Marina Zenovich, the director of the upcoming documentary “I’m Chevy Chase, and You’re Not,” said she felt relieved when the actor made a snarky remark early in filming.

Zenovich told Variety that she wanted to explore Chase’s notoriously bad reputation in Hollywood, noting that multiple colleagues have gone on record describing him as mean and hard to work with. She said an early exchange with Chase gave her the opening she was looking for.

At the very beginning of the documentary, Zenovich can be heard off-camera telling Chase, “I’m just trying to figure you out.”

“No sh**. It’s not going to be easy for you,” he replied.

“Why is it not going to be easy?” Zenovich asked.

“You’re not bright enough. How’s that?” Chase said, then smiled. 

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“I’d never done an interview where someone was so rude to me,” Zenovich told Variety, saying she was relieved he behaved that way. “But I was so worried going into that first interview with him about how I was going to say to him, like, ‘Everyone thinks you’re an a**hole.’ I thought if I did, he would throw me out of his house. So the minute he said that to me, I had a way in.”

“I wanted to figure out who was the real person behind the conflicted, guarded and somewhat fragile man we see on camera,” the director continued. “What was behind the surface of his slightly intimidating superstar bravado? Was there any self-awareness there? Having interviewed Chevy at length, I have to say that yes, it’s all there – and a whole lot of pain and heartache too.”

While many of Chase’s co-stars refused to be interviewed for the documentary, including almost everyone involved in the NBC sitcom “Community,” several shared insights. Zenovich spoke with the actor’s friends and family, as well as celebrities including Mike Ovitz, Dan Aykroyd, Beverly D’Angelo, Goldie Hawn, Lorne Michaels, Ryan Reynolds, and Martin Short.

The documentary airs on CNN on January 1. It explores Chase’s career, beginning with his breakout role on “Saturday Night Live” and on through three failed marriages and drug addiction.

Iran descended into intense civil unrest on Sunday and Monday as a catastrophic economic collapse set off widespread protests and strikes throughout Tehran.

The demonstrations center on the historic collapse of Iran’s currency, the rial. “Iran’s rial on Sunday plunged to 1.42 million to the dollar. On Monday, it traded at 1.38 million rials to the dollar,” the Associated Press reported. This depreciation, marked by a 7 percent single-day drop, effectively paralyzed commerce and fueled triple-digit inflation for essential goods.

The protests began on Sunday in Tehran’s commercial hubs, including the Grand Bazaar, the mobile phone markets of Alaeddin and Charsou, and the Lalehzar electrical district. By Monday, the movement gained significant momentum as thousands of merchants shuttered their shops in a coordinated strike against economic mismanagement and the skyrocketing cost of living.

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Demonstrators marched through the streets, chanting “Shut it down, shut it down” and “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid—we are all together,” while calling on security forces to join the people. In some areas, the state responded with force, using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds, while students at Amir Kabir University launched hunger strikes in solidarity.

Today in Tehran, shopkeepers poured into the streets because their money is becoming worthless. They are protesting the collapse of Iran’s currency but this is how dictatorships crack.
When daily survival becomes impossible, fear changes sides.

In 2019, economic collapse turned… pic.twitter.com/jGa9DXJ0nh

— Masih Alinejad 🏳️ (@AlinejadMasih) December 29, 2025

Iran: Public protests in Iran continue to grow as Iranians fill Khayyam street in protest of the Islamic regime in Iran. pic.twitter.com/tkJwVf8YVe

— Emily Schrader – אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) December 29, 2025

People are flooding into the streets of Iran right now. Amazing to witness.

pic.twitter.com/Ifu8FwAJxF

— 𝐍𝐢𝐨𝐡 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠 ♛ ✡︎ (@NiohBerg) December 29, 2025

🚨 Iran: Expansion of protests in Tehran – large gatherings of demonstrators at several points across the city – protesting the economic situation. pic.twitter.com/BWJQ8PdDD0

— Raylan Givens (@JewishWarrior13) December 29, 2025

The economic crisis is driven by a “perfect storm” of domestic and international pressures. Internally, the government faces an acute budget shortfall; officials admit that oil revenues for the year have already been exhausted, forcing the state to raid the National Development Fund. Lawmakers have also alleged massive corruption, reporting that $6.7 billion in oil revenue has been “lost” by entities affiliated with the Oil Ministry.

Externally, the restoration of “maximum pressure” by the Trump administration and the United Nations’ “snapback” of nuclear sanctions have crippled Tehran’s ability to access foreign currency. This diplomatic deadlock followed a major military escalation in June 2025, including Israeli and United States air strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.

With average monthly wages falling to roughly $100 — well below the $450 required for basic survival — and food inflation exceeding 70%, the Iranian public’s patience has reached a breaking point. Observers note that the participation of the bazaar, which was instrumental in the 1979 Revolution, signals a dangerous turning point for the Islamic Republic.

As lawmakers warn of the “crushing sound of the people’s footsteps,” the regime faces its most significant threat of internal upheaval in years, caught between a collapsing economy and sustained military pressure.