Joel McHale, of Community, The Soup, bunch of films I'm too tired to list here and the new CBS unfunny sitcom The Great Indoors, spills the beans about Community set and Chevy Chase related incidents, (and even burns David Letterman in the process a bit), in his memoir Thanks For The Money!
> Says "Everyone thinks Chevy is crazy. But he's not.
He's a lunatic."
> Prefaces with how Chevy was an idol for him because of his iconic roles in the past, but Chevy had a problem with him on Community because he had taken "a classic Chevy Chase role" (as the sarcastic, cool, tall guy).
>
Chevy tried to fight him many times, punching him on the shoulder etc (these are the known stuff) and Joel would reply by bending his hand to his waist.
> He actually dislocated Chevy's shoulder during the shooting of an episode. (Said episode is 1x12 Comparative Religion). During the episode, Chevy's character (Pierce Hawthorne) is supposed to teach Joel's character (Jeff Winger) how to fight, and between takes Chevy taunted Joel by saying he wasn't hitting very hard and, I'm quoting the book here " called him a pussy", even after Joel explained him because it was all pretend and none of it was real -- so he wouldn't hit him for real.
> But at last he caved in and hit Chevy with his left, dislocating Chevy's shoulder.
Now to newly found some disturbing stuff:
> Apparently, Chevy said to an actress on the show, in what Joel thinks "an effort to jokingly flatter" that actress,
"I want to kill you and then rape you."> The actress, whose name is not mentioned, replied by saying: "Well, at least I'd be dead."
> "I get it -- Chevy was trying to make a purposefully tacky, over-the-top joke. But something was off.
Everything he said had a weird edge of menace."
Other fun stuff (!) about Chevy:
> Chevy didn't want to dance because "
he didn't want to look gay".
> Turns out,
this scene in the Dungeons and Dragons episode of season 2 was written, because
Chevy would occasionally announce that he could still get erections. > Chevy often complained that Pierce being mean and offensive, which Joel finds fascinating "since Pierce Hawthorne was conceived to be a nicer version of Chevy."
> In the event
where Chevy used the n-word during Community's season 4 shooting; he actually said the thing twice: In the first one, Joel was the only one who heard it; and then Chevy repeated himself louder, because nobody heard him.
(Adding this because I found it good. In the book, the n-word is described as follows (not even the censored version is present):
"Chevy used a word that is incredibly offensive and racially charged. In fact this word has been reappropriated by the black community for the express purpose of stripping it of its power, so that the word can be more effectively used by Quentin Tarantino.")
> Then Chevy came back,
yelling at the cast for ruining his career, and he was not a racist -- and when the cast asked how they ruined his career,
he replied "IT'S ALL OVER THE INTERNET" and went back to his trailer again.
Also he throws shade at David Letterman, for defending Chevy:
> Refers to
this interview (Chevy part starts at this point.) with Letterman.
> He admits he was probably a bit too condescending, and his Chevy impersonation was a bit too doddering.
> Letterman (and Paul Shaffer) defended Chevy, saying how good Chevy was to him and his family over the years.
> Says he doesn't take issue with Letterman,
"it was his show, and he was free to defend any person he wanted, even ones who were coincidentally similar to him in age, race, and industry stature."> He says it revealed something "refreshing" : "That there was still some loyalty in the entertainment industry." He hopes that when he inevitably turns into a bitter, racist, older comedic actor and one of his young, hot-shit costars goes on Conan to tell unflattering anecdotes about him, "that Conan does the right thing and puts that snide little bastard in his place."
To my utter delight, he also burns Community itself a little bit
While listing down the actresses he made out on camera with, for Alison Brie (who played Annie Edison) he says: "Our characters Annie and Jeff had a real "Will they or won't they?" relationship. As in "
Will the viewers be nauseated when they remember that Annie was eighteen when the show began and Jeff is clearly in his forties? Or won't they?"
While listing down what his roles would be like if he didn't get those hair transplants (yes, he got two apparently) he says about Jeff Winger: "The arrogant, self-obsessed lawyer
having sexual relationships with women twenty years his junior. That description alone tells you right away that Jeff Winger is obviously the likable, relatable hero of a cult sitcom. But he was also defined by his wonderful hair, which was also my wonderful hair."
sources: tweet
1 -
2 // the book itself (I have it!)
It's quite an entertaining book, and I regret nothing for spending at least 1 week's worth of kitchen shopping money on it. And I had no idea the second tweet I linked has the same story written, but I can assure you I typed every single quote myself lol.