FILM · 1996 · USA
Black Sheep
37 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (37)
- #001
Fred Wolf, who did development work on Tommy Boy (1995), claimed the studio told him to deliver a finished script by midnight on Sunday, the last day Chris was contractually allowed to leave the film. "If I have a finished script, if I don't have a finished script, they were going to sue me." Wolf wrote 45 pages over one weekend and dropped the script off at Paramount 15 minutes before the deadline.
- #002
The security guards standing behind Mike in the "Rock the Vote" scene are Chris Farley's real-life brothers, Kevin P. Farley and John Farley.
- #003
When Chris Farley goes tipping with Rob Lowe in Tommy Boy (1995), he uses the same football play with the kids at the youth center: the "32 belly option."
- #004
Chris Farley attended a preview screening of Black Sheep in New Jersey with his brother Tom. Chris hated the film and was so upset by how it turned out that he lost a year and a half of sobriety that same night. He got drunk, flew, and trashed his hotel room, causing $3,000 in damage. This would lead to his fifth stint in rehab.
- #005
The cabin used on the outskirts of town is the same as Jill's cabin in Joe Dirt, another film starring David Spade.
- #006
Chris Farley was sober during the shoot. He would sometimes even ask the director to leave early to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. On set, however, he smoked heavily. He also sipped a cup of iced coffee before every scene.
- #007
Black Sheep was a contractual obligation for Chris Farley. While shooting Tommy Boy, he had signed a two-picture deal with Paramount and now owed them a second film. Paramount was rushing to get a script out before he could exit the contract. At the same time, Farley was offered $3 million by Sony for the lead in The Cable Guy (1996). The original Cable Guy script was tonally very different from the finished product, as it was a simpler and funnier story. Just as Farley was about to sign the deal, the Cable Guy script somehow reached Jim Carrey, who suddenly expressed interest in doing it. Because Carrey was a more reliable star, Sony let Farley go and chose Carrey instead, and Carrey turned it into a dark comedy. Sony paid Carrey $20 million, the highest salary for an actor at the time. As for Farley, Paramount exercised the option clause in their two-picture deal and forced him to make this film. Sony paid Farley for Cable Guy, but Paramount paid him less than $1 million for this film.
- #008
The television stations at the governor's press conference are real Seattle TV stations: KING-TV, KCPQ-TV and KOMO-TV. KOMO went so far as to actually be on location for the shoot and lend equipment. They had done this before: Harry and the Hendersons (1987) and Life or Something Like It (2002).
- #009
Because Chris Farley idolized John Belushi, director Penelope Spheeris insisted that the role of his character's brother, Al Donnelly, be played by a fellow actor from National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). Kevin Bacon was first offered the role of Al but turned it down. He has since said he regrets the decision, since he was a fan of the late comedian and it would have been his only chance to work with Chris Farley before his untimely death. The role of Al ultimately went to Tim Matheson, a lead in Bacon's Animal House. Bruce McGill, who played D-Day in Animal House, also has a small role in this film.
- #010
Chris Farley did most of his own stunts. Penelope Spheeris's favorite scene is the one where Mike rolls down the hill. Spheeris preferred to use a stunt double and tried to talk Farley out of doing everything himself. Although a stunt double was used in a few shots, Farley is actually seen rolling down the hill himself in most of the scene.
- #011
Penelope Spheeris did not get along with David Spade during the shoot. Spade kept complaining that he and Chris Farley needed more scenes together, because that was what made Tommy Boy work. He also kept telling her that she was unfairly giving Farley more camera time. However, Spheeris was not convinced of their comedy chemistry by Tommy Boy and thought Farley was far more talented than Spade. Speaking to Farley's official biographer, Farley said, "I don't think I even smiled at anything David Spade did… I still have the recording of the message David left on my answering machine. He said: 'You spent this whole movie trying to cut my comedy balls off.'".
- #012
The old woman who accuses David Spade of playing "pocket pool" is director Penelope Spheeris's mother, 'Gypsy' Spheeris.
- #013
This is the second of two films starring Chris Farley and David Spade. Some people mistakenly believe they made more films together, like Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. It was also the last time Farley and Spade worked together, because they were not on good terms for various reasons both during and after the shoot. After this film, talks were held to make a "Gap Girls" movie. Lorne Michaels approached Spade to write it, but Spade did not think a movie about "Gap Girls" would work.
- #014
During the making of this film, the combination of the bright lights on set and working under sunlight caused permanent damage to David Spade's eyes. Spade says of his condition: "I have to wear a hat even indoors, and flashbulbs especially scare me. I even have to get them to turn off the lights in the makeup trailers. I've become a total pain in the ass because of this light-sensitive thing, Just Shoot Me! (1997)."
- #015
In an interview, David Spade said he wished this film had been directed by Peter Segal, who had previously directed him and Chris Farley in their hit Tommy Boy (1995). He said Segal had great chemistry with him and Farley and had a great sense of comedy. Segal was in fact asked to return, but he declined because he had found making Tommy Boy a very exhausting experience. Ultimately, producer Lorne Michaels chose Penelope Spheeris, who had previously worked with Farley on Wayne's World (1992), in which she had a cameo and which was the most successful film to date featuring a former Saturday Night Live cast, feeling this film needed a strong director behind a previous hit.
- #016
Between takes, Chris Farley entertained the extras and did things for them.
