Congratulations to the High School Graduate!

At the New York Film Festival premiere of Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, Jeremy Allen White's former drama teacher gifted him his high school diploma.

By Claire Guinan  |  October 24, 2025 | 12:25pm
Photo: Getty Images CelebritiesDirt BagDirt Bag
Congratulations to the High School Graduate!

Congratulations are in order for Jeremy Allen White, who has finally received his high school diploma at the big age of 34. You probably know him from The Bear, or Shameless, or maybe from those Calvin Klein billboards, but the actor now has another title to add to his resume: high school graduate.

While promoting his upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere on Live with Kelly and Mark on Thursday, White revealed that he never actually finished high school.

“I wasn’t a good student because I didn’t go to school enough. And so I didn’t get all my credits and never graduated from high school,” he said. White went to a drama school in midtown Manhattan and admitted that he “would just leave at lunch and never come back.” And I guess that makes me like him more? At least I know he wasn’t using ChatGPT to write essays and screaming 6-7 in the halls like high school kids (or Gen Z dudes) these days.

“I never got my diploma,” he added. But then, he revealed that the night before, at the New York Film Festival premiere of the biopic, his former drama teacher, Greg Parente, surprised him with a diploma.

“So as of last night, at 34 years old, I graduated high school,” White said.

Now, I’m not entirely sure how high school diplomas work (given the social construct of it all), but I don’t think Jeremy knows either. I’m pretty sure being handed a diploma by an old teacher doesn’t exactly wipe the ol’ transcript clean. You still have to pass pre-calc, but then again, maybe this is more like an honorary doctorate situation.

Regardless, here’s to Jeremy Allen White for reminding us it’s never too late to get that degree. Maybe he’ll soon have an Oscar to display right next to it.

  • Stellan Skarsgard claims his son is bullied for being a nepo baby. [Variety]
  • Happy Lily Allen Day to everyone except David Harbour! [Us Magazine]
  • Kim Kardashian says she would eventually give up “being Kim K” to be a full-time lawyer. [PopBase]
  • Ayo Edebiri convinced Rachel Sennot to delete Twitter, and she may have convinced me, too! [Variety]
  • Megan Thee Stallion is very much in love as she raps about BF Klay Thompson on new single “Lover Girl” [Elle]
  • Leighton Meester made a cameo in her husband Adam Brody’s show Nobody Wants This. [People]
  • Speaking of things nobody wants, Johnny Depp is set to star in Ti West‘s A Christmas Carol. Seriously, nobody wants this. [Deadline]

Like what you just read? You’ve got great taste. Subscribe to Jezebel, and for $5 a month or $50 a year, you’ll get access to a bunch of subscriber benefits, including getting to read the next article (and all the ones after that) ad-free. Plus, you’ll be supporting independent journalism—which, can you even imagine not supporting independent journalism in times like these? Yikes.

 
Join the discussion...