“I had a chair, and there was another chair where the copilot would be.
), accounts of Leslie Nielsen’s pranks, and the story behind the infamous jive talk scene.
EW has an exclusive excerpt from the book on Letterman’s audition and subsequent friendship with the ZAZ trio.
David Letterman; Robert Hays in ‘Airplane!'.Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images; Everett Collection
Read on for more below.
They were a crazy bunch.
I didGuys and Dollswith Jerry back at college.
‘Surely You Can’t Be Serious’ book cover.St. Martin’s Press
So, there’s that.
Jerry Zucker:We didn’t find Bob [Hays] until much later.
We’d read a lot of guys by then and we were starting to worry.
David Letterman in his ‘Airplane!’ screen test.Paramount
It was getting late, and we still hadn’t found anybody we thought was even close.
David Zucker:We had such a hard time casting the role of Ted Striker.
And the guy who produced it was Howard Koch, who had a legitimate movie career and big-time credits.
Jerry:He wasn’t an actor, but he was funny.
And he looked great onscreenlike, leading-man good looks.
But the thing about David is, he’s just really uncomfortable with the whole idea of acting.
I think it all seems too phony to him, like he’s bulls—ting.
It just wasn’t him.
Because that would’ve ruined it.
If not the whole movie, it certainly would’ve ruined it for me.
I had a chair, and there was another chair where the copilot would be.
It was all so good-natured that I just laughed my way back to the car.
And then I was right, and we all ended up parting as friends.
So it was a good time.
And the agent said, “Fat chance!”
I remember calling Letterman to tell him he didn’t get the part.
He thanked me profusely.
FromSurely it’s possible for you to’t Be Serious: The True Story ofAirplane!
by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker.
Copyright 2023 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
