Anthony Hopkins

Summary

Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard

Guest: Sir Anthony Hopkins
Release Date: November 10, 2025

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Episode Overview

This remarkable episode welcomes Sir Anthony Hopkins, legendary Academy Award-winning actor, as he and host Dax Shepard embark on a vulnerable, wide-ranging, and deeply personal conversation. The discussion centers around Hopkins' newly released memoir We Did Okay, Kid, delving into his challenging childhood, struggles with self-worth, unlikely path to acting stardom, and nearly 50 years of sobriety. Hopkins reflects on the messiness of being human—from feeling like an outsider to finding meaning in both creative pursuits and recovery. For listeners, it’s a profound exploration of resilience, acceptance, and the beauty of growing older with self-compassion and humor.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Memory, “Let Them,” and Acceptance

[03:28–05:31]

• Hopkins demonstrates his razor-sharp memory, recalling vivid dates and details, even names of childhood acquaintances from distant auditions.
  • Dax: “We’ve met a lot of good memories. This one is like off the charts. Needs to be studied perhaps.” [00:49]
• The group discusses the viral “let them” philosophy—accepting the actions of others, not trying to control people, places or things.
  • Hopkins: “Don’t fight, don’t fight. There’s a wonderful quote by some Greek philosopher ... Accept [problems]. When you look in the mirror, behind you is death. That sums up.” [04:04]
  • Dax (on recovery): “People, places and things. I’m powerless... The let me part is the fourth step. It’s, ‘What am I doing in this scenario?’”

Sobriety and Recovery Journey

[05:02–05:35]

• Hopkins shares that he will soon celebrate 50 years sober, sobering up on December 29, 1975.
  • Hopkins: “Coming up on 50 years... I knew I was in big trouble. I checked in at an inter group in Westwood... The voice said, it’s all over now. You can start living.” [05:02]
• He credits his wife Stella as a catalyst for writing his memoir, and notes he was hesitant, skeptical people would want to read about his life.
  • Hopkins: “My wife Stella encouraged me to do it... I have one of those weird memories... I started writing... I thought, my life has been beyond my explanation.” [05:35]
  • Cites Edgar Allan Poe’s reflection: “If we think about it, our lives have been written by some other author.” [06:17]

Early Life: Disconnection, Outsider Status, and Motivation

[07:26–10:57]

• Hopkins felt mostly disconnected, labeled a “dunce,” and was made fun of at school. He recalls a pivotal moment when his father despaired over his failing report card:
  • Hopkins: “He said, I know what’s gonna happen to you. It’s hopeless. I mean, what’s the matter with you? Do you care? ... It was so clear. It was like I took a step back and I said, one day, I’ll show you. I’ll show both of you.” [08:12]
• Received children’s encyclopedia as a gift—kindled his curiosity, offsetting his school struggles.

Survival, Resilience & Reframing the Narrative

[09:17–11:19]

• Despite hardship, Hopkins now sees his perceived “deficits” as fuel:
  • Hopkins: “All my debits inside me were the greatest power I could have had because it made me angry and all that... But now I have no room for all that anger.” [09:17]
• On consciously playing dumb as self-protection and the pain of bullies: “Kids are vicious. That’s a form of defense. Because life is rough for everyone.” [11:54]
• He reflects on his WWII childhood in Wales and the formative impact of global conflict.

Fortuitous Breaks and the Role of Mentorship

[16:31–23:19]

• Hopkins describes his reluctant participation in a YMCA Easter play (“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” [17:40]), his first taste of performance validation.
• Through friendships and chance, he was introduced as a boy to Richard Burton—a moment that foretold future career milestones and connections.
• Accepted into the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama on scholarship, despite mediocre academic records, surprising himself and his family.

Solitude, Asperger’s, and Identity

[24:21–25:02]

• Hopkins discusses being diagnosed with Asperger’s late in life, but shrugs off labels.
  • Hopkins: “I don’t know what I believe... I don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. I just feel like everyone else, confused as we all are. Just human.” [24:29]
• He never felt lonely in his solitude: “I just felt uniquely myself. I didn’t need anyone. I never wanted to be part of anything.” [24:14]

Acting: Process, Craft, and Mentorship by Greats

[31:05–36:40]

• Hopkins humorously recounts his audition for Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and then meeting Laurence Olivier as a National Theatre auditionee.
  • Olivier’s advice: “Nerves is vanity. You’re worried about what the audience will think.”
  • Hopkins: “You may make a mistake. Who cares? It is important, but it’s not important. ... No one cares.” [34:47]
• Shares the dichotomy of caring deeply about the work and, over time, learning to be dispassionate and not take it or oneself too seriously.

Working with Luminaries & Major Roles

[38:08–41:21]

• On recurring collaborations with Richard Attenborough and Jonathan Demme’s casting of him in The Silence of the Lambs:
  • Demme: “There’s something in you... I think you can do it.” Hopkins, inspired, plays Lecter “like HAL the computer in 2001.”
  • The famous glass cell scene: “I said, no, I’d like to stand. Stand in the middle of the cell. I said I can smell it coming down the corner.” [40:36]
  • His take: “You know what you look like to me with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. Well scrubbed, hustling rube with little taste...” [41:04]
• Dax notes how Hopkins’ version of Lecter is both “the right mix of charming, too. Terrifying devil.” [41:06]

Recovery, Happiness, and Advice for Others

[42:11–50:41]

• Honest discussion of active alcoholism: “I drank a lot. Booze works very quickly...a false courage.”
• Sobriety advice from fellow actor Jack Bailey: "Don’t take the first drink, that’s all you have to do... Live your life. Enjoy it. ... This is what it’s for." [43:20]
• On being a famous person in recovery: "That doesn’t bother me. I’m just a drunk like all the rest of them. ... I will never preach." [44:15]
• Never felt a craving after getting sober; continues to be fine around alcohol.
• Moving realization while working with Ian McKellen: "Lack of belonging was all in my imagination and all in my vanity." [45:37]
• Hopkins’ advice for outsiders & struggling youth:
  "Believe in yourself totally. Even though you may think it’s a lie. ... Don’t let other people put you down." [50:06]

Creative Pursuits: Music and Art

[47:04–49:56]

• Hopkins actively composes music, improvises and records at Abbey Road, finds profound satisfaction in creating outside of acting.
• Also paints—works quickly to maintain spontaneity, encouraged by Stella.
  • Hopkins: "Too many choices, you get fat and lazy. Just do it fast. If you make a mistake... go over it." [49:51]

Book and Closing Reflections

[51:10–51:54]

• Hopkins describes cover photo for memoir—standing with his father as a lost, “hopeless” kid in wartime Wales:
  "Lost little kid. Like we all are, feeling hopeless or lost, you know. And I look at that, I think we did okay, kid." [51:20]
• Dax underscores the memoir’s message: "For anyone listening who has a young son who is seemingly directionless... I hope this is so hopeful for them." [49:56]

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Notable Quotes

• Anthony Hopkins: "All my debits inside me were the greatest power I could have had because it made me angry... But now I have no room for all that anger." [09:17]
• Anthony Hopkins (on solitude): "I just felt uniquely myself. I didn’t need anyone. I never wanted to be part of anything." [24:14]
• Dax Shepard: "I don’t learn from people’s successes. I kind of learn from people’s failures—mine and others’—it’s very helpful when I find out people I admire had a rough start..." [06:28]
• Anthony Hopkins (on playing Hannibal Lecter): "I said, I know exactly what I’m going to do—like HAL the computer in 2001." [39:17]
• Anthony Hopkins (to outsiders): "Believe in yourself totally. Even though you may think it’s a lie. ... Don’t let other people put you down." [50:06]
• Anthony Hopkins (on luck): "I just fell on my feet. It’s like a cat with nine lives. ... I survived, I think, because I isolated in a way—don’t let them get you. ... That’s how I played my whole life." [23:55]

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Timestamps for Segments

• [03:28] Start of Anthony Hopkins interview
• [05:02] 50 Years Sober
• [07:26] Childhood struggles and being called a "dunce"
• [13:20] WWII memories in Wales
• [16:31] Introduction to acting at the YMCA
• [19:07] First encounters with Richard Burton
• [21:12] Auditioning for drama school; winning a scholarship
• [24:21] On Asperger’s, solitude, and identity
• [31:05] Audition at Royal Academy; joining National Theatre
• [34:47] Olivier’s advice: “Nerves is vanity”
• [38:08] Collaborating with Attenborough; Demme on casting Lecter
• [40:36] The iconic Lecter cell scene
• [42:11] Honest reflections on alcoholism and recovery
• [47:04] Music and painting as creative pursuits
• [49:56] Advice for young outsiders
• [51:20] Memoir cover story and final reflections

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Tone and Language

The conversation is candid, often self-deprecating, laced with humor, and at times deeply philosophical. Hopkins provides brisk British wit, unsentimental honesty, and humility, while Dax fosters reflection and connection through his own vulnerability and empathy. Monica Padman brings perspective and curiosity, ensuring the dialogue remains both accessible and intimate.

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Conclusion

This episode is a masterclass in vulnerability, resilience, and creative tenacity, suitable for anyone grappling with self-doubt or the belief that it’s too late—or too unlikely—to “do okay.” Hopkins’ story stands as living proof that being an outsider, surviving failures, and embracing the long journey are the stuff of not just good memoirs, but of great living.

Transcript

[Dax Shepard]

Wondry plus subscribers can listen to Armchair Expert early and ad free right now. Join Wondry plus in the Wondry app or on Apple podcasts or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dan Shepard and I'm joined by Mrs. Padman.

[Monica Padman]

Hello.

[Dax Shepard]

Today we have a nighttime iron guard. Draw your sword, matey. Sir Sir Antony Hopkins.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Legend.

[Dax Shepard]

Anthony Hopkins, Academy award winning actor. The Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal the father. Meet Joe Black Fracture. And he has a new memoir out Trickiest word in the biz.

[Monica Padman]

You did a great job.

[Dax Shepard]

Thank you. Ding, ding, ding. His book is called we did okay kid.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And I mean, again, what a surreal joy to sit down with Sir Anthony Hopkins and mostly his memory. And we've met a lot of good memories. This one is like off the charts. Needs to be studied perhaps.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. Dates, people you can see him visualizing like he. He will give details that you're like what?

[Dax Shepard]

And as you pointed out, like he remembered the names of two little girls he was auditioning against to get into an acting school as a kid that he certainly never saw. Again, what I know.

