David Cross Called Filming ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked’ the Most Unpleasant Experience of His Comedy Career
Arrested Development star David Cross is also known for movies like the Alvin and the Chipmunks franchise. However, he called his experience filming Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked, “literally, without question, the most unpleasant experience I’ve ever had in my professional life.” What made it so horrible?
David Cross didn’t mind making the first 2 ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks’ movies
David Cross boarded the juggernaut with the critically panned box office hit, Alvin and the Chipmunks in 2007. Despite its poor reception, the movie made a lot of money for 20th Century Fox. So it garnered a sequel.
The actor returned to reprise his role as the conniving record label executive, Ian Hawke. According to BuzzFeed, Cross said that doing the first Alvin movie was “fine” and that the second was “OK.” But working on the third film was in an altogether different category of bad experiences.
‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked’ led Cross to quit
The third installment of the film franchise saw him return. This time, Cross donned a pelican costume, which didn’t sit well with him. Fortunately, it was the final entry in his original contract. So the actor declined to return for the fourth (and final) film, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip.
Discussing the third movie, Cross went so far as to say that he was forced to do the third Alvin flick “for no other reason than to torture” him, reported Uproxx. “They were so sh**** to me,” the actor said. “It was so inexplicably awful. Just awful. They were sh**** in every single way at every single point.”
Cross and Jason Long, who provided Alvin’s voice in Chipwrecked, discussed the making of the movie on the latter’s Life is Short podcast in 2020. During the 90-minute podcast, Cross decried his on-set treatment, describing a certain producer as petty, mean, and disrespectful, per Screen Rant. He also revealed that a long-ago outburst cost him a whopping $150,000 bonus due to a violation of a “non-disparagement clause” in his contract.
Despite being billed in the second (behind Jason Lee), Cross was given a small, outdated, rusty trailer that was parked among nicer trailers on the movie set. As he said on the podcast, “I knew exactly what they were up to.”
In 2012, Cross told late-night host, Conan O’Brien, that all he wanted to do was “to get the f*** out of there as soon as possible … and buy a summer home with the check.”
David Cross continues to act
David Cross first began his career as a writer and actor on The Ben Stiller Show in the ’90s. He and Bob Odenkirk then made names for themselves on their own sketch-comedy series, Mr. Show. Cross also appeared in films like Men in Black and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
However, to many TV comedy fans, Cross will always be Tobias Funke in Arrested Development. The busy actor, who has always released multiple comedy specials, doesn’t appear to deal with a shortage of gigs, despite some controversy. So does he regret doing Alvin and the Chipmunks?
Not really. In fact, he says the movie made him famous in Mozambique. And there’s one comment he hears from parents that makes him feel better: “Man, thank you for doing that because I had to watch that f***ing thing forty times and at least you’re funny.”
