Christmas Vacation Star Finally Confirms That Hand Scene Was Improvised
Christmas Vacation fans, that infamous hand scene wasn’t scripted—Beverly D’Angelo says she and Chevy Chase improvised it on the spot, revealing the unscripted moment in a new Fox News Digital interview.
Here is a bit of Christmas Vacation trivia I did not expect to write in 2025: Beverly D'Angelo says the infamous hand moment was not scripted. Yes, that hand.
How the freeze scene really went down
In National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), there is a late gag where the cops storm in and yell for everyone to freeze. Ellen (D'Angelo) instinctively grabs Clark (Chevy Chase) by the crotch. Turns out that was D'Angelo's idea on the spot.
She told Fox News Digital that the crotch grab was never in the script. They were at the very end of the day with only one take left, so she quietly slipped it in during the final shot, figuring no one would notice in the chaos of the scene. It was subtle, they called wrap, and that was that.
"It had to stay in the film because it was the only shot left! What are they going to do? They didn't have a choice."
Why she got away with it
D'Angelo (74, Golden Globe nominee and mom of two) also told Forbes she did give Chevy Chase a heads-up. He agreed but still blurted, "Well, you can't do that." She pushed back: no one would be watching her hand anyway. Everyone would be locked on Chevy's face, Randy Quaid's reaction, the whole panic tableau. Plus, the director was busy making sure the big beats landed.
They rolled. She placed the hand. The scene ended. Wrap for the day. And because it was their last usable take, the moment stayed in the movie. If you never clocked it before, that checks out with her theory — on a first watch, your eyes are glued to the faces, not what her hand is doing below frame.