[Monica Padman]

Really amazing.

[Dax Shepard]

Please enjoy Tony Hopkins. This episode of Armchair Expert is presented by Apple Pay. You know, holiday shopping can be a hassle, but Apple Pay makes so much easier. Whether you're shopping online or in store, look for the Apple Pay button or contactless symbol at checkout. No more digging for your wallet or filling out long online checkout forms. It works at millions of places, including stores, websites and apps. This means you can spend less time at checkout and more time finding the perfect gifts. Pay the Apple way terms apply. We are supported by Allstate. You know what's smart? Checking Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds on car insurance. You know what's not smart? Not checking your phone's volume before blasting your morning pump up playlist in the office break room. Or not checking that your laptop camera's off before joining the meeting in your robe or something. I'm a little too familiar with not checking your grocery list before heading to the store and realizing you bought everything except what you needed. Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary subject to terms, condition and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois. This episode is brought to you by audible. Love can take many forms. Sometimes it's a chance encounter at a gas station. That turns into a ten year relationship. Other times it's texting someone you up and accidentally falling in love. Audible's collection of romance audiobooks has it all. Think relatable situationships, historical scandals, forbidden magic and yes, plenty of stories that are headphones only. Wink, wink here. Modern rom coms from authors like Leanne Slade and Emily Henry. The latest romantasy series from Sarah J. Maas and Lauren Roberts. Regency favorites like Pride and Prejudice, plus all the steamy stuff. Whether it's a duke, a billionaire or a winged lord from the Night Court, your first great love story is free when you sign up for a 30 day [e-mail]. dax.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

He's an upchurcher. He's an upchurcher.

[Dax Shepard]

How are you, sir? Great to meet you, Dax.

[Monica Padman]

No, you stay. You stay. Please stay.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Sing book shorts that let them.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, we just had her on.

[Dax Shepard]

I could sum up for you what let them is in our vernacular, it's acceptance.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

That's it.

[Dax Shepard]

It has a lot of parallels.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah. Don't fight, don't fight. There's a wonderful quote by someone, Greek philosopher, and he talks about whatever we can do to avoid making people uncomfortable and all the little problems in daily life, accept them.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

He said, because when you look in the mirror, behind you is death. That sums up.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, you know what else her thing is let them. So, yeah, they're doing something that you don't approve of that is uncomfortable for you. People, places and things. I'm powerless over people, places and things. And then let me. It's let them, then let me. And the let me part is the fourth step. It's, well, what am I doing in this scenario?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

You're in the program.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, he's amazing.

[Dax Shepard]

That's why I'm so excited to meet you. I have a lot of friends who have heard you speak over the years and I've never gotten that opportunity, so I've always felt left out of that. And I'm very happy to meet you.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Coming up on 50 years Christmas right after Christmas. Yeah. December 29th.

[Dax Shepard]

Incredible.

[Monica Padman]

Congratulations.

[Dax Shepard]

50 years.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

50 years changed my life. I knew I was in big trouble. I checked in at an inter group in Westwood.

[Dax Shepard]

In Westwood.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Westwood Boulevards, a little office up the stairs. And I thought, maybe I'm making too much of a deal of this. But I knew I was in big trouble. And I was about to turn back. And the voice in my head said, just get there, do something. The voice said, it's all over now. You can start living in this open for a Purpose. Wow. Don't forget, I love it. Powerful.

[Dax Shepard]

Can we start with what prompted you to write the memoir?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

My wife Stella, encouraged me to do it. And many people, some people over the years. I said, why don't you write a book? So I have one of those weird memories that remembers a lot of details. I said, oh, I don't want to write a book. Who wants to read about an actor? And I started writing bits and pieces of notes and threw them away. I just thought, oh, this is unnecessary, and started just do it. I said, okay. And it suddenly occurred to me a few years ago that my life has been beyond my explanation. I think it was actually Edgar Allan Poe who said that if we think about it, our lives have been written by some other author. Because when I look at my life.

[Dax Shepard]

I think how you couldn't have written it, right?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

The reason I asked why you write it is I think the book will be a bit of a shock for people as it was for me.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Did you enjoy the book?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, immensely. And so opposite of the fantasy. I would have filled in for you of your backstory and your charmed life. And I think anytime someone with a voice people listen to acknowledge how challenging it's been, I think it's very helpful. As you and I would know very well, I don't learn from people's successes. I kind of learn from people's failures, and I learn from mine. And it's very helpful when I find out people I admire had a rough start or they had challenges along the way. I find that very. I find that more inspiring than you holding a fucking trophy on a stage. I can't really relate to that. But feeling other your whole life, oh, I relate to that so deeply. And I think that would surprise people. I think people would look at you and go, well, this guy's headed as good as one can have it. And he must always feel loved and must always feel celebrated and connected. But that wasn't the story, was it?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Not at all. Feeling mostly disconnected most of my life. But in a way it was all good. Because there's a part in the book where I'd had enough of the game. I was playing the role of being stupid, being a dummy at school and all that. God bless my mother and father. They worked really hard to do something for me, and I felt sorry. When my school report arrived. I was 17. My school report arrived on Easter 1955, and the dreaded moment they opened the school report. Beautiful summery evening, spring, late afternoon. We were going off to the cinema and My father read the Port and it said, anthony is way below the standard of this school. My father meant well. He didn't mean any harm. But he said, I know what's gonna happen to you. It's hopeless. I mean, what's the matter with you? Do you care? I remember it was so clear. It was like I took a step back and I said, one day, I'll show you. I'll show both of you. My father said, well, I hope you do. I'm sure you will. Now, that moment, I think, triggered something deep inside me, which was a power of what have you Subconscious mindset. Okay, well, fasten your seat belts. What I was gonna show them, I had no idea. But within three months, I got a scholarship as an actor. Never acted before in my life, except that very evening. We were walking up to see the film and we passed the YMCA and then had the Easter play. Something had shifted just slightly. Everything looked brighter.

[Dax Shepard]

I want to put a fine point on it. You were called a dunce. You were made fun of endlessly. Your dad was disappointed quite often. You had been in many different schools. All the schools thought you were terrible. They thought you were dumb. And by the way, I can relate. And I had a big chip on my shoulder about it. But you were a real outsider.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

That's right.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. You didn't like sports.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Couldn't stand it. I mean, playing rugby, chasing a ball around the field. Oh, cricket. I mean, to me, what did he be doing here? Yeah, yeah, yeah. One thing I've learned out of this, I was never a victim. In fact, all my debits inside me were the greatest power I could have had because it made me angry and all that, and went through years of that. But I look back now, I think now I have no room for all that anger.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, but you were a bit of a dichotomy, right, because you were doing pretty terrible in school. Underwhelming. Yet your father had gotten you this encyclopedia set, and you had read this thing from beginning to end so that you had these moments where people would ask you about something and then you could just pontificate, right? You had that kind of memory where you could recall and kind of blow their mind, but for whatever reason, you felt more comfortable playing dumb.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Well, I remember the afternoon I'd been to the dentist. I was 7, just after the war. And there was a bit of a painful operation. I had a needle and all that. I resented being in that dentistry. Got back. There was a box outside the house. My father came home. He was a baker and he came home, took the box upstairs, packed it, and there were 10 volumes of this encyclopedia. And I was so fascinated. They're full of pictures and all that. It was me. Children's encyclopedia. Simplified versions of biographies like Beethoven and all kinds of subjects. Geography, history, potted history for kids to pick up. But I learned from that. And I learned odd facts. Like I knew how tall the Empire State Building was. No useless information.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you remember? It's hard to know, right? You're reflecting back and you know what you know today. But then you try to imagine what you knew then. Do you think it was a conscious decision as, like, some kind of protection? I'm just gonna play dumb and they're gonna leave me alone and I can isolate and be by myself, which was what I want.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Was it conscious? Oh, yes, it was.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

It was protective. Because I had a very bright cousin, Bobby. He's dead now, but Bob was one of those brilliant kids in school. Brilliant. And I was in school with kids who were way ahead of me. I just felt like a dodo. And I was told I was a dodo. I was told I was hopeless, you know.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, they said pretty cruel things to you. I mean, I recognize this is in 1936 and 7 and 8, but still, by today's standards. I'm reading some of the things that were told to you, and it's pretty hurtful.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah, but life is tough.

[Dax Shepard]

Tougher then. Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh, it's tough for everyone. I mean, just going down the street here, the homeless people, and you see kids struggling. You know, kids are bullies, kids are vicious. And that's a form of defense. Because life is rough for everyone.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I've gone past that stage of being resentful or angry about it. But I look around and life was tough and is tough today, this very moment.

[Dax Shepard]

What do you think? Growing up, you were in Wales for seven years of World War II before it ended. How did that affect you and the people around you?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I was fascinated by it. Cause I remember the bombings. And, you know, we would go down into the garden shelter and I think the local dock was bombed because there's a harbour town, Swansea was just down the road. There was bombed flat. And I remember the sort of strange excite.

[Dax Shepard]

It was exciting.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

The sirens would go off and you'd hear them overhead. And I felt, so it's Liverpool tonight. And they bomb Liverpool. And you look at all the hardship of warfare, terrible losses, appalling losses of life. And then towards the end of the war in 1944, we had two American soldiers who came to visit us and they were stationed there. Captain Durden, Lieutenant Cooney, and I remember they brought us cookies and chewing gum and all that. The Americans, they were all over South Wales waiting for the big day. They didn't know what it was, but it was D Day. Wow. Then they came to the house to say goodbye. We got in the jeep, we stood on the corner of the gate and we waved. And at the top of the street they turned and boom. And they were both killed in the Ardennes Forest. It was the Battle of the Bulge.

[Dax Shepard]

The General von Rundstedt, my grandfather, was in the Battle of the Bulge.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah. Thousands of Americans killed, appalling losses. And it was a surprise attack.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, without being melodramatic, I'm sure you're resistant to that, but I would have been excited as a little boy. Bombs are exciting, airplanes are exciting. But do you think growing up where literally the world was at war shaped your worldview and that, oh, this is a dangerous place and who knows what's gonna happen? Do you think you had a little insecurity of just about the world you were in?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I think it came to a point where, as I become an adult, I remember the Cuba crisis. Everyone sort of remembers. That was the deadly time. You thought, well, this could be it. Khrushchev and Kennedy facing each other. And I remember I was at the Royal Academy and I had a perspective. I thought, well, it's happened before. And I visited Wales about a week later. I think I started closer. And he said, he said, but in 1939, he said, we declared the war, biggest military machine in Europe. And he said, in the Thousand Year.

