Vacation may star Ed Helms as Rusty Griswold and Christina Applegate as Debbie Griswold, the parents who take their two sons on a cross country road trip to Walleyworld. (The film strikes out on its own comically, but also pays serious tribute to the original that starred Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo.)
But a person who literally steals the movie is someone who is more known for his thunderous heroic work in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Chris Hemsworth. Applegate met The Movie Mensch and told us about the scene stealer and how she and many others on the set just marveled at the human mastery that is Hemsworth. There are several scenes with the Thor actor, but one in particular when he comes in wearing nothing but tight boxer shorts is the one that people will be talking about.
“It’s funny because it was not a moment of like, we’re all sitting there being lascivious towards this man in any way, shape, or form. I mean, we had already worked with him for a couple days leading up to that time. So we’ve already seen how amazing he is and everything. This was the first time that we got to see what his abs looked like,” Applegate said.
“That was where we all collectively, as a group — didn’t get turned on — it wasn’t like that kind of thing. We’re all married. We’re all really respectful. But it was such a respect for what he has created and it’s all like marveling at like… what? Because I’ve seen people’s abs. They do a lot of crunches. This was something like I’ve never seen before. Like, we’d all discuss it!”
Applegate and Helms are a terrific tandem in Vacation and the comedic veteran of Anchorman and dozens of other classic comedy projects found a kindred spirit in The Office veteran and former The Hangover star.
Even though Helms is quite the improv veteran, Applegate reported that there was something magical in the script that Vacation writer-directors Jonathan M. Goldstein and John Francis Daley wrote that the duo didn’t need to expand on it with their own funny prose.
“It’s funny. The comedies that are happening these days, it’s almost like expected of you to improv. We didn’t all grow up doing that. I’ve never taken an improv class. I came from a totally different generation where the words were God. You do not mess with what the writers just spent months writing. So it’s taken me years now,” Applegate said.
“Anchorman was the first one that was like, ‘Just change everything. We don’t care.’ There are some moments in Vacation that I improvised that I’m shocked that they used.”
The actress reported that Helms too marveled at the funny that stood on its own on the page. “He’s kind of respect‑y of the script, too. He’s really good at getting in the pocket and finding the appropriate places to do that. But there wasn’t a lot of that. There was so much more that the things that were happening to us were physical. So like there wasn’t a lot of conversation. But we did throw our own stamps here and there.”
Applegate also welcomed the honor of appearing in a Vacation movie with the two who started it all those decades ago, Chase and D’Angelo.
“You think that, gosh, we don’t want to mess up what you created. And we’re not trying to redo what anyone did. And we’re not trying to be a sequel. We’re kind of like a distant cousin. We were so happy that they read it and went, ‘Yeah, we approve and we’d like to be there,'” Applegate said.
“It’s one thing to hang with Chevy and Beverly off camera. They’re both such incredibly interesting, colorful people. But then you get on set, and there they are. They’re the Griswolds! It’s Clark and Ellen. This is so crazy. I’m sitting in between them, and this is happening. And I’m here in their presence.”