Chris Farley, known for his roles on "Saturday Night Live," is seen on the left in this undated family photo. His cousin Jim Farley, who would later become the CEO of Ford Motor Co., is seen on the right. Photo: Jim Farley
Ford CEO Jim Farley spoke at length with the Detroit News about "Saturday Night Live" legend Chris Farley in a rare interview about his late cousin.
A few highlights of the interview, which comes ahead of SNL's 50th anniversary celebration Sunday night on NBC:
"He was always performing," Jim says, noting that Chris "always got in trouble, but it was innocent," like when he would repeatedly crash the family car and blame nonexistent deer for jumping out in front of him.
The Farley family was shocked when Chris landed on SNL: "We had no idea," Jim says. "We knew he was our funny cousin, but we didn't know he was going to be a world-class comedian."
Jim was there at the SNL studio in Rockefeller Center when Chris famously portrayed motivational speaker Matt Foley lecturing kids about "living in a van down by the river!"
Chris "loved people coming up to him and telling him about how he made their life a little better because they had a snicker or a laugh," Jim says. "But at the same token, the pressure was a lot because he had to always be funny on the spot."
