Director Chris Columbus Left "Christmas Vacation" Movie After Meeting Chevy Chase Twice: 'I Couldn't Work with The Guy'

12/24/2024 04:35 PM

"I was signed on…and then I met Chevy Chase," Columbus tells Vanity Fair

The director of Home Alonesays he nearly directed another iconic holiday film — National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation— but ultimately left after clashing with the film's star, actor Chevy Chase.

Speaking to Vanity Fair, director Chris Columbus said he had already signed on to direct ChristmasVacation, which was released in 1989, and had begun shooting when he first met Chase.

"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 realized I couldn't work with the guy," Columbus told the outlet. "I was one of the many who couldn't work with him."

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Columbus added that his first one-on-one meeting with the actor yielded a bizarre interaction.

"He had to know I was directing the movie. I talked about how I saw the movie, how I wanted to make the movie. He didn't say anything. I went through about a half hour of talking. He didn't say a word," Columbus said. "And then he stops and he says — and this makes no sense to any human being on the planet, but I'm telling you. I probably have never told this story. Forty minutes into the meeting, he says, 'Wait a second. You're the director?' And I said, 'Yeah… I'm directing the film.' And he said to me the most surreal, bizarre thing. I still haven't been able to make any sense out of it. He said, 'Oh, I thought you were a drummer.' I said, 'Uhh, okay. Let's start talking about the film again.' After about 30 seconds, he said, 'I got to go.' "

The two later met again, this time with the film's producer, John Hughes, though Columbus said he was "basically nonexistent" while the two exchanged stories.

"We spent two hours together, and I left the dinner and I thought, 'There's no way I can make a movie with this guy,' " Columbus told Vanity Fair. "First of all, he's not engaged. He's treating me like s---. I don't need this. I'd rather not work again. I'd rather write… Who says anything like that to anybody? It makes no sense. So to tell that story almost makes no sense, but it actually happened. I thought, This was how we're going to work together? I'm going to be on set and he's not listening."

So, Columbus called Hughes and said he was exiting the film.

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"I called John and I said, 'This is really hard for me, but I can't do this movie with Chevy Chase.' "

The move, it turned out, was serendipitous, ultimately leading Columbus to take on another holiday film project: Home Alone.

"I quit ChristmasVacation. The next weekend, I got another script from John — and it's Home Alone. Home Alone, for me, was even more personal, a better script," Columbus said. "And I thought, I can really do something with this, and I don't have to deal with Chevy Chase."

Chase has previously brushed off reports that he is difficult to work with, saying in a 2022 interview, "I am who I am. And I like... who I am. I don't care. And it's part of me that I don't care. And I've thought about that a lot ... I just don't care."