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`SNL' star hopes new film `Black Sheep' will be an ace for Spade

By Christopher Corbett
Daily Arts Writer

"After high school I was a stand-up comic, and my only goal was to do it long enough until I could pay my bills," actor David Spade said in a recent phone interview.

David Spade. You know him from Saturday Night Live as the flight attendant who waves "Buh-bye," as the gossip reporter who rips on Michael Jackson on "The Hollywood Minute" and as the receptionist from hell ("Aaaand you are?").

But how do recent quantum leaps in fame and fortune -- last year he starred in the hit film "Tommy Boy" -- affect him?

"You're so nervous and doing so much press and hoping your film does well -- and you know if it doesn't you're in trouble -- that it's hard to get excited. But when `Tommy Boy' opened at No.1, that was a big deal. How many times in your life will you have the No. 1 movie?"

From the tone of his voice, Spade sounds like he's hoping for a few more times -- and he just might get them. Spade's sarcasm and sharp-as-a-thumbtack wit play off of partner Chris Farley's slapstick, Jerry Lewis-esque physical humor. When, in "Tommy Boy," a monstrous elk comes back to life in the back seat of Spade's car, and annihilates it, Farley screams "Awesome!" but Spade looks dazed and confused. In contrast, Jim Carrey would just scream, scream, and scream some more. Sometimes two is better than one.

"Black Sheep," opening tomorrow, promises to have a formula similar to "Tommy." If it's not broken, why fix it? The two actors like each other, which almost guarantees appealing performances.

"The good thing about a film like `Black Sheep' is it's not like a `Lethal Weapon' where it's written and then you cast two stars and you say, `I hope you get along. Have fun!' `Black Sheep' is based on Chris and I getting along together and being funny together."

But don't count on the film to beat you over the head like an "Ace Ventura" would. Fred Wolf -- who wrote SNL and "Tommy Boy" -- wrote the new film, and he knows how to embellish and highlight the pair's strengths.

"Black Sheep" (Spade described it to me as `"Schindler's List' meets `Home Alone'" -- yes, the sarcasm just pours through the telephone) has a lot of jokes that come from Spade's and Farley's days of chilling out together.

"In `Tommy Boy' we used `fat guy, little coat,' which was from real life," Spade explained.

"Black Sheep" director Penelope Spheeris, who also directed the "SNL" big-screen spinoff "Wayne's World," let them go completely psy-clops at times during the making of "Sheep." When the dynamic duo is stowed away in a cabin halfway through the film, they added a handful of scenes. Spade said "Tommy" had a lot of physical and verbal jokes, "but `Black Sheep' has even more physical than verbal humor."

Spade will be playing chaperone-turned-victim to Farley again. A man is running for governor and Farley is his Billy Carter-like brother who gets him in trouble. Spade hopes to get a better job (better than making campaign buttons) by offering to get Farley out of the way.

"How hard can it be ... hmmmm, very hard. We screw up everything and now I'm part of the problem. They ship us up to the mountains and we screw up everything there," he said. Screwy.

Spade has solo plans for the future, but said he'll definitely act in another film with his "big bro" if "Black Sheep" does well. His dream role? In a deeply reverential voice, he spoke of "a scene in `Cats.' ... I am writing something now. I guess the best way to make myself funny is if I write it. It's more of a romantic comedy."

With Meg Ryan? "More like an Ashley Judd. Or a Drew Barrymore."

Cut to the chase. Come on, who was your favorite guest host on SNL? "The funniest this year was Sean Penn -- I used him to give me a tattoo. He was a blast."

And as far as the transition from small screen to huge? "You have to be quieter and smaller because you're so big on the screen. I guess I'm spoiled. But I love a movie when it's done," Spade said.

When asked what else has improved (wink, wink) since his career move, Spade replied, "Women like power and money just as much as anybody else. (Sheeah, right! What-EVER, dude!). To be an average-looking guy, I guess that sometimes prettier girls talk to me than they should."

But to impress a girl? "When they walk in my house I have `Tommy Boy' on a trip wire in the VCR."