Director Jason Reitman has shared Chevy Chase’s brutal verdict on his new Saturday Night Live film.
Juno and Up in the Air filmmaker Reitman’s latest release is Saturday Night, which depicts the 90 minutes leading up to the broadcast of the first ever SNL episode in 1975.
The controversial Chase, who was a cast member on the series at the time, was invited to a screening of the film, following which the controversial star issued his candid view to Reitman.
Reitman told David Spade and Dana Carvey on their Fly on the Wall podcast: “So, Chevy comes in to watch the movie, and he is there with [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.’”
Spade called it “an exact Chevy thing” to say, adding: “You couldn’t even write it better.”
Carvey described the comment as Chase’s idea of humour, stating: “He knows that’s funny. Like, that’s the roughest thing you could say to a director in the moment, or right up there.”
Reitman acknowledged Chase’s history of rubbing people up the wrong way, stating: “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 per cent 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 s*** played. He’s not talking about that stuff.”
Earlier this month, Home Alone director Chris Columbus recalled “the most surreal, bizarre” encounter with Chase that left him unable to work with the actor.
The filmmaker, who also directed the first two Harry Potter films, almost added 1989 film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation to his list of credits – but stepped away after two awkward meetings with the star.
He told Vanity Fair: “I was signed on… and then I met Chevy Chase. Even given my situation at the time, where I desperately needed to make a film, I realised I couldn’t work with the guy.
Columbus added: “I was one of the many who couldn’t work with him. And I called John and I said, ‘This is really hard for me, but I can’t do this movie with Chevy Chase.’”