[Dax Shepard]

Reich, the odds were much worse then against.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

And he said within six years the guy had blown his brains out in the bunker in Berlin. So much for history. Go through crises and crises, but finally we come through it, or we don't, but there's nothing we can do. But it is extraordinary how the human animal is so vile. Why? I mean, to build bombs, to bomb each other. Why do we do it? Who knows?

[Dax Shepard]

It's crazy. We can't stop.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I have a strange theory that's probably useless theory, but maybe some hundred thousand years ago, the Homo sapiens suddenly may have realized that we are pretty savage, therefore we must destroy ourselves for the.

[Dax Shepard]

Good of the planet.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

But maybe at some deep level, you.

[Dax Shepard]

Played Hitler in bunker and it was a confusing performance for people. Some of the reviews I read where people were like, he's so good that unfortunately you do see the logic a bit in him.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

And two questions about that. One is, well, first of all, have you read the book Blitzed by Chance?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

No.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. It's great. I read it four years ago, and it details Hitler's drug use, which is incredibly well documented because his doctor that was with him at all times, Dr.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Morell, God, he's got.

[Dax Shepard]

Was writing down meticulous notes of everything he gave him. And towards the last few years, he was on speedballs all day long. He was on methamphetamine and oxycodone, direct, intravenous. You map his addiction. The walls of the bunker get thicker. It's addiction.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

One of the American producers then said, tony says, great. We saw the date. He's so fantastic. Could you make him less likable?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Can you make him less human? I said he was human, which is hard. I said he was human, so go figure.

[Monica Padman]

And that's actually scarier. It's scarier that they're human and they're.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Not just evil cartoon fits buried in deep. In all of us.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, exactly. And that scares us because what are we capable for?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Goodness knows what reason?

[Dax Shepard]

So you had a very challenging start, but then you also had these little glimpses of pretty good fortune, Right. And you mentioned one of them, which is you're at the ymca. You wander to this room, you find out they're putting on this play, the Christmas Angels, Easter, Easter. The director says, just basically, would you like to do a line in this?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

My father said to a neighbor, a friend of his, go take him to the ymca. Get him out of there. He's always on his own. Get some friends. I've gotten sick playing the piano all day. Yeah. And I went to the ymca. I remember it all clearly. And I went into this room and there were kids playing table tennis. And I thought, God, I don't want to be part of any of this. And so I wandered down the stairs and up this hall and heard some voices through double doors. There's a stage. And I crept in and this man turned to me. He said, what do you want? Can I watch? He said, yes, be quiet. He was very authoritative. He said, what's your name? I said, anthony Hopkins. You're Dick Hopkins is by the baker. I said, yeah. Oh. I said, now, would you like to have a part in this? And they gave me a part of a saint. I had one line. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

[Monica Padman]

It's a good line.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I thought, well, I like the feeling of being on stage. But I didn't take it seriously. But being Hopeless. At school, I thought, well, maybe there's a chance.

[Dax Shepard]

Because my parents, they came every show, though. This is what's very sweet about them.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Three nights. And my father said, well, you never know, maybe Hollywood next.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I knew I was 17. He was making a joke.

[Dax Shepard]

But you did good. That was maybe the first. I mean, you were good at playing piano and stuff, but that was the first time maybe you had some real acceptance of having put yourself out there. And it went as good as it could go. It was very encouraging.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah. Looking back and have a laugh about it all.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And then the other crazy thing that happens to you is, you know a girl who's dating Richard Burton.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh, Bernice Evans, yes.

[Dax Shepard]

This is so random, right? I mean, not random in that he's also Welsh, but how do you meet Richard Burton?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Bernice was about 18, much older than me, but she'd been to the Slade Art School, and she lived at the bottom end of the house, just over the garden wall with her parents. And my mother took a liking to her. She's a nice young girl, nicely on the floor, sketching. And she said, I can give him some lessons. And she did a sketch of me, which is in the book. And so one night she's like, I can only give you half an hour. And I'd been painting a pirate on poster paint. My boyfriend's taking me to the cinema to see Odd man out with James Mason. I sat there and I heard the doorbell ring and she come up and he came up the stairs and he came into the room. She said, this is Richard. He's an actor. He's Richard Burton.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

He looked. He said, well, I like the boots on the boat. Little did I know that many years later, I'd meet him again at the same dressing room in New York that I'd occupied in Equus, and he'd taken over from Anthony Perkins. Took over from me when I left in 1974, 75. And then Burton took over from Tony Perkins. So I was in New York early 76, doing publicity for a film. So I asked the stage director, I said, can I come and see him? He said, yeah. So I went up the stairs, and in the same dressing room was Richard Burton. And we shook hands and he said, well, he said, why haven't we worked together? He said, we must do it one day and thank you very much, and walked down the stairs. Coming in to see his performance that night through the stage door because the crowds outside was Elizabeth Taylor.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no kidding.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

It's looking a bit Wobbly.

[Dax Shepard]

She did that well.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

She was a wonderful actress.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah. I just recently watched for the first time, who's Afraid of Virginia Wool? I cannot believe how funny she is in it.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Both of them.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, they're incredible. And then I read the book about the director, how he managed those two at that time.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Mike Nichols.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, Mike Nichols.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

He said, I didn't direct it at all. He said they were George and Martha. I think it was Mike's first job.

[Dax Shepard]

First film, Right.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah. He did the Graduate after.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

But he said they were magnificent.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Because they were George, Martha.

[Dax Shepard]

That's incredible.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

My favorite line is at the end when they all get up and leave and they've had their fight. And this one moment digs deep into me. When Sandy Dennis and George Siegel have gone and she's devastated. Is Sunday tomorrow? All day. Oh, God. The depression, the horrifying emptiness of their lives. Who's Afraid of Virginia? Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So based, though, on this little experience you had at the ymca, it kind of opens up potentially a new path. And you said also meeting Richard when he left, you were like, okay, I want to be him.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

How about the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama? How do you then get into there?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

They'd cut out an advert in the local Welsh paper for scholarship auditions for Cardiff College of Music and Drama. My mother sent out an application for me. So I'd been at the YMCA playing Now Blessed of the meek, they shall inherit there. So I learned a bit of Shakespeare, the Othello speech. And I went up to Cardiff and into the audition, it was in the castle. That's where the college was. And I went, met this man called Raymond Edwards. He said, what are you going to do? I said, shakespeare, Othello. All right, go ahead. And I did that scene, and I was hamming it up, you know. He said, very good. Well, he says, I'll let you know. We got your address. So two weeks later, got information in the Mail that I was on the.

[Dax Shepard]

Shortlist of three people, two girls and a boy. Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

And went up to Cardiff with my father to the City hall to finally interview. And I went in this big, grand room with a table with some head gazes. Dr. Hines, who's the principal, Raymond Edwards, was the head of the drama, and they asked me some questions. One question they asked me, which I thought, that's it. She said, you didn't have a very good school report. No. Oh, well, all right. I thought, well, that's it. Curtains. But that's right, these two young girls out there, Ann Holmes And Sandra Sheffield and Raymond came out. He said, well, the scholarship goes to the mail. I thought, it's in the post. In the mail.

[Dax Shepard]

Here's this. Weird.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

He's locked into this being. He's a dunce. Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

You can't see outside.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I've seen the mail. My father knows the mail. You're the mail. Oh, good God. He said, yes in the mail. You've got the scholarship. Oh, I have. That's right. Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Son, you are going to this school now and you earn the paper for it. So it was a real turnaround.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Saturday night in Western Mail, my parents had been to the pub. They came back and my father said, look at this, you're famous. And in the Western Mail, it said, anthony Hopkins, son of Baker, received this prince little scholarship. My mother says that. Wonderful. She'll look at this here. It's sad, isn't it? James Dean was killed. No. Same day on the Friday night, 70 years ago.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

What kind of joy did you allow yourself to experience in that? Did it feel good to have your dad get to read about you in the paper after? How has some optimistic.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

He was. There was some hope for me, but then I went in the army and after two years, what you called the draft over here?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Called national service. Did two years and then came out in 1960.

[Dax Shepard]

And you were Gunner Hopkins, the Royal Artillery. What was that experience like? Did it feel like school again or did you feel more capable there?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I became a clerk. God knows how.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I was useless to that too.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. I mean, you really hardly made it.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I mean, I don't know, I just fell on my feet. It's like a cat with nine lives. Yeah. And I survived, I think, because I isolated in a way, because that. Don't let them get you.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

It's called Dilkar Barundum. Don't let the pastors get you down.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

And that's how I played my whole life.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you feel lonely or did it not bother you to be so isolated?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

No, I didn't feel lonely. I just felt uniquely myself. I didn't need anyone. I never wanted to be part of anything.

[Dax Shepard]

No. I'm going to fast forward 55 years. In 2014, you were diagnosed with Asperger's.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

My wife is convinced I have Asperger's. I don't know what I believe because so many labels are addh. I don't know what the hell they're talking about.

[Dax Shepard]

I was only wondering if just being human, you know. Yes. You heard that, though. And Went back and went like, oh, that's why I didn't mind being alone.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I don't even know what it is. I just feel like everyone else, confused as we all are. We're all sitting everything. We got answers, got labels for everything, dyslexia, whatever. I don't know. Just human.

[Dax Shepard]

But I'm comforted by the fact that you weren't feeling lonely and isolated. You were fine.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah, exactly. I never felt like a victim. And I've got that attitude today. Get on with it. Stop complaining.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I like it. Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you dare. This message is brought to you by Apple Pay. Bonnie, I can't believe it's almost the holidays. You know what that means, right?

[Monica Padman]

I sure do. My annual holiday gift guide.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. I love when you break out your gift suggestion.

[Monica Padman]

You're a good steward of my. My holiday gift guide.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm entirely reliant on it.

[Monica Padman]

Well, I like doing it. I like picking out the perfect present. Like one of my more recent ones. This. I'll give it to you now, ahead of time.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

For your coffee lovers. Okay. There's an amazing small batch roaster downtown.

[Dax Shepard]

The ones with those Ethiopian beans I'm obsessed with.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. And they take Apple Pay right at the counter, which is so easy. So you just double click the side button on my iPhone, authenticate with face id, tap and pay. That easy.

