Episode 723 - Paul Dano / Adam Goldberg
Marc:All right, let's do this.
Marc:How are you?
Marc:What the fuckers?
Marc:What the fuck buddies?
Marc:What the fucking ears?
Marc:What the fucksters?
Marc:What's happening?
Marc:I'm Mark Marin.
Marc:This is WTF.
Marc:This is my podcast.
Marc:Welcome to it.
Marc:How's it going?
Marc:Just back from Spokane, Washington.
Marc:What I had a great time.
Marc:I will tell you about that great time.
Marc:I will tell you about a lot of things.
Marc:Today on the show, I got Paul Dano.
Marc:I got a little one with I'm going to do a little talk with my buddy Adam Goldberg because I always like talking to him.
Marc:I like having my friends over for for little talks occasionally.
Marc:But I have an announcement this week.
Marc:Marin, the show on IFC.
Marc:It's the season finale.
Marc:It's going to be a doubleheader the last two episodes.
Marc:Very excited for you to see it.
Marc:But I also want to tell you that it's the series finale.
Marc:I've decided that this is it.
Marc:It's done.
Marc:I mean, look, there's ways to do more, but this was the vision.
Marc:This season was the season.
Marc:And I couldn't be more thrilled about how it came out, how all four seasons came out.
Marc:I think you'll see that we wrap the story up in the best way possible.
Marc:And I just feel like it's done.
Marc:And I'm thrilled about it.
Marc:I imagine maybe IFC would want to do more.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:They have not said anything to that end.
Marc:They haven't said one thing one way or the other, but that's just the way the TV works.
Marc:But I don't want to do any more.
Marc:I'm sure they'd be thrilled to do more because we do it at such a low, like it doesn't cost them a lot.
Marc:We do it pretty inexpensively, which adds to the challenge.
Marc:But I had amazing people working with me on the team of Marin.
Marc:I had great writers, great line producers, great writers.
Marc:Directors, lighting guys, set guys, everybody was great.
Marc:IFC gave us a lot of creative freedom.
Marc:But it's just, I feel like it's done.
Marc:And I'm proud of it.
Marc:And I don't see any reason to keep going.
Marc:I don't have to.
Marc:I guess a lot of people think like, okay, why not keep going if you can?
Marc:Why?
Marc:Why take a good thing and make it garbage just because you can?
Marc:You'll see.
Marc:I think you'll all be satisfied at the end of this season with the series.
Marc:I just was so excited about this season because we did something that we could probably only do at IFC in a situation where the risk was limited in a way.
Marc:In that there was no reason for us to keep doing what we did the first three seasons.
Marc:It became a world.
Marc:It became a format.
Marc:It became something that was an extension of my life that could have easily been refillable to some degree.
Marc:But what's the point of refilling if the stakes are so low?
Marc:In the sense that you see the garbage on TV that's the same jokes, the same set, the same stories retread over and over again for years and years and years.
Marc:They do that because they make money.
Marc:And they cost a lot of money.
Marc:And they're on big networks.
Marc:So they just keep doing it because everyone's making a fucking fortune.
Marc:So why not just sell out years of your life doing the same fucking thing over and over again if you're making bank?
Marc:I'm not like that, number one.
Marc:I'm not a big money guy.
Marc:But also, there was just no reason to become redundant.
Marc:So this season, we departed into a sort of fantastic situation
Marc:disturbing it was it was like a cautionary tale yet a fantasy you'll see where it ends up and we took a chance i came up with the idea to do the arc like we did it so you had to watch everything in order and this season had an arc and i was going different somewhere and changing as a person i think
Marc:And where where we ended is where I wanted to end.
Marc:And that I hope you're OK with it.
Marc:I'm sorry if you're disappointed, but I feel like it's done.
Marc:And I'm just glad that I am able to say I'm done.
Marc:and i can and it can be my decision i'm very happy not to be desperate and beholden to uh to that desperation this way i can be proud and it's not unprecedented it's like british shows a lot of them have the right idea you do three four seasons and it's done and i'm proud of it ifc was very uh
Marc:Very supportive creatively.
Marc:They had the money they had.
Marc:Fine.
Marc:We did what we did with that.
Marc:This last season, incredibly ambitious.
Marc:Amazing what we got done.
Marc:And we did a show that was unlike any show.
Marc:And it definitely honored my voice and it honored the skills of everybody involved.
Marc:And I'm proud of it.
Marc:And I hope you enjoy the finale.
Marc:All right?
Marc:Okay.
Marc:All right, starting today, you can get tickets to the Now Hear This podcast festival, which is taking place in Anaheim this October.
Marc:It's like Comic-Con for podcasts.
Marc:A whole weekend of live performances and podcast tapings and special podcast events.
Marc:And speaking of special events, I'm doing one.
Marc:Me and my producer and WTF co-creator, Brendan McDonald, are going to do a live behind-the-scenes event.
Marc:We'll talk about some of our favorite moments from this show.
Marc:We'll share some secrets of the show and take questions from the audience.
Marc:Plus, there will be live shows including Comedy Bang Bang, How Did This Get Made, The Brilliant Idiots, and with special guest Lauren Lapkus.
Marc:Tickets go on sale today, July 11th, starting at 8 a.m.
Marc:Pacific.
Marc:go to now hear this fest.com for special early bird pricing that ends July 22nd.
Marc:There are also a select few VIP packages.
Marc:So get on that.
Marc:Now it's October 28th through 30th and Anaheim.
Marc:So go get tickets and I'll see you there.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:Me and Brendan.
Marc:We'll see you there.
Marc:Oh, by the way, I'm going to be in salt Lake city this weekend.
Marc:Uh, wise guys.
Marc:I'm excited about that.
Marc:I've been there a few times, but, uh,
Marc:I tell you, I got through a wall, broke through a wall, you know, going up to Spokane.
Marc:I had no idea what to expect, my friends.
Marc:And, you know, from what I garnered, is that the word?
Marc:From other people.
Marc:I was anticipating meth zombies walking down the street, babbling to themselves in some sort of frenetic, twitchy pace.
Marc:Some of them on fire, perhaps.
Marc:I was expecting rundown buildings.
Marc:I was expecting tattered walls.
Marc:the window dressing awnings.
Marc:But no, I get to Spokane and right away, flying in, I'm like, holy shit, this is beautiful.
Marc:Not only that, it was a very warm and nice place to be.
Marc:I don't know, it just had a vibe, man, like something was about to happen.
Marc:I don't know what it was.
Marc:The comedy club's new.
Marc:Spokane Comedy Club's a great venue, surprisingly great, only because it's this big room
Marc:with these high ceilings and beautiful real brick walls.
Marc:But you know, with high ceilings, you usually lose a little sound, but no, it doesn't.
Marc:I don't know if they padded them or what, but it was a great venue.
Marc:Mike Coletta featured for me and he did a great job.
Marc:The owners of the club were great.
Marc:I can't say enough great things about Spokane.
Marc:I'm seriously, pardon me, when I go to places like that, I'm like, I gotta move here.
Marc:You can still get a house for a couple of hundred grand up there.
Marc:And it's pretty.
Marc:And I did all kinds of fun things.
Marc:I ate some shitty, amazing food at Dick's Hamburgers where the slogan is, I think, a bag full of burgers.
Marc:I think the slogan should just be fuck it, eat here, because it was just one of those places that's been around forever.
Marc:And it was, you know, hand, you know, the sort of like fresh fries and whatever.
Marc:I'm not going to just sing the praises of Dick's.
Marc:There was a community of seagulls that seemed to be there as well for years.
Marc:You could tell by the shit that they don't clean up out in front of Dick's that this was generations of seagulls that actually lived at Dick's, that they ate there.
Marc:They've been having little bits and pieces of French fry and hamburger for generations.
Marc:Some smart granddaddy goal said, fuck Seattle, I don't need water, I'm moving inland to Spokane, and set up his family there at Dick's in Spokane.
Marc:I enjoyed that.
Marc:I also went to a place called...
Marc:White's Boots.
Marc:I'd never heard of it.
Marc:And some dude emailed me like last week saying, you know, you're a boot guy.
Marc:You got to go to White's.
Marc:And I'm like, what is White's?
Marc:And you go to this place and, you know, you can't even...
Marc:They have all these they've been making work boots forever, but they have all these beautiful boots, but they fit you and then they make them for you right there in the shop.
Marc:American made right there in the shop.
Marc:You can't walk out with any boots and they have all these beautiful old styles.
Marc:You got to check this shit out, man.
Marc:White's boots in Spokane didn't even know they existed.
Marc:And I'm a I'm a fucking boot guy.
Marc:And I'm looking around the place and I'm like, all right, do you got this in a 12?
Marc:The guy's like, no.
Marc:I'm like, how about this one?
Marc:No, we don't have any boots right here.
Marc:Not many.
Marc:We got to fit you and make them for you.
Marc:And initially I was a little upset because I wanted to have the excitement of an impulse buy where I could walk out with a four or $500 boots and then wonder if they fit properly for a month.
Marc:But now I got to wait to do that.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Maybe it was just that I was away and staying in a hotel room and it was nice and clean and quiet.
Marc:And after Thursday's show, worrying about my new hour, a lot of stuff came together up there.
Marc:I did a lot of fucking free-form comedy, had a lot of fans, and I just... Thank you.
Marc:Thank you, Spokane.
Marc:That's all I got to say.
Marc:And I don't want to let the cat out of the bag, but...
Marc:If you're looking to get out of wherever the fuck you are, I'm thinking Spokane.
Marc:All right.
Marc:Especially maybe if you're like some sort of small industry, that'd be nice for the town.
Marc:Perhaps a reasonably decent tech company or perhaps a manufacturer of things might want to move to Spokane to help that local economy there because it's a fucking great town.
Marc:I'm telling you, man.
Marc:Come on, man.
Marc:Just keep making it.
Marc:The world needs content.
Marc:I've had it with that word content, by the way.
Marc:If you're a creative person and you're referring to your work as content, why don't you just call it garbage?
Marc:Content is something the other side of the aisle, the executives, the studios, the platforms.
Marc:That's the word they've made up to diminish what we do.
Marc:If you're a creator and you call yourself content, then you're not really that much of a creator.
Marc:Are you?
Marc:If you're calling it content, look, I made some contents to meaning it's disgusting.
Marc:Guess what?
Marc:We got a special guest, special guest today.
Marc:Um, Adam Goldberg, who actually is on the show frequently because I like Adam Goldberg and we have a, we have a fun time together and I do that.
Marc:You know, I don't know if some of you seem to think that we're changing the show.
Marc:We're not.
Marc:I,
Marc:you know if i like somebody and they got something going on and they've been on the show before they're my friend i'll come in and let them come in talk about you know 20 minutes or whatever about whatever to have a fun chat and then we have the main chat today paul dano is here to talk about swiss army man but right now why don't we listen to me and adam goldberg ju it up a bit
Marc:Adam is in a new Netflix original movie called Rebirth, which you can stream on Netflix starting this Friday, July 15th.
Marc:So this is me and Adam.
Marc:And Adam's worked up a bit, as usual.
Guest:You know, I have years and years worth of photography and, you know.
