{"id":370529,"date":"2025-12-26T04:09:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T04:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/370529\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T04:09:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T04:09:12","slug":"beverly-dangelo-admits-to-unscripted-christmas-vacation-moment-with-chevy-chase-that-made-movie-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/370529\/","title":{"rendered":"Beverly D’Angelo admits to unscripted \u2018Christmas Vacation\u2019 moment with Chevy Chase that made movie history"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beverly D\u2019Angelo<\/a> took matters into her own hands and made movie history.<\/p>\n

After \u201cNational Lampoon\u2019s Vacation\u201d (1983) and \u201cNational Lampoon\u2019s European Vacation\u201d (1985), the Griswolds returned to deliver more chaos in 1989\u2019s \u201cNational Lampoon\u2019s Christmas Vacation.\u201d <\/p>\n

The film starred D\u2019Angelo and Chevy Chase<\/a>, along with Randy Quaid, Juliette Lewis, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, among others.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Angelo is ringing in the new year with plenty in store for fans.<\/p>\n

She stars alongside Hayden Panettiere in the upcoming 2026 psychological thriller \u201cSleepwalker.\u201d <\/p>\n

She recently followed it up with \u201cThe Heart Brake,\u201d in which she turns a property into a Christmas bed-and-breakfast called the Noel Hotel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But when the holidays roll around, D\u2019Angelo still looks back at\u00a0the film\u00a0that keeps on giving \u2014 and the moment she made her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not in the script for me to guard the family jewels when the police came to stick us up,\u201d the actress told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

\u201cI threw that in. That was definitely improvised. That was my little touch. All in one take.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the film, a police officer orders everyone gathered for the Griswold family Christmas to freeze. <\/p>\n

A stunned Ellen (D\u2019Angelo) suddenly grabs Clark\u2019s (Chase) crotch and stands still, obeying the command.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had one take left, and it was the end of the day,\u201d D\u2019Angelo recalled. <\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I bet nobody catches this.\u2019 We did the shot, freeze, and I put my hand there. It was like, \u2018OK, that\u2019s a wrap. Everybody go home.\u2019 It was subtle. And it had to stay in the film because it was the only shot left! What are they going to do? They didn\u2019t have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beverly D\u2019Angelo, who played Ellen Griswold in the National Lampoon Vacation trilogy throughout the 1980\u2019s, will be ringing in the new year by appearing in the upcoming movie, \u201cSleepwalker.\u201d Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

Chase was in on the joke.<\/p>\n

It was a long day of filming, and the star was eager to have some fun. <\/p>\n

D\u2019Angelo tipped off Chase about what she was going to do. <\/p>\n

He agreed \u2014 before quickly adding, \u201cYou can\u2019t do that,\u201d convinced she\u2019d never get away with it,\u00a0Forbes<\/a>\u00a0reported.<\/p>\n

D\u2019Angelo will star alongside Hayden Panettiere as the movie is set to debut in theaters on January 9, 2026. Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\u201cI guarantee you no one\u2019s going to be looking at my hand,\u201d she told him, as quoted by the outlet.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody\u2019s going to be looking at your face and Randy\u2019s [Quaid] face and the expressions. I\u2019m going to be way down below your waist, and the director\u2019s not even looking at me. He\u2019s just trying to get you guys good, get this take.\u201d<\/p>\n

It worked \u2014 and if you blink, you\u2019ll miss it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, what would you do in that situation?\u201d D\u2019Angelo told Fox News Digital. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou would guard the family jewels, first and foremost.\u201d<\/p>\n

