Howard Stern Reveals Jeff Goldblum Almost Played Him in 1997’sPrivate Parts: 'I Would Pay to See That'

Mar. 15, 2025

Howard Stern and Jeff Goldblum in 1997.Photo:Greg Gorman/Paramount/Rysher/Kobal/Shutterstock; Sam Levi/WireImage

Greg Gorman/Paramount/Rysher/Kobal/Shutterstock; Sam Levi/WireImage

Howard Sternsays he was nearly replaced in role he was born to play: himself.

The radio host and self-proclaimed “King of All Media” famously played himself inPrivate Parts, the 1997 biopic based on his own 1993 book. But, Stern toldJason Bateman,Sean HayesandWill Arnetton the most recent episode of their podcastSmartless, the studio behind the film threatened at one point to replace him with none other thanJeff Goldblum.

During their conversation, Bateman jokingly asked Stern how many times he had to audition for his starring role.

“You wanna know something aboutPrivate Parts? Here’s the funny thing,” Stern replied. “I wrote the book and I had no clue when they said they wanna make a movie out of it — how am I gonna make a movie out of this thing?”

“I was involved in writing some of the scripts — we had other writers, this and that,” he continued. “There were 25 full drafts of this thing and each one was worse than the next.”

Stern went on to explain that he’d had a provision written into his contract giving him full approval of the adaptation’s script. “They couldn’t make the movie unless I had full script approval,” he said. “And I wrote half the scripts and they sucked!”

The shock jock told theSmartlesshosts that the studio became so frustrated with his failure to approve a script that they threaten to cast Goldblum instead of him.

“They said, ‘Listen, this is crazy. The money that we’re spending on these writers and you’re not accepting any of these scripts. We’re gonna hire Jeff Goldblum to play you since you won’t do that,’ ” Stern recalled.

“I looked them in the eye, and I said, ‘You know what? I would pay to see that,’ ” Stern said. “ ‘I would love to see Jeff Goldblum as Howard Stern. I think it’d be terrific.’ ”

Howard Stern in 2015 and Jeff Goldblum in August 2024.Debra L Rothenberg/FilmMagic; Randy Holmes/Disney/Getty

Debra L Rothenberg/FilmMagic; Randy Holmes/Disney/Getty

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Stern’s performance, however, earned him a Razzie nomination for “Worst New Star” in March 1998.

OnSmartless, Arnett agreed with Stern that it would be interesting to see Goldblum in the role. “That’d be so great to just shoot some scenes today with Jeff Goldblum,” he said. “Right? And just put it on the Internet.”

source: people.com