Chevy Chase won't reprise the role of Pierce Hawthorne in the upcoming Community movie, according to star Joel McHale.
McHale, who plays lead character Jeff Winger, seemingly ruled out Chase's return as Pierce in Peacock's feature-length Community reunion during an episode of the Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa. "Yeah, I don't think so," he said. McHale also hinted that Chase not being invited back was due to prior tensions between him and members of Community's cast and crew, including series creator Dan Harmon. "There [weren't] any issues at all [with Chase] when we were making the show," McHale quipped.
While Chase won't be back for the Community movie, McHale confirmed that another key member of the original show's ensemble is officially locked in for the project. Putting to bed months of speculation, McHale revealed that Donald Glover will return as Troy Barnes -- a casting coup the star described as "really important." "The fact that Donald's gonna do it, that was the big piece," he said. McHale also noted that he expects his other Community co-stars Gillian Jacobs, Danny Pudi, Alison Brie, Yvette Nicole Brown, Ken Jeong and Jim Rash to reprise their respective roles in the movie, as well.
Community Star Teases the Peacock Movie's Emotion
Little is currently known about the Community movie's plot, however, McHale suggested that fans are in for an emotional ride when it finally airs. "I'm going to look a lot older. I'm not kidding, so you know that I'm sarcastic about literally fucking everything but um, there will be tears," he said. McHale also spoke fondly about what it's like to reunite with his fellow Community actors, describing it as "a family reunion but without assholes," and insisted he "can't wait" to being shooting the film.
It may be a while before cameras roll on the Community movie, though. McHale said as much in a recent interview, stating that Harmon was still making final adjustments to the screenplay before having to down tools in support of the Writers Guild of America strike. The star added that the knock-on effect of this is that the production will miss its scheduled principal photography window. At the same time, McHale made it clear that he supports the WGA strike, labeling the writers' demands "very reasonable things."
Community Seasons 1-6 are currently streaming on Hulu and Netflix. The Community movie does not yet have a release date.