D\u2019Angelo, 74, noted that she and Chase, 82, became fast friends from the moment they met on set. That bond has endured for decades.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew from the beginning I\u2019d have a lifelong friendship with Chevy,\u201d D\u2019Angelo explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just like meeting a brother. We\u2019ve kept that connection all the way, decades later. I just had a feeling when we met that we would be a tribe. I can\u2019t explain it, except there\u2019s just something about when Chevy and I get together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a chemistry we can create,\u201d she shared. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a chemistry, we get each other. And then, we can easily flip into Clark and Ellen. It\u2019s just something. I can\u2019t explain it. It doesn\u2019t happen with anybody else. He makes me Ellen, and I make him Clark when we work together. It\u2019s very natural. We just know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite their instant connection, D\u2019Angelo admitted she didn\u2019t expect them to cross paths again after the first film.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we did the first \u2018Vacation,\u2019 it was just a summer movie,\u201d said D\u2019Angelo. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat concept of a franchise arrived much later. We only made the second one because the first one was such a hit. And then \u2018Christmas\u2019 was just as successful as the very first one, which is unusual. So, when I went in to meet Chevy, I just thought I was doing\u00a0a Chevy Chase comedy\u00a0that was going to be done after \u2018Animal House.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with Fox News Digital, D\u2019Angelo looks back on the films along with the moment she made on her own, saying, \u201cIt was not in the script for me to guard the family jewels when the police came to stick us up.\u201d WireImage<\/p>\n

\u201cI had some hesitations about it,\u201d she noted. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere are these old rules \u2014 never work with kids and animals. And there were a lot of kids and animals. Plus, I was the mother of teenagers, and I was 29 when we did that. I was even suggesting actresses to my agent. \u2018Tell them to meet this person, that person.\u2019 Just actress friends that I thought would be good. But it was my husband at the time \u2014 I was married to an Italian duke, actually \u2014 and he said, \u2018But Beverly, this is hilarious! You must do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was that,\u201d she continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was in Italy\u00a0when a friend of mine called me, and he said, \u2018Do you know you\u2019re in the number one movie this week?\u2019 It was the first \u2018Vacation.\u2019 It just kept growing. It seems to be part of our whole culture now. For so many people, it\u2019s part of their Christmas ritual. I don\u2019t know what to say, except to quote myself and say, \u2018It\u2019s Christmas. We\u2019re all in misery.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Making \u201cChristmas Vacation\u201d wasn\u2019t always easy. <\/p>\n

It reminded D\u2019Angelo of one of her past rules.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe squirrel that jumped out of the tree? That squirrel was trained by professional animal trainers,\u201d said D\u2019Angelo about the unforgettable scene from \u201cChristmas Vacation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was trained to leap out of the tree and onto Chevy\u2019s shoulder, and onto somebody else\u2019s shoulder. It was trained to do all these tricks. They really, really trained it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did a fantastic job to the point that the squirrel had a heart attack or something,\u201d she claimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething happened to the squirrel. So when it came time to shoot, they had to quickly find another squirrel.\u00a0They got a relatively wild one, certainly not trained to do all the tricks that the original squirrel had been able to do. So they do have a live squirrel leaping out of the tree, but everything else is a stuffed squirrel.\u201d<\/p>\n

However unruly\u00a0the making of \u201cChristmas Vacation\u201d\u00a0may have been, D\u2019Angelo knows it\u2019s become a holiday classic \u2014 and she\u2019s grateful.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere\u2019s the thing about Christmas,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, when you have children, it becomes important. I was never a big holiday person, per se. I don\u2019t even like to celebrate my birthday, to tell you the truth. I don\u2019t like all the attention. But it\u2019s that spirit of giving, it\u2019s a wonderful thing to always be engaged in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think that [\u2018National Lampoon\u2019] was going to turn into a lifelong thing,\u201d she reflected. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beverly D\u2019Angelo took matters into her own hands and made movie history. After \u201cNational Lampoon\u2019s Vacation\u201d (1983) and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370530,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[71601,236,6931,115680,88,181655,206],"class_list":{"0":"post-370529","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-beverly-dangelo","9":"tag-celebrities","10":"tag-christmas","11":"tag-christmas-vacation","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-holiday-movies","14":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370529\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}