the Bands contest.

Black told Entertainment Tonight: “All those kids – dig this – they were 10 years old when we made that movie and now they’re all, like, 30.

“We’re gonna get together and have a 20-year anniversary. We like to jam. I’m looking forward to seeing all of the grownups from School of Rock.”

But what have the School of Rock kids been up to the past 20 years?

Miranda Cosgrove, 29

Miranda Cosgrove, who played Summer, went on to play little sister Megan in Nickelodeon’s Drake and Josh, before scoring her own TV show, iCarly, in 2007. iCarly was recently rebooted on Paramount+, with the first season of the revival airing in 2021. A third season is expected to air this year.

Cosgrove has voiced Margo in the Despicable Me film series since 2010 and has acted in films including North Hollywood (2021) and 3022 (2019).

Since 2019, Cosgrove has hosted her own TV show, Mission Unstoppable with Miranda Cosgrove, interviewing women working in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).

In March, she appeared on the Kelly Clarkson show, where she said she’s excited about turning 30, saying: “I hear from everybody that it is even better than the twenties.”

Caitlin Hale, 32

Caitlin Hale, who played Marta, went on to become an obstetrics and gynaecology sonographer. She’s also an endometriosis advocate and has shared her personal experience with the condition on social media.

In 2015, Hale attended the premiere of the School of Rock musical on Broadway, with fellow cast members including Cosgrove.

Hale may have not left acting behind for good, however, as according to IMDB, she is set to appear in an upcoming horror film called Grimmerson Manor.

School of Rock fans will be delighted to hear that she’s dating Angelo Massagli, who played Frankie.

Angelo Massagli, 31

After appearing in School of Rock, Massagli appeared in The Sopranos, where he played Bobby Baccalieri Jr.

According to his Instagram, he graduated from the University of Miami Law in 2019 and currently lives in Brooklyn.

Massagli currently works as an associate director at Sony Music Entertainment.

Joey Gaydos Jr, 31

Joey Gaydos Jr played guitarist Zack in School of Rock. Although he left acting behind, he has continued to play guitar and make music. He shares his music on Instagram, and last year shared that he had recorded four songs with his father.

Gaydos released an album in 2004, shortly after appearing in School of Rock, and released an EP in 2020.

In 2019, Gaydos was reportedly arrested in Florida for allegedly stealing guitars from music shops.

Maryam Hassan, 30

Maryam Hassan, who played Tomika, is now a singer who goes by the stage name Mayhrenate. She released an EP, Plush, in 2021, and is the co-owner of a photography and makeup company, Mahj.

In an interview with Vulture magazine in 2021, Hassan revealed that the cast of School of Rock has a group chat: “We keep in touch pretty frequently and drop in our projects. I drop my music in, Miranda drops her acting projects in, stuff like that.

“Others have left the industry and talk about their families.”

Rivkah Reyes, 30

Rivkah Reyes played bassist Katie in School of Rock and has continued performing. Recently, they appeared in Monuments (2020), Bad Animal (2021), A Picture Perfect Holiday (2021), Alex/October (2022) and Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls (2023).

As well as acting, Reyes are a musician and a comedian. They are also active on TikTok, where they have 158,000 followers, as well as 60,000 Instagram followers.

In 2020, they wrote an article about being cast in School of Rock and the effect it had on their life “for better or worse.”

They changed their name in 2020 to honour their “biracial identity as a Filipinx-Jewish person” and their “fluidity as a gender-queer person”.

Aleisha Allen, 31

Aleisha Allen, who played Alicia, went on to become a speech pathologist.

She is active on Instagram, where she has 154,000 followers.

Jordan-Claire Green, 31

Jordan-Claire Green, who played Michelle, continued to act after School of Rock and appeared in TV shows including Arrested Development and Wizards of Waverly Place. In 2015, she played Annie Lamm in Come Away Home. More recently, she appeared in short films Father (2022), To the Unknown (2018) and Zahnfee (2017).

According to LinkedIn, Green graduated from Texas Christian University in 2013 with a degree in nursing.

Z Infante

Z Infante, who played Gordon, is still an actor as well as a writer and producer.

They appeared in Carrie Pilby (2016) and Gotham (2015), and more recently voiced Nightshade in Transformers: Earthspark.

Brian Falduto, 31

Brian Falduto, who played Billy, is now a country singer and life coach. In March, he released an album, Gay Country.

He wrote on Instagram: “The purpose of this project was to take sounds I grew up on and loved and apply them to songs I’d written; all the while never negating my queerness but rather, being unapologetic about it – which shouldn’t be a radical idea but unfortunately, it is.”

James Hosey

James Hosey, who played Marco, continued acting. According to LinkedIn, he is also a digital music composer. He graduated from Manhattan College with a degree in radio and television broadcasting technology.

In 2012, he appeared on Boardwalk Empire and later appeared in three episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2018-2019).

Where are the rest of the cast?

School of Rock premiered in 2003
Getty Images

Veronica Afflerbach (Eleni) reportedly works in the hair and makeup industry in Miami, while Robert Tsai (Laurie) reportedly graduated from Dartmouth University. Cole Hawkins (Leonard) reportedly attended Northeastern University.

Tragically, Kevin Clark (Freddy) died in 2021, aged 32, in a road collision. Clark was cycling in Chicago when he was hit by a car. At the time, Black said he was “heartbroken” by the news.

Jack Black has starred in dozens of films since School of Rock, including King Kong (2005), Nacho Libre (2006), The Holiday (2006), Kung Fu Panda (2008) and, more recently, The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023).

Joan Cusack, who played Principal Mullins, is still acting and has appeared in Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) and the TV adaptation of A Series of Unfortunate Events (2017). Cusack has also continues to voice Jessie in the Toy Story franchise.

Mike White, who played Ned Schneebly, is now perhaps best known for creating The White Lotus, which has won several awards. As well as playing Ned in School of Rock, White also wrote the screenplay.

Sarah Silverman, who played Ned’s girlfriend, Patty, is still a working actress. She is the voice of Ollie in Bob’s Burgers (2011-2022) and the voice of Vanellope in Wreck It Ralph (2012).

Lucas Babin, who played Spider, left acting and went on to become a district attorney in Texas.

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