Penn hints at Fast Times virtual reunion

Sean Penn is planning to revisit his breakout movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High for a fundraising virtual table read at the suggestion of comedian Dane Cook.

The Oscar winner has been hard at work with officials at his Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) charity of late, helping to ramp up coronavirus testing at pop-up facilities across the U.S.

However, the initiatives have been costly, and after pouring a lot of his own money into the cause, Penn was concerned about how he would keep the non-profit afloat during one of its most critical times

— until funnyman Cook unexpectedly came to the rescue. “I’d already tapped out; I don’t know if I’ve got $2 left in the bank right now with everything we’ve been doing and had happened before that,” Penn told Jimmy Fallon. “So I thought, ‘Where are we gonna get the dough?’ We weren’t gonna be able to throw a big fundraiser at that point, not in the traditional sense.

“Out of the blue, Dane Cook threw us a cheque that got us started, really got us started.

I didn’t know him; I’d met him once, but he’d followed what we were doing prior to this.”

Cook, who has since been helping as a CORE volunteer, then proposed Penn stage an online table read of his cult coming-of-age movie, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, to raise additional funds — and the 59-year-old has allowed the comedian to take charge of setting up the charity event. Penn reveals he won’t be reprising his role of Jeff Spicoli in the 1982 teen comedy/drama, and will instead be tackling a different part, but he insists the “fantastic” full lineup will be one fans will be interested in checking out — although he is leaving it up to Cook to make the formal announcement.