David Spade voiced his concerns about the upcoming Lorne Michaels-produced biopic about late comedian Chris Farley this week on his and Dana Carvey’s Superfly podcast.
“I had heard some whispers about this for a long time,” Spade said on Friday’s episode, and shared his hopes for what the biopic will focus on in Farley’s life. It was recently announced that Farley would be played by Emmy winner Paul Walter Hauser. “I’ve run into this guy Paul, very nice guy,” Spade continued. “I think he’s been wanting to do this for a while. I don’t know how, I’m a little ambivalent about it.”
Playing Farley had indeed been a longtime dream role for Hauser, who told The Daily Beast in 2022, “No one alive will do or can do what I would do with that part. And that doesn’t mean they’re not talented or good. It just means if that movie is getting made, I’m the guy.” He even demonstrated his spot-on Farley impression during the podcast interview.
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Farley, an SNL alum, appeared on the show alongside Adam Sandler and David Spade and went on to star in successful comedy films like Tommy Boy and Beverly Hills Ninja, before dying in 1997 of a drug addiction at just 33 years old.
“I would hope it doesn’t just turn into—about drugs,” Spade, who jokingly called himself Farley’s “de facto widow” continued, “I just want it to be the whole thing.”
Carvey added that capturing the rare charisma of a late star can be difficult. “I think one-offs and charisma, it's very hard to get used to it in a film,” Carvey said. “I wish this guy the best. To do Chris Farley, there’s so much stuff there. I don’t know, I'll be curious. I don’t know how you do that.”
Spade and Carvey ultimately came up with an ideal timeline in Farley’s life for the film. “I don’t know where you focus,” Spade said. “It’s very hard to capture the highs and lows and the greatness and the just pure likability and the innocence and everything that was great about him.”
“I think [for] Chris, the timeline of the last year or two on SNL, into Tommy Boy is this period of time where Chris was full and it’s all there,” Carvey added. “I would focus on that,” he said, to which Spade agreed.
Spade did, however, have one suggestion for who could portray him in the upcoming film. “I just know that if Margot Robbie passes on playing me in the movie, we’re going to wind up with JoJo Siwa,” he joked.
