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There's no shortage of fans who know Fed Willard best from Modern Family. After all, he was one of the greatest characters on the hit sitcom. But Fred Willard's career is so much bigger than that. Prior to his heartbreaking passing in 2020, Fred has appeared in hundreds of movies and television shows. Not to mention his epic late-night talk show appearances.
However, Fred Willard's impressive career was indisputably defined by his frequent collaborations with writer/director Christopher Guest. His most famous being Best In Show. But what did Fred actually think of Christopher? Were they close beyond their creative collaboration?
Did Fred Willard Actually Like Working With Christopher Guest?
During an interview with Vulture in 2010, Fred Willard claimed that he owes so much of his success to Christopher Guest.
"God bless Christopher Guest. He called me in one day to do a movie that he thought he was going to call Waiting for Guffman. It was improvised — but it wasn’t just a like laughfest. He gave us his outline, and we tried to keep the movie just with our own words. So it was an actor’s dream," Fred said of his first experience with the man famously for starring in The Princess Bride.
"Best in Show was his most successful, and that did me so much good. People still quote my lines from Best in Show. I just look back and I say, you know, Christopher Guest just raised my whole career to another level."
Fred's final film collaboration with Christopher was 2006's For Your Consideration, where he co-starred with another Best In Show alumna, Jane Lynch. Despite never making another film with Christopher, he was invited to do three episodes of his short-lived HBO show, Family Tree.
How Christopher Guest Worked With Fred Willard
Back in 2010, Fred told Vulture that he just "loved" working with Christopher and would jump at the chance to do it over and over again. While Christopher's directing style is utterly unique, mainly because he rarely gives critiques and loves when he stars improvise, Fred adored his process.
"In the first movie, Waiting for Guffman, we got to Austin, and the very first shoot was a scene in the middle of the movie, just a scene where we were rehearsing this play and we’d been kicked out of our theater and we were rehearsing in a library. And we were all standing around in our spots, and he got the camera up on the balcony, and he said, 'All right, action!' And there were actually people in the library wandering in and out of the action. It was Catherine O’Hara and me and Eugene Levy. And none of them said anything," Fred explained.
"We didn’t know what to say. And all of a sudden, I thought, Someone had better say something. So I suddenly said, 'You know, in a library, I always wondered if you lost a book, do you have to just pay for it forever?' And they kind of chuckled a little, then someone said something, then we got into the scene. And some civilian walked into the scene and I said, 'We’re acting here!' and he said, 'Oh, sorry' — but it fit into the scene because we were rehearsing the play. And from then on, everything was a little better."
Did Fred Willard Actually Like Christopher Guest?
During an interview with Charlie Rose, Christopher Guest repeatedly changed the subject when Fred Willard's name was brought up. While Charlie wanted to talk about Fred's contributions to his films, Christopher kept pivoting to other actors he had worked with. According to Fred, this is because Christopher did not like to play favorites among the group of actors he repeatedly worked with.
While Fred could've easily been insulted by this, he thought it was hilarious.
Christopher is married to Halloween, Knives Out, and Everything Everywhere All At Once star Jamie Lee Curtis. So, Fred's personal relationship with the filmmaker also involved her. And this was something he was thrilled about.
"I love Christopher, and he’s married to Jamie Lee Curtis, you know. And Christopher is the most quiet, gentle, guy — you can sit and never get two words out of him. Jamie Lee Curtis is such an extrovert and very ballsy. We were at a party at Eugene Levy’s house and she was talking to me and she said, 'I’m gonna go inside and make out with your wife!' You can’t believe that they’re together."
Fred's personal relationship with Christopher also led to one of the highlights of his career. At the premiere of one of Chris' movies, Fred got to meet Jamie Lee's mother, screen icon Janet Leigh.
"Janet Leigh came up to me and she said, 'I’m Janet Leigh,' and I nearly fell over. I said, 'Oh, I’m pleased to meet you.' She said, 'You’ve worked with my son-in-law.' And I said, 'Yes.'"
While Fred's relationship with the ever-peculiar Christopher was somewhat unusual, it's clear the actor had deep affection and appreciation for him.
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