Marc:Pieces of film.
Guest:Film, pieces of film.
Guest:And I have, you know, and I always have this sort of music backlog.
Marc:Is it time for an Adam Goldberg retrospective?
Guest:Well, I, yeah.
Guest:I thought about my first record when I made that a few years ago, calling it the best of, because it was just a culmination of shit I had done in 60s.
Marc:I see photographs, listening stations, and then video monitors, which is clips of the movies that you've been in.
Guest:Yeah, well, this sounds more like my wake.
Guest:I'm planning it.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, that sounds nice.
Guest:No, I have wanted for years to do an exhibition, which was not video clips of me acting.
Guest:for for the love of hell hell god no you just that'd be like the joke area yeah right the joke area like or this paid for this and then like and then this clip you know from from uh you know the n and nicole smith movie paid for this record which you have underneath which you can buy for that's pretty funny it was actually kind of funny you put them on you can put them on separate racks with the video with the film clip that paid for it yeah i kind of like it
Guest:I think... It's funny because before we went on air, as it were, we were talking about... What the fuck are you going to do?
Guest:With my life, right?
Guest:So, I guess maybe... But how often do you go through that, though?
Guest:Let's be honest.
Marc:No, no, no.
Guest:This is... I'm at a... No, this is... I mean... This is new?
Guest:A new level of what the fuck am I going to do?
Guest:No, it's a real one.
Guest:I think it's... I mean, look, everybody's... It's real for everybody.
Guest:It's extra real now that, like, my baby isn't some sort of amorphous blob.
Marc:Why don't you and Jason Schwartzman start a business?
LAUGHTER
Guest:The Coconut Goldbergs.
Guest:Yeah, the Coconut Sisters.
Marc:Yeah, the Coconut Sisters.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And you guys can do your movies and then you can- It's amazing how I get that tweet, though, a lot.
Marc:What?
Guest:It's like, oh, I just discovered that they were two different people, but really- You and Jason Schwartz?
Guest:Yeah, we don't look- It's just literally if there were two black people who like- You're literally, personality-wise, the opposite people.
Guest:Yeah, I don't know him.
Guest:I think I met him when he was a kid.
Guest:He's a fairly sweet, calm man.
Guest:And I'm a fairly mean, agitated man is what the implication is.
Guest:I don't think you're mean.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Just more- Self-involvement.
Guest:He's calmer, probably more.
Guest:I think he probably has everything in the world going for him, doesn't he?
Marc:So do you.
Guest:No, but I mean- Yeah, you have a lovely wife and child.
Marc:Yes, of course.
Marc:And you were in a big movie.
Guest:Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Guest:That's amazing, you were in a big movie.
Guest:I always think it's funny when people on Twitter, when I tweet about Trump or whatever and somebody trolls and then they call me a has-been in order to get to me and I'm like, but it's not relevant, because I never was.
Guest:I'm doing better, if you want to just speak economically.
Marc:I think you've done a lot of great work.
Marc:This new movie, Rebirth, this fun movie.
Marc:Right.
Marc:So this movie- No, we don't have to.
Marc:It wasn't a segue.
Marc:I don't give a shit.
Guest:That's the only movie recently where I have- That's the only acting work I've done recently where I actually- I'm actually acting.
Marc:That's right on my show, which you did.
Marc:That was- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:I was watching Rebirth, and I think that on my show, there was a more challenging part, really.
Guest:Yeah, maybe.
Guest:You might be right.
Marc:You were upset.
Marc:You were emotional.
Marc:Well, it's hard to act.
Marc:You were obsessed.
Marc:You were obsessed.
Guest:It's hard to act with you.
Marc:What do you mean?
Guest:In that regard.
Guest:Because I'm so fucking good.
Guest:No, no.
Guest:Are you kidding?
Guest:That was supposed to be the seed of this major motion picture we were going to write.
Marc:We're going to, but I thought you might have made it with this rebirth guy.
Guest:No, this is a fucking thriller.
Guest:It's a thriller.
Guest:Rebirth is a thriller.
Marc:And I didn't make it.
Marc:I didn't direct it.
Marc:I didn't get to the end.
Marc:You watched the opening credits.
Marc:I saw you as I walked in the door.
Marc:I watched when you came in.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And you sat down.
Marc:I'm like, oh, something's going to happen.
Marc:This old friend.
Marc:He's like, hey, where you been?
Guest:I'm a bad influence.
Guest:Bad influence guy.
Guest:It's actually a good role.
Guest:No, sure.
Guest:I auditioned for this role.
Guest:You did.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I haven't gotten a part I've auditioned for in many years.
Guest:Everything you've seen.
Guest:Everything's looking up and you're all depressed.
Guest:No, nothing's looking up.
Guest:Listen, listen.
Marc:See, I think that you're not looking at your life in the right perspective.
Marc:I think you have a lot of things.
Marc:You've accomplished a lot of things.
Marc:You have a lot of nice leather goods.
Marc:You have an aesthetic.
Marc:You're a very compulsive and talented photographer.
Marc:You play music.
Marc:You have a lovely wife who's also employed and creative.
Marc:Your son, we'll see what happens.
Marc:Yeah, right?
Marc:But I think it's just a matter of bringing it all together.
Guest:well it is a matter of bringing it all together maybe you Jason Schwartzman and Crispin Glover oh dear lord you just like you guys just do a group show right shoot the cookie it's called um but uh what I uh I'm gonna hold on a second is that you have a cough thing or like a burp button we'll just cut it out okay so don't cut that out so well now this is a different camera
Guest:Now, this one is hard to find.
Guest:This is a Graphlex Norita, a medium format camera from the 70s.
Guest:A lot of people looking for it?
Guest:It's hard to find.
Guest:I don't know if a lot of people are looking for it.
Guest:Yeah, they get snatched up pretty quickly.
Guest:What's good about it?
Guest:This is one of the fastest medium format lenses you can find.
Guest:It's an 80mm 2.0, and that's considered quite fast for a medium format lens.
Guest:The fastest 35mm lens would be a .95 Noctilux for a Leica or for a Canon.
Guest:Listen to you talk.
Marc:So acting's just sort of like something you have to do now.
Marc:You don't even... It's like, I gotta do the acting to make some money.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I bought two of these recently because they're so precious and they don't work very well that I wanted to make sure that I had a backup.
Guest:But the lens is key.
Guest:Incredibly shallow depth of field.
Guest:So right now, let's see.
Guest:I'm gonna get your... I'm gonna have some microphone.
Guest:Oh, and also I can do some double exposures with this.
Marc:You like the double exposures.
Guest:Well, you know that about me.
Marc:I do.
Guest:I mean, that's no secret.
Marc:No, everyone knows that.
Marc:Everyone on Twitter.
Marc:That's out.
Marc:Yeah, everyone on Twitter who's up at three in the morning going, why is Adam taking pictures?
Guest:Yeah, exactly.
Guest:Are you sleeping better?
Guest:Actually, you know what's interesting is, because you're like a morning person.
Marc:I get up.
Marc:I think I just got some curtains that are going to stop that, though.
Guest:Wait.
Marc:It took me years to realize it might be the sun.
Marc:Coming into my room at six.
Guest:Wait a minute.
Marc:What?
Guest:I thought you got up because you were actually, that was like sort of one aspect of your personality.
Marc:It seems to be, but it might be the sun.
Marc:I'm going to find out soon.
Marc:Hmm.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I shot my last shot on you.
Marc:Where do you go for film?
Marc:The past to process it?
Guest:Well, they're labs.
Guest:I have processed my own.
Marc:They all know you, though, right?
Marc:You gotta be the guy.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Guest:Here comes Adam.
Guest:Thank God.
Guest:It's a lot of guys shoot film.
Guest:It's much more than you would think.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:I'm not judging.
Guest:It's all right.
Guest:No, no.
Guest:Just being provocative.
Guest:I wish I was the guy.
Guest:I wish it was like they were staying open for me.
Guest:But no, there's like a lot of, you know, I'm sure it's probably art photographers.
Marc:Have you ever taken your wares to get some gallery representation?
Marc:I haven't actively done it.
Guest:I haven't actively done it.
Guest:I got a commercial agent at one point, like a commercial rep for photography at one point.
Guest:We're talking art.
Guest:No, no, no.
Guest:I realized.
Guest:And then that was part of the issue is they kept wanting to send me out to do like FX.
Guest:In fact, the irony is I was on Fargo and they were like, we got a meeting with you for FX.
Guest:To shoot promos.
Guest:To shoot promos for Fargo.
Guest:I'm like, I'm on that show.
Guest:And I had the meeting.
Guest:I took the fucking meeting just because I didn't know what...
Guest:I was doing with my life still.
Guest:So I thought, I guess I could shoot the press pack that I'm in.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And did they let you?
Guest:No.
Guest:And so we part- How long have you not known what you're doing with your life?
Guest:this is recent i i knew that the problem was is i knew what i wanted to do with my life when i was very very young yeah and then what you realize is that you don't always get to do what you want with your life so like 20 years you've been not knowing what to do with your life i thought i was on track to doing what i wanted to do right and then suddenly i woke up yeah and i mean some there was something happened between 30 and 45 i don't know what it what what took place there's some good times though
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I don't know where it's a complete, it's a total black hole.
Guest:Right.
Guest:You know, I see that there has been work that was, I mean, two movies were made and things, somebody did something on my behalf.
Marc:But you had a good time.
Marc:You bought cars and a house and pants.
Marc:You know what?
Guest:I did buy pants.
Guest:No, it's important to be married and have a child.
Guest:The problem is what that does is then it presents you with... And again, I hesitate to use the word a real problem.
Guest:Everyone has real problems.
Guest:But...
Guest:Let me put it to you this way.
Guest:Given my current circumstances and my feelings about sort of acting and whatever in general, right?
Guest:If I could, I would probably get rid of the house.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Keep the gear.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Go find an apartment.
Guest:Keep the kid and the wife?
Guest:No, no, no.
Guest:I'm saying... Is it part of the gear?
Guest:No, I'm sorry.
Guest:If there was no wife or child, I would go...
Guest:I would downsize to the point where, I mean, maybe I would.
Marc:Maybe open up a private investigation business.
Guest:I always did want to.
Guest:You joke, that was one of the things I looked into when I graduated, when I dropped out of college.
Guest:One of the first things I did was look in the phone book to see if I could apprentice.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:A private investigator.
Marc:Well, it sounds like you got the gear and you're gonna have a studio apartment.
Guest:Yeah, I got some old film gear.
Guest:Yeah, no, I can give you the results of your, yeah, your wife is cheating on you last month.
Marc:Because I got the two broken watches.
Marc:Right, yeah.
Guest:watch under his yeah under his right exactly yeah and here's some and here's i finally got the film developed yeah turns out they unfortunately in the interim she probably left town already with the guy but but looks like they were cheating six months ago and look here's a double exposure yeah right right so it's like though they're not in the same room at the same time i shot him over here yeah and her over there but but i this is a rendering of what it might look like it's pretty cool though right i got it
Guest:you dig it yeah i shot this on an arena right very shallow depth of field so i thought you might appreciate that sir sir um oh my god that's the movie the guy who's a private eye but he's doing it the old way yeah the new world he's a whole total fucking holdout yeah yeah when are we gonna do our movie seriously because we're not going to
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:What do you mean?
Marc:I'm about to stop everything.
Marc:After November.
Marc:What's going with your show?
Marc:I don't think it's going anymore.
Marc:Really?
Marc:Well, I mean, how many do I got?
Marc:I think it's done.
Marc:You know, I don't want to be one of those people that's sort of like, oh, let's do another one because we can.
Marc:This season's very heavy, and it ends in a very sweet place, and it was conceived to be... My parents-in-law really like it.
Marc:Do they?
Guest:No, they really do.
Guest:I have it all on the DVD, the whole season.
Marc:This season, I think my acting was better.
Marc:It's a whole different show.
Marc:Yeah, no, I know, yeah.
Marc:I don't know.
Marc:Maybe I'm wrong.
Marc:But I like where it's at.
Marc:Like, the British, they do, like, four seasons, three seasons.
Marc:How many do you need to do?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I've never been in a situation where I've been on anything that's lasted longer than, like, six months.
Guest:I have no idea what you would do.
Guest:I mean, and I certainly haven't had my own show, so I don't know.
Marc:I've just been looking at recent movies that are, you know, our attempts at doing the movies that we like.
Marc:What are they?
Marc:I would like to know.
Marc:Like, The Good Guys.
Marc:Oh, right, right, right.
Marc:Which I didn't see.
Marc:Was it good?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It was okay.
Marc:I mean, I thought their dynamic was good.
Guest:But they're literally setting it in the 70s.
Guest:No, I know, but... But I know what you're saying.
Guest:It's inspired by that.
Marc:But Freebie and the Bean's probably a funnier, better movie on some level.
Marc:Like, there's an effort to it all.
Guest:No, no, that's what I'm saying, is that when you take something and you're inspired by it, and then you do a sort of a literal interpretation of it, or put it actually in the 70s, we need to make a feeling, a movie that evokes that feeling... Without ripping it off.
Guest:Actually setting it.
Guest:Please use this portion.
Guest:Don't cut this out.
Guest:What, with the guy blowing?
Marc:Yeah, because I think it says something that I was scheduled during the... No, we ended up having a conversation, averting a meltdown in the house.
Marc:You being insecure about your stereo equipment in front of mine.
Marc:That's very revealing, isn't it?
Marc:We talked smoothies for a little while.
Guest:We both drink the same smoothie.
Marc:Kind of.
Marc:I do coconut milk or almond milk.
Marc:I don't always do almond milk.
Marc:Yeah, me neither, but I freeze the bananas.
Guest:I freeze the blueberries.
Guest:Roxanne will freeze them.
Guest:When she doesn't freeze them, I don't get around to doing it.
Marc:Right.
Guest:That's very, very diligent of you to do that.
Marc:Sometimes I'll do it.
Marc:It's fun because it's like a milkshake.
Marc:I was also in Vegas for the day yesterday, and I ate a steak and peanut butter pie.
Guest:I've been off the red meat lately, because I've been having... What I didn't tell you was that for four months in New York, I've been... I told you this in text.
Marc:You couldn't see us because you were ill.
Guest:No, you were ill, but we kept getting sick.
Guest:I was sick practically the entire time of one thing or the other, but I've been having some recurring perennial and prostitutes.
Guest:pain uh-huh so you're you're you're prostate inside your ass prosthetic yeah your balls ache more perennial uh-huh oh yeah that's bad kind of shooting up to the my my you know what dude it's like you know that'll go away i don't know that i
Guest:I got a CT scan with contrast while I was there.
Guest:They did actually find a small hernia, a small inguinal hernia.
Marc:Were you happy?
Guest:I knew it.
Guest:They said with a bladder ear.
Guest:What does that mean?
Guest:Exactly.
Guest:I said that to my gastroenterologist the other day.
Guest:He's like, I don't even know what a bladder ear is, but I guess I fucking have one.
Guest:Leave it to me to have a bladder ear.
Guest:My bladder has an ear.
Marc:Come on, Adam.
Marc:What?
Marc:Snap out of it.
Marc:You look good.
Marc:You're healthy.
Marc:No, I'm trying to tell you I'm not.
Marc:No, but I think you are.
Guest:You know what happens to most things when you feel them?
Guest:They go away.
Guest:I know, you're right.
Guest:That's true.
Guest:That's what Roxanne says.
Guest:What are all those notes?
Guest:Not for this interview.
Marc:Those are handwritten letters that people write me.
Guest:Oh, that's nice.
Guest:Should we read one?
Guest:No, I'll read one.
Marc:Let's read one on the air.
Marc:No, I'll read them later.
Marc:I'd like to read one.
Marc:No, let's stay focused.
Guest:They look really like people, because you should see the letters I get.
Guest:Enclosed is, please, I enjoy your show, The Goldbergs.
Guest:Can you get it?
Guest:Because that's not my show.
Guest:I know, I get it.
Guest:Who am I sharing this show with?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I think it's important.
Marc:I'll find out for you.
Guest:How about like a best of the Keith Richards?
What?
Marc:Well, I'm not going to put you on a shitty show.
Guest:No, but I want to be... How about a little Keith Richards?
Marc:I don't do best of the Keith Richards.
Guest:That was good.
Guest:I told you that was good, right?
Marc:I think so.
Guest:I sent you a text.
Guest:That was...
Marc:Yeah, that's up there under those two pieces of paper pinned up there.
Marc:The one on the left is my Keith Richards notes, and the one on the right is my Neil Young notes.
Guest:Oh, shit.
Guest:I haven't listened to the Neil Young one yet.
Marc:It was fun.
Marc:It was hard.
Marc:Did she like it?
Guest:I don't know if she heard it.
Guest:She just said, holy shit, Neil Young's on.
Guest:We gotta listen.
Marc:So you had a tolerable time on the Gaffigan show.
Marc:Yeah, I had a tolerable time on the show, but I had a bad time in New York, except Bridget St.
Marc:John, who you worked with.
Guest:I was very productive photographically, but I saw it.
Guest:But you didn't feel well.
Guest:Do you know how many doctors I saw?
Guest:I can't, for real.
Marc:Well, New York doctors, that must have been fun for you.
Guest:It's kind of fun, but their places are kind of shitty.
Marc:It's not like the old days.
Guest:It is exactly like the old days.
Guest:They've stopped and timed those offices.
Guest:I mean, there were implements in those offices that looked like they were used on that show with, what's his name?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know what I'm talking about.
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:The docker show that takes place in the Victorian era.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:You know what I'm saying?
Marc:Sure.
Marc:Well, I mean, how much do you have to update certain things?
Guest:What do you need?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:In the end, it's all getting shoved up your ass, so it doesn't really matter as long as I sterilize it.
Marc:Have you really asked about, gone deep in yourself about why the ass problems?
Guest:It's gone really deep in myself.
Guest:Honestly, I was saying that prostatitis is better than Grindr.
Guest:Honestly, I had more people's fists up my ass in the last four months
Guest:Have I thought about why I've had pain there?
Guest:Yeah, it's interesting.
Marc:It's an interesting... Well, why do you keep going to get things put in your ass?
Guest:Well, also, it's a Freudian... It's interesting.
Guest:It's a Freudian... Also, my urethra is in pain as well.
Marc:Your urethra?
Marc:My urethra.
Marc:Is in pain?
Guest:Like when you pee?
Guest:The whole area is just jacked.
Guest:All right.
Guest:And Rebirth, Netflix, July 15th.
Guest:Right, right.
Guest:I'm genuinely proud of that movie.
Guest:I really need to make a point of saying that.
Guest:I worked.
Guest:I actually worked.
Guest:I worked hard.
Guest:That doesn't mean it's good.
Guest:It doesn't mean I'm good.
Guest:Working hard, people stink.
Marc:I've acted with you.
Marc:You're the real deal.
Marc:I appreciate that part.
Marc:And I'm glad you enjoyed this role.
Marc:So you're proud of it.
Marc:I am proud of it.
Marc:Okay, good.
Marc:And some people should watch it.
Marc:It's a thriller.
Marc:You're the bad influence in the other guys.
Marc:I'm kind of antagonist.
Marc:In sort of a dead-end life in the office.
Guest:Dead-end life, yeah.
Marc:And it's sort of like the Sean Penn movie, The Game.
Guest:It's Fincher-esque in that regard.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Well, good.
Marc:Well, that's good.
Marc:But I'm still concerned about other things.
Marc:No, I mean, yeah, not much has been resolved.
Marc:Do you have other acting work coming up?
Marc:Not really.
Marc:No?
Marc:What happened to that thing you did with Bruce Willis that I was up for?
Guest:I don't know.
Guest:I did three movies last summer.
Guest:One of them is another one I'm proud of.
Guest:It's this movie.
Guest:Well, now it's called The Force.
Guest:Now it's called Between Us, which played at Tribeca with also the Netflix movie.
Guest:And I don't know what's going on with that.
Guest:And that movie's got Ben Feldman and Olivia Thurby who are fucking great in this movie.
Marc:What the hell?
Marc:It's so hard with movies.
Marc:Oh no, it's really, this movie.
Marc:Just to get a movie out in the world.
Guest:The movie is a beautiful movie and I became pals with the director Rafa and his lovely wife and their kid and it's like, you know, they're just, they made a lovely, like a genuinely beautiful little relationship movie.
Marc:Why don't we do a series and I never fucking pitch this.
Marc:Since this is going to be cut down to be interesting.
Guest:Honestly, I take umbrage.
Marc:Don't take umbrage.
Marc:Tighten it up a little.
Guest:I'm sharing the show with Kenny G. I know.
Guest:Can I get Kenny G?
Marc:Have you tried?
Marc:No.
Marc:Have you tried Trump?
Marc:I'm not going to do him.
Marc:Why would I let him talk at me for an hour?
Marc:Yeah, I know.
Marc:You're right.
Marc:You're not going to have a conversation with the guy.
Marc:So, all right.
Guest:But it'd be funny just to have him in... Just this neighborhood would be funny.
Marc:Just it would be funny.
Marc:Look, God forbid he's president.
Marc:I'll talk to him.
Marc:Okay.
Marc:So...
Marc:Well, no, what I'm saying is maybe we should get some of this on video.
Marc:Me and you having conversations about life.
Guest:You know that thing that we did, right?
Guest:That Meerkat.
Marc:The Meerkat, the pre-Periscope.
Marc:We're the only people on Meerkat.
Guest:I know.
Guest:But I'm telling you, we get requests for that.
Guest:You've seen those come in.
Guest:I know.
Guest:Is it available?
Guest:Well, because so in that era of Meerkat,
Guest:the meerkat's nothing okay you don't know what it is it's periscope right but before periscope there was meerkat for a week it was the third day it was out and and you and i had like a three hour long conversation and it did save to my phone but it saved all out of sync all the sound is out of sync so if somebody wants to volunteer yeah to take three hours of fucking iphone footage and sync it up and we move around we go all over we started in vaselka
Marc:We go up Bowery or something.
Marc:We go down Bowery.
Marc:Yeah, and then we end up at the Bowery Hotel.
Guest:At the Bowery Hotel.
Guest:And then we meet these people in the lobby.
Guest:Horrible.
Guest:We're really having a hard time with.
Guest:And then we go up to your room for like another hour.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:For like a post, you know, game.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:You know, sort of hungover recap for me.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You were cool.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Clean.
Marc:Clean as a whistle.
Marc:Queen is a whistle.
Guest:Anyway, we shot in Vilsaco recently on the Gavigan show.
Guest:I was nostalgic for our... Yeah, what do you mean?
Guest:Obviously, I would do that, particularly if things could actually be worked out.
Guest:In what way?
Guest:Your guy's going to have to gain that down a little bit.
Guest:He's going to have to compress the shit out of that.
Marc:What, what, you just yelled?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:I've been watching the levels.
Marc:All right, so we'll work on that.
Marc:People can go watch Reboot, Rebirth.
Marc:I think it's Rebirth.
Marc:It's Rebirth.
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:Gaffigan show's on.
Guest:Sunday's at 10 p.m.
Marc:on TV Land.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You'll be, if anyone wants to provide Adam with a nice new house...
Marc:Right.
Marc:There might be some jeans and a couple guitars in trade.
Marc:Right.
Guest:Or sync some sound on some iPhone video or stick some pliers up my ass.
Marc:Yes, but newer pliers.
Marc:He has a problem with the older pliers.
Guest:Yeah, I like the old stuff.
Marc:Good to see you.
Marc:Nice to see you.
Marc:So that movie, the thriller that he's talking about, Rebirth, you can stream it on Netflix starting Friday, July 15th.
Marc:Folks, what?
Marc:I've always found Paul Dano's acting very interesting.
Marc:He's an exciting actor.
Marc:He's odd.
Marc:He's unique.
Marc:He's got a lot of sort of strange emotional range.
Marc:I've liked him in Little Miss Sunshine.
Marc:I liked him in There Will Be Blood.
Marc:I liked him in the new movie.
Marc:I like Swiss Army Man.
Marc:Actually, I liked it a lot.
Marc:It's odd.
Marc:It's in theaters now.
Marc:And I was excited to see what Paul Dano was like.
Marc:So this is me and Paul Dano.
Guest:You just got here?
Guest:I did.
Guest:Well, I was in Korea a few days ago.
Guest:I flew home to New York for a day and a half.
Guest:Korea?
Guest:I'm here in sunny LA.
Marc:Sunny LA, where you spend time.
Marc:You've been here a lot lately, I imagine, over the years.
Guest:I have.
Guest:I have, yeah.
Guest:You know, I like it here a lot more.
Guest:When I first came here when I was 18 to LA, it was like an allergic reaction.
Guest:I was very overwhelmed by just being sort of around what I do, but I think because I was unformed and impressionable.
Guest:And so I had to just stay in New York and around where I grew up.
Marc:Sure, where you're protected by regular people.
Guest:Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Guest:But now I dig it more and more.
Guest:Why were you in Korea?
Guest:What the hell was going on over there?
Guest:I was doing some acting.
Guest:In Korea.
Guest:Yeah, with a guy named Bong Joon-ho, who's a filmmaker I really like.
Guest:He made a film called Memories of Murder and a film called The Host that I think are just wonderful, and a film called Snowpiercer.
Guest:That's probably the one that people know the most.
Guest:But he's the real deal.
Marc:How'd you find him?
Marc:You just started watching his movies?
Marc:Did he ask for you?
Marc:Did you reach out to him and say,
Guest:let me make a movie with you you know we actually met a long time ago when he was at bam in brooklyn for a screening and i was a fan but uh we just kept in touch via email um and then when he'd come to new york we'd hang out get drunk he's super funny yeah like a little perverted like sense of humor you know and i was like okay i like this guy you know and so we we became friends and and now we're working together are you the only um english-speaking actor no uh jake gyllenhaal and tilda swinton and myself are sort of the
Marc:Yeah, that's some big acting.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:They're all right.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:It's a big acting force.
Marc:That must have been just like, were you just sitting there?
Marc:Do you realize that?
Marc:Do you have scenes with both of them?
Guest:I have scenes with Tilda, not so much with Jake, but I've worked with Jake before.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Oh, and... Prisoners.
Marc:I watched that movie.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, that was a scary movie.
Marc:And, you know, you were in a tough space.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, that was tough.
Guest:I have to say that was one of those that paid off when it was done.
Guest:You know, I felt good about it when it was done.
Guest:And I think it's a good film.
Guest:And I think the people who I got to work with are wonderful.
Guest:But I can't say that sitting in a hotel room in Atlanta reading about like abuse and PTSD.
Guest:Right.
Marc:Yeah, I can't remember.
Marc:I think it was a Hugh Jackman.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:and uh and yeah and jake was like the the cop right that's right and uh you were um the suspect but it turned out to be a little more elaborate it was almost like one of those true detective stories yeah we can spoil it now it's been out it's been out and that's why it was kind of a cool character in some ways you know yeah he was actually a victim even you think he's uh you know yeah well
Marc:It's interesting what we project onto people just because you look a certain way.
Marc:Like, you know, that guy wanted to believe you were the guy because you were a freakish.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And really, he was just somebody who got, you know, yeah.
Guest:Well, I mean, if you got taken, I mean, yeah, he's in a state of, you know, drama.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:So, when you read that, I don't hold that character's flaws against him.
Guest:You know, actually, that's a pretty empathic place to come from.
Guest:So, you know, even though he seems evil at the outset, you know, actually, like, I think it's somebody you could feel for.
Guest:Like, man, that guy got, you know, it's not his fault.
Marc:Yeah, he's human.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Well, that happened with the character in LIE as well, right?
Marc:I mean, I didn't see that movie, and I apologize.
Marc:I've seen a lot more of your movies.
Marc:I've seen a lot of your movies.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:I saw the new movie.
Marc:We can talk about that in a second.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But LIE was your big break, correct, basically?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I mean, you know, I was probably 16, but look 12.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, you look 16 now.
Marc:How old are you now?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I just turned 32 last week.
Marc:Did you really?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You're holding up pretty well.
Marc:32, fuck.
Marc:Oh, come on.
Marc:No, no, it's great.
Guest:It's great.
Guest:I love it.
Marc:How do you think you're going to age, really?
Marc:I feel like it's all going to kick in maybe at 42.
Marc:You're just going to get old in a day.
Guest:I'm waiting for if the metabolism changes because I eat well even though I'm scrawny.
Guest:Right.
Marc:You're one of those enviable people who can just eat whatever you want and not put on a pound.
Guest:People don't like hearing that.
Marc:But when you took, well, let's go all the way back.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But before, I don't want to leave anything trailing off here.
Marc:Where was I?
Marc:Oh, yeah, Tilda Swinton.
Marc:So you're doing scenes with Tilda Swinton, who's just an acting monster.
Marc:She's amazing.
Yeah.
Marc:When you act, and I've done a bit of acting, I don't have any training, but I can pretend pretty good.
Marc:When you know that Tilda Swinton is there, are you just acting like a person?
Marc:Or can you feel her acting?
Marc:You know what I mean?
Guest:Yeah, it's a good question.
Guest:I've been really, really lucky to work with a lot of wonderful people.
Guest:That's something that excites me and gets me off and sort of inspires me.
Guest:And I hope somehow I'll become a better actor myself by...
Guest:You know, the same way like you play ping pong against somebody who's better than you, you're going to get better.
Guest:Or you quit ping pong.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:So, I don't think I think about that much.
Guest:Actually, I usually feel that when it's done.
Guest:Like last year, I did a film called Youth and Michael Caine, Harvey Cattell, and Jane Fonda are in it.
Guest:i like that movie a lot yeah it's cool but like when i was doing press stuff for it was the time where i went holy shit i'm sitting next to jane fonda and i've i love jane fonda sure but when we're doing it i i don't think i don't think i let that come in too much because um i feel like one you're focused on your thing and two i i don't think you want to um let that yeah like worry about that but also you've been doing it a long time where you realize like this is our job
Marc:There's Jane Fonda.
Marc:She's here to do the job of acting with me.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:You definitely feel like that.
Marc:I mean, I felt that way in the little experience I had doing my show that these people come who you're familiar with your whole life.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And yeah, you're a fan and you're in awe, but it's sort of like, no, we're all actors.
Marc:We're here to work.
Guest:Yeah, and look, my job is to delude myself so I can delude myself into not being intimidated for a little bit.
Marc:But you're sitting there next to Michael Caine, and it's effortless with that guy.
Guest:And it truly is.
Guest:Really?
Guest:I mean, I think the first take, if he got the words right, you've got it.
Guest:Really?
Guest:It is effortless, and it's beautiful.
Guest:It's beautiful to watch, and it's certainly something to aspire to, yeah.
Marc:What was it you did?
Marc:You did most of your scenes with him in that movie.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And I just watched that movie by coincidence.
Marc:I didn't know about it.
Marc:And now I want to see the other work of that director because there seems to be a trend in films right now that that there are these I guess they're indie movies, but they're real.
Marc:They're really sort of insensibility art movies.
Marc:I think that Swiss Army Man is an art movie, really.
Marc:I mean, you would have to.
Marc:I mean, it's very entertaining, and it's compelling.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, I think so.
Guest:I mean, I think, you know, for me, that film has the potential to really have both, almost the way that maybe... Yeah, that's what I mean.
Marc:Same with Youth, too, I thought, and The Lobster that I saw.
Guest:Yeah, sort of out there, like, pop song or a B-side pop song.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:I think it can be for an audience, but I think, yeah, there's a lot more to it.
Guest:I think there's a lot at work, and I think that's exciting.
Marc:Well, I don't... Yeah, I don't mean art film by the...
Marc:in the way that it's going to distance people right you know or or or be too bizarre uh or or cryptic for people to understand i mean it's it's driven by uh a lot of gas yeah yeah and and but you know literally but i but you know because i never really thought about it that way until i i told my producer i he asked me if i saw the farting movie
Guest:yeah are you getting a lot of that i am and and i'm i'm all for that you know in fact i love i love telling people that like this is this is my this is my far film like it's like something you're supposed to check off like a box you know like yeah i did my sci-fi film you know my my western or my like this is my far film you know i don't know that anyone's ever said that before i think you might be the only one
Marc:That's able to say that this is my fart film.
Guest:I love it.
Guest:I don't know what it says about me, but it... I mean, I was so excited by the sense of humor in the film.
Guest:And it's like some secret part of ourselves that we don't always get to, you know, let come out to play.
Guest:Or that you're just like with your friends, but not out in the world.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:So something actually kind of private and vulnerable about it, too.
Guest:Is that farting?
Guest:Well, yeah, sure.
Guest:No, no, I know.
Guest:I agree with you.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Because there...
Marc:There's this idea that it's gratuitous to do fart jokes, but fart jokes are probably the oldest type of joke there are, you know, outside of hostile jokes, you know, where people are getting laughs just for hitting other people.
Marc:Right.
Marc:I think the fart has been funny as soon as humans are able to laugh.
Marc:yeah yeah yeah i mean why is that because it is just a bodily function i know but it's surprising sometimes it happens the wrong time they all sound different they stink yeah uh you know they're uh they they i think fundamentally embarrassing i mean there is a certain amount of pride in them yeah either for length tone or the power of the smell but that's all that's in small circles that you know that's not for everybody
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:But it almost is in private circles.
Guest:I mean, maybe not.
Guest:Am I wrong about that?
Marc:About what?
Guest:That they're sort of exciting.
Marc:Sure, sure.
Marc:I mean, like, you know, if you have that type of intimacy with somebody, that's certainly a testament to intimacy.
Marc:Like when you're in a relationship, when you cross the fart barrier.
Marc:Well, yeah, totally.
Marc:It's a very important day.
Marc:And once you do it once, you're like, this is the way it's going to be now.
Guest:That's right.
Guest:Because we need to be ourselves.
Marc:Well, I think that there's a real scene in that movie because your character is so awkward and insecure and sort of self-loathing to a degree.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:You know, that moment of freedom.
Marc:I don't want to spoil it.
Marc:It'd be hard to spoil it, but, you know, you own it.
Guest:Well, look, dude.
Guest:Now, Steve, so you got it.
Guest:But that's amazing.
Guest:Okay, so first of all, so this film, one thing the director said to me when I met them was, and this has to do with the history of the fart joke, is, you know, we want to make a film where the first fart makes you laugh and the last fart makes you cry.
Marc:Mm-hmm.
Marc:That was a discussion?
Guest:Yeah, I was in.
Guest:That's all I needed to hear.
Marc:That was the pitch?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Dude, come on.
Guest:If we could do that, if we could, if we could, that would be a miracle.
Marc:It's like space travel.
Guest:I mean, come on.
Guest:I was so into that idea.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I thought this...
Guest:Fucking brilliant.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:If we could do that, can you imagine?
Guest:I was proud of you.
Guest:Thanks.
Guest:But also, if the film is what you're saying about my character maybe being self-loathing, it's great that you picked up on that because I do think he is somebody who...
Guest:his own shame has prevented him from either loving or receiving love, you know, in his life and from loving himself.
Guest:And, you know, I think it's hard to exist in the world.
Guest:And when you feel that way, you continue to isolate yourself usually, you know.
Marc:Yeah, because you feel uncomfortable in your own skin and you're constantly projecting what other people are thinking about you, but it's really just you.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:So it's like a, like it's a very, you're almost invisible.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:And it's invisible and lonely, you know, and that's what this guy is.
Guest:And then, you know, through this farting dead body, you know, he does learn to have fun again or be happy again or to have just some kind of connection where he actually feels seen or heard or loved or receives it or is able to give it.
Guest:And yeah, the fart is not just a cheap joke, but it is, I think, in the end, a way to declare some kind of love or freedom or something.
Marc:Some sort of like self-ownership in a weird way.
Guest:This is me.
Marc:Yeah, exactly.
Marc:Finally, it was quite a journey for that character.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:and like you know i i don't know when you look at a script like that i i guess what's the name of the writer director daniel the daniels the daniels daniel kwan and daniel shinert two different guys okay where do they come from i believe one's from alabama one's from i want to say massachusetts is their second movie in college no that's their first film first film they've made videos and shorts uh music videos and short films which are are excellent
Marc:So these are guys who are young.
Marc:But to take this premise, when you look at that script, do you ask yourself, what is the reality of this movie?
Marc:I mean, because it's one of those movies where you're like...
Marc:Where is this landscape?
Marc:Is this a real thing?
Marc:Because at the end, you sort of have to ask yourself how much was maybe a hallucination.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And frankly, I'm happy to let somebody have their own feelings about that.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:I actually don't think it's probably the most important thing, whether it's real or not.
Guest:Oh, no.
Marc:As you play it, when you look at the script, do you go like, okay, so this landscape.
Guest:Okay.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:I know what you're saying.
Guest:I think totally real for me as an actor.
Guest:And it turned out to be much more challenging material than I expected.
Guest:Part of me wanting to do this film was my own desire to...
Guest:like go have fun like the daniels have such creative joy and spirit in their work if you see their music videos too but just seeing the film they have a real spirit and that's something i literally the first time i saw their work i thought to myself whatever juice those guys are drinking like i want some sure you know and that's literally what you know i wanted that i mean talking about especially like we were just talking about film like prisoners right and like
Guest:you know that like i in my life was craving literally like i want to go fuck around you know um yeah or just you know that part like another part of me the part of me that that thinks that you know a farting human jet ski is like fucking brilliant and hilarious yeah you know which people may not know that i would like just like think that that's the greatest thing in the world right so
Guest:So I look at it completely real and I was really excited, but once you get into that, it's actually a really hard thing to be totally convicted about.
Guest:I mean, meaning like, wow, okay, like some of this dialogue is really challenging actually, like to explain to essentially like a child, but a dead guy who's forgotten everything, like what's sex, what's a boner, what's life, what's love.
Marc:Daniel Radcliffe was great.
Marc:I mean, that was a tough one.
Guest:Really tough, yeah.
Guest:No, no, seriously.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It's a really hard part.
Guest:It really was.
Guest:He killed it.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But he seems like, not unlike you, a very open guy, nice guy.
Marc:I've had him in here.
Marc:Like, you know, also up for the challenge to transcend the Potter.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:He's a total sweetie and a, like, he'll do anything.
Guest:Like, he's balls to the wall once he's in on something.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Guest:It's great.
Guest:And we needed that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:It came out well.
Marc:I mean, like, I watched it.
Marc:Well, because look, you know, there's some movies like in the last two movies I've seen you in, the last three movies I've seen you in, you know, were very interesting movies.
Marc:But Youth and this one, you know, those were, you know, they're compelling movies that don't necessarily explain themselves.
Marc:Obviously, this one is much funnier.
Marc:And Youth was really an exploration of age, oddly.
Marc:But the landscape was equally as surreal and a little peculiar.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That character was like an actor who was kind of drying out or relaxing in between and thinking about a role.
Marc:Then you got to put on the Hitler outfit.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, that was great.
Guest:When I was going to do that, when I accepted that part, so to speak, I was really excited by the director, the actors.
Guest:The script was really kind of...
Guest:um had its own little magic to it all the details that that guy paulo is seeing and and so i just kind of washed over the hitler thing i was like okay i'll figure that out right then when i went to really think about it i was like what the fuck am i doing you know oh i had like an existential crisis you know about donning the hitler costume
Guest:Yeah, I felt really strange about it for a while and really conflicted.
Guest:And then I realized, well, I guess this is what that guy is going through, so I just use it.
Guest:I spent my 30th birthday dressed as that character.
Guest:Say his name.
Guest:I was in Switzerland.
Guest:No, I can't even see.
Guest:It's weird.
Guest:Literally, June 19th of two years ago, I spent my 30th.
Guest:You spent the day dressed as Hitler.
Guest:I don't think that...
Guest:Yeah, I don't think that helped the sort of existential feeling going into your 30s.
Guest:Yeah, okay.
Guest:No, no.
Marc:When you ask yourself, where am I at this point in my life?
Marc:And you look down, I'm dressed as Hitler sitting at a table.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:That was good.
Marc:That's a good story.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, it was good.
Marc:But what is your process when you're sitting there watching these veterans?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, first of all, I really get off on being around people who like...
Guest:you know i don't know it's just great so whether that's a director or an actor and you definitely see things to be inspired by or go you know right like man i could probably just like take a breath right here like michael kane and just you know really not you know right i mean it's gonna come right there's no or you know you could see another actor do something and go you know what i should i should try that and then the trick is though like it's figuring out
Guest:what's best for you definitely when i was a younger person you know you read about people you see people you want to be like this actor you want to be like that you know luckily you know that that that that doesn't really cross you know one's mind anymore you you sort of learn you have to do how you're going to do it yeah yeah well i found i find that when i talk to actors the ones that talk um
Marc:It is hard to explain, and it is sort of an evolving craft.
Marc:Now, however you put it in place whenever you nail it, whenever you start to really feel your own abilities, that it does seem that the evolution of it is really up to you.
Marc:That it's not a trick or anything else, but you're going to figure out ways to go deeper in a scene or in a moment, and you're going to surprise yourself, and you might get some sort of emotional muscle memory from that.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:By, you know, I imagine that sitting at a table just as Hitler on your 30th birthday did find some new territory within your heart and mind of things you can do and are willing to do and even the feeling of that.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:And you know what?
Guest:That was a super surprising day of work, actually, because the last thing I wanted to do on my 30th birthday was spend three hours of makeup, of prosthetics, right?
Guest:Right.
Guest:Sticky shit getting put on your face.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Having a hold still at 5 a.m.
Guest:But then you sort of go, okay, you know what?
Guest:This is great and I'm just going to give myself over this thing.
Guest:And you go, fuck it.
Guest:And then the scene actually went great and some things happened that I didn't know were going to happen.
Guest:Because of you?
Guest:Well, I think just because I had to...
Guest:get out of my own head i just had to go fuck it yeah and you know maybe i wouldn't have been in that place i needed to say fuck it if it wasn't my 30th birthday right and and then i had a great time doing the scene so it but i you know surprised myself that it was so fun yeah which is a weird thing still to say well you were but yeah i mean not really because it was you were studying for a role within the movie so it wasn't like you were you know being hitler did you did they bring a cake to the set
Guest:Yeah, we had cake and champagne.
Marc:Were you still wearing the Hitler outfit when you had the cake?
Guest:I think I'd gotten it off.
Guest:I hope so.
Guest:Let's see.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That would have been good, though.
Guest:That would have been good.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:But you've been doing this a long time.
Guest:I mean, how long is it?
Guest:Where'd you grow up?
Guest:I grew up in Manhattan and then Connecticut.
Marc:You were in Manhattan as a young kid, so you lived in a nice apartment in Manhattan.
Marc:What did your dad do?
Guest:My dad was kind of a financial advisor.
Guest:Yeah, we were in a one-bedroom.
Guest:My mom, dad, me, and my sister, so eventually we moved to the suburbs.
Marc:What part of town were you growing up in?
Guest:We were near like 61st and Lex.
Marc:Uh-huh.
Marc:And you were there for how long?
Marc:I was just there until like fourth grade.
Marc:And then you moved to Connecticut so your dad could work in the city.
Guest:Yeah, like commuter train town, right?
Guest:Everybody takes their train in, you know, good public schools.
Guest:Yeah, sure.
Guest:So it was easier to afford to live.
Guest:It was called Wilton.
Marc:Yeah, I know Wilton.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:There's like a theater community.
Marc:Or that's Westport, really, right?
Guest:Well, yeah, but, you know, there is a little.
Guest:Well, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, well, Westport, you know, it's right there.
Marc:Because all the stage actors live around.
Guest:I guess there are a bunch.
Guest:Yeah, that's right.
Guest:You're right.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:So they always had pretty good little theater situations in those Connecticut towns.
Guest:Yeah, I guess that, you know, doing community theater is, you know.
Guest:In Connecticut's probably good.
Guest:Where I started.
Guest:Is it?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Kind of really at this theater in New Canaan.
Guest:Mm-hmm.
Guest:which i believe was called the powerhouse theater um but honest i mean like little you know this was like community yeah i mean how old were you oh i well whenever i moved there i started doing it i think it was one of those things where you move towns and i believe my mom just had me do like every extracurricular activity there was integrate you into the every sport every yeah yeah yeah which you know um and and just like the theater was one of them so like you know what sports
Guest:basketball is my favorite sport I still play a little bit you know I played soccer you know I played all I played most sports played soccer I played hockey even when I was young just basketball is the one I still I don't like going to the gym but I love like playing a sport I love sports so I love watching sports really yeah love it love it that's good I never got that
Guest:Oh, man.
Guest:I just like, yeah, no, I'm super into it.
Guest:I just see how people, they're like the people who are the best at what they do in the world.
Guest:And I think they're artists, you know.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:They're, you know.
Marc:Yeah, well, you know who made me appreciate it more was that guy, Chuck Klosterman.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, and he was talking about how, you know.
Marc:It's in his new book, but there's a bit on football in there.
Marc:He says that it's really the only thing you can watch, especially on television, where you honestly don't know what's going to happen.
Marc:Because it's all relative to these humans doing this amazing thing that doesn't have a script.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:And I feel that it is drama, you know, it really is.
Guest:And, and, and I'm, I'm into that.
Guest:I love the stats of it.
Guest:I love the details.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:The strategy.
Guest:Um, so yeah.
Guest:And that's what, you know, a lot of, a lot of times I do, you know, some people ask, what are you, what's your favorite thing on TV?
Guest:And, you know, pretty much the only thing, I mean, I watch a lot of movies, you know, I watch a lot of movies, but a lot of old movies, but if I'm going to watch TV is usually sports.
Guest:And you play music too?
Guest:Yeah, I used to play a bunch.
Guest:You know, I still noodle.
Guest:You play instrument?
Guest:Guitar?
Guest:Yeah, I play guitar a little bit.
Guest:You know, I used to play a lot.
Guest:But yeah, I like to travel with a little, you know, beater guitar just to like have when you're in a hotel room for weeks, you know, away from everything.
Guest:I have a friend now who has a studio to like jam in or like a little rehearsal space.
Guest:And I think it would be fun to go plug in and see what that feels like again.
Marc:Open it up.
Guest:Yeah, baby.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:no i mean you know uh uh it would be fun i miss i do miss that in fact that is something that i get off on where you get from certain films like a swiss army man where you're really like collaborating and playing with people yeah you know and and that has that feeling that you know that there's really a special feeling when you i mean i see your instruments here when you play with people i know
Guest:And it clicks for a moment.
Guest:It's fucking great.
Guest:I got to do it more.
Guest:It's really special feelings.
Guest:So I do miss that.
Guest:And sometimes I get that through my work.
Marc:Well, I imagine in the new movie especially that you must get it.
Marc:I mean, I know it's scene for scene and some days are tedious and sometimes there's a lot of takes.
Marc:But it seems to me that, you know, in the ensembles that you've been in, certainly in the movies I've seen, you're working with pretty amazing actors.
Marc:And a lot of times it's pretty kind of one on one type of shit.
Guest:Totally.
Guest:And I, yeah, exactly.
Guest:And I dig that.
Guest:And I think that's why I keep saying like, but the people, you know, it's almost like that band feeling, even with the director, like, you know, you know, when you meet with people or you see their work, like, oh, we have something, we have something in common, you know, like let's, you know, get into it.
Marc:So what, when did you start doing it seriously?
Guest:Well, I started doing plays in New York, off Broadway and Broadway, even late middle school, early high school.
Guest:So, you know, I started technically very young and I did my LIE.
Guest:I was 16.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:You know.
Guest:But you'd already done theater.
Guest:I'd done theater.
Guest:But, you know.
Guest:Like what?
Guest:I did a play called Inherit the Wind with George C. Scott and Charles Durning.
Guest:Those guys.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Oh, man.
Marc:Those guys were like mountains.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Acting mountains.
Marc:That must have been a lot of spit and yelling.
Yeah.
Guest:You know, well, there was definitely a lot of spit and yelling, but I wish I remembered it better.
Guest:You know, for me, I think it was kind of like, oh, cool.
Guest:You know, I remember George C. Scott, like, who's this kid?
Guest:Well, I do.
Guest:I do, actually.
Guest:But still, I didn't have the romance I would have about it now.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:What do you remember about George C. Scott?
Guest:i think they've both passed now haven't they yeah his health wasn't great at the time actually so sadly i do remember him struggling a little bit um but he was a bear of an actor i mean really presence and gravitas for days you know um and uh yeah my big scene was with him on like a witness stand uh sort of getting interrogated uh by those two um
Guest:But I don't think until I was 18 and went to my freshman year in college, which I kind of just forced myself to go to to make sure I tried it, did I say, okay, you know what, I'm going to be an actor.
Guest:And I remember being in my dorm room and was probably like, you know, sick of something I was doing.
Guest:It was like, fuck this, I'm going to be an actor.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Did you do any...
Guest:Any training?
Guest:I've actually started to more over the past five years, I would say.
Guest:No kidding.
Guest:I think because I started acting young, I had a lot of feelings about it, meaning I saw the world.
Guest:I saw how other kids acted my age or a little older than me.
Guest:And I was actually really turned off by that.
Guest:So, I think I made a great effort when I really started to act to not...
Guest:In fact, I used college, frankly.
Guest:I kept going back to college for a few years just to like check myself on the acting stuff.
Guest:I really had an aversion at first to the way, you know, sort of like, it just seemed like...
Guest:how many people kept doing it for the rest of their lives, right?
Guest:Or became the kind of actor I hope to one day become.
Marc:You had a fear probably of being pigeonholed as a child who could do it.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:As a young actor.
Guest:Yeah, or, you know, and it was actually a big, I was out here, I was doing a movie called The Girl Next Door, which was kind of a teen comedy, one of my early jobs.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I was really fearful doing it because in it I looked a lot like myself, like a dorky haircut and glasses.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And I was like, I felt like I could do more as an actor possibly, or that's what I wanted.
Guest:And I thought, fuck, this is all I'm ever going to get to play.
Guest:Right.
Guest:You know, because these teen movies were doing very well then.
Guest:And I was really scared.
Guest:And I didn't know you could say no yet.
Guest:You know, that's kind of something you have to learn, I think.
Marc:I had a similar conversation with Martin Starr.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:The guy who, you know, from Freaks and Geeks.
Marc:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:He's great, yeah.
Marc:Like, he, you know, hit a wall with that, you know, with sort of like, I want to act, and I don't want to be, you know, here's the nerd.
Marc:We need a nerd.
Marc:Right.
Marc:You know?
Marc:God, Freaks and Geeks is so good, though.
Marc:Oh, yeah.
Marc:He's great.
Marc:I love it.
Marc:He's great in this new one.
Marc:He's really kind of a very thoughtful, interesting actor in Silicon Valley as well.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:But while I was doing The Girl Next Door, I got a part in a movie called The Ballad of Jack and Rose that Rebecca Miller was writing and directing and that Daniel Day-Lewis and Catherine Keener were starring in.
Guest:And I got to play somebody who felt very different from me or another side of me.
Guest:And it was actually like getting that part, I felt like, okay, somebody saw me something like, okay, I can be an actor.
Guest:I can do this.
Marc:Yeah, and then you started to, like, I don't think anyone, you realized that there was a business to commercial films that dealt with young people, and there was a very small set of archetypes that were repeated.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So once you were able to sort of enter the world of independent film where there was more depth and more range and it wasn't hinging on stereotypes, you kind of found your emotional voice in a little more range.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:I think so.
Guest:And I think as a young person, if you're not challenged, how are you going to grow and become better at what you do?
Marc:Right.
Marc:And I don't know if that's necessarily important to people that are making a lot of money in mainstream movies, right?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:That was probably what was most important to me, though.
Guest:That's great, though.
Marc:You weren't like, I'm just going to be a movie star.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:But then, you know, you do it for a while and then, you know, there are certain ebbs and flows to how you feel about it.
Guest:So I find myself poking around more and more about how to do it now than I used to.
Guest:Oh, yeah?
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Well, when did you like, because, okay, so you did the Ballad of Jack and Rose and then like shortly after or maybe a year or two, you worked on Little Miss Sunshine, which is another sort of defining role for you.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And after LIE, that was the one.
Guest:Yeah, and that's probably like the first one for a lot of people rather than L.I.E.
Guest:or what, you know.
Guest:Right, sure.
Guest:Yeah, Little Miss Social.
Marc:For me, yeah, it was.
Marc:And you got to work with Alan Arkin.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:And, well, Kinnear's pretty good, too.
Marc:They're all great.
Guest:I mean, Steve Carell, Toni Collette's amazing actress.
Guest:Toni Collette, yeah.
Guest:Oh, that's right, Carell.
Guest:Yeah, they were great.
Guest:That was a really special experience, actually, and not even because of the result, but it was actually one where when we were making it, I felt like, oh, wow, like...
Guest:oh yeah movies can be fun like this is kind of fun you know like somehow something was working you felt like it to us you know um no clue that the movie would get seen the way it did or or or resonate with people the way it did um certainly like arkin i got to sit in the back of that van with him for you know a good amount of time and got to ask him questions and you have to say
Guest:you know i can't remember there were so many great quotes but i will say that people would always ask about steve carell back then oh the funniest guy on set and actually no alan alan was like yeah just dry fucking funny you know and a great actor yeah totally totally um and uh
Guest:And then people and those directors I became really close with.
Guest:We then later did a film with them called Ruby Sparks and, you know, friendships.
Guest:And it was really special.
Guest:And then the fact that, you know, it seemed to really like mean something to people was nice.
Marc:And also it was like you were able to play, you know, instead of like what would be like a nerd character, it was sort of like...
Marc:a kind of like existentially kind of challenged outsider character.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Which I think you do a bit.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.
Guest:I mean, I felt like he had a little punk rock in him too, just in the way of like, you know, taking a vow of silence and being like, you know, you've got to have a little bit of balls actually to do that.
Guest:You know, that's a little bit of a fuck you.
Guest:Oh yeah, a lot of a fuck you, yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Um, I liked that character a lot and I really felt like I knew that guy.
Guest:Like, you know, I mean, you know, friends like who, you know, listen, you know, I had a friend who read Nietzsche and listened to Smith and was really fucking quiet.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Um, but stewing.
Guest:Yeah, totally.
Guest:You know, an inner rage, you know, uh, uh, and that was, uh, and, and, you know, I have to say that was also, uh,
Guest:That was actually kind of a scary part because I don't talk in most of the film and I had no clue if I, you know, I wasn't experienced enough to sort of say I'm going to, I trust in myself or I trust in my directors and I trust in, you know, I was like, fuck, I hope.
Guest:Am I getting across?
Guest:I hope somebody feels my guy, you know, because I'm not able to say anything.
Guest:Right.
Guest:And I liked that a lot, you know, and I would love to do a silent film or something, you know, or a part who, you know, I love that that.
Guest:type of expression um and and think it's very cinematic um but it was really nice when it was like oh like yeah people got duane you know it did it felt they did get it yeah it felt good yeah it
Marc:And you had to trust that script and the directors that, you know, there was a balance to the characters, the comedy of it all.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And there was a real family.
Marc:That was the this this kind of interesting element of that is that how the family structure really was close.
Marc:You know, despite the kind of varied characters, you know, that there was a real kind of love and unity to everything.
Guest:Well, and I think there's a lot of truth to that, though.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:Oh, yeah.
Guest:No, no.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:That's why I think it kind of worked for people.
Marc:Yeah, it was stunning.
Marc:And when did you start?
Marc:So you say you started studying, actually.
Guest:you know like you obviously you're going on a lot of natural abilities so when you decided to to study acting how did you decide to go about it well yeah i should clarify i mean you know i i definitely used to like first of all growing up in the theater i think was a natural yeah in retrospect i learned a lot you know um didn't maybe didn't know i even was at the time but right but did um
Guest:And then certainly had enough of a hunger when I was younger to read everything about it and sort of watch a lot of films and stuff.
Guest:But then, you know, I think it's really fun to keep figuring out how to sort of like walk towards a character.
Guest:And so usually I try to find something new to do for each character.
Guest:Mm-hmm.
Guest:And sometimes that can mean trying some new thing that I've heard about, like I've heard that people do animal work for acting.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:Okay, I'd never done that before, so there was a certain character where I thought, you know, I'm going to go try that for this character.
Guest:On your own.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Well, yeah, no, I went and worked with somebody as well.
Guest:Oh, okay.
Guest:You know, but sought out somebody who teaches that and you say, yeah, I think this might be good for this character.
Guest:That seems to make sense in my head for some reason.
Guest:Which character was it?
Guest:uh i'm hesitant to like talk about why is it no i guess it's just so you know um the first time i did that i think was for 12 years a slave um uh i can't remember how many years ago that was but you know there was just something in it where i thought so anyway like it's fun to maybe find something new to try for a part and it doesn't always sometimes the the benefit you reap is very clear immediately like okay i know why i tried yeah you know um
Guest:that this you know mask work you know for this part um and sometimes it's not you know and i'm like okay well i'm glad i tried that because i've heard people study that in school you know so i'm glad i tried it and know if it have you had success with animal work yes i have and have you had success with mask work
Guest:I think maybe that one resonated a little bit less for me.
Guest:I feel like maybe I actually was already a little bit kind of in tune with that, weirdly.
Guest:What is exactly?
Guest:Okay, well, mask work, it is really fascinating, though.
Guest:Like you could, let's say I'd put a mask on you.
Guest:You don't know what the mask is.
Guest:Uh-huh.
Guest:And you're basically probably going to intuit something somehow.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And behave based on what your sort of intuition is telling you.
Guest:From reaction of you?
Guest:No, no.
Guest:Or just from the feeling?
Guest:From your feeling of the mask.
Guest:Without knowing what the mask is.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And it'll often line up with what the mask is.
Guest:And then you'll do it where you know what the mask is and you'll say, okay, this kind of exaggerated frown, how does this impact my body?
Marc:And they're basic masks.
Marc:Basic.
Marc:Well, I mean, like they're not like superheroes or Mexican wrestling masks.
Guest:No, they're like more old school, like, yeah, like more Greek feeling.
Marc:Sure, right.
Marc:I get it.
Marc:I get it right.
Marc:So, like, I mean, they're devoid of like caricature masks.
Guest:No, no.
Guest:Yes.
Guest:You're not going to recognize it.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Oh, Superman.
Guest:I know what that feels like.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Or they're not exaggerating.
Guest:It's more primal.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Right.
Marc:Huh.
Marc:So you have the intuition and then you reveal the mask to yourself and then maybe you do it knowing the mask.
Guest:Yes, yes.
Guest:So that's a couple ways.
Guest:And there's more.
Guest:But the way that that relates for me already is I really like the idea of like, right, okay, how does the clothes make you feel different?
Guest:Shoes make me feel really different.
Guest:Hair color makes me hairs darker than normal right now makes me feel really different.
Guest:Um, you know, center of energy, like, okay, I carry a lot of tension on my shoulders, you know, where people have different ways of like, you know, holding stuff in their bodies.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:Some characters have more strength in their like chest and some characters have more strength in their dick, you know?
Guest:And like, so I feel like that kind of stuff is like mask work in a way where, you know, you're sort of- So you kind of think about that in preparation?
Marc:Yeah, you might try that.
Marc:That's how you sent to yourself?
Guest:Maybe.
Guest:You might try that on and say, okay, what's it like if I feel like, you know, a little bit more, you know, something there?
Guest:Dick energy.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, right.
Marc:Huh.
Marc:And that's how, that's part of your process.
Yeah.
Marc:no i'm i like it yeah yeah no because like it's good to talk about this stuff i don't know if you feel uh like it sounds silly or that it's embarrassing to talk about but i think a lot of people like i've talked to many actors and and some of them will talk about it and some of them you know don't necessarily talk about it but more lately you know i kind of push to talk about it because it you know when somebody sees your work and they're like that guy's got something he's a great actor i
Marc:I don't even know.
Marc:It doesn't matter whether they understand your explanation.
Marc:But your process is interesting.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:And, you know, it's true.
Guest:I actually prefer not to talk about it usually just because I do feel like it's just more important.
Guest:Like, hopefully, I'm not saying mine does, but hopefully the work speaks for itself and you just get the character.
Guest:And that's really all you need.
Marc:Right.
Marc:But there are some people that like, you know, they're actors out there.
Marc:And they're just sort of like, what's the trick?
Marc:And maybe someone is listening to this, and they're like, okay, masks, masks.
Guest:And that is almost so the opposite of what I want, too.
Guest:Honestly, I now get why all adults are like, I wish I could go back to college.
Guest:I've always heard that, and now I feel that, too.
Guest:But I'd be ready to learn now, because I know that I can...
Guest:take what hits me and leave other shit behind.
Marc:Right, but are you ready to study and do the stuff that's not an interest to you?
Guest:I mean, there's still a lot about college.
Guest:No, no, no.
Guest:I just mean like I think, you know, it's really easy to, you know, hear something like that
Guest:And be like, okay, you know, like, right, that guitar player did this, so I have to.
Guest:And, like, what if that's not what's, like, best for you?
Guest:Well, no, but you could try it.
Marc:I mean, it's like when you say, I mean, the caveat is that sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Marc:You know, these are things that you're curious about, that interest you, that could expand your particular, you know, craft or your skill set.
Marc:And, you know, you try it.
Marc:yeah yeah so i've talked to paul thomas anderson too yeah um like i was weird because i don't think anyone has like talked to him publicly as long as i did and not that i know i'm sure i'm not to my own horn but i mean i did have a pretty lengthy conversation with him and you know i i thought he was some sort of mysterious brooding genius but he's sort of a clown yeah
Marc:He's sort of a fun guy.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:He's great.
Marc:Yeah, I mean, you know, and it's sort of like, you know, after I talked to him for an hour or whatever, two hours, I was like, how are you the guy that did those things, you know?
Marc:Totally.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Right?
Guest:Yeah, he's also, I mean, you know.
Guest:He's not going to give you all the, you know, even as an actor, frankly.
Guest:I mean, that's actually something I love about him.
Guest:I think he's all guts and balls.
Guest:You know, I mean, he's obviously got probably intellect for days.
Guest:Sure.
Guest:But he's really, I think, like a guts and balls person.
Marc:He's got a vision.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And then he's going to honor it.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:But even the heart of that, you know, I think there's just a lot.
Guest:And I think that's why his work is so good.
Guest:You know, I mean, it's not just the technical brilliance.
Guest:He's really putting everything he's got on the page there as a writer, I think.
Marc:And that's that part.
Marc:The part of the one that becomes the preacher.
Marc:There's brothers.
Marc:You play brothers.
Marc:To me, in the movies I've seen of you, that part, the intensity of that part was a unique thing.
Marc:Right?
Marc:For you enacting it.
Marc:To be an evangelical who's building a congregation.
Marc:Right?
Marc:And has to align himself with the industry and create this very demonic, dark alliance.
Marc:So when you're working with Daniel Day-Lewis, the weight of that guy, you both were pretty heavy.
Marc:Pretty heavy.
Marc:Some heavy shit.
Marc:Did you feel it?
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah, I mean, you know, that was... It was the second time you worked with him then.
Guest:Yeah, it was, you know, also... Man, what a lucky guy I was, you know.
Guest:Like, I loved Paul's work.
Guest:I mean, you know, I remember seeing Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch Drunk Love, which is one of my favorite films.
Guest:You know, and Daniel is...
Guest:you know, he's really, um, he's a very special actor.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Um, and, uh, so I was, uh, very lucky and, uh, thrilled, um, to, to, to be there.
Guest:And, uh, so, you know, whether it was heavy or not, I don't think, you know, I think we did six day weeks in the desert in Texas, July and August.
Guest:It was fucking hot in its period clothes.
Guest:It was a lot of sweat and it was fucking great writing, you know,
Guest:And the crew, everybody was there to make that film, you know, together to make Paul's film.
Guest:And very special experience.
Guest:Cinematography was amazing.
Guest:Music was amazing.
Marc:Everything kind of worked out.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:But, like, I just remember, like, when we're talking about collaboration and about that...
Marc:that feeling of like sort of being, well, obviously you're in a role, but that connection in some of those scenes.
Marc:And when I say heavy, I just mean that, you know, when you're having that dialogue, you know, with those two characters, the scenes that you and Daniel Day-Lewis did, I mean, when cut happens, you must be like, what?
Guest:yeah yeah i think at the end of the day you know because i you know you sort of uh i'm trying to think you know it's sort of like how athletes you know like if you go sit on the bench too long you have to like stretch again yeah or right you know whatever like it's better to stay warm like you know once you start a day you know it's not over until the day is done right you know so um
Guest:Yeah, it was wild and in retrospect more wild than doing it probably because, you know, you're sort of there and you're throwing everything you got and, you know, you got the right scene partner in front of you.
Guest:So you got to try and, you know, bring everything you got.
Marc:Well, that was funny because I talked to Ethan Hawke about working with Denzel, you know?
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And he treated it like he, you know, he watched a bunch of old Denzel movies.
Marc:Like he said, football players watch, you know, like.
Marc:Tape.
Marc:Tapes.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:So he could figure out, you know, how he was going to hold his own.
Guest:Interesting.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:in in uh in scenes with a guy that will eat will take it yeah so you know he knew he had to be operating at a level yeah and and he was very sort of conscious of of doing that yeah it's interesting is it yeah it is that's sure i mean why not you know that is that a concern you have like you know all right i'm gonna be i got all these scenes with daniel and uh you or do you don't think that way
Marc:How am I going to hold my own?
Guest:It's possible that you have that thought immediately, and then if you don't snuff that out, I don't know, you're going to be in trouble.
Guest:So I think the honest answer is actually no, and I don't mean that in an egotistical or arrogant way.
Guest:I just think you...
Guest:you know, you can't.
Guest:Right.
Guest:Right?
