David Cross once named “the most unpleasant experience” of his career
Known for his unrivalled sharp wit, brilliant satirical outlook, and carefully constructed observational humour, David Cross is one of the true legends of American comedy. After coming through with a series of acclaimed stand-up performances and the series Mr Show, Cross set out for genuine stardom.
That arrived when he appeared in the beloved sitcom Arrested Development as Tobias Funke, and it wasn’t long before cherished projects arrived in the form of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, Freak Show, and Modern Family also arrived.
However, while Cross has indeed contributed to so many brilliant comedy moments throughout his career, it’s fair to say that he’s not enjoyed every project he’s ever taken on. He certainly did not favour being in three Alvin and the Chipmunks movies, which began in 2007 and went up to 2011.
“All I wanted was to get the fuck out of there as soon as possible… and buy a summer home with the check,” Cross once told Conan O’Brien of his opinion on the films. Naturally, some actors take the odd job for a handsome paycheck, and Cross was well within his right to take on the first Chipmunks movie and bring home the cash.
However, he was not quite expecting the films to do so well, and suddenly, he was contractually obliged to make another two movies in the franchise, by which point he was completely pissed off with the whole ordeal. The first movie was “fine”, according to the actor, and even the second was “okay”, but the third film proved to be breaking point.
Cross told Justin Long that 2011’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked was “literally, without question, the most unpleasant experience I’ve ever had in my professional life.” “[It was] in a different category of bad experiences,” he said. “They were disrespectful of me, and just so mean to me, and so petty and weird.”
The Arrested Development actor continued, “They were so shitty to me … it was so inexplicably awful. Just awful. They were shitty in every single way at every single point.” Cross was in London working on The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret when he got the call about Chipwrecked, and his agent told him he needed to be in Hawaii in ten days.
Quite simply, Cross was forced to be in the film despite having no lines in it, which appeared to be mere torture in his direction. Not only that, but he also had a rusty old trailer placed in between lots of nice, clean trailers. Well, it wasn’t all doom and gloom as Cross admitted that at least he started to be recognised across the world, in far-flung places like China, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana. “It’s crazy,” he said.