- #017
This is one of three films that film critic Gene Siskel walked out of during his 30-year career. The other two were The Million Dollar Duck (1971) and Maniac (1980).
- #018
Penelope Spheeris had previously directed Chris Farley in his small role in Wayne's World (1992). She had to spend a lot of time with him and be really kind to him because he was very nervous about doing the role. When Spheeris learned Farley would star in this film, she took the chance to work with him again in a much bigger capacity.
- #019
Glenn Close was the first choice for the role of Governor Evelyn Tracy, but she was too busy with other commitments, and Christine Ebersole took the role instead.
- #020
Bruce Dern was offered the role of Sergeant Drake Sabitch but turned it down because he felt the character was too similar to the one he had played in The 'Burbs (1989). Gary Busey was later cast in his place. Interestingly, Busey had been offered Dern's role in the first film, and that offer was accepted.
- #021
During the filming of this movie, there was some tension between Chris Farley and David Spade. David was the best friend of model/actress Lorri Bagley (the skinny woman in "Tommy Boy"), and when he later introduced Lorri to Chris, they all hung out together. However, after shooting "Tommy Boy," she and Chris grew very close, which led to them dating. This made things very awkward for David, who was also interested in her, and he found out about their relationship by accident, behind her back. Although the two made up, Farley and Spade no longer hung out much after "Black Sheep" because Farley had begun heading toward drugs and hanging out with half-baked people Spade did not like.
- #022
Although the names of real towns and counties in Washington State are used, very little of the film was actually shot there. The scenes meant to take place in Buckley, WA, were actually filmed in Monrovia, CA.
- #023
Paramount Pictures wanted Chris Farley to play Sergio, Carol Brady's hairdresser, in the A Very Brady sequel (1996), which came out six months after this film. Tim Matheson also appeared in that film. However, Farley was unhappy with how Paramount had treated him during the making of this film, and his contract with the studio ended after the film's release, so he turned down the cameo offer. David Spade was suggested for the role by Tim Matheson and ultimately played Sergio. Farley never appeared in another film for Paramount before his death in December 1997, and as a result all three of his subsequent films were distributed by different studios.
- #024
Despite Chris Farley's untimely death in 1997, David Spade said Tommy Boy (1995) was enough to remember Farley's legacy and comedy partnership, and that this film should never have happened because of the experience of working with Penelope Spheeris. Spade said Spheeris hired another writer to rewrite Fred Wolf's original script, ignoring everything that was funny in Tommy Boy. Spade said Spheeris was sure she could make Farley and Spade funny on their own without the original script material. Although the film earned the same box office gross as Tommy Boy and remains popular as a cult film in its own right, it is still regarded by critics and audiences as inferior to Tommy Boy.
- #025
The scene where Mike yells at Steve during checkers was based on the times Chris Farley and David Spade made "Tommy Boy." According to the podcast "Fly on the Wall," hosted by David Spade and Dana Carvey, while they were flying back and forth between Toronto, where the film was shot, and New York, where they were doing SNL at the same time, Farley and his assistant (now a successful producer, Eric Newman) were playing checkers on the plane. When he kept beating Farley, Farley got grumpy and yelled at him to move to the back row.
- #026
The band playing at the concert is Mudhoney.
- #027
The political party affiliations of Al Donelly (Tim Matheson) and incumbent Evelyn Tracy (Christine Ebersole) are never explained.
- #028
Before the scene where Mike/Chris cleans up his office, Chris Farley asked his brother John Farley (who plays one of the Rock The Vote Bouncers), "Johnny, make me cry." John then made up an imaginary scenario in which their father was alone in Wisconsin and all his sons had moved on with their lives. Chris was angry at John for saying it, but it clearly worked, as he became sad and emotional enough to create a very effective and memorable scene.
- #029
Tim Matheson and Bruce McGill also appeared together in Animal House, which starred Lorne Michaels' SNL alumnus John Belushi.
- #030
Penelope Spheeris did not believe in David Spade's insistence on doing more scenes with himself and Chris Farley, so Spade tried to keep Farley by his side. However, Farley wanted to do more dramatic things and felt the film should be about Mike and Al rather than Mike and Steve. At one point Farley even asked Spade whether he would mind being paid not to appear in the film so they could make it more dramatic. He just wanted to act and did not want to keep doing "fatty falls down." So they added a few scenes to make Chris and Tim Matheson a bit more serious.
- #031
This film was made as a Chris Farley and David Spade reunion to earn more money than Tommy Boy (1995) and to make more money from this film. However, although it had a slightly bigger opening than "Tommy Boy," it did not work, because it earned the same amount as "Tommy Boy"'s box office gross.
- #032
Many lines in the film had to be dubbed later because the director did not like the first recorded lines.
- #033
The role of Governor Tracy was originally written as a man named Dennis, with Michael McKean in mind, who turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. When Penelope Spheeris came on board, she suggested Tracy be rewritten as a woman, and it was first offered to Glenn Close, who turned it down, and Christine Ebersole took the role. As a result, as a nod to the time when the character's script was written as a man, Tracy's husband turned out to be named Dennis.
- #034
Boyd Banks plays the blackmail photographer.
- #035
The plane Chris gets his jacket caught on is a Cessna 340.
- #036
As of 2009, this was the last film Toby Ganger appeared in.
- #037
During Governor Tracy's party, Mike shouts that he is going to screw Governor Tracy, and a few minutes later, when Mike falls in love with Tracy, he appears to be screwing her.
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