The 'School of Rock' ending was suggested by Kevin Clark, according to his co-star

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 8/13/21

Kevin Clark starred as Freddy "Spazzy McGee" Jones in School of Rock, but according to co-star Rivkah Reyes, his contributions to the 2003 cult classic extended far beyond his prodigious drumming.

Clark tragically died at just 32 years old in late May "after a motorist hit him while he was cycling around Chicago," as TMZ first reported at the time.

Reyes, who played bassist Katie in the movie, posted this TikTok last month about Clark and revealed that he is responsible for how the School of Rock ended.

"I have a really interesting story about my friend, Kevin Clark," the actress said, pointing to a photo of them as kids on the set of School of Rock in the background. "I love him so much. I'm missing him a lot today, and I was holding a pair of his drumsticks yesterday, and I just felt called to tell you all this story."

"At one of our earlier table reads, the ending wasn't landing," Reyes continued. "Like, we tried one version of it where we win. We tried another version of it where we lose, and that's it. It just wasn't hitting. And the team was just like, 'What do we do about this ending?' And Kevin was just like, 'It'd be cool if we lost, and then the audience started cheering 'School of Rock! School of Rock!' and then they bring us out for an encore.' So, this guy, at 13 years old, wrote the ending of School of Rock."

That ending can be seen below:

School of Rock follows Dewey Finn (Jack Black) after his band No Vacancy kicks him to the curb as their guitarist, which forces him to become a substitute teacher in order to make his share of the rent for the apartment he shares with Ned Schneebly (Mike White) and Patty Di Marco (Sarah Silverman).

Dewey impersonated Ned, the real substitute teacher, and accepts a job at Horace Green Prep from principal Rosalie Mullins (Joan Cusack). He devises a plan to transform the children in his class into a new band called School of Rock, and at the end of the movie, they compete against No Vacancy in Battle of the Bands. No Vacancy wins, but the audience falls in love with School of Rock—even the disgruntled parents who have just learned about Dewey's deceitfulness.

School of Rock was directed by Richard Linklater and written by White, the real Ned Schneebly.

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