Mourning one of their own. The cast of School of Rock is paying tribute to their costar Kevin Clark after his untimely passing.
Clark, who was best known for his role as Freddy Jones in the 2003 movie, died on Wednesday, May 26, after a fatal accident in his hometown of Chicago. Us Weekly confirmed that the 32-year-old drummer was rushed to the hospital after a motorist hit him while he was riding his bike.
“He told his bandmates just yesterday: You know, this is finally the life I want to live. And we’re going to make it. You’re my musical family — my family — and we’re all going to make it,” his mother, Allison Clark, told the Chicago Sun-Times after news of her son’s passing. “He loved music. He’s just a raw talent. He’s got a heart of gold.”
Allison also recalled Kevin landing the part in the Jack Black movie when he was 12 years old.
“He wasn’t an actor, wasn’t thinking about being an actor,” she said, noting her son’s love for music and playing the drums. “He just kind of shined [in the audition].”
The proud mother added that her son knew he got the part after he saw a New York number calling.
“He said he got the part and I asked him how he knew. And he pointed to the area code on the phone. And, sure enough, he got the part,” she explained.
Kevin, meanwhile, shared his audition story during a 2013 interview with 22 Vision.
“I went in there, said some lines, played on a little electric drum set, then I left, and my mom decided to talk, as she does, for a long time — God love her,” he said before referencing Joey Gaydos Jr., who played guitarist Zack Mooneyham. “Because Joey went in about 20 minutes after my audition and did the same thing with his lines, blew them away on guitar and then they came out.”
The late musician reunited with Black, who played Dewey Finn, a guitarist posing as a substitute teacher, in School of Rock at a 2018 concert.
Scroll through to see the cast’s tributes to Kevin:
