John Schneider didn't exactly follow the traditional path to Hollywood stardom.At just 18 years old, the New York native convinced producers of "The Dukes of Hazzard" that he was a 24-year-old Georgia farm boy with racing experience — and somehow, the gamble paid off."I told them, I said, 'Look, I'm 24 years old from Snailville, Georgia.I grew up on a farm, and I just came in first in my class at the Georgia School of High Performance Driving.’ Which did not exist… You couldn't ask your phone if this place existed."‘DUKES OF HAZZARD’ STAR JOHN SCHNEIDER BREAKS SILENCE ON EX-WIFE'S COURT BATTLE: 'EVERYTHING'S A NEGOTIATION'John Schneider, as Bo Duke, in the made-for-television movie, "The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!" in 1997. ((Photo by CBS via Getty Images))The wild confession came as Schneider looked back on his unlikely rise to television fame during an appearance on "Arroyo Grande with Raymond Arroyo.""I learned a long time ago, you don't get a second chance to make a first impression," Schneider said.
"I gave them exactly what I thought they wanted.""Yeah, they were looking for good old boys from the rural South, 24 to 30, with no acting experience, but a lot of racing experience."Schneider checked almost none of those boxes.‘BRADY BUNCH’ STAR SHARES THE SIMPLE WORD THAT SAVED HER FROM HOLLYWOOD TRAPSAmerican actors John Schneider, Catherine Bach and Tom Wopat in a promotional portrait for the TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard", circa 1980.((Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images))"And of course, I was 18, from Westchester County, New York… I've done theater for 10 years.""Years later, I found out that one of the producers was — his opinion was, ‘Over my dead body is this hick going to have anything to do with my television show.’"Another producer, however, saw something the first one didn't.JOHN SCHNEIDER BLASTS CLAIMS THE AMERICAN FLAG IS A 'DIVISIVE SYMBOL': 'THESE PEOPLE ARE OUT OF THEIR MINDS'"But the other one, thankfully, who ...