‘Home Alone’ Actor Daniel Stern Was The Original Director Of ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’

Actor Daniel Stern, popular for his acting roles like Marv from the ‘Home Alone’ franchise and Phil in ‘City Slickers’, also has directorial credits as he said that he was the original director of 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective'.

In 1993, Stern directed the film ‘Rookie of the Year’, about a Little League baseball player who becomes a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.

The actor recently revealed that after that film, he was tapped to helm the comedy ‘Ace Ventura: Pet Detective’, which he ultimately turned down, reports deadline.com.

“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,” Stern said in an interview with ComicBook.

“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.”

For All Mankind is a series that Stern currently stars in, playing the role of Eli Hobson, the new administrator of NASA. Stern also directed a number of episodes of ‘The Wonder Years’, a show which he also narrated, playing Adult Kevin Arnold.

'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective' was released in 1994, starring Jim Carrey. The film was directed by Tom Shadyac.