Director Jason Reitman received a less than glowing review of “Saturday Night” from “SNL” legend Chevy Chase.
While speaking on the “Fly on the Wall” podcast, hosted by former “SNL” cast members David Spade and Dana Carvey, Reitman recalled Chase’s brash reaction to the film.
“So, Chevy comes in to watch the movie,” Reitman said. “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.’”
Spade said Chase’s reaction was “an exact Chevy thing” to say, adding that “you couldn’t even write [the moment] better.” Carvey speculated that Chase, in part, tried to embarrass Reitman because he “knows that’s funny, like that’s the roughest thing you could say to a director in the moment, or right up there.”
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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,’” Reitman recalled. “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.”
“Saturday Night,” released Sept. 27, chronicles the chaotic lead-up to the 1975 premiere of the historic late-night sketch show. The film stars Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Ella Hunt, Cory Michael Smith, Lamorne Morris, Matt Wood, Nicholas Braun and Emily Fairn.