As many Boy Meets World followers know, a number of notable characters appeared on the present throughout its run. Some like Lindsay Value’s Linda left stronger impressions on viewers than others. One other such character was Harley Keiner’s lackey, Joey “The Rat” Epstein, performed by former Rilo Kiley guitarist Blake Sennett. Since leaving Hollywood, Sennet has constructed a stable following as a rock star. Nevertheless, three a long time after his final look on the present, the BMW alum has revealed that he stop appearing after almost dying of an overdose.
Throughout his time on the collection, Blake Sennett balanced his appearing profession together with his ardour for music. Ultimately, he turned away from appearing to pursue music full-time. Like many devoted followers, the Pod Meets World crew requested the Joey Epstein actor why he left the appearing world. The touring musician was trustworthy in regards to the function that his substance abuse performed in his determination to depart appearing behind:
Throughout my time as an actor, I feel I used to be combating some substance stuff. That stuff got here to a head, to illustrate, and… Nicely, fuck it. I nearly died, so I type of received introduced again to life. Upon this, I type of got here to, so to talk, the following day and was like, ‘Nicely, I gotta determine one thing else out.’ So I used to be ready, with the assistance of issues at our disposal as of late, I used to be in a position to get assist. And with that near-death stuff, particularly – no less than that is how I noticed it on the time – your personal hand, I feel I felt like a reassessment was so as.
The drug overdose served as a wake-up name for the now-46-year-old musician. Sadly, there are a selection of kid stars who’ve handled drug abuse through the years, although many have since gotten clear. One would suppose that giving up appearing would’ve been laborious for him. In any case, earlier than becoming a member of the Boy Meets World forged, he appeared on different traditional reveals like Household Ties, My Two Dads, The Surprise Years and Salute Your Shorts. So the TV vet had seen fairly a bit earlier than becoming a member of the ABC sitcom in Season 2.
However after all, all of us need to make decisions at one level or one other, and Blake Sennett needed to decide that felt proper for him. He in the end felt that his appearing profession was holding him again from being a profitable musician, telling the hosts:
I used to be like, ‘, I actually don’t love appearing,’ and on the time, I liked music. That is all I considered. That is all I needed to do. So I made a decision that if I have been to behave and do music concurrently, I wasn’t going to succeed at music. That simply wasn’t going to occur. Whether or not it is realizing that the security web was there or not having sufficient focus. I may be fairly obsessive in my work, and so I made a decision I used to be simply going to try this.
He went on to disclose that his determination to forgo appearing for music was met with apprehension from his mother and talked about that issues would possibly’ve panned out in another way if he did “one thing significant” with auteurs like Martin Scorsese. However, the previous actor cited a scarcity of management on units and disliking the audition course of as key components in his last determination. So kudos to him for realizing that he wanted to protect his psychological well being by stepping away.
Now, years later, Blake Sennett is completely dedicated to his music profession. He even reached out to fellow little one actor Jenny Lewis to sing background, who needed to be the lead singer. In fact, issues labored out as they shaped the beloved indie rock band quickly afterward. The band launched 4 albums earlier than breaking apart in 2013. I feel I communicate for everybody after I say that I am glad Sennett lived to have had these experiences, and here is wishing him the very best shifting ahead.
If you wish to revisit Blake Sennett’s tenure as Joey Epstein, go rewatch Boy Meets World by means of an lively Disney+ subscription. To listen to extra tales from BMW alums like Sennett, occasional BMW visitor star Adam Scott, and even Mighty Geese alum arguerite Moreau, try the rewatch podcast Pod Meets World, which is hosted Danielle Fishel, Rider Robust, and Will Friedle, when new episodes drop on iHeartRadio.
