Home Alone Director Chris Columbus Names the Actor Who Pushed Him to Leave the Iconic Comedy

Chris Columbus has opened up about his decision to leave an iconic Christmas film, revealing he struggled to work with the lead actor.

The 66-year-old has directed some of the most beloved films of the moment, including the first two installments of the Harry Potter franchise and Mrs. Doubtfire.

Just days before landing a job directing the first Home Alone film, he was actually starting work on a very different holiday classic with legendary producer John Hughes – until Chevy Chase got in his way.

Unpacking his excellent catalog in a new interview with Vanity Fair, the filmmaker explained that he was chosen to direct National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – the third in the Vacation franchise.

In fact, he had begun filming “second unit” sequences, before things took a complete turn during two meetings with the main star, who played Clark Griswold.

“Even given my situation at the time, where I desperately needed to make a film, I realized I couldn’t work with this guy,” he recalls. “Tale as old as time!” I was one of many who couldn’t work with him.

“When I first met him, I sat down with him. It was just the two of us. He must have known that I was directing the film. 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.

“40 minutes into the meeting he says, “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.” » I said, “Uh, okay. Let’s start talking about the movie again. After about 30 seconds, he said, “I have to go.” »

Hughes joined them for the second conversation, but Columbus was at his wit’s end, feeling disrespected by the community actor.

“We spent two hours together, I left dinner and thought I can’t make a movie with this guy. First of all, he’s not engaged,” he continued. “He treats me like shit. I don’t need this. I prefer not to work anymore. I prefer to write.

This isn’t the first time Chase has been criticized for being unprofessional. Community creator Dan Harmon revealed that he often tried to “disrupt” co-star Donald Glover’s scenes and “created racial rifts between takes” on set.

“Chevy was the first to realize how immensely gifted Donald was, and the way he expressed his jealousy was to try to get rid of Donald,” he said in a 2018 New Yorker profile .

“I remember apologizing to Donald after a particularly difficult night of non-PC Chevrolet verbiage, and Donald said, ‘I don’t even care.’

“I saw Chevrolet as a time of struggle – a true artist has to be OK with the end of his reign,” Glover said. “I can’t help him if he’s struggling in the water. But I know there’s a human in there somewhere – he’s almost too human.

Responding to his former co-star’s comments, the comedian said: “I’m saddened to learn that Donald viewed me in this light.”

Columbus eventually left the Christmas break and Jeremiah S Chechik stepped in as director, with the third film in the franchise hitting the big screen on December 1, 1989.

Chase remained in the lead role alongside Juliette Lewis, Johnny Galecki, Beverly D’Angelo and Randy Quaid.

Just days after Columbus left the film, Hughes – who died in 2009 – offered him an even better opportunity, without Chase this time.

“I stopped the Christmas holidays. The following weekend, I received another script from John, and it was Home Alone,” he added. “Home Alone, for me, was even more personal, a better script. And I thought, I can really do something with this, and I don’t have to worry about Chevy Chase. That was it.

Home Alone premiered in November 1990 and ended up grossing over $476 million at the worldwide box office.

It also earned the record for the highest-grossing live-action comedy in Guiness World Records, prior to Hangover Part II.

Not too bad…

Metro.co.uk has contacted Chase representatives for comment.

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