Central Illinois native coming home for red carpet movie premiere in Peoria

Dean Muellerleile, Peoria Journal Star
·4 min read

East Peoria native Zach Scheerer will be on hand when the Hollywood comedy he appears in premieres at a Peoria theater on Sept. 29.

Also appearing at the red carpet event for "The Re-Education of Molly Singer" will be the film's director, Andy Palmer. The two will host a Q-and-A session after the screening at AMC Classic Grand Prairie 18. Tickets for the private event are available at the Facebook page Zach’s Movie Premiere -Grand Prairie AMC- The ReEducation Of Molly Singer. Only a handful remained as of Sept. 20.

A promotional poster for the film "The Re-Education of Molly Singer" features East Peoria native Zach Scheerer.
A promotional poster for the film "The Re-Education of Molly Singer" features East Peoria native Zach Scheerer.

However, a public screening of "Molly Singer" will also be held Sept. 29 at GQT Willow Knolls 14. On Sept. 30, that theater will also host a screening and Q-and-A with Scheerer and Palmer. Tickets for the latter showing can be purchased at gqtmovies.com. The movie will also be available through video on demand on Sept. 29.

As if all of that is not enough, a beer named after Scheerer's character in the film has been created and was to be introduced ahead of the movie's premiere.

"The Re-Education of Molly Singer" has the storyline, "To save her job, a young lawyer must go undercover, enrolling as a freshman at her old alma mater, in order to resuscitate the well being of her Boss' terribly awkward teenage son." The back-to-college comedy has been rated R for sexual content, pervasive language and some drug use.

Scheerer has described his role in "Molly Singer" as "kind of a cool villain. ... Deep down he’s actually a good guy." He added, "Even though Stu is quite the jerk ... you will love to hate this character."

More: Villain you'll 'love to hate': Actor from East Peoria has role in upcoming comedy movie

Ahead of the screenings, Scheerer shared his thoughts on the premiere, the beer and his future career in an email interview.

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Homecoming highlights

There really will be a red carpet at the Sept. 29 premiere, the actor said, adding, "Everyone will have a chance to come through and meet Andy Palmer, the director, and myself, and get picture opportunities." He said, "I wanted this to be something 'grand' for my family and friends. A memory that will stay with them forever."

Scheerer said the director has never been to Peoria. The actor is hoping to show Palmer his alma mater, East Peoria Community High School. Scheerer said, "I’ll also be showing him CVS in EP on Main across from Long John's," where family members once operated Scheerer’s Lawn and Garden Center.

The actor added, "We planned the food trips the first night we orchestrated the trip lol." Among those are Avanti’s, Palanza's — another family connection — and Davis Brothers, "which are all my personal faves." The Los Angeles-based actor said he tries to return to his hometown to visit family at least twice a year.

Scheerer-beer premiere

A beer made exclusively by Mirror Twin Brewing for the premiere of "The Re-Education of Molly Singer" features East Peoria native Zach Scheerer. The India pale ale, called Stu's Brew, is named after Scheerer's character in the film.
A beer made exclusively by Mirror Twin Brewing for the premiere of "The Re-Education of Molly Singer" features East Peoria native Zach Scheerer. The India pale ale, called Stu's Brew, is named after Scheerer's character in the film.

The actor traced the origin of Stu's Brew, named for his movie role, as far back as his days at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Two of his former fraternity brothers there are now co-owners of a Kentucky brewery. "I had always wanted to collab with them in regards to film projects ...," Scheerer said. "With this movie being a college comedy, I felt it would be a cool thing to get them involved somehow, and so we came up with the idea of Stu’s Brew. We got the 'Molly Singer' production involved, and Stu’s Brew IPA was born."

At first, the beer will only be available in Kentucky. "But we’re working on hopefully getting Stu’s Brew into other states," the actor said.

Asked how it feels to be immortalized on a beer can, Scheerer said, "It’s still a little surreal. I never figured that I would have my image and one of my portrayed characters ever on something so cool."

The beer was to premiere at a meet-and-greet event on Sept. 22 at Mirror Twin Brewing in Lexington.

Future film roles

Scheerer said he has been cast as the star of an upcoming action martial arts film directed by Sheldon Lettich, who wrote the screenplay for "Bloodsport," which kick-started the career of Jean-Claude Van Damme. Scheerer has a black belt in tae kwon do. The actor said the as-yet-untitled film is currently in pre-production.

Scheerer said he also has a comedy in the works — "It’s a big one!" — but could not as yet share any details.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: East Peoria native Zach Scheerer will host red carpet rollout, meet-and-greet at Hollywood movie premiere in Peoria