Samm Levine

Soon landing commercial roles, Levine kicked off his television career with appearances in One Life to Live and Discovery Kids. A severe asthmatic who made frequent trips to the emergency room during his youth, his respiratory disease often made the demands of school and comedy appearances even more difficult to endure. Praised for his performance as the young member of the "geek" half of television's Freaks and Geeks, Levine originally auditioned for the role of Sam Weir (eventually essayed by John Francis Daley), though he was almost perfectly suited to the role of the smart, bully dodging, aspiring comic character of Neil Schweiber. Though the show was canceled after a short run, episodes gained a devoted following thanks to repeat airings on the FOX Family Channel, and Levine later re-joined Freaks and Geeks creator Judd Apatow (as well as a few of his former freaky cast members) for Apatow's next small-screen endeavor, the widely praised Undeclared (2001). That same year, Levine would make his feature debut in the teen spoof Not Another Teen Movie. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide