David Spade recalls Corey Haim’s odd on-set request during Dickie Roberts shoot

David Spade is recounting a memory from the early 2000s on his Fly on the Wall podcast with Dana Carvey, recalling a moment from the 2003 comedy Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. The film, co-produced by Adam Sandler, brought together a cast of real-life former child stars, including Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. Spade described a scene after a group musical number in which Haim approached him with a practical, offbeat request about lunch and pay.

Spade recalled the moment and the exchange as he described it on the podcast: Corey Haim, remember him? He’s Corey Feldman’s buddy. Super sweet. Walking to lunch from the soundstage after singing, he said, ‘Hey, thanks for having me… I was going to go off campus and eat.’ He then asked, ‘Do we get a per diem for today?’ Spade said he wasn’t offered one, and Haim pressed him further, asking, ‘You got 100 bucks or something? I could just go get lunch?’ Spade said he went ahead and covered the request. The moment, he added, stuck with him in the context of a film that featured several young actors navigating sudden celebrity and a tight shoot schedule.

Spade has said he was mindful at the time that Haim was dealing with a recognizable struggle off set. He later reflected on whether that moment was misguided, noting, “Was that stupid? Was that f—ing dumb of me?” He said he was aware, even then, that some of the parents involved in the careers of young actors managed money in ways that could complicate life after the cameras stopped rolling, and he suggested that the dynamics of parental stewardship could contribute to fragile financial situations once performers reached adulthood.

The conversation surrounding the on-set moment sits within a broader context of Haim’s life and career, including his eventual death in 2010 from pneumonia linked to his ongoing addiction. Haim, who rose to fame as a child star and appeared opposite Feldman in The Lost Boys, died at his Burbank apartment at age 38 after a week of flu-like symptoms. Authorities found no illegal drugs in the apartment, according to reports at the time, and his mother Judy Haim spoke publicly about her own battle with cancer while recounting the loss. Feldman, who remained close to Haim, wrote of the tragedy on his blog, describing Haim as a brother and urging reflection on how people treat one another in life and death.

In a separate reflection on Haim’s life, the 2024 account from actress Nicole Eggert details a relationship with Haim that began in the early 1990s. Eggert described their two-year relationship, from 1991 to 1993, as “heavy” at times behind the scenes, even as they worked together on projects including films like Blown Away and Anything for Love. She told People that, on set, she valued being around Haim but that the off-camera atmosphere could feel “scary” and “creepy.” Eggert recalled seeing cocaine during their time together and said producers would sometimes supply drugs on set. She also described a short-lived engagement with Haim and said she eventually had to step away as she realized the extent of his addiction. Eggert’s comments add to a long-running, complicated portrait of how the era handled young performers navigating fame, pressure, and substance abuse.

Corey Haim’s death in 2010, the public recollections from Feldman and others, and Eggert’s memories all contribute to a broader discussion about the pressures and vulnerabilities faced by child stars in that era. Spade’s anecdote, newly recounted, underscores the financial and logistical realities on set that could complicate an already fraught environment. While the industry has changed in many ways, the stories from the Dickie Roberts production—and the decades since—continue to surface in interviews and memoirs as former child actors reflect on a time when the line between on-screen success and off-screen struggles was especially thin.