Chris Rock praised the late comedian Chris Farley in a conversation with David Spade and Dana Carvey on their “Fly on the Wall” podcast, comparing him to arguably the greatest basketball player of all time: Michael Jordan.
“No one was competing with Farley,” Rock said of his cast mate on “Saturday Night Live.”
“He’s Michael Jordan and get him the ball.”
Farley has been lauded as one of the greatest cast members of “SNL” by many individuals, while Jordan recently had the MVP award in the NBA named after him due to his impact on the sport.
Chris Rock compared the late Chris Farley to basketball great Michael Jordan in a conversation with Dana Carvey and David Spade.
(NBC/Dimitrios Kambouris/Andrew D. Bernstein)
Rock admitted that the show was a “competitive environment” but that he “never felt that competition,” and particularly with Farley.
Rock expanded, saying he never questioned why Farley was getting opportunities that he or others might not have received. Rock admitted that Farley’s success was “because he’s better than you.”
The two men overlapped on “SNL” from 1990 to 1993. Farley stayed on the program until 1995, dying two years later of a drug overdose.
“He had a way of stepping into funny – like it was just on his shoe, he didn’t know how he got there,” Rock said of the late star before sadly adding, “Ahh, f—ing guy is gone.”
In 1991, Tim Meadows Chris Rock, and Chris Farley starred in the “I’m Chillin'” sketch for “SNL.”
(Raymond Bonar/NBCU Photo Bank)
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Carvey and Spade were complimentary of Farley as well. The two are dedicating two episodes of their podcast to honoring Farley on the 25th anniversary of his death, which will be December 18.
Spade recalls the ultimate compliment he gave to Farley, explaining, “There was a point when I said, ‘Actually, I think you’re better than [John] Belushi.'”
Spade also pointed out to Rock that Farley “was always sort of in awe of literally every other cast member,” when in reality, most people on set would be thinking, “‘Wait, you’re the great one, dude.'”
David Spade, Chris Rock, and Chris Farley were photographed together in 1993.
(KMazur/WireImage)
Simply put, Rock chalked the late star as having “a warmth to him” and that he was “unhateable.”
“He’s just always himself, you know what I mean,” Rock said to Spade and Carvey. “In a good way … he didn’t have to really, you know, get into character or anything. He was just f—ing funny … and you just bought he was whoever he was playing.”
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Reflecting on the career Farley could have had if he hadn’t died so early, Rock thinks he could have gone on to have the versatility of fellow cast mate and friend Adam Sandler, who recently starred in a more dramatic role than his typical comedy characters in the 2019 film “Uncut Gems.”
“Wow, what would that guy have done?” Rock asked on the podcast.
