"If Chevy Chase had not been an actor, he might have been a very popular guy in advertising or whatever field he would have gone into, because of his charisma"
About this Quote
Chevy Chase’s supposed backup plan as “a very popular guy in advertising” lands like a compliment that’s been quietly filed down into a warning label. Harold Ramis isn’t just praising charisma; he’s relocating it. Acting, in this framing, is almost incidental. The real asset is a sales-floor magnetism that could move product, win rooms, climb ladders. Ramis knows exactly how that reads to anyone who’s watched comedy mythologize “natural talent” while running on bruising power dynamics.
The intent feels double: generous on the surface, surgical underneath. “If he had not been an actor” implies Chase’s stardom wasn’t inevitable artistry so much as the lucky convergence of a forceful personality with the right camera era. “Advertising or whatever field” is doing sly work, too. It’s a shrug that suggests interchangeability: the charisma would succeed anywhere, because it’s less about craft than about dominance, presence, persuasion. That’s flattering, but it’s also a demotion from artist to operator.
Context matters: Ramis came up inside ensemble comedy, where alchemy depends on trust and shared timing, not just the loudest voltage in the room. By casting Chase as a man who could thrive in ad-world likability, Ramis hints at the classic comedic tension between charm and collaboration: charisma wins attention; it doesn’t necessarily win affection. The subtext is industry-savvy: some people aren’t built for the vulnerability of performance so much as the leverage of it, and Hollywood will happily confuse the two as long as the box office stays friendly.
The intent feels double: generous on the surface, surgical underneath. “If he had not been an actor” implies Chase’s stardom wasn’t inevitable artistry so much as the lucky convergence of a forceful personality with the right camera era. “Advertising or whatever field” is doing sly work, too. It’s a shrug that suggests interchangeability: the charisma would succeed anywhere, because it’s less about craft than about dominance, presence, persuasion. That’s flattering, but it’s also a demotion from artist to operator.
Context matters: Ramis came up inside ensemble comedy, where alchemy depends on trust and shared timing, not just the loudest voltage in the room. By casting Chase as a man who could thrive in ad-world likability, Ramis hints at the classic comedic tension between charm and collaboration: charisma wins attention; it doesn’t necessarily win affection. The subtext is industry-savvy: some people aren’t built for the vulnerability of performance so much as the leverage of it, and Hollywood will happily confuse the two as long as the box office stays friendly.
Quote Details
| Topic | Career |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
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