Director Jason Reitman received a less-than-glowing review for “Saturday Night” from “SNL” legend Chevy Chase.
While speaking on “Fly on the Wall,” hosted by former SNL cast members David Spade and Dana Carvey, Reitman recalled Chase’s knee-jerk reaction to the film.
“So, Chevy comes to see the movie,” Reitman said. “And he’s there with (his wife) Jenny and they’re watching the movie, and he’s in the group, and he came up to me afterwards and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Well, you should be embarrassed.'”
Speed said Chase’s reaction was “something very similar to Chevy’s,” adding that “you couldn’t even write (the moment) better.” Carvey speculated that Chase, in part, tried to embarrass Reitman because “he knows this is funny, as if this is the cruelest thing you could say to a director right now, or there.”
“I’m trying to balance it out, because I know in my head, ‘OK, I’m going to have my Chevy Chase moment that’s just 1,000 percent to me right now,'” Reitman recalls. “And from a comedic standpoint, that’s really pure, and that’s kind of cool. But also, I’ve spent almost two years of my life recreating that moment and trying to portray Chevy perfectly, and also even in his ego, finding the humanity and giving him a moment to be likable. No. “He didn’t play any of that shit. He doesn’t talk about that stuff.”
“Saturday Night,” released Sept. 27, chronicles the chaotic lead-up to the 1975 premiere of the landmark late-night sketch show. The film stars Gabrielle LaBelle, Rachel Sinnott, Ella Hunt, Cory Michael Smith, Lamorne Morris, Matt Wood, Nicholas Braun, and Emily Fearn.