Jeremy Allen White had the last laugh after spending much of his high school years being a bad student and ditching class to hang out with friends in Central Park.
The 34-year-old Bear star attended the Professional Performing Arts School in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan between 2005-2009, but he ‘never had enough credits’ to actually graduate.
But all of that changed on September 28 when Jeremy invited his former drama teacher Greg Parente to attend the NYFF premiere of his new film, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.
‘At the end of the night, he gave me a gift,’ White recalled on Live with Kelly and Mark Thursday.
‘I was like, “Ah, you don’t have to do this, this is crazy, what are you giving me a gift for?” And I open it up and it is my high school diploma.
‘So as of [September 28], at 34 years old, I graduated high school. So I’ve got that in my hotel room now, and it’s really nice.’
2025 vs. 2005:Â Jeremy Allen White had the last laugh after spending much of his high school years being a bad student and ditching class to hang out with friends in Central Park
The 34-year-old Bear star attended the Professional Performing Arts School in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan between 2005-2009, but he ‘never had enough credits’ to actually graduate
PPAS also happens to be where the two-time Emmy winner met his future wife Addison Timlin at age 14, but she filed for divorce from him in 2023 after three years of marriage.
Jeremy and the 34-year-old Hal & Harper actress continue to co-parent their seven-year-old daughter Ezer and four-year-old daughter Dolores.
Other notable alumni from PPAS includes Britney Spears, Alicia Keys, Claire Danes, Jesse Eisenberg, Sarah Hyland, Taylor Momsen, Josh Peck, and Morena Baccarin.
White has been hard at work promoting his fully-authorized role as Bruce Springsteen in Scott Cooper’s $55M-budget Boss biopic, which hits US/UK theaters this Friday.
The Brooklyn native more authentically emulated the 76-year-old heartland rock legend’s raspy croon by singing all of the songs himself.
‘When Scott approached me about the movie, I was really excited because I love Bruce and the story is really beautiful, but I said, “Surely you want to you want to cast somebody who knows how to sing and knows how to play the guitar. I don’t know how to do either of those things,”‘ Jeremy recalled.
‘And he said, “Well, you’ll learn.” And so I did. I had about six months to pick up the guitar and six months to work with a wonderful vocal coach, Eric Vetro, who helps a lot. He helped Timothée Chalamet with [playing Bob] Dylan and and Austin Butler with Elvis and he helped me a whole lot preparing to do this.’
20th Century Studios’ big-screen adaptation of Warren Zanes’ 2023 biography currently has a 65% critic approval rating (out of 101 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes.
But all of that changed on September 28 when Jeremy (5-R) invited his former drama teacher Greg Parente to attend the NYFF premiere of his new film, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
White recalled on Live with Kelly and Mark Thursday: ‘At the end of the night, he gave me a gift. I was like, “Ah, you don’t have to do this, this is crazy, what are you giving me a gift for?” And I open it up and it is my high school diploma’
![He continued: 'So as of [September 28], at 34 years old, I graduated high school. So I've got that in my hotel room now, and it's really nice'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/10/23/22/103267175-15221889-image-a-16_1761254169957.jpg "Jeremy Allen White Receives High School Diploma at 34 Despite Chronic Truancy 36")
He continued: ‘So as of [September 28], at 34 years old, I graduated high school. So I’ve got that in my hotel room now, and it’s really nice’
PPAS also happens to be where the two-time Emmy winner met his future wife Addison Timlin (R, pictured in 2009) at age 14, but she filed for divorce from him in 2023 after three years of marriage
Jeremy and the 34-year-old Hal & Harper actress continue to co-parent their seven-year-old daughter Ezer and four-year-old daughter Dolores (pictured September 7)
Other notable alumni from PPAS includes Britney Spears (L), Alicia Keys (M), Claire Danes (R), Jesse Eisenberg, Sarah Hyland, Taylor Momsen, Josh Peck, and Morena Baccarin
White has been hard at work promoting his fully-authorized role as Bruce Springsteen in Scott Cooper’s $55M-budget Boss biopic, which hits US/UK theaters this Friday
The Brooklyn native more authentically emulated the 76-year-old heartland rock legend’s (L, pictured Wednesday) raspy croon by singing all of the songs himself
![Jeremy recalled: 'I had about six months to pick up the guitar and six months to work with a wonderful vocal coach, Eric Vetro, who helps a lot. He helped Timothée Chalamet with [playing Bob] Dylan and and Austin Butler with Elvis and he helped me a whole lot preparing to do this'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/10/23/22/103267167-15221889-image-a-45_1761254657591.jpg "Jeremy Allen White Receives High School Diploma at 34 Despite Chronic Truancy 44")
Jeremy recalled: ‘I had about six months to pick up the guitar and six months to work with a wonderful vocal coach, Eric Vetro, who helps a lot. He helped Timothée Chalamet with [playing Bob] Dylan and and Austin Butler with Elvis and he helped me a whole lot preparing to do this’
20th Century Studios’ big-screen adaptation of Warren Zanes’ 2023 biography currently has a 65% critic approval rating (out of 101 reviews) on Rotten Tomatoes
Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere also features Stephen Graham, Odessa Young, Gaby Hoffmann, Marc Maron, and David Krumholtz.
White’s other upcoming films include Jon Favreau’s 2026 spin-off The Mandalorian and Grogu for Disney, Henry Dunham’s hitman movie Enemies for A24, Aaron Sorkin’s sequel The Social Reckoning for Sony, amd Jeremiah Zagar’s stop-motion flick The Painted Bride for WME.
The Louis Vuitton brand ambassador will also eventually reprise his breakout role as Chicago chef Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto in Christopher Storer’s fifth season of The Bear for FX on Hulu.
