HOME ALONE Actor Daniel Stern Says He Was the Original Director of ACE VENTURA: PET DETECTIVE

Daniel Stern is best known for playing Marv in the Home Alone movies, Phil in the City Slicker movies, and the adult Kevin Arnold, narrator of The Wonder Years. But he also had a career behind the camera as well, having directed several episodes of The Wonder Years, as well as the 1993 hit Rookie of the Year, and episodes of Complete Savages, The Paul Riser Show, and the recent series, Manhattan. He almost had many more directing jobs, but the film franchises he was a part of turned out to be so successful in the 90s that he ended up being committed to sequels, and that was the right move for his career at the time.

In a recent interview with ComicBook, Stern talked about that point in his career, saying:

“The thing was when Rookie came out, I got a ton of offers to direct other films. But it was also the time when I was doing a sequel to Home Alone and then doing a sequel to City Slickers. Just to be crass, I hit the cash cow for the one and only time in my life as an actor and it was like, ‘I don’t think I can jump out with my family. I got to sock some of this away.'”

Stern continued:

“Then I was the original director of Ace Ventura, and I was on Varsity Blues and I had things, but then I got another job. So I’ve been trying to direct something and I’ve directed a bunch of television stuff that I did a show, Manhattan, that I directed. It was on a few years ago about the atomic bomb. I thought for one second about directing For All Mankind. No way. I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. It’s too big. It’s too technical.”

It’s too bad that Stern didn’t get to have it all. I think he would have done great directing Ace Ventura. He’s a hilarious comedic actor, and he I bet he would have worked well with Jim Carrey. But I’m glad he did go on to star in the sequels he did. City Slickers and Home Alone are classics, and they made Stern a household name.