Chevy Chase Confronts His Reputation in CNN’s New Documentary
Growing Up With Chevy Chase — and the Cloud Over His Legacy
I kind of avoid writing about Chevy Chase as much as I can. Like many children of the eighties, I grew up loving the guy, with his classics like Fletch, Three Amigos, and the Vacation series getting replayed over and over in my household. Yet, as far back as I can remember, I always knew there was also a bit of a cloud over his legacy, as in the mid-nineties, when his contemporaries were celebrated and seemed chummy enough, Chase seemed more or less forgotten or ignored. Part of it is due to a long series of flop movies and his disastrous TV talk show, but there was more to it than that—and I remember around the time of his infamous roast that the common consensus seemed to be that Chase wasn’t the nicest guy in the world (to put it mildly).
A New CNN Documentary Gives Chase the Floor
Yet, there are two sides to every story, and Chase is finally getting the chance to set the record straight with CNN’s much-anticipated new documentary, I’m Chevy Chase, and You’re Not, which airs on the news channel on New Year’s Day. It comes from director Marina Zenovich, who is no stranger to challenging subjects, having made acclaimed documentaries on Lance Armstrong and Roman Polanski. She also has some legit comedy cred, having made the excellent Robin Williams doc, Come Inside My Mind, and Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic.
“I’d Never Done an Interview Where Someone Was So Rude to Me”
In a new sit-down with Variety, Zenovich admits the prickly Chase was a challenging interview subject, remembering that when she admitted to Chase that she had a hard time figuring him out, he told her it’s because she’s not bright enough. “I’d never done an interview where someone was so rude to me,” Zenovich told Variety. Yet, she was also relieved because it allowed her to confront him, in an honest way, about his reputation for being a jerk. “I was so worried going into that first interview with him about how I was going to say to him, like, ‘Everyone thinks you’re an asshole.’ I thought if I did, he would throw me out of his house. So the minute he said that to me, I had a way in.”
Who Participated — and Who Declined
In her interview with Variety, Zenovich admits she had a hard time getting people willing to be interviewed about Chase. While some big names are interviewed, including Ryan Reynolds and co-stars Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short, Goldie Hawn, and Beverly D’Angelo, as well as his former SNL boss Lorne Michaels, many others turned her down. Among them: Steve Martin and Chase’s former Groundlings colleague Christopher Guest. She also says no one from the cast of Community, which Chase was infamously fired from after using the N-word, wanted to talk to her, including showrunner Dan Harmon. The only one willing to go on camera was Community director Jay Chandrasekhar (of Broken Lizard).
Does Chevy Chase’s Legacy Still Hold Up?
I’m definitely curious to see this documentary, and I’ll be watching (and reviewing it) once it airs on CNN. What do you think—does Chase’s legacy hold up despite what people say about him? Is it high time he’s allowed to set the record straight himself? Let us know in the comments.
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