[Dax Shepard]

What about for people who don't live locally?

[Monica Padman]

Well, that's where the real fun starts. I found this artist who makes these custom star maps. It shows the night sky from any special date. So you could do an anniversary or a birthday.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Huh.

[Dax Shepard]

That sounds cool. But doesn't all this online shopping get tedious with the different websites?

[Monica Padman]

Not at all. When I check out online, I click the Apple Pay button, authenticate on my Apple device, and done. It's so easy. No lengthy checkout forms required.

[Dax Shepard]

Keep the suggestions coming. What else you got?

[Monica Padman]

Okay, book lovers. Ding, ding, ding. I personally love supporting local bookstores. They're also just so fun. And you can go to their website. And then for crafty friends, there are these amazing do it yourself kits.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. You really do have a gift for, well, gifts.

[Monica Padman]

Thank you. Whether I'm shopping in person or online, Apple Pay works at a million places. It makes it so, so much easier to focus on finding those perfect, thoughtful.

[Dax Shepard]

Presents instead of wasting time typing in card numbers. Which I cannot stand.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. Same more time for holiday magic, less time for payment hassle.

[Dax Shepard]

Pay the Apple Way terms apply. We are supported by quints. When the Weather starts to turn and the holidays are coming up. I just want getting dressed to be easy. Stuff that feels good, looks sharp and actually lasts. That's why I've been into quints and the bonus. Quint's pieces make great gifts too.

[Monica Padman]

They really do. They've got the sweaters, but they also have homeware. You can get all of your holiday shopping done just on quints.

[Dax Shepard]

Home, bath, kitchen, you name it, you can get it. It is a great place for gifts.

[Monica Padman]

I ordered some sheets, some really, really amazing sheets. They're also so cute. They they're striped. I love quints and I feel like it's a hack, honestly. It's like the quality is so good and it's so reasonable.

[Dax Shepard]

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[Monica Padman]

I know about Addie. The little pink pill, right?

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, that's right. Addie is the FDA approved pink pill. Clinically proven to boost desire in certain premenopausal women who are bothered by a low libido.

[Monica Padman]

I love this. It's really nice that there's an option out there for women who are dealing with low desire and I like that. Addie's non hormonal and created by a woman for women. Addie is helping women feel like themselves again and that's really important.

[Dax Shepard]

It really is. So arm cherries. If your libido could use a little jump start, Addie's got you covered. Learn [e-mail] that's a D D Y I.com use code DAX for a $10 telemed [e-mail] Addi or flibanserin is for premenopausal women with acquired generalized hypoactive sexual desire disorder. HSDD who have not had problems with low sexual desire in the past, who have low sexual desire. No matter the type of sexual activity, the situation or the sexual partner, this low sexual desire is troubling to them and is not due to a medical or mental health problem, problems in the relationship or medicine or other drug use. Addie is not for use in children, men, or to enhance sexual performance. Your risk of severe low blood pressure and fainting is increased if you drink one to two standard al alcohol drinks close in time to your ADDI dose. Wait at least two hours after drinking before taking Addi at bedtime. This risk increases if you take certain prescriptions, OTC or herbal medications or have liver problems and can happen when you take Addi without alcohol or other medicines. Do not take if you are allergic to any of Addi's ingredients. Allergic reactions may include hives, itching or trouble breathing. Sometimes serious sleepiness can occur. Common side effects include dizziness, nausea, tiredness, difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep, and dry mouth. See full P I am medication guide including box [e-mail] PI Addie use code DAX for a $10 telemed [e-mail] that's a D D Y I dot com. So in 1963, you go to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. Now, this is serious. This is big leagues. If you're going to go to school and you're on that side of the world, that's the spot. Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah. I did an audition and I walked on stage and mother gravely voice said, what you going to do? And I said, iago from Bartholo. So I did this scene and I had an uncanny understanding of what Iago was. And I finished the scene and the last line was, I shall make a net that shall enmesh them all. So I said, thank you. And I was about to walk upstage this woman's voice. Hold on, where are you going? I said, I'm finished now. Yeah. Well, can we talk a moment?

[Dax Shepard]

I'd rather not.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah. And then now to this gravelly voice comes to the. Hello, my name is John Fernald. I'm from Munsterpool. Very good. Very, very good.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Never seen it played that way, but wonderful. I saw. Thank you. And two weeks later got messages. I was in joined in September 1961.

[Dax Shepard]

When does Laurence Olivier first see you act? Is it while you're a student there?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

No, no, that was the National Theater. That was a different story.

[Dax Shepard]

After you graduated from the. Yeah, okay.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I got an invitation to go to the National Theater to audition. And Olivia was running the National Theatre. It was then at the Old Vic theatre. This was 1965. I went in and there was a man, he looked like a bank president. It was Lawrence Olivier. So I did the audition. He said, good. He said, well done. About a week later, got a call to join the national dinner in his production of Othello. I had to run on and say, the Ottomites, reverend and gracious, with due course steering towards the isle of Rhodes. So I went on unspoke Iago's land instead. Oh.

[Monica Padman]

Oop.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

And suddenly changed. And I thought, that's it, I'm fired. I knocked at his door to apologize and somebody said, sir Lawrence was very annoyed. He was taking his makeup off. I said, I'm sorry about that. Oh, you went on unspokely. Hog. He said, I thought we were going to stir up the whole bloody play all over again. He said, by the way, that speech, the messenger speech, Let me do it. You must really hit it on. I said, oh, yeah, like that. Yes, to counteract the sleeping ghost that was in me, that I was incompetent and I was going to be a victim. I thought, no one will ever touch me if I learn the entire role before we even start, I learn it and it paid because nobody could touch me. I mean, you could have some sadistic director, and if they did, I would warn them. I'd get up and walk out because I wouldn't put up with it, being bullied. I was a bit paranoid, a little nuts, and I would walk away. I said, where are you going? To hell with you. Anyway, so that's what happened. Then he gave me a part in his production of the Three Sisters by Chekhov.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, you understudied him.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I understood him in Dance of Death.

[Dax Shepard]

And he said a new young actor in the company of exceptional promise named Anthony Hopkins was understudying me and walked away with the part of Edgar like a cat with a mouse between its teeth. That's pretty great.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I was told that night that I was going on stage and I thought, my God, couldn't believe it. But for goodness, probably fear, I just got through it and probably overacted. But anyway, the audience gave me a big ovation, and I got a call from him next morning. He'd snuck out of hospital, he put overcoat on and he said, I saw you last night. You did? Yeah. He said, yes, very good, well done. He was very soft spoken. He said, do you have any problems or any fears? I said, no, but I went through two shirts of a sweat. That's called tension. I said, how long does it take to get rid of that? About 20 years. 20 years.

[Monica Padman]

Do you agree?

[Dax Shepard]

Now he said another thing to you, maybe it's apocryphal. But he also said to you, nerves is vanity. You're worried about what the audience will think. Yeah, I think that's incredible advice to hear.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

You don't have time to be nervous. Get on there and do it. And he says, you know, you may make a mistake. Who cares? It's not important. It is important, but it's not important. Get on there, do it. And if it fails, it fails, and so on. Who cares? Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

That takes a while to learn though, don't you think?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Well, vanity, ego. You know, when you're young, you think everyone's talking about you. Nobody cares, right?

[Dax Shepard]

No, no, they don't. When you look back, have there been some performances where you're like, I shit the bet on that one. That was not good.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh yeah, I've done films and things.

[Dax Shepard]

Like that that you thought you personally didn't rise to that challenge.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh yeah. It may sound weird, blasphemous, but it's only acting.

[Dax Shepard]

I think you have to get there for your survival or you can't do it for a long time. Stupid example. But I got asked to come honor my rheumatologist, right? And then the audience is, I don't know, there's a few hundred people and they're much older than me and I make a couple jokes and they do not like them. They don't either get them or they just didn't like them. And I was riding home on my motorcycle, I was like, yeah, you didn't do well. You'll live and you'll go to somewhere else and you might be fine the next time. But I had to learn to just be able to let that go.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

You gotta let it go. Finally. Nobody gives it to them anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But it's important to hear you say that as the best that's ever done it. Cause so many people do with, oh, I need to do better, I need to do better or I'm not good enough. So to hear you say it, I think is helpful.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I do. At the same time, as a dichotomy I do try to be cautious about what I say because people have different values and for some people, things are very important. I know some people find their job acting important. I do it fine. I don't want to rain on their parade.

[Monica Padman]

Sure.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

So what I say is the degree of caution. I'm dispassionate about it, but I don't want to offend anyone because there's a lot of pain in the world. But what I say is finally maybe approaching 88. I've no idea how much longer, but I just think, oh, don't take it all so seriously.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

And when I was working 60 years ago, almost with Peter O' Toole and Katherine Knapper, and I was taken aback when we knock on my door, the theater and there was Peter o' Toole said, I want you to do an audition, a film test. So anyway, I ended up in Ireland doing interior scenes with Katherine Hepburn and o'. Toole. And I was sitting, gather my dreaming. Yeah, she was great to work with. She knew everyone on the crew. She was that old style Hollywood actress. My God, how many Lucky you're getting a suntan in the middle of January. Beats working for a living. And I said, yeah, she's. Yeah, I always remember. Smart. Beats working.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is the line in winter.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

She said the exact same thing that Olivia said. It is very important and at the same time, it's not important at all.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You were nominated for a BAFTA for that. Which is your first movie. Did it shock you or did you feel like, okay, this makes sense.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

It surprised me. There are much better actors than me around, much more accomplished, but for some reason, I think it was the burliness. So I was strong, I was tough and arrogant and all that stuff, I guess, But I was sure of myself.

[Dax Shepard]

Inside a very big movie that came next was Young Winston. And it's the first of five times you and Richard Attenborough collaborated. I'm just curious, what do you think was your guys unique connection that allowed you guys to keep coming back together?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I think he saw something in me that was rebellious and I was slightly mad. I've always been that, you know, something that's not to be trusted in a way, something that's unpredictable and maybe that's in our nature, maybe it's in my nature. I have no idea. I'm not a psychotherapist or anything, but I think there's something unpredictable in my very nature which comes from the past. Not that I'm crazy in any sense. I don't believe that, but maybe that's a sense. And I remember atmosing something dangerous about you. I remember Jonathan Demme. When my agent phoned for me one afternoon, 1989. Was in a play in West End. He said, I'm sending a script over called Silence of the Lambs. I said, was a kid's story. He said, no, no. Anything but play the part of lecture. He says, not a very big part, but he's with Johnny Foster. I said, oh, she just won an Oscar. And he's, yeah, but he really. I said, yeah. So I started reading the script and I phoned him. I said, this is the best part. He said, it's a very small part. I said, I know how to play it. He phoned back. He said, jonathan Demme is coming to see you tomorrow on Saturday from New York. It's an offer. I said, okay. So Jonathan arrived on the Saturday, came backstage. And we went off round to a local restaurant. I was curious, why me? He said, don't you want to play at Bias? Yes, but why did you choose me? He said, I saw you and the elephant man playing Dr. Treves. I said, what's that got to do with the lecture? He said, well, there's something in you that I think you can do it. I said, well, okay. Did you have any ideas? I said, I know exactly what I'm going to do. He said, like what? I said, like hul the computer in 2001. A few months later, I was in Pittsburgh. We'll be filming the cell scene. Jonathan was very nice. I met Jody and she was very nice, as a quote, that Jodie never spoke to him. That's not true. We were quite friendly. There's nothing spooky about it. That's publicity crap, you know. But we did the first reading and I knew how to play it. It was the first reading around the table in New York, of all places. So we finished the script and Kenny uttered one of the producers. Holy Moses, Tony, what is that? I said, I don't know. And Jody said, you're scary. But this scene when she comes down the corridor to meet Lecter. He was very flexible. Easy director. He said, how do you want Jodie to see you? He said, we'll have the camera. There'll be her point of view. Would you be sitting down or lying down or asleep or a book or something? He said, no, I'd like to stand. Stand in the middle of the cell. I said, yeah, I can smell it coming down the corner. This is yo.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, we have the right guy for this role.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

So they did. They did the scene and the camera. The crew were up there. As the camera came, I heard John say, yeah, good morning. You're not real FBI, are you? All the way to the fb.

[Dax Shepard]

Is it the most fun you've ever had playing a character?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh, it's wonderful. You know what you look like to me with your good bag and your cheap shoes? You look like a rube. Well scrubbed, hustling rube with little taste. She knows how to kneel. Her and all her vulnerability.

[Dax Shepard]

But it's the right mix of charming, too.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Terrifying devil. I met a couple of people like that who are vicious and cruel. Subtle, horrible.

[Dax Shepard]

Interesting as well.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

All the way to the FBI.

[Monica Padman]

When you're in character like that, when you come out of it, are you like, wow, I really went somewhere. You're not.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

You learn your lion shop. Hit the mark. Hope the catering is good.

[Fact Checker]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You're honest about being sober? No. You don't like talking about being sober.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

It can be pretty boring. I was drunk. I drank a lot.

[Dax Shepard]

What was it like?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

It was fun. You know, booze works very quickly, and it changes your relationship to space around you. It relaxes everything, and it's a false courage. And drinking is a very common thing. It's Dionysian, I suppose. But I remember being insecure and all that stuff. Gonna have a couple of jars and a couple of drinks and things suddenly look relaxed. And you think, oh, this is good. And it is. And you're gonna have some fun. Whether you're a lone drinker of public drinker, you go and have some fun. And, you know, all actors would drink because we were rebels.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

But finally I was just lucky to have enough brain cells left to say, you're gonna die.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah. Cause I was doing stupid things like driving my car and doing dumb things.

[Dax Shepard]

Then we do D when we're drunk. It's part of the fun.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Now I get into fights with people, and it's horrible. A change of personality. It's a kind of induced schizophrenia.

[Dax Shepard]

But what I'm curious about is once you got sober and you started. I'm assuming this happened to me, is I'm kind of learning why I am the way I am to some degree. Right. If I'm working these steps and I do the four step, and all of a sudden I go, oh, wow. This is illuminating. My whole life is being controlled by, like, three fears. That's interesting. I now know what I have to work on as a person if I want to be in harmony. Did that exploration start Impacting your work in an interesting way.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

What I'm told by an old guy who'd been around for many years. His name is Jack Bailey and he's a comedian and well known personality. He took an interest in me and he wore a wonderful sense of humor. You're smoking a cigarette. He says, how are you doing, kid? And I said, I'm all right. Yeah, fine. You happy? I said, yeah. Is that okay? Yeah, you dummy. That's what he came here for, to be happy.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I said, how long you got now? A few months. Good for you. Don't take the first drink. That's all you have to do. Maybe another thing, don't listen to the gurus. He said, you know, it's not a mathematical formula, this. Live your life. Sure, you can do the steps, but live your life. Enjoy it. Because there were some people rigid, you know where you go. And he said, avoid them because they're nuts. He said, they may have to do it that way, but you don't have to fall into their trap. Because he knew one of the guys was trying to take control of me. He said, no, just walk away. Enjoy your life. He said, this is what it's for.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, 50 years is so long. It's changed so much. Like, my father went to treatment in 87 and it was still shameful. Now I have no shame saying I'm an addict. Most people I interview that are addicts have no problem saying it. It's really changed in the last 50 years, right?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Was it hard participating while being famous?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

No. Don't take that into consideration at all. Okay. I mean, you know, I go to meetings and some people recognize me. I'm fine with that. That doesn't bother me. I'm just a drunk like all the rest of them.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

And accessible and all that. And will be helpful. But I will never preach, lay down the law or talk it all the time because it becomes boring for people. So I. I'm very easygoing about it.

[Dax Shepard]

Have you had any scary situations in the last 50 years? Have you been close at any point in those 50 years of going like I was so young.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

What the fuck?

[Dax Shepard]

No, no, no.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

The craving left immediately. I'm not that sociable, but we had a bunch of people over when I was in England recently for dinner or lunch. We've got some wine. I said, as long as people don't drive, get us a car to pick them up. If they want a drink, then fine.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

But no, no, if they have another drink, I'll leave You?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Overpower their glasses.

[Dax Shepard]

I prefer people drank around me than not to appease me. You had kind of a moment that, as you said, I don't belong anywhere. I'm a loner. But in the dresser, when Ian McKellen said it was wonderful, you said, we got on so well, and I suddenly felt at home, as though the lack of belonging was all in my imagination and all in my vanity. I think this is a very profound moment. When is the dresser?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

2015. We had a ball. We had a wonderful time. That's what he's got. He's got charisma, muscle. He's powerful and he's daring. He's courageous. And we had a lot of laughs. Could make you laugh.

[Dax Shepard]

But when you have this realization, and I know you're not one to feel bad for yourself, but when you realize I'm not alone, do you go, oh, why did I spend so much time?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah, that's all paranoia. I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you have any kind of sadness or regret that it took you that long to realize you can't regret things like that.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I felt insecure because I was so lucky, really. I just. Lucky all the way through my life. And I think I shouldn't have been so lucky because people have tough times, struggling to. And I've just been given this good fortune.

[Monica Padman]

You feel guilty about.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Well, no, not anymore. But I do look back and with curiosity, I think how extraordinary that this happened to me and all these opportunities came to me. So I never complain, you know, talking about the acting business and all that. I've known actors who've struggled for years and never quite made it, and I just don't know what it's about.

[Monica Padman]

Like, why you?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah, why things happened to me the way they did. So I've got no ounce of complaint to me or regret. Working with Ian was great. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I have one curiosity about your acting, and it's about you being a composer. So you were also a very active musician your whole life, and you even paused acting for a while to tour with some of your compositions.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

For some odd reason, it comes naturally to me. Improvise on the piano, and I improvise. And then I got a friend, Stephen Barton, who has a student. The weather, Beatles.

[Dax Shepard]

Abbey Road.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Abbey Road. Go to the studio. Then he's got sound equipment and all the samples of every instrument there is pure samples. There was real cellos, real sound. So I pick and choose himself with an oboe or something like that, or.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, cello.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah. The sound that's produced is so accurate. Even on the cello you can hear the grind of a string. They're so perfect. They're all done by German engineers, I believe. Real samples. So you listen to a real cello. But electronically manipulated. I don't know how the hell it works, but I'd use that because it's useful. Then it flows. I mean, I was listening to something, I thought, how the hell did I write that? I don't know, right? I don't know. I mean, this one, it's called fanfare. Then it goes into march. And I remember the day, working it out, sitting there, keyboard. I just want to do this as a fanfare, okay? Everything tom bones, trumpets. I said, one, put a brass in there and another horn. And then suddenly turned into a march. She's got the scores ready and Stella is behind my life extraordinary. She said, let's talk to a conductor. Me co conductor of the London Philharmonic. And he came to the studio just to say, hello, lovely man. Can I hear something? I said, you just did that. I said, yeah, well, we're in the middle of it now. I went to rehearsals at the London Film Monarch. And I couldn't believe I'm sitting there. This is impossible.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Are you afraid to even try to figure out how you can do it? Are you superstitious?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

No, I just know that there's a way of doing it. Just let the music come to you.

[Dax Shepard]

Which are you more proud of, the acting work or the music stuff?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Stuff. Both.

[Dax Shepard]

Not one more than the other. No.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

But again, don't take myself too seriously.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I'm just lucky.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

And I paint and I draw and all that.

[Monica Padman]

You're just artistic.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah. Estella told me, she said she found some old scripts and before we got married, some old scripts I kept in the cupboard and I doodle, you know, drawings. And she ought to paint. I started and I come back, she, of course you can do it. I saw she, well, you can do it then. Go on, just do it. So I got some canvases. This is always the start out little boy from Port Hurlbut, get some canvases. And I say, I can't be doing with oil paints because it takes too long to dry. I said, I want to paint fast. So I got acrylics and suddenly I produced these paintings and how to show off them and sell them. I'm not supposed to say this, but I'm fast. I work fast. I like to work fast because it means that you cut down your choices. Too many choices, you get fat and lazy. Just do it fast. If you make a mistake. Okay, go over it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Who cares? Brush it out, paint over it. Write music over it, whatever.

[Dax Shepard]

Anyone who's listening who has a young son who is seemingly directionless and getting kicked out. I hope this is so hopeful for them that you just don't know what they're. You don't know.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Believe in yourself totally. Even though you may think it's a lie. Believe in yourself. Never give in to what other people say you are. Never give them the chance to put you down, because you do that yourself anyway. But don't let other people put you down. You get out there and you do it and you may fail. You may run into a wall. So on you get up and you do it. Especially when you're young, you've got the guts and the strength to do it.

