Emile Hirsch isn’t mincing words when it comes to his scrapped John Belushi biopic.
Back in 2013, Hirsch was cast to portray the late comedian and “Saturday Night Live” star. Steve Conrad (“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”) was set to direct. However, the lack of funding led to the project falling apart.
Now, Hirsch is revealing the misguided advice the director gave him before the film was even greenlit.
“I was a little bit torn [about signing on],” Hirsch said during THR‘s ”It Happened in Hollywood” podcast. “I had a conversation with the director at one point, and he was talking about the weight gain. This is how stupid this guy was: He was like, ‘Just gain the weight and then we’ll make the movie.’”
He added, “And I’m like, ‘Gain the weight and then we’ll make the movie? How about let’s make the movie and then I’ll gain the weight!’ I’d be the biggest sucker in the known universe to go and, like, gain 100 pounds.”
Hirsch continued that the director was “a nice guy — but, like, that’s crazy. [Belushi] probably weighed like 230. The girth is a big part of the look, you know.” The actor did not name Conrad during the podcast, though.
IndieWire has attempted to reach representatives for both Hirsch and Conrad, but we did not immediately receive a response.
Belushi’s legacy has been rumored to be brought to the big screen in a few different standalone projects. Adam Pally was set to portray Belushi in 2020; Matt Wood stars as Belushi in the upcoming film “Saturday Night” about the first taping of “Saturday Night Live.”
Hirsch previously told IndieWire that the slated Belushi biopic he was cast for was going to have a “very unique perspective” thanks to Conrad’s vision.
“I think [the director] Steve Conrad, he wrote ‘The Weatherman’s Pursuit of Happiness’ and ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.’ He’s very good at finding these very special tones,” Hirsch said in 2013. “I don’t want to speak for the way he plans to do it yet, but I feel like he has a very unique perspective and voice that will come into play. He wrote the script. He knows the story. He’s working really hard.”
The film was going to lean into the “unpredictable-ness and wildness” of Belushi.
“It’s just the certain maniacal-ness,” Hirsch said. “I haven’t fully done my research yet, it’s too early for me to have any kind of declarative statement on what he was like. It’s way, way too early, but I certainly think it will be a very interesting look at his life.”
As for the expected weight gain, Hirsch added, “There’s all kinds of tricks and transformations. Ultimately you have to get the spirit of him first, the most important thing. You could gain hundreds of pounds and if you don’t capture that, no one’s going to give a shit anyway. […] It’s kind of annoying though because people are automatically so obsessed with the weight. I’ve just started to tell people that I’m going to lose weight for the role. That we’re doing a creative interpretation of the part where Belushi’s just rail thin in our version. I’m telling people this with a straight face and just seeing their reaction.”