Marc:And also, I don't think... Because it would be an obstacle to the role, in a way.
Guest:Well, yeah, and also, I just don't think that that's the... That would be my favorite way to think about it.
Guest:Right.
Guest:You know, I feel like we're all human, and, you know, right, you know, is somebody else going to take the scene?
Guest:I don't think so.
Guest:You know, I mean, like, the writing is there.
Marc:Well, maybe it wasn't necessarily competitive, but just sort of like...
Marc:Maybe it was an inspiration to sort of rise.
Guest:No, you're totally right.
Guest:And I think that's, you know.
Marc:Everyone does that in their own way.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:And Daniel does.
Marc:I hear he's very sort of like in it.
Marc:Like even when cameras are off, he's wandering around in it.
Marc:yeah he's you know he's a committed guy all right so let's talk about the brian wilson movie i don't want to we can't go through all of the movies but the ones that i i enjoyed and i liked um which a lot of them i just haven't seen but but um in 12 years of sway that was great because that's a kind of a gnarly character yeah yeah yeah yeah you know that that's you got to play some of those
Guest:Yeah, sure.
Guest:But also, right.
Guest:I mean, I felt, yeah, like, I don't know that that's what you lay in bed at night dreaming or hoping for.
Guest:I hope I. Yeah, no, no, no.
Marc:But it is like, but again, like you said earlier, was there empathy that had to be engaged?
Guest:Oh, for sure.
Guest:Yeah, absolutely.
Guest:And just to kind of have a real human being there is the hope, you know.
Guest:And I think, yeah, actually coming out from a place of judgment isn't always helpful, you know.
Guest:So, you know, something that Steve McQueen and I talked about was how...
Guest:you know people who are abused often like sometimes abuse their animals or things like that right you know and and maybe that's a you know something that uh you you know you're taking something on right other people are on your something you want to take out on yourself on other people or whatever so so there were ways sort of into it somehow um and uh and that's kind of one where you go okay well i like the story and i think it's gonna be a good film and these are great people and
Guest:You know, to contribute to this, like, I need to be that, you know.
Guest:And that was good for that one, you know.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And the Brian Wilson film, which I watched, I think, a couple times, actually.
Marc:I thought you were great.
Guest:Cool.
Guest:Thanks.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:And I don't know why.
Marc:I don't have anything against John Cusack, but my one thing was like, why didn't they just let Paul do the whole, you know.
Yeah.
Marc:We put a little makeup on him, but fine.
Marc:Who knows why choices are made?
Marc:I'm not asking you to explain it to me.
Marc:But how much time did you spend with Brian?
Guest:I spent a bit of time with Brian.
Guest:You know, that's probably, you know, that was a very special experience for me, making that film.
Guest:Why so?
Guest:Well, I fell in love with Brian and with the music, you know, in a very deep way.
Guest:Nice.
Guest:not previous but during well i was you know i was a fan sure you know this was like you know uh something happened you know i mean right obsessed spiritual connection fan you know and uh and i think it was really important for me in a way like something about maybe to do with reconnecting the music though and bringing that to acting somehow but
Guest:And, you know, I spent probably about six or seven months, you know, kind of just like getting ready for that and learning to play the piano and trying to get my singing up to range.
Guest:And, you know, the research was so fun listening to all the studio sessions they had.
Guest:Amazing, amazing fun stuff.
Guest:And in fact, what everybody can listen to, the Smile Sessions and the Pet Sounds box they released, really true document of an artist at work.
Guest:Really fascinating and beautiful.
Guest:And I spent time with people who worked with Brian and...
Guest:Like some of the Wrecking Crew guys who were still around talked to a few of them and a couple of other friends of his from the time.
Guest:And the amount of love and respect they had for him, it really felt special to get to know this guy and be connected to that music, especially Pet Sounds and Smile, which I really do think are...
Guest:you know bigger than themselves you know that happens occasionally somebody writes something it's just bigger than themselves right book or that play or this album right those are the you know yeah they're that even if there's just one yeah that's really special right yeah i mean it's pretty cool it's pretty cool so uh and the way that you played it too the you know with the you know hearing it in your head and and the way that it was directed i thought was very effective
Marc:I thought all that stuff of the early Brian Wilson was really kind of, it conveyed it, the struggle of that guy.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, and you know, fascinating, right?
Guest:I mean, that music was such a gift to so many people.
Guest:I have a hard time listening to it.
Guest:He struggled so much.
Marc:i can hear it in the songs though like like some people can't yeah like some people can just get distance from it yeah but like i get sad yeah yeah yeah yeah sure now you know before i even knew that stuff though like i had a hard time with pet sounds like because when because like some of the songs were so simple for growing up to be writing but the message underneath the poetry was something so like lonely and sad and and and and yearning for something yeah yeah yeah what was it like to spend time with him
Guest:um it was great you know at first i you know brian is such a sensitive sort of open raw spirit that you know uh my first goal was really just to like say hey i'm paul you know like you know i'm gonna play you and i know that's probably fucking scary like you
Guest:You know, just like not to like grill and study and like, you know, and frankly, he was so different then.
Guest:And I had done a lot of, I didn't meet him for months.
Guest:You know, I did a few months of research before meeting him just to get my own impression of the 60s Brian versus who he is now.
Guest:Um, so I didn't feel the need at first to sort of, uh, overstep my bounds.
Guest:In fact, I wanted the opposite.
Guest:I wanted him to, to, to know that I'm, I'm here for him.
Guest:Um, and that, uh, um, so it was, uh, and I was such a fan by that point.
Guest:I was, you know, um, you know, excited.
Guest:Uh, and, um, boy, you know, Brian, um, he can, uh,
Guest:you know, he's struggled in his life and I think he can be, you know, in front of groups of people and awkward, but when, when we got to talk about music, I mean, he really, like a school boy came out, you know, and he, he would light up and, you know, his memory and excited and, you know, it felt very present and alive in him.
Guest:Um, and that was really exciting to see.
Guest:So exactly what music was for him.
Guest:And,
Guest:You know, it got to the point where those songs took on new meanings for me, which I don't, I'm not saying they were meanings that should be there, but like, you know, God only knows what I'd be without you.
Guest:Like, for me, I think became about music.
Guest:Uh-huh.
Guest:you know yeah sure and you know in my room like in my room for me was the studio yeah you know like so like i just like after spending some time with him i just felt like how music what is him and he is his music and so it all it was very special experience in that way where it kept revealing itself you know um and then you know i've gotten to hang out with him since and i've gotten to like sing with him at you know play with him oh really fucking cool yeah yeah publicly
Guest:Yeah, yeah, a couple of times.
Guest:We did a couple of benefits for like mental health organizations and I got to go up there and sing a song kind of thing.
Guest:So, he was happy with your portrayal of him?
Guest:I think so, yeah.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:That's nice.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, it's great.
Marc:So, what else is on the... You've got a girlfriend, right?
Guest:I do.
Guest:And she's an actress.
Guest:She's an actress and a writer, yeah.
Guest:What's her name?
Guest:Yeah, Zoe Kazan.
Marc:Oh, right.
Marc:Her grandfather is Elliot Gazan.
Guest:Yeah, yeah.
Marc:He did some good shit.
Guest:Yeah, he's all right.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Now, come on.
Marc:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:And is it hard to be actors?
Marc:Or is it okay?
Marc:Together, you mean?
Marc:Well, no, I mean just like in the same business.
Guest:well, you know, she's a woman and, you know, so we don't have any of that kind of, you know, it's not like we're up for the same parts.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:You know, I will say that it's actually nice to have somebody, we understand each other, I think, which is nice and can be really supportive in that way.
Guest:I think it's hard that we can both have to travel for work.
Guest:Like,
Marc:And sometimes be away for like months.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:I just spent, last year I spent six months in Russia, Latvia, Lithuania doing this War and Peace six hour miniseries.
Marc:For what?
Guest:For who?
Guest:For the BBC and the Weinstein Company.
Guest:You were doing War and Peace?
Guest:You were in Russia?
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Guest:So that was like, I loved, it was great, but that was hard.
Guest:You know, like I missed home and- Did she come out?
Guest:She came out twice.
Guest:I came home twice.
Guest:But, you know, that's hard.
Guest:But we do well, actually.
Guest:Yeah, we do all right.
Guest:Good.
Marc:How was Russia?
Guest:It was interesting.
Guest:I liked it.
Guest:I drank a lot of vodka.
Guest:Yeah?
Guest:Tastes better there for some reason.
Guest:Supposed to.
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It was good.
Guest:Interesting place.
Guest:Yeah?
Guest:Were you in St.
Guest:Petersburg?
Guest:Yeah.
Guest:It was beautiful.
Guest:Yeah, I'd love to see it.
Guest:Yeah, it's amazing.
Guest:Yeah, it's amazing.
Guest:That's another good thing about it.
Guest:It seems like you're seeing a lot of nice, interesting places.
Marc:I mean, it's really, you know, I do have to... South Korea, Russia, Texas.
Guest:I get to...
Guest:No, it's true.
Guest:You occasionally have to actually remind yourself and go, you know what?
Guest:You know, I'm lucky.
Guest:Right.
Guest:You know.
Marc:Yeah.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Yeah.
Marc:And it is, you know, people I don't think realize, and I don't talk about it to many people, but, you know, a lot of the job, your job, is waiting.
Marc:And, like, that may seem silly, but it is, can be a real fucking, you know, it can challenge you, right?
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure.
Guest:Yeah.
Marc:Trailer day.
Guest:totally yeah yeah yeah how do you do do you bring the guitar you bring books it depends on what the scenes asking for you know you got your music yeah you know maybe you have a guitar book or uh you know who knows what depends on the kind of film sure can you shoot the shit on this one or not you know what's the vibe right what's the character and blah blah blah but you know i think you know luckily some of the films i get to do like a swiss army man there ain't there's not a moment of idle time right
Guest:And I like that, actually.
Guest:That's fun.
Guest:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Marc:Well, I liked it, man.
Marc:And I think it was a great movie.
Marc:I think you do great work.
Marc:And it was nice to talk to you.
Guest:Cool.
Guest:Thanks, man.
Marc:All right.
Marc:He's a good guy.
Marc:I liked him.
Marc:You know, he's interesting, and I guarantee you we're going to see a lot of interesting work from him.
Marc:The new movie is wild.
Marc:It's more than just a two-hour fart joke.
Marc:So, okay, so go to WTFPod.com.
Marc:That's powered by Squarespace for all your WTFPod needs.
Marc:You can check out my tour dates coming up in Bloomington, Salt Lake City this weekend.
Marc:Where else am I going?
Marc:New Mexico, Albuquerque for a night.
Marc:I'm going to go to Stand Up Live, which I think is now just one night, Saturday night, because I guess Phoenix isn't a Marin town.
Marc:That's fine.
Marc:I think we'll have enough room for all the Marin people that are there.
Marc:Go to WTFPod.com slash tour and find out and get some merch.
Marc:Going to add some posters soon.
Marc:A guy did a nice poster in Spokane for me.
Marc:What else?
Marc:I can play some guitar a little, right?
Marc:I want to thank IFC again.
Guest:Boomer Lives!