Here’s a ‘Christmas’ Story About What Chevy Chase Would Have Been to the Director

Director Chris Columbus said actor Chevy Chase disrespected him so much that he left 1989’s “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” after he began filming.

The world is full of people who pick on the “difficult” Chase, but Columbus’s “Christmas” story is overblown.

In an interview with Vanity Fair published Tuesday, Columbus recalled his first meeting with Chase after second unit filming had already begun in Chicago.

“Even given my situation at the time, where I desperately needed to make a movie, I realized I couldn’t work with this guy,” Columbus said. “I was one of many who couldn’t work with him.”

It took two meetings with the former “Saturday Night Live” star to seal his decision.

“He had knowing that I was directing the film,” Columbus told the magazine. “I talked about how I saw the film, how I wanted to make the film. He didn’t say anything. I spent about half an hour talking. He didn’t say a word. 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 never told this story. Forty minutes into the meeting, he said, “Wait a second. Are you the director? And I said, ‘Yeah…I’m directing the movie.’ And he said the most surreal and bizarre thing to me. I still can’t make any sense of it. He said, ‘Oh, I thought you were a drummer.’

Columbus said he tried to bring the strange exchange back to a discussion about the movie, but after 30 seconds, Chase said, “I have to go.”

(Readers noted that the drummer’s remark was possibly a reference to jazz percussionist Chris Columbus) amid possible hazing of the director by Chase.

The second meeting resulted in about the same amount of communication, Columbus said.

“I said to myself, ‘I can’t make a movie with this guy.’ First of all, he’s not engaged. He treats me like shit. I don’t need this. I prefer not to work anymore. I prefer to write.’

Columbus did very well afterwards. John Hughes, who wrote “Christmas Vacation,” sent him his screenplay for “Home Alone” (1990), and Columbus helped make it a holiday classic. He also directed “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993) and some of the “Harry Potter” films.

He is currently promoting the new “Nosferatu”, which he produced.

HuffPost did not immediately receive a response to a request for comment from a listed Chase representative.