David Cross still isn’t a fan of Alvin and/or the Chipmunks.
The comedian, actor, writer, and director is best known for his role as Tobias Fünke on Arrested Development, as well as for his HBO sketch comedy series with Bob Odenkirk, Mr. Show with Bob and David. However, there’s one infamous chapter of Cross’ career that he’d rather not revisit: his involvement in the Alvin and the Chipmunks films.
Cross—who portrayed record executive Ian Hawke in Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007), Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), and Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked (2011)—has never exactly been been quiet about his disdain for the movies. During a 2012 appearance on Conan, he called shooting Chipwrecked the “most miserable experience” of his professional life.
“All I wanted was to get the f**k out of there as soon as possible… and buy a summer home with the check,” Cross told O’Brien at the time, adding that he felt like he was being forced at “legal gunpoint” to participate in the film. “There was no reason for me to be there.”
In a 2020 episode of Justin Long’s Life Is Short podcast, Cross revealed that his remarks on Conan actually cost him a $150,000 bonus for violating his non-disparagement clause. On the latest episode of LateNighter’s podcast Inside Late Night With Mark Malkoff, Cross reflected back on the Conan incident and his “sh*tty” experience shooting the films.
“[The producers] were really sh*tty to me right out of the gate, and I didn’t understand why,” Cross said. “At first, you’re like, ‘Are they being difficult on purpose?’ And then it became clear that they’re f**king with me.”
According to Cross (who was contractually obligated to appear in all three films), he was only given five days’ notice to fly from London—where he was filming the second season of The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret at the time—to Hawaii for Chipwrecked rehearsals.
“It was such a from the get-go, ‘If he’s not there, we’ll sue,’” Cross said. “They were they were so sh*tty to me in numerous ways throughout the whole movie. It was a terrible, awful experience.”
Cross acknowledged that his infamous 2012 appearance on Conan, in which he urged viewers not to go see Chipwrecked, cost him a pretty penny. “I cost myself $150,000 by saying what I said on Conan,” he told Malkoff. “I would have gotten a bonus, but I… whatever the legal legalese is in the contract. I denigrated the film or didn’t promote it.”
However, Cross doesn’t seem to harbor any regrets over his choice, even if it did cost him $150,000. “Yeah. I mean it’s… anyway, yeah,” he added nonchalantly.
The Conan segment also wasn’t the first time Cross spoke poorly about his experience filming Chipwrecked. “This last film was literally, without question, the most unpleasant experience I’ve ever had in my professional life,” he said during a press tour for Todd Margaret in 2011. “It’s safe to say I won’t be working with some of those people ever again.”
Needless to say, don’t expect Cross to appear in any future Alvin and the Chipmunks installments.
