Chevy Chase told Jason Reitman ‘Saturday Night Live’ biopic was an embarrassment

'I’m getting my own Chevy Chase moment'

Get the latest from Mark Daniell straight to your inbox

Published Dec 29, 2024  •  Last updated 5 minutes ago  •  4 minute read

Chevy Chase watches the men's singles semi-final match between Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro at the 2018 US Open in New York City. Photo by Matthew Stockman /Getty Images

Jason Reitman might have earned raves for Saturday Night, his recent cinematic retelling of the frantic 90 minutes that lead up to the debut episode of Saturday Night Live back in 1975. But at least one original cast member was less than impressed.

Article content

Article content

Article content

During an appearance on David Spade and Dana Carvey’s Fly on the Wall podcast, the four-time Oscar nominee said that Chevy Chase told him he “should be embarrassed” after the SNL alum screened the film.

“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,’” Reitman told Spade and Carvey.

Carvey said Chase knew his assessment was “funny, like that’s the roughest thing you could say to a director in the moment, or right up there,” with Spade weighing in on the Spies Like Us actor’s brutal response by saying, “You couldn’t even write it better.”

Reitman called the exchange his “own Chevy Chase moment.”

Article content

Article content

“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% 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,” Reitman recalled.

Jason Reitman attends the Los Angeles Special Screening of Sony’s “Saturday Night” at Vista Theatre on Sept. 24, 2024. Photo by Emma McIntyre /Getty Images

In his dramatic recounting of the frenzied debut episode of SNL back in the fall of 1975, Reitman cast Cory Michael Smith as Chase. The writer-director said he “tried to identify one thing” about each cast member when writing the film. For Chase, the character trait he zeroed in on was capturing “an ego that (needed) to be humbled.”

Article content

Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Kaia Gerber as Jacqueline Carlin and Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase in “Saturday Night.” Photo by Hopper Stone /Sony Pictures Entertainment

In an interview with PEOPLE, Smith said he didn’t have a chance to speak with Chase about his portrayal prior to filming. But he told the outlet that he hoped the Community alum saw something of himself in Smith’s interpretation.

“I do hope that he saw a younger version of himself, which maybe that’s a joyful experience or not,” Smith said. “But this man played such a huge part in me wanting to be a performer and loving movies, so it was an honour to play him.”

Saturday Night, which is available for digital rental, takes place at 30 Rockefeller Center at 10 p.m. on Oct. 11, 1975 — 90 minutes before the first-ever broadcast of SNL.

Reitman and his writing partner Gil Kenan penned the screenplay for the film after interviewing cast members and crew about the premiere episode of the series that embarked on its 50th season this year.

Article content

In the film, then-unknown series creator and producer Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) arrives at 30 Rockefeller Center missing one of his stars, struggling to complete an unfinished set and trying to figure out how he’ll whittle three hours of material down to 90 minutes.

“I always felt like the villain of the movie was a clock,” Reitman told Postmedia in an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. “When I started reading stories and interviewing people for this film, every story surprised me. The idea that they were laying real brick for home base in the moments leading up to air. The idea that Lorne had to steal a lighting director from a different floor. The fact that they borrowed a sound system from Madison Square Garden. All the way up to Milton Berle pulling out his penis. Every story I heard was more insane than the next.”

Article content

(L to R) Garret Morris (Lamorne Morris), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn), Jim Belushi (Matt Wood), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Jane Curtain (Kim Matula) and Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien) in “Saturday Night.” Photo by Sony PIctures

Maze Runner star Dylan O’Brien said his version of Dan Aykroyd captured the Canadian actor at his most “unbothered.”

“I would talk to myself a lot as Dan and I would record it. If I ever was thinking I was in the zone, I wanted to capture it. Then I would listen to it on set and think, ‘That it was awful.’ Then I would shoot,” he added in a separate interview with Postmedia.

The bedlam that ensues as the cast and crew race against the clock before going to air is something that still exists to this day, Reitman added.

“If you go to a taping of SNL, you’ll see them painting till the last second, hammering nails, pinning wigs, hemming clothes,” Reitman said. “It’s a show that comes together at the last second.”

[email protected]

Recommended from Editorial

1. 

   Jason Reitman’s 'Saturday Night' details the wild and crazy story behind SNL's chaotic debut

2. 

   Spirit Halloween slams 'irrelevant' 'Saturday Night Live' after premiere sketch

Article content