[Dax Shepard]

And the stupidity.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah, and the stupidity. Be stupid. Just have a go at it. Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your head.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Well, Mr. Hopkins, we're so flattered that you were willing to come on the show. Yeah. We've both obviously just loved watching so many wonderful performances. Your book is wonderful. And it's very, like I said, unexpected, which I think is delightful.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Well, I'm really grateful for that. Really grateful that you liked it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes, it is wonderful.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

We're going to play some of it for our listening audience, too. They're gonna get a little clip of it.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh, good.

[Dax Shepard]

We'll have audio.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I had to go old fashioned and read with my eyeballs.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. It's delightful to meet you and thanks for making the big trip out here. And I hope everyone checks out the book. It is called appropriately. We did okay, kid.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

That photograph on the back of the book. That photograph of my father. I was three and a half in Aberravan on the beach. Because during the war, he didn't go into the army. He was lucky, but he had to do some national service. He was in the Observer Corps, which is. That's the rf, which was plotting aircraft. German, American, British, reporting movements of aircraft, warning the center and Cardiff. It was a network of observation. Anyway, I was there. Lost little kid. Like we all are feeling hopeless or lost, you know. And I look at that, I think we did okay, kid.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

That's beautiful.

[Dax Shepard]

Whatever it is, you know, it worked out just fine.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Thank you so much. I hope everyone checks out the book. And it's been a light to me.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Thank you both.

[Dax Shepard]

Now, before we go to the fact check, we're going to play an excerpt from. We did okay. Kidding.

[Fact Checker]

I'm an alcoholic and I need help. I told my agent. He got me the time off I needed to focus on getting treatment. The tradition I belong to suggests that it's much better to change lives one person at a time by helping them one on one, rather than by crowing to the world about having found a cure for one's affliction. This is known in the rooms as attraction rather than promotion. And so I will say only that if you are starting to wake up to the ways in which alcohol is ruining your life, as I did to the ways it was ruining mine, there are people out there who will take you out for coffee. You can find them in every city and town at every hour of the day. I still go to meetings now myself, almost 50 years after getting sober. The day after my revelation, I went out for lunch with my friend Bob Palmer, who brought along his friend George. They were going to take me to my first 12 step meeting. I was in a state of shock because the urge to drink had gone. I saw a waiter carrying a tray with a glass of red wine across the room. How strange that I used to drink that, I thought. How are you feeling? Bob asked.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Asked.

[Fact Checker]

Inadequate, he said, you are.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

That floored me.

[Fact Checker]

He explained that I had so little power I was unable to predict what would happen in the next three minutes. Therein lay terror, but also freedom if we accepted it. At the first AA meeting I attended, I was moved by the speaker's story. He's just like me. I thought he was a truck driver, not an actor. But we were the same. I had something in common with everyone in that room. We were drunks and we didn't want to drink anymore. I thought, they're all misfits like me. Like all of us. We feel we never belong. We feel self hatred. All of us are the same. I'm not alone.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you dare. We are supported by empower. See, you've always wanted to take that bucket list safari trip where you hop in a jeep at sunrise and cruise the Serengeti. Here's the thing. If you invest well, you could do things like that. With Empower, you can get your money working for you so you can go out and live a little. Isn't that why we work so hard? To splurge at certain moments? Maybe it's those concert seats that don't require binoculars. Or taking that trip to Athens in Greece, not Georgia. No disrespect money. So use empower to help. Help you get good at money so you can be a little bad. Join their 19 million customers [e-mail] not an Empower client, paid or sponsored. We are supported by BetterHelp. You know, it's wild. October 10th is World Mental Health Day. And it got me thinking about all the incredible therapists out there making a real difference. BetterHelp therapists alone have helped over 5 million people worldwide. That's a lot of lives changed, one conversation at a time.

[Monica Padman]

I love my therapist so much. I saw her twice ICE last week after my personal tragedy. She was so helpful in helping me process everything.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, finding the right therapist can feel overwhelming. But BetterHelp makes it simple. They've spent 12 plus years perfecting their match system, connecting people with licensed professionals from their network of over 30,000 therapists. And with an average session rating of 4.9 out of 5 based on over 1.7 million client reviews, they're clearly doing something right. This World Mental Health Day, we're celebrating the therapists who have helped millions of people take a step. If you're ready to find the right therapist for you, BetterHelp can help you start that journey. Armchairs get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com Dax that's BetterHelp. H-E-L-P.com Dax this podcast is brought to you by Squarespace, the all in one website platform designed to help you stand out and succeed online. The website for armchair expert. I was too afraid to try. I didn't want to build it. I didn't think I had the skills to set. But Rob got on there. He made the most beautiful website for us and he said it was incredibly easy. You do not have to be tech savvy.

[Monica Padman]

They have a really cool feature. It's called the Blueprint AI feature, and you basically tell it what you're trying to do. Like in our case, showcase the podcast, obviously host our archive, that kind of thing, and it builds you a custom website that actually looks really legit.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, the other thing that's been crucial for us is their SEO tools. Look, I don't even know what SEO meant when we started, but it's basically what helps people find you online. Squarespace handles all that technical stuff automatically so you don't have to think about it. It's all pretty straightforward and it actually works, which is really all I care about at the end of the day. So head to squarespace.comdax for a free trial, and when you're ready to Launch, use code DAX to save 10% on your first purchase of a website. Or domain. He is an armchair expert, but he.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Makes mistakes all the time.

[Dax Shepard]

Thank God Monica's here. She's got to let him hack have the facts.

[Monica Padman]

Do I have lipstick all over my face?

[Dax Shepard]

No, you don't at all.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Cuz you touched it up from. From eating Dad's oatmeal.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

I did.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you want to tell people about Dad's oatmeal? Because this could be the first unbiased review.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. Okay, so you eat the same breakfast every day?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, 365.

[Monica Padman]

And I got to try it today.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Uh huh.

[Dax Shepard]

Before you give the review, what was your guess at what it was? It tasted like. Like Blanche. What's this? Mom? Oh, I made you something. Let me try it. Aw. Like that would be the commercial.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that's the. That's the lucky.

[Dax Shepard]

When we have Lucky Charms, it's like a Lucky charms card.

[Monica Padman]

It's 100% a cereal commercial. Yes. So I just thought it would be kind of bland because it's healthy.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, right. Can I do the commercial again?

[Monica Padman]

Okay, sure.

[Dax Shepard]

You be the mom.

[Monica Padman]

Give it to me.

[Dax Shepard]

Me.

[Monica Padman]

Here, honey. Enjoy your breakfast.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, I'll try it. Oh, tastes good for me. You think that'd be a good commercial? I want Lucky Charms with your hand.

[Monica Padman]

Falling out like that is a really sad boy.

[Dax Shepard]

It tastes good for me.

[Monica Padman]

I think you booked it.

[Dax Shepard]

That was good.

[Monica Padman]

They are going to ask, can you shave out your tooth?

[Dax Shepard]

Shave my beard too?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, exactly. Can we age you down a little bit?

[Dax Shepard]

Well, of course I wouldn't have my tooth in because when I eat I have to take my tooth out or.

[Monica Padman]

It'S like Lucky Charms causes you your teeth to fall out.

[Dax Shepard]

Right.

[Monica Padman]

That's allegedly mom would say.

[Dax Shepard]

She'd say, well, hon, what happened the last time you ate Lucky Charms?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Ding.

[Dax Shepard]

Your tooth fell out.

[Monica Padman]

Anyway, so I thought it was going to be blah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And I tried it and it is really good. It's really good.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm glad that you tried it. And it doesn't even look that appealing. Other than I dressed it up with fresh blueberries. That part probably made it look a little exciting.

[Monica Padman]

A little bit. But it's. Yeah, it's a mush.

[Dax Shepard]

It's a big bowl of mush. And it's a big, big bowl. And as I was telling you, this is my big reward.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, you said it's time for my reward. And I was like, ooh, what's your reward? And then it was the same thing you do every day. How many days do you think you've had it? Like how Many months have you been eating this concoction?

[Dax Shepard]

Over two years.

[Monica Padman]

This exact one with the.

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Okay. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

The flat, the flesh, the. And that works. The fresh blueberries. The fleshy, fresh blueberries I got into about probably nine months ago. And now that's like my real obsession. I put. So I put. I buy so many blueberries it's crazy because I'll eat half of the tray per bowl of porridge.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my gosh. Yeah, they have great antioxidants.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. This is. I'm gonna ARG you. Like, if you. You could only have one meal to be perfectly healthy.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I think this is it.

[Monica Padman]

I'm going to poke a hole.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. But can I hit you with the macros first?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. So it has this bowl of oatmeal, has upwards of 60 grams of protein.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. It's a lot.

[Dax Shepard]

It's a big boy serving of protein.

[Monica Padman]

Big bowl, baby. Like, big bowl. That's what it is.

[Dax Shepard]

It has a very good amount. Amount of fiber, which is elusive. Fiber is hard to get.

[Monica Padman]

Fiber's hard. So, yes, I like that.

[Dax Shepard]

And then probably more antioxidants than any other frigging meal you could put together with that amount of blueberries. Half a rack.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Time to. To poke a hole and wait, what was I?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Fiber.

[Monica Padman]

Oh. Also, people have predicted that fiber is the new protein.

[Fact Checker]

Oh.

[Monica Padman]

As far as, like, like, everyone's into fiber and you gotta have it and you gotta get the amount you need to get. So that's. That's ahead.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Right. And by the way, guys, Lane Norton has been saying this for years. Protein and fiber. You look at all these different studies, huge. The big thing they all have in common for longevity is like, you gotta have a lot of fiber and you gotta have a lot of protein.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And you gotta have a lot of chocolate chocolate chips.

[Dax Shepard]

You gotta have a lot of wine.

[Monica Padman]

A lot of martini.

[Dax Shepard]

But you give it. You gave it a passing grade.

[Monica Padman]

Pass. I loved it.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

You give it an 8.

[Monica Padman]

I was shocked because you. Your concoction is oats. Bob's Red Mill.

[Dax Shepard]

Swear by it.

[Monica Padman]

And Justin's Honey Almond Butter.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Huh.

[Monica Padman]

And I don't remember the brand. Strawberry protein.

