‘Saturday Night’: Chevy Chase Told Jason Reitman He “Should Be Embarrassed” About The Film

Chevy Chase is an interesting character. He’s a comedic actor with a ton of iconic performances in his career. However, when you hear people talk about him off-screen, Chase can be a pretty abrasive. So, it makes total sense that he would say something rude to Jason Reitman after watching “Saturday Night.”

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Speaking on “Fly on the Wall” podcast, hosted by Dana Carvey and David Spade, Jason Reitman talked about Chevy Chase’s response to watching “Saturday Night.” For those unfamiliar, “Saturday Night” is a film that tells the story about the first airing of “Saturday Night Live.” And yes, Chevy Chase was part of the first cast of the ensemble comedy show. Apparently, before the film was released, Reitman took time to show Chase the film.

“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,’” Reitman said.

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“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,’” he added. “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 shit played. He’s not talking about that stuff.”

As mentioned above, Chase has a reputation for being difficult with people. Perhaps the most illustrative example of that is the fallout between Chase and “Community” creator Dan Harmon. Chase and Harmon feuded over the direction of the show, exchanging texts with each other. Chase also famously left multiple rude voicemails for Harmon. So, yeah, it makes sense that he wouldn’t have anything nice to say about “Saturday Night.”

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In “Saturday Night,” Chevy Chase is portrayed by actor Cory Michael Smith. The film is written by Gil Kenan and Reitman, with the latter also directing. 

You can hear the full discussion below: