George LopezPhoto: Getty Images
In the movie Elegy, a college student (Penélope Cruz) has an affair with her professor (Ben Kingsley). So it seemed appropriate to quiz the boldfacers at last night’s Cinema Society screening about their school-age high jinks. Patricia Clarkson confessed to getting roaring drunk before cheerleading practice, and Peter Sarsgaard says he cut school a lot. Not unexpectedly, Dennis Hopper was kicked out of school at the age of 14 for attempting to set the place on fire. “I got caught smoking, and that was my answer, was to put lighter fluid from the men’s toilet down the hallway and light it,” the 72-year-old reminisced fondly. Meanwhile, comedian George Lopez dredged up an apparently repressed memory of being groped by a ninth-grade teacher. “I loved it. And I wouldn’t report her then, and only now am I reporting her to you,” the 47-year-old comedian told us, beaming. —Bennett Marcus
