The late, great Chris Farley was known for his unique brand of physical comedy. Whether it was during some of his most iconic Saturday Night Live sketches or in movies like Tommy Boy, which saw the hilarious funnyman push the craft to the extreme, Farley would do anything and everything for a laugh. But sometimes, some of those stunts were too close for comfort.
I recently sat down with director Peter Segal to discuss the Tommy Boy 30th anniversary and was able to pick his brain about one of my all-time favorite comedies. We talked about everything from the backstory for some of the funniest scenes to the film’s legacy, but there was one hilarious (and painful) behind-the-scenes moment that still makes him laugh all these years later:
The one thing that sticks out is that during the fight in the prehistoric where [David] Spade has to take a plank of two-by-four and whack him in the face. I think he missed slightly the foam part and actually hit Chris in the face with the hard part of the two-by-four. Yeah, I remember that one. But we got through it with some bruises, but that was a real hit that ahead he took on that day.
In case you need a little history lesson, the fight in question comes immediately after the whole hood blowing up on the highway scene about halfway through Tommy Boy. After Richard Hayden (David Spade) tears into Tommy Callahan III (Chris Farley), the out-of-his-element auto plant heir challenges his road trip buddy to a fight on the side of the road. After a series of punches and wise-cracking remarks from Tommy, Richard pulls out a random two-by-four and cracks him over the head. The softened section of the board was supposed to make contact with Farley’s face, but instead, the exposed wood hit him with full force.
Though this was the one time Farley was on the receiving end of actual pain, Segal recalled numerous stories about the comedian giving it his all during the movie’s more physical moments. For example, there’s the famous plant sequence in the beginning when Tommy tries to dodge the machinery with his “cat-like reflexes.” Segal went on to share:
There were a lot of moments where Chris was hitting his head on things, and the great thing is like that – him taking a tour, you know with the other guys through the factory that the head bonk into that forklift was just so perfectly done and he had to sell it.
And boy did he sell it! The factory scene, much like the fight at the prehistoric forest later in the movie, helped make Tommy Boy not only one of the best comedies featuring SNL stars, but also one of the best ‘90s movies.
After chatting with Peter Segal, I went back and rewatched the all-time great Midwestern movie, and the comedy was just as hard-hitting today as it was back then. If you want to do the same, Tommy Boy is streaming on AMC+, and it’s also available on 4K Blu-ray.
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