[Dax Shepard]

Lane Norton. Strawberry protein. Because it's isolate, which I need for people are lactose intolerant or get upset stomach from whey. If you get isolate or isolate, it's better. There's none of the. What I. I assume there's no lactose in it, which is what I think gives you the upset stomach.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, well, so I Said I think.

[Dax Shepard]

A lot and I think so. I don't even want to quote me. Yeah, I think and I think.

[Monica Padman]

And normally I'm pretty turned. I can be turned off by protein powders because it does give the bad to me. There's a taste that lingers that I really am not fan of. Like, I like it when I'm eating it, but then there's an aftertaste.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. And can you tell me the brands you've tried?

[Monica Padman]

I can't remember. Okay, okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Because there's a huge difference in the different brands. I will say that I've had tons of protein, but I'm like, it's chalk. That's disgusting.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But two I'm in love with.

[Monica Padman]

Well, this strawberry one that goes in your. Your breakfast is really good.

[Dax Shepard]

Again, it's all counterintuitive. Why would strawberry protein powder work? Work in blueberry, oatmeal, fruits, I guess.

[Monica Padman]

Fruit medley.

[Dax Shepard]

I guess it just doesn't seem like that would be good. But somehow that comes together, especially with the almond butter.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, it's really nice.

[Dax Shepard]

That's the other big secret sauce in there.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Okay, now my hole.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

That I'm poking.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I think in order for it to be the healthiest meal on planet Earth, I would like a green vegetable in there.

[Fact Checker]

There.

[Dax Shepard]

You don't think the blueberries handles that?

[Monica Padman]

No, it's.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

It's.

[Monica Padman]

It's good.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I'm glad it's there.

[Dax Shepard]

I. Moni, how are we adding any green vegetables?

[Monica Padman]

That's my problem. I don't think we can call it that because I don't think you can add any green vegetables to that.

[Dax Shepard]

You could put mint.

[Monica Padman]

No, that doesn't count. And.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, I mean, that's a good. That's the least terrible option.

[Monica Padman]

Mint is an herb, Rob.

[Dax Shepard]

It's green.

[Monica Padman]

It's a green herb. And I'm looking for a green, green vegetable. I'm looking for spinach. I know, but it can't go.

[Dax Shepard]

It doesn't. That'll have to be lunch.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. You got working spinach in your lunch.

[Monica Padman]

That's fine. Maybe. Okay. And. And you. And you'd really. Ideally, you'd want a little Omegas in there. So you want some. Some fish? I think you should smash up some fish in there.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, I do my fish oil. What's our sponsor? Because that is actually what I use.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Nordic naturals.

[Dax Shepard]

Nordic natural. Yeah. Every night before bed. It's three Nordic Natur naturals.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. But I'm just saying, if you're saying this meal on its own, we need a little green vegetable.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Counter to your counter.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

You have to propose a different dish that would be better because I think you might find your way over to a spinach ditch. That would be great. But then I think it would really drop the ball on a lot of other categories, the fiber and the protein and the antioxidants. So I might have the antioxidants, and I think it's maybe fibrous, but regardless. So this is like. Yeah. There's never going to be a perfect meal.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

Unless you're just making a smoothie. Well, yeah, I used to do.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

It's too much. That's my issue.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. It's also too cold for my mouth.

[Dax Shepard]

I think it is ironic that I've been making fun of Wilford Brimley for 40 years now in those oatmeal commercials. And lo and behold, cold, that's my most consistent meal.

[Monica Padman]

Same as you made fun of Catheter Cowboy. And then you had to get one.

[Dax Shepard]

And then I had calf.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And I don't like pain when I calf. Just like him.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Have we not spoken since Halloween? I guess not.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Fact Checker]

Fact check.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

For a ketchup.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

For the audience. For the cherries.

[Monica Padman]

I guess the Halloween was. Halloween was Friday, and today is Wednesday.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Let's. Let's talk about Halloween. Okay, but hold on. We can't go on without addressing your tooth.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh.

[Monica Padman]

People have been.

[Dax Shepard]

I thought it would be cool if we didn't address my tooth, but I'm happy to.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Yeah. There's no way.

[Dax Shepard]

I've been wanting a gold tooth for, I don't know, seven years, I think, even when we interviewed Kirby.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Didn't we discuss it? And I think we did know somebody.

[Monica Padman]

I think we did.

[Dax Shepard]

And then our good friend Eric found for me this dentist that we both go to who would have known that. That this very normal, classy dentist also does gold teeth and shit.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

So I had a grill made. Yeah, that was first. I mean, I should wear that. One of these fact checks. That one's not very attractive. It's intentionally not.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Because it's for a character I'm going to play.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, thank you. Okay.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. I guess I assumed you knew that somehow.

[Monica Padman]

No, I didn't.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

So the, The, the, the grill is for a character I'm playing. Got it. That they did not ask for.

[Monica Padman]

But great. Okay. Fun.

[Dax Shepard]

And then I, I. And it was. It came at some expense for me to have this thing made.

[Monica Padman]

Sure. Well, acting is expensive in the heart.

[Dax Shepard]

It takes a toll. You pay a price. I sent a photo to the showrunner and I was like, look, use them, don't use them. I don't care. I did have these made.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And God bless. He said use them for sure.

[Monica Padman]

Great.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, fun.

[Dax Shepard]

And I. I don't think topic I can tackle. I'm. Well, I'll tackle it. I am having again. And I think it's it in the effort of being honest or in the pursuit of honesty. I don't need to make money for the acting. Right. So I said to them, I don't. Just pay me the minimum. Please pay me minimum. Give it to another actor you want to hire for the budget.

[James Austin Johnson]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

It's not even that nice of me, but. But for me it was so.

[Monica Padman]

That's a huge grasp.

[Dax Shepard]

It was an emotional thing where it's like I used to be so panicked all the time. Like, please, you got pay me the most because I probably never work again. That whole thing. And this is like, I just want to come play and you guys don't have to pay me. I know. Legally you have to, but whatever the minimum of that is.

[Monica Padman]

Wow, that's huge. That's really awesome.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it feels great. And actually it's how I should have been started acting.

[Monica Padman]

But you can't though.

[Dax Shepard]

But also there's a reality. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Money. We all have to. We need it. We need it. And so you are lucky enough to not.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't need it now. Yeah. And now I can accept that solely to go play with people I think would be fun to play with. And it's. I love it.

[Monica Padman]

That's great. Okay, now the tooth.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, the tooth. So then the tooth I just always wanted. So the tooth is for me.

[Monica Padman]

Sure. Okay. So it's nothing to do with the jobs or.

[Dax Shepard]

No, no.

[Monica Padman]

And how do you feel with the tooth in? How do you feel?

[Dax Shepard]

I'm largely unaware of it other than I like to play with the backing with my. My tongue. Yesterday was day one with it. I went to the movies and I. And you gotta take it out to eat. But then I was like, man, get away with some popcorn.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, God.

[Dax Shepard]

Because I can throw it past the gold tooth and just get it on the molars.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my gosh.

[Dax Shepard]

So I did. I did mess around with some popcorn with it still in.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

And then. And then I went to. Now this is a big thing I learned yesterday. Yesterday I went out to lunch with a friend and I took it out and I'M like, I have nowhere to put it. So I put it in a tiny little pocket in my jeans so I won't lose it there. And then when the meal was over and I wanted to put my tooth back in the backside, it was like. It's like the back of earrings. The back.

[Monica Padman]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

So it's like it had poked through the denim, and I could not get it out. It was like, embedded in my.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

It has.

[Monica Padman]

It has a Pokemon post.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. On the back side, there's two, like. What do they call them? Vampire clips. Like you'd have on a mic.

[Monica Padman]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

To snap into your tooth. And so not only did those puncture the denim and were caught in there, like, I was, like, trying to get a fishing hook out of my pocket.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

And.

[Dax Shepard]

And then they. It was all miscalibrated. Oh. I had bent up the day one. Yeah. So then I recalibrated them. And then a lot of the movie, I was like, I didn't do that. Right. This feels really tight. Like a orthodontia room.

[Monica Padman]

Now.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Is it.

[Monica Padman]

Is it. Did they do anything to your actual tooth?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, they took a mold, which is how they make it.

[Monica Padman]

Right. But then they didn't, like, have to, like, shave anything down or anything. Right.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, man, you're really getting all the secrets out of me. So he's like, close your mouth. Okay. It's hitting here. You know what we ended up doing, which feels insane.

[Monica Padman]

Veneers know. Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

We ended up grinding my real tooth down a little bit so it would fit with my fake tooth. And I was like, is this. What am I? This is like a. Like a fad I'm going through. And I've already altered my bottoms to match this fad. I wasn't going to tell anyone that part.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, well, you told me, and now you told everyone. Which one did they show?

[Dax Shepard]

So this one's now a little. He's like, that one's too big. Anyways, he sold me, and I like that.

[Monica Padman]

The one that's now small.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

The baby tooth.

[Dax Shepard]

No, I got the one that goes backwards birds, the jacked one. And then next to that is this one. You think that's small now? Oh, my God. You do know the look on your face was like, it looks small.

[Monica Padman]

It's shorter than. It's shorter.

[Dax Shepard]

It's shorter.

[Monica Padman]

Why do you do that?

[Dax Shepard]

So it fit my fake tooth. Okay.

[Monica Padman]

All right.

[Dax Shepard]

It's fine. It's great. I knew I shouldn't tell you. That's great.

[Monica Padman]

It looks great.

[Dax Shepard]

But I did go this is nuts. I'm grinding my real teeth down and then I'm like, I don't know, who cares? I also think who's.

[Monica Padman]

Who cares about oh my God, I'm a little mom.

[Dax Shepard]

This tastes good for me. Stay tuned for more armchair expert if you dare. This episode is brought to you by Kachava. Kachava is one of my favorite product words to say.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, it is fun.

[Dax Shepard]

Kachava life's full of unexpected adventures. Just like Cachava's new strawberry flavor. Bursting with real strawberry taste and amazing benefits. It's packed with 85 plus superfoods, nutrients and plant based ingredients.

[Monica Padman]

I love a strawberry flavor.

[Dax Shepard]

Me too. The Cachava strawberry is so fantastic. Strawberries, just inherently refreshing tasting.

