With Saturday Night Live still on the 2026 TV schedule, the late night series is on peoples' minds, and stories from the show's past keep surfacing. Though, not all of them are a barrel of laughs. Jon Lovitz has built a career around being blunt, usually to hilarious effect. When it came to his friendship with Chris Farley, that same bluntness came from a much more painful place. The SNL veteran recalled confronting Farley about his drug use, including one particularly harsh warning that is heartbreaking in hindsight.During an appearance on Michael Rosenbaum's Inside of You podcast, Lovitz opened up about his attempts to help the late comedian, who died in 1997 at just 33. Both men are remembered as SNL cast members who made an enormous impact during relatively short runs, though Lovitz's memories of Farley are especially difficult to hear. The star remembered what was going on with Farley personally during the period, and spoke about even reaching out to other performers for help. He'd hoped spending time with Farley away from Hollywood might allow for some advice and help to finally get through. He recalled:We were very close friends…. I tried to help him from the moment I met him. I called Jim Belushi's agent and said, ‘Can you have Jim call this guy, because he really idolizes John Belushi, and he's going down a bad road.’ That was after the first time I met him.It's hard to hear that story knowing what ultimately happened. Chris Farley became one of the show's most beloved performers, creating unforgettable SNL characters such as Matt Foley, the motivational speaker who lived in a van down by the river. He later teamed up with David Spade for Tommy Boy and Black Sheep on the big screen, with the former delivering some of the funniest scenes and most quotable lines of his movie career.Behind the scenes, though, Lovitz was increasingly worried about his friend's substance use. The Rat Race actor recalled renting a beach house with their manager, Marc Gurvitz, where he repeatedly tried confronting Farley. He continued:I rented a beach house with our manager Marc Gurvitz. So we'd be at the beach, and I was very hard on him…. Well, just blunt, because I loved him, you know? I wouldn’t pull any punches. I’d go, ‘Dead man walking.’ [He’d say,] ‘John!’ I go, ‘Well, you gotta stop!’ He thought he was indestructible, and he was getting high. He had fun, it was fun.That is an incredibly harsh thing to say to someone you love. Lovitz knew it, too, but he was terrified of losing his friend. What struck me most was how Farley apparently turned even these conversations into comedy. Lovitz continued:And then I said, ‘You got to love yourself.’ He goes, ‘Well, OK, but John, but if I love myself and drugs make me feel good and I deprive myself of drugs, isn't that depriving myself of love?’ So I started laughing. I go, ‘Shut up, you idiot.’ [laughs] I go, ‘Yeah, they make you feel good, but they kill you, you know?’It's a heartbreaking exchange, especially because Lovitz remembered laughing while knowing how serious the situation had become. Farley died Dec. 18, 1997. Medical examiners determined that an accidental overdose of cocaine and morphine caused his death, with heart disease contributing.Lovitz was hardly alone in struggling with Farley's death. Fellow SNL alum Adam Sandler has said it remains difficult to perform his musical tribute to Farley, even after singing it countless times over the years. The Wedding Singer standout concluded:We told him, we told him, we told him. And then when he died, I was like, you know, of course, I was very upset, but I went, ‘That idiot. Goddamnit.’Nearly three decades later, that frustration still comes through. So does the love. Lovitz is one of several former castmates who have kept sharing memories of Farley, including Chris Rock, who has said he's reminded of his late friend whenever he watches Adam Sandler perform. Lovitz saw the danger his friend was in and tried to reach out. Hearing him revisit those conversations now, it's hard to miss how badly he wishes the story had ended differently.