David Spade revealed on a new episode of his Fly on the Wall podcast that Chris Farley was the original choice to star in The Cable Guy, and that he "didn't love" having to walk away from the role and a $3 million payday because of a two-picture Paramount deal he was already locked into.
The timeline: Columbia Pictures bought the script for The Cable Guy in 1994 with Farley attached. That same year, Farley signed a two-picture deal with Paramount that required him to make Tommy Boy and a second film, which became Black Sheep.
When the schedule conflicted, the Paramount deal won and Farley had to give up The Cable Guy. Jim Carrey stepped in and was paid $20 million, the first actor ever to receive that amount upfront for a single film.
Spade also revealed that before Black Sheep was officially greenlit, Farley tried to quietly delay it. "You know," Spade said, doing his Farley impression, "if you don't think it's ready we can always do it next summer." Spade added: "That was so obvious what he was trying to do."
It didn't work. Farley made Black Sheep. Carrey made The Cable Guy, which became Carrey's first box office disappointment.
Farley died in December 1997. The what-if of Chris Farley as the Cable Guy, intrusive, physical, committed, is one of comedy history's more haunting alternate timelines.