'I Don't Need This:' Chris Columbus Claims 'Christmas Vacation' Star Chevy Chase 'Treated Me Like S--t' and Was 'Disrespectful' Before Director Quit Movie

Big screen director Chris Columbus discovered early that he couldn't work with Chevy Chase.

And he wasn't the only one to feel that way, RadarOnline.com can reveal. The Saturday Night Live alum was reportedly the reason the filmmaker walked away from directing National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Columbus, the legendary director behind movie classics like the first two Harry Potter adaptations and Mrs. Doubtfire, shared a story from his early days, before he was a Hollywood staple.

In the mid-80s, the now 66-year-old was desperate to find his next project. At the time, he had only helmed two movies – the cult classic Adventures in Babysitting and the long-forgotten Heartbreak Hotel.

Luckily, he landed the role of director of Christmas Vacation, the third film in the Vacation series. But he would almost immediately find it would be no holiday – especially after he met Chase.

Columbus recalled: "I was signed on... and then I met Chevy Chase. Even given my situation at the time, where I desperately needed to make a film, I realized I couldn’t work with the guy.

"I was one of the many who couldn’t work with him."

The Pixels director had two awkward meeting with Chase, who doubted his credibility as a director.

Columbus told Vanity Fair: "(Chase) had to know I was directing the movie. I talked about how I saw the movie, how I wanted to make the movie. He didn’t say anything.

"I went through about a half hour of talking. He didn’t say a word. And then he stops and he says — and this makes no sense to any human being on the planet, but I’m telling you. I probably have never told this story. Forty minutes into the meeting, he says, 'Wait a second. You’re the director?'

"And I said, 'Yeah … I’m directing the film.' And he said to me the most surreal, bizarre thing. I still haven’t been able to make any sense out of it. He said, 'Oh, I thought you were a drummer.'

"I said, 'Uhh, OK. Let’s start talking about the film again.' After about 30 seconds, he said, 'I got to go.'"

Columbus had another bizarre meeting with the Caddyshack star, before he concluded that he "couldn't do the movie with Chevy Chase".

Thinking back to that final encounter, Columbus described Chase as disinterested: "First of all, he’s not engaged. He’s treating me like s**t. I don’t need this. I’d rather not work again. I’d rather write.

"I thought, This was how we’re going to work together? I’m going to be on set and he’s not listening."

So Columbus set sail for a different project – and ended up doing pretty well for himself. After Columbus stepped down from Christmas Vacation, his next movie would be Home Alone.

Chase has a long history of turning off Hollywood creators, and had a famous feud with the man behind the NBC sitcom Community, before eventually being written off the show.

The feud flamed at the end of the third season, when an angry Chase stormed off the set before shooting his last scene, which would have closed out the season finale.

Not long after, Chase left a profane-laden voicemail to showrunner Dan Harmon slamming the creator for not getting his brand of humor, and blasted the show as not his brand of comedy.

Chase can be heard screaming on the leaked voicemail: "It’s just a f------ mediocre sitcom! I want people to laugh, and this isn’t funny! ... I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve been making a lot of people laugh a lot better than this."

Neither Chase nor Harmon would return for season four.