Fans still come up to Kevin Farley after his stand-up acts and ask about his older brother Chris. Almost 18 years after his death, Chris Farley still remains in the discussion of greatest comedians to ever live.
The legacy left by the "Saturday Night Live" alum is what inspired directors Brent Hodge and Derik Murray to approach Kevin about making a documentary in honor of his late brother. Kevin only had one stipulation before agreeing to sign on as an executive producer for the film, "I Am Chris Farley," which Spike TV will premiere on Monday.
"When I first started this project I told Brent and Derik, I will only do this if we focus on Christopher's work. Let's make this about the legacy he's left from his work," the 50-year-old comic told Headlines & Global News in an exclusive interview. "And I said I will not do this if it is some kind of salacious thing about how he died. I don't think people are interested and also I think so much has been printed about how he died."
Chris died at age 33 in his Chicago apartment on Dec. 18, 1997 due to a drug overdose. He was found the next day by his brother John.
Kevin told HNGN that it has been "very cathartic" to talk about his brother as he promotes the new documentary, which he hopes opens people's eyes to the unbelievable performer Chris was despite the demons he struggled with his whole life.
"I hope people enjoy it. I hope they take away that it's not how someone dies, it's how someone lives," Kevin said. "The most important thing is the impact you have on the planet with the time that you have. And I think for Christopher, the short time that he had on the planet made an incredible impact."
Check out HNGN's full interview with Kevin as he previews what fans can expect from "I Am Chris Farley" and tells us why he thinks Chris Farley's small body of work has left such a remarkable impression.
We've all seen Chris Farley's movies and his best clips from "Saturday Night Live." What will the documentary show and tell us about Chris that we don't already know?
I think you're going to find the roots of where he got a lot of his characters, a lot of his comedy... I think it comes from his family, comes from his friends. It comes from high school, comes from Chicago. I think you're going to find out how he developed being a funny guy at a frat party to honing it on stage and I think that's the valuable thing you get from the documentary. A lot of people will come away with how this guy, who was a funny kid from the Midwest, honed his craft and made it to the top and very fast. Very fast. Extremely fast. He could see that he was funny, but he needed to control it. He needed to hone it, to manipulate it.
What has kept Chris' legacy alive over the last 17 years?
I just think his commitment. Every actor who studies acting, or if they study comedy... the first thing that comes up in any kind of acting school or drama school is commitment to character. The suspension of disbelief is what they call it and how you're going to get the audience to believe what you're doing on stage because they all know, we all know, they're trying to put us on. They're trying to do something that's not real. So they always talk about commitment. Commitment to your character, commitment to your comedy and I think Christopher had 1000 percent commitment. I've never seen, to this day, anyone be so committed.
When he had a role or he had to fall on a table, if he had to do anything on stage, he did it 100 percent. All in. A lot of people will try to make you laugh, whether they're singing or whatever, but you sort of get the element like, 'Oh, they're still performing.' But for Chris, it was like, 'That guy's really doing it.' When he fell on a table, for instance, Chevy Chase came up to him and said, "Well Farley, you can put your hands down, you can brace your fall," and Chris said, "No, no, no. I'm just going to fall on it. I'm going to really fall." So when he fell on a table, he really really fell. And Lorne Michaels would say, you're going to hurt yourself. But that's not the way he worked. That's just not the way he did things. He's not acting, he's actually doing it.
I personally can't think of any comedian or actor whose willing to risk their body like Chris did for a laugh or applause.
I think the reason is they're getting paid or they're a star, they're a celebrity. They don't feel a reason to do it. All these celebrities come up to me and say, 'Your brother was insane.' He was insane because he committed so hard to a role. I think a lot of celebrities get a lot of money and it's natural to, not phone in, but not go that far. Just not go that far. Not fall completely on a table or [laughing] or completely sweat that hard for your character. I think they look at him and go, 'My god.'
In acting classes around the world they probably say, if you can commit half to the way Chris Farley did to his character, you'd be a huge star, but nobody has. I don't know if it's guts or craziness or whatever to make you get to that level. I don't know. I don't even know to this day what made him do that. But I just know that if you look at his work, you go, 'My lord, that guy's all in.'
Strong emotions seemed to overcome almost everyone who speaks on camera in the documentary.
Yeah. I think because those guys worked with him and they saw the energy. I think everyone misses that energy including myself, including my family. When he walked into a room or he gave you a hug, his energy was something. It's missing in the world. It's missing in Hollywood. It's a special kind of energy that can't really be replaced. That's why they tear up.
[Note: Those that speak about Chris in the film include Christina Applegate, Tom Arnold, Dan Aykroyd, Bo Derek, Pat Finn, Jon Lovitz, Lorne Michaels, Jay Mohr, Mike Myers, Bob Odenkirk, Bob Saget, Adam Sandler, Will Sasso, Molly Shannon, David Spade, Brian Stack and Fred Wolf.]
For the young people who may not know Chris' story, what will they take away from watching this documentary?
I think that a lot of kids want to be a comedian or be an actor or writer or whatever your craft is and I think what you can take away from Chris Farley is just commitment to character. Commitment to craft. He loved to be an actor, he loved what he did for a living. If you're going to do that for a living, even if you're not going to do that for a living, just commitment to your craft and I think it certainly showed every single time that he stepped on stage or film.
Everyone talking in the documentary is a very accomplished person within the arts. We also have family, people that have grown up with Chris. But they all respected Chris. They all wanted to come out to pay respects to him because they understood his commitment to his craft was 100 percent.
And what's your final takeaway from this film about your brother?
It's an excellent documentary. For me personally, it's been a journey because Chris is the reason I still do comedy and I get on stage every night. He's an inspiration to me and I hope that he's an inspiration to others. This is just my homage, my inspiration, which is my brother.
"I Am Chris Farley" will premiere on Monday, Aug. 10 at 9 p.m. on Spike, which will also air his films "Black Sheep" and "Tommy Boy" with David Spade prior to the documentary's TV debut.
