Host David Letterman poses for a portrait in c.1983 in Los Angeles, California; Robert Hays in Airplane, 1980.Photo:Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty; Allstar Picture Library Limited/Alamy
Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty; Allstar Picture Library Limited/Alamy
David Lettermanmay be one of the most iconic late-night hosts of all time, but he admits he was not cut out for the big screen.
David Letterman screen test for “Airplane!".Paramount
Paramount
“I get out there, and they had set up a cockpit for the aircraft with chairs,” Letterman recalled in the book, perEntertainment Weekly. “I had a chair, and there was another chair where the copilot would be. We did the scene once, and then they came in and gave me some notes, and then we did it maybe two more times. And I kept saying all along, ‘I can’t act, I can’t act, I can’t act,’ and then one of them came to me after the audition and said, ‘You’re right: you can’t act!'”
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Coming out on Oct. 3,Surely You Can’t Be Seriouswill feature conversations with the movie’s stars, including Hays and Julie Hagerty. It will also include juicy stories about the casting process withSigourney WeaverandCaitlyn Jenner, per the outlet.
“They were really nice to consider me for a film, because I can see where people would think, ‘Oh, we have a thing where we’re opening an Alpha Beta (supermarket); can you come out and talk to the bag boys?’” Letterman said in the book, perEW’s excerpt. “That made sense. But a movie? And the guy who produced it was Howard Koch, who had a legitimate movie career and big-time credits. He was somebody that even I was aware of, and so I thought, Geez, he’s not gonna want anything to do with me!”
Letterman added, “When I saw the movie, it was just delightful, and I was delighted to see it knowing that I didn’t have to look at myself. Because that would’ve ruined it. If not the whole movie, it certainly would’ve ruined it for me.”
source: people.com
