Tim matheson in animal house movie#
Doyle-Murray, who was a writer for SCTV at the time and an alumnus of the National Lampoon Radio Hour and Second City Chicago, never became a movie star like others in the Second City/ National Lampoon/ SNL clique, but Animal House could have been an opportunity for him to break through. snobs” outing Caddyshack, was the original choice for Hoover, the president of the fraternity. Part of the reason Belushi’s performance here stands out so much is that most of the film’s actors were mostly unknowns and let’s face, didn’t have the comedic chops of a John Belushi.īill Murray’s older brother, Brian Doyle-Murray, recognizable character actor and co-writer of Harold Ramis’s subsequent “slobs vs. Putting another SNL face into Animal House’s cast would have taken the spotlight off of John Belushi a little bit, too. If Michaels had two of his actors skipping rehearsals for Animal House, it would have been too great a hindrance to SNL. Landis claims in Tom Shales and James Andrew Miller’s SNL oral history, Live from New York, that Michaels threatened to fire Aykroyd if he did the movie. Aykroyd would have been able to draw on these fruitful creative relationships for Animal House, but SNL head honcho Lorne Michaels, who had already lost John Belushi to the movie, forbade him from taking the part, according to John Landis. Plus, he’s done the best work of his career with the Animal House team, working with John Belushi on SNL and The Blues Brothers, Harold Ramis and Ivan Reitman on Ghostbusters, and John Landis on Blues Brothers and Trading Places. Aykroyd was an avid motorcyclist back in the 70’s, and he would have been a nice fit for the part. The role of D-Day, the motorcycle-riding member of the movie’s central frat, was written with Dan Aykroyd in mind. With another actor in the role, it’s easy to imagine the film wouldn’t have been anywhere near as big a hit. Like John Belushi, Meat Loaf is a big guy with a big, boisterous personality and screen presence, but Belushi’s performance is what made Animal House so popular. Landis met with Meat Loaf and a few other actors in case John Belushi dropped out. Meat Loaf was John Landis’s second choice for the role of Bluto. Let’s take a look at the various actors and actresses who came close to landing roles in Animal House but didn’t make it into the film for one reason or another. The movie that changed American comedy forever could have been very different, though, if some of the original casting ideas had gone through. Movies like Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Porky’s, American Pie, The Hangover, and the entire Judd Apatow canon wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for Animal House. The film spawned a whole subgenre of raunchy R-rated comedies that is still with us today. Animal House was a hit R-rated comedy, which was a rarity at the time. Director John Landis, producer Ivan Reitman, and writer Harold Ramis became three of the three biggest behind-the-scenes guys in comedy following Animal House’s triumphant box office run. Animal House’s popularity also allowed for its creative team to dominate the comedy pocket of the film industry in the 1980s. Adjusting for ticket price inflation, Animal House made $476 million in today’s dollars, more than any comedy released in the past 20 years.Įvery SNL star who’s had a big movie career after leaving the show owes a debt of gratitude to John Belushi and Animal House because the film made him the first SNL castmember to cross over with a mega hit movie, paving the way for the likes of Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Will Ferrell, and most recently, Kristen Wiig.
While there was a big hubbub made over The Hangover two years ago when it became the highest-grossing R-rated comedy of all time when inflation is factored in, that film pales in comparison to the attendance figures for Animal House. It’s difficult to put into perspective how huge a pop cultural event the release of National Lampoon’s Animal House was in the summer of 1978.
This week: the nixed casting possibilities for the 1978 movie Animal House.
Tim matheson in animal house tv#
Lost Roles is a weekly column exploring what might have been in TV and film comedy, taking a different comedian, writer, or work each week and examining the casting possibilities and career moves that almost came to be.
0 kommentar(er)
