Jason Reitman, the director of this year’s semi-biographical film Saturday Night, reveals he received a not-so-kind compliment from one of the figures depicted in the movie—none other than Chevy Chase himself, aka the most difficult actor to work with in Hollywood.
While Chase wasn’t involved in the film’s production, he actually saw it. After all, Chase is one of the most prominent characters in the film. Saturday Night follows the events that led up to the first broadcast of the signature live comedy show, Saturday Night Live. Aside from showrunner Lorne Michaels, other real-life comedians featured in the movie include Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, Billy Crystal, John Belushi, Jane Curtin and Andy Kaufman.
Reitman went on the podcast Fly on the Wall, which features SNL stars David Spade and Dana Carvey. When asked about the film, Reitman revealed what Chase told him after watching it:
“So, Chevy comes in to watch the movie, and he is there with [his wife] Jayni and they watch the film, and he’s in the group, and he comes up to me after and he pats me on the shoulder and goes, ‘Well, you should be embarrassed.’“
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Carvey and Spade tried to make Reitman understand that this brutal reaction by Chase is just part of his persona and (perhaps) he doesn’t mean ill will. Per Carvey: “[Chevy] knows that’s funny, like that’s the roughest thing you could say to a director in the moment, or right up there.” Spade just said it was “an exact Chevy thing” to say.
The comedians may be right when trying to solve the riddle that is Chase’s peculiar personality. After all, they probably shared a lot with Chase in the hallways of Studio 8. But in the end, Chase just ends up being obnoxious and childish. Reitman recalls how he felt after receiving the critique by the SNL legend:
“I’m trying to balance it, because, in my head, I know, ‘Alright, I’m getting my own Chevy Chase moment that’s 1,000 percent only for me right now.’ And from a comedy point-of-view, that’s really pure, and that’s kind of cool.
“But also, I just spent like two years of my life recreating this moment and trying to capture Chevy perfectly, and also even in the ego, find the humanity and give him a moment to be loved — no, none of that sh*t played. He’s not talking about that stuff.”
You Probably Wouldn’t Want to Work with Chevy Chase
Reitman mentions it, and we’ll reiterate it. Chevy Chase is all about his ego, and even though he’s entitled to think whatever he wants, the comedian has to know he has hurt people with his insane attitude. Fortunately, the industry itself has decided to stand up to Chase.
Chase was banned from Saturday Night Live after he was involved in an incident that made his former friend, Lorne Michaels, shun the actor from ever stepping foot inside Studio 8 again. His exit from Community was obviously due to his treatment of other actors, and most recently, Home Alone director Chris Columbus said Chase was the reason he didn’t make Christmas Vacation. So, yeah, Reitman was yet another victim of the Chase-nado, the disastrous behavior by a former comedy legend who doesn’t even like it when people pay tribute to him.
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Saturday Night
Release Date
October 11, 2024
Runtime
109 Minutes
Cast
Gabriel LaBelle
, Rachel Sennott
, Cooper Hoffman
, Dylan O’Brien
, Cory Michael Smith
, Lamorne Morris
, Willem Dafoe
, Ella Hunt
, Emily Fairn
, Matt Wood
, Kim Matula
, tommy dewey
, Andrew Barth Feldman
, Nicholas Braun
, Kaia Gerber
, Catherine Curtin
, Nicholas Podany
, Corinne Britti
, Finn Wolfhard
, J.K. Simmons
, Matthew Rhys
, Taylor Gray
, Leander Suleiman
, Mcabe Gregg
, Kirsty Woodward
, Jon Batiste
, Naomi McPherson
, Brian Welch
, Tracy Letts
, Paul Rust
, Josh Brener
, Brad Garrett
, Rowan Joseph
, Billy Bryk
, Ellen Boscov
, Justin Matthew Smith
, Abraham Hsu
, Parker Wierling
, Presley Coley
, James Logan
, Robert Wuhl
, Drew Scheid
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