For those of us who grew up watching the classic series Boy Meets World, we most definitely remember what would turn out to be one of Adam Scott’s first major roles. In the series, he played Griff Hawkins, the leader of a gang of bullies who were always finding new and inventive ways to torture the students of John Adams High.
The part was a jump from other characters we’ve loved of Scott’s over the years including the geeky Ben Wyatt of Parks and Recreation, his current role as Mark on the sci-fi psychological thriller Severance, and his reprisal of Henry Pollard on the beloved STARZ comedy, Party Down, but we still loved seeing Scott as tough-guy Griff. On a recent episode of Pod Meets World, the all-things Boy Meets World podcast led by series stars Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, and Will Friedle, Scott finally put an end to an awkward memory keeping him up at night - an unrequited hug between him and castmate Strong.
During his segment, Scott recalls the end of an episode during which the actors were lining up for their bows. He says that he congratulated Strong before giving him a high five and going full steam ahead for a hug. “As I do that, you push me off and you give me this look like ‘Wait a second. Who the [bleep] are you?’ And then you run away,” Scott remembers of the haunting moment. While it’s been something drumming up nightmares for Scott for decades now, Strong said that he didn’t remember the incident and questioned why he would give his peer the cold shoulder.
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Letting Strong off the hook, Scott explained that he was just “a little kid” at the time whereas Scott “was this stranger grown-up.” Strong went on to say that he’s a hugging kind of guy, so the news was extra shocking as he had “no recollection” of the incident, before apologizing profusely. Scott says that although the memory was “horrifying” he was happy that Strong didn’t remember it because it couldn’t have been that “traumatic” after all. Following the snub from his co-star, Scott remembers that he was “surprised” but overjoyed to have received a callback months later to return to the series for Season 3.
Like many members of the ensemble cast in Boy Meets World, including Lee Norris’ Stuart Minkus, Griff was ultimately cut from the script, disappearing from the halls of John Adams High forever. Of course, this was just the beginning of Scott’s time in Hollywood as the actor has celebrated a long and illustrious career in the almost three decades since he appeared in the coming-of-age dramedy. Up next, audiences can catch Scott getting back to his catering roots in the rebooted comedy seriesParty Down when it returns to STARZ on February 24. Check out a trailer for the show’s comeback season below.
