David Letterman says his PLANE! The audition was terrible, but he walked away laughing and having made friends with the crew

David Lettermann He is best known for his long-form interviewing skills Late Night with David Letterman, Late show with David Lettermanand his most recent show, My next guest needs no introduction with David Letterman. Letterman is also a stand-up comedian and, like many others in the industry, was encouraged to try comedic acting. So he auditioned for the 1980 comedy classic, Airplane!and it didn’t go well.

An excerpt from the forthcoming book Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of the Plane! was published by Entertainment weekly the accident in detail. Letterman was called to audition for the lead role of Ted Striker, ultimately played by Robert Hays.

The co-director of the film Jeff Zucker says in the book:

“He wasn’t an actor, but he was funny. And he looked good on screen, like a handsome leading man. But the thing is, David is really uncomfortable with the very idea of ​​acting. I think it all seems too fake to him, like he’s talking bullshit. It just wasn’t him.”

Letterman adds that Airplane! he was “really nice to consider me for a film”, but tried to warn them that he was in no way an actor.

“I liked those guys, and when I saw the movie, it was just delightful, and I was happy to watch it knowing I didn’t have to watch myself. Because that would ruin him. If it hadn’t been the entire movie, it would have definitely ruined it for me. [In my audition], I go out and they set up a cockpit for the plane with chairs. I had one chair and there was another one where the co-pilot would be. We did the scene once, and then they came and gave me some notes, and then we did it maybe two more times. And I kept saying the whole time, “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!’”

“It was all so good-natured that I laughed as I walked back to the car,” he adds. “I never felt any sense of disappointment, because from the beginning I told them, ‘I can’t act.’ And then I was right and in the end we all parted as friends. So it was a good time.

Years later, Zucker went on Letterman’s talk show and surprised him by showing a clip of his disastrous audition.

“Whether he was actually caught by surprise or not, or whether his staff had prepared him in advance for the clip, he was a good sport about it and seemed appropriately embarrassed, making her laugh out loud,” Zucker says in the book. “This was acting!”

Surely You Can’t Be Serious: The True Story of the Plane! is available for pre-order and will go on sale October 3rd.