[Monica Padman]

It really is.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. With six indulgent flavors including chocolate, vanilla, chai matcha, coconut, acai and strawberry. Each serving delivers 25 grams of plant based protein and 6 grams of fiber. I need that fiber. Everyone should have their fiber. It's a comprehensive meal replacement supporting strength, strength, energy, digestion, metabolism, cognition and immunity. With no artificial ingredients, no GMOs and gluten free. Ding, ding, ding. You've never tasted strawberry like this. Go to kachava.com and use code DAX for 15 off. Your next order. That's Kachava K-A C-H-A-V-A.com code DAX for 15 off.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, boy. Okay, now Halloween. Okay. Halloween.

[Dax Shepard]

It was spectacular.

[Monica Padman]

So fun. Per usual hayride by you.

[Dax Shepard]

Hey. Ride was louder and brighter.

[Monica Padman]

It was so. It's so great.

[Dax Shepard]

You sent me a very nice text a couple days later.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And I meant it like it's a very, very special thing you do for the neighborhood. Everyone in the neighborhood hops and is in such a good mood and it's such a community builder and we just don't have things like that anymore. And it's a really special kind of.

[Dax Shepard]

Small townie, which I like where you're like in la, but it's very small townie really.

[Monica Padman]

It's just like everyone coming together and cheering and being excited and it's very special.

[Dax Shepard]

It is very special.

[Monica Padman]

You did it.

[Dax Shepard]

It is very special. And my brother was there for the first time. He rode with me the whole night and he did some filming, which was lovely. That's his new hobby.

[Monica Padman]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

And it was a great, like getting to spe 3 hours with my brother driving around and it's just funny because siblings is funny. Right. So sometimes when I would make the turn into the alley, people would cheer.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I cheered.

[Dax Shepard]

Thank you. You probably let it cheer because, you know, I like that.

[Monica Padman]

And I'm a cheerleader and you're a cheerleader.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. You have the credentials. And then other times, crickets.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, okay.

[Dax Shepard]

So my brother would be like, oh, crickets. You know, like, he was like, making fun of me a little bit, which was. But very good natured.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And then if they would cheer, he would be like. Like, oh. Oh, God damn it. I should have been recording, like. But then a couple times I would yell out the window, we go through the. And he's like, it's kind of a cheat because you're kind of initiating the ch. Like, you're right. That is a little.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. It doesn't count. Yeah, that's true. That's true.

[Dax Shepard]

And then, yeah, the. We had the In N Out truck.

[Monica Padman]

You guys went in and out. It's so fun. Yeah. You guys got an In N Out truck for the. For the neighborhood. It's for so many people to enjoy and it's really lovely.

[Dax Shepard]

Halloween is a special holiday because everyone shows up eventized. They've put together a costume. So, like, everyone's arrival is fun for them. It's fun for you.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Everyone feels special because you're getting the attention. They're trying to figure out your costumes.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So it's just like very heightened in some ways.

[Monica Padman]

It's a very vulnerable holiday.

[Dax Shepard]

Tell me more. Because if you go like sexy, if.

[Monica Padman]

You do anything, you're just deciding to, like, put yourself out there. Participate.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And look silly, perhaps. Like, I always feel it. Cause I normally park a street down and I remember when we did Harry Potter Halloween and I was Rita Skeeter and I had a wig and this, like, bright green outfit.

[Dax Shepard]

You look like a little schoolgirl, as I remember. Didn't you? Didn't you?

[Monica Padman]

No. I mean, she did have a quill, but no, she was a lady.

[Dax Shepard]

She's a lady. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Oh. Last year I was a little married. Kate and Ashley.

[Dax Shepard]

Maybe that's what you're thinking. Overalls.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that was the overalls.

[Dax Shepard]

We did look like more the bookworm, but I guess you were a teacher, but it came across okay.

[Monica Padman]

Anywho, it was really a look.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And I remember when I parked and I got out of my car, I was. Was like, oh, my. I got it.

[Dax Shepard]

Get me to the party.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Like, I don't think this walk. I'm going to make it. Like, I'm so embarrassed.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh, wow, wow, wow.

[Monica Padman]

But then as soon as I enter with all these people doing the same thing, it was gone. And happy. So I think it's vulnerable. Do you know the story about Charlie.

[Dax Shepard]

Getting in the fight? Yeah. Please tell it. It's so good.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Again, for people. I know. Everyone knows we did mashups. That was our theme.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And.

[Dax Shepard]

And quickly to explain a mashup. You're going to come. They're going to share one mutual word.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

So what was Carrie, Brad Shaw, Shank Redemption. Was Kristen.

[Monica Padman]

Yes, that was Kristen. You were row, row. The row, row, row your bow.

[Dax Shepard]

The row row your bow.

[Monica Padman]

It used to be the row.

[Dax Shepard]

Because it was. Yes, right. I was Ferrari on a grande.

[Monica Padman]

You were Ferrari grande. People were upset because in the picture I posted, you had left. So you weren't in the adult picture, which was a bummer. Oh, there was one with you with the kids, but I didn't post that, obviously.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Anyway. Okay. Charlie and Erica and their two children were on their way, and they were close to the house and they. Erica was Edward Scissor. Handmaid's tale, really.

[Dax Shepard]

Hers was great.

[Monica Padman]

It was so good. And Charlie was Hot Dog the bounty.

[Dax Shepard]

Hunter, and he crushed it.

[Monica Padman]

It was so good. But he's in this huge hot dog.

[Dax Shepard]

He's in a huge hot dog, and he has the huge blonde wig on with the braids in the. And as we know, perfect 10. Charlie is enormous a human. And they're on their way to the party and he somehow pissed off a motorcyclist.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. They got in a tiff.

[Dax Shepard]

He like. And he waved and apologized. And then that wasn't enough.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So when Charlie turned into our driveway, the motorcycle decided to come back and get in front of his car in our driveway and let him have it.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. And he did this.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

He made that cut in your throat side.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. Which is so weird.

[Dax Shepard]

And Charlie. It's funny. Charlie and I were bonding over this because this happened to me more than once, which is like, I'm nice. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. And if you're now indulgent and you're in, then I go, okay. Like, then I snap.

[Monica Padman]

Well, also, it wasn't just like, you owe me an apology. He was threat. He was being, like, so aggressive and threatening.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. So ultimately it got to the point where she. Charlie said, fuck this, and got out of the car.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And this motorcyclist, what could he have thought? First of all, he's a hot dog and he's Dog the bounty Hunter and.

[Monica Padman]

He'S huge, and he's screaming at this guy as a huge hot dog.

[Dax Shepard]

Hot dog. The Bounty Hunter. I wish there was video of me too.

[Monica Padman]

Me too so badly. It was so sitcom esque. This idea of a Halloween fight and these people looking absolutely ridiculous.

[Dax Shepard]

A hot dog gets out.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God. And like so serious.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And if you got beat up by a hot dog, that was, that would be so humiliating.

[Monica Padman]

Anyway, the, the hayride was fantastic. And the neighborhood took it to another level.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh my God. Yes.

[Monica Padman]

I believe we can credit a friend of the pod for this.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I wonder.

[Monica Padman]

I'm not sure.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

So.

[Monica Padman]

But I do think I do too. Yes. Ellen Pompeo.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

Friend of the pod.

[Dax Shepard]

She was like, oh, you wanna do a hayride? I got tricks too. Yes. And she hired six professional actors to be zombies going around the neighborhood. Like you were at not Scary Farm or Universal Horror Night.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

So we worked in perfect concert with the Hayride. Cause people would be on the hayride and all of a sudden zombies were like chasing him and stuff.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

It became the Haunted Hayride.

[Monica Padman]

It was so amazing. And it really. Again, just the commitment.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I did get a little, I mean I was personally extremely scared.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I, I, There is a very funny husband wife story that came out of this. Right. Which is like I pull up into the same spot in the neighborhood every time for people to unload and load.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

And people know that's where you get on or off the hayride. So I pull up and Kristen's there's. And she's like, you got to go find these zombies. And I go, what? She, you have to talk to the zombies. You got to tell them, Tell them they, they got to stop scaring kids.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I was nervous about that.

[Dax Shepard]

And I go, oh, hon, I can't deliver.

[Monica Padman]

Sure.

[Dax Shepard]

Like that's just what this day is.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And she's like, three little kids have already left. I was like, oh, fuck.

[Monica Padman]

I know, we don't want that.

[Dax Shepard]

We don't want kids leaving Halloween.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

So like, oh, oh, you know me. I want to be cool. Of course. Yeah. So I'm like, fuck. And I'm the one that's going to see Ellen next because I'll be at the top of the hill.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, it's such a cool thing she's doing.

[Dax Shepard]

It's so cool.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So I get to the top of the hill and she's out in front of her house and I go, hey, I really hate delivering this note. I think it goes against the spirit of the holiday. But if the zombies could maybe not scare the little kids.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, great.

[Dax Shepard]

And she's like, yeah, yeah, Zombies don't scare. She didn't care at all. And I don't think the zombies cared at all.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

But I did have to, like, clamp down on the zombies, which felt really compromising.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But probably was the right thing.

[Monica Padman]

I did think. I did think. Oh, like, these are scary.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And what about these little kids if I'm scared?

[Dax Shepard]

Well, some left Monica is what I was told. We walked. Yeah. Rob, what was. What were the boys. We walked up there first and Vinnie was leading the charge. Like, just walking, walking. And they were. They. They laid off him one feet tall.

[Monica Padman]

Oh. But even. Just the. Even just seeing them is a little scary.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Did they give Calvin hell? Yeah, yeah. They chased Calvin a little bit. Oh, did he like it or. Yeah, yeah, he loved it. Oh, good, Good.

[Fact Checker]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

That's the thing. You don't know who's gonna love it and who's not. One of the zombies knew my name.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh.

[Monica Padman]

Which is flattering.

[Fact Checker]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

But also scary. I didn't like, like it.

[Dax Shepard]

Right. It. Oh, that's what she did. It was a girl. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I think. And then.

[Dax Shepard]

Because what if it was one of the boy zombies? Oh, she called you Prince.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. It was too scary. Maybe it was Gro. For what? What's his name?

[Dax Shepard]

Groot?

[Monica Padman]

No, not Groot. The grandson. The. The scary singer.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, Guar. Guar the horned pig face goblin.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, it was actually Coir.

[Dax Shepard]

What's his name? Blothar the Berserker. Oh, we should have invited Guar to the.

[Monica Padman]

Should we have Guar.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my God. We find. Because I'm like, this whole night, I'm like, we've. We've peaked. I really don't even know if we should host next year.

[Monica Padman]

Well, you have to. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But if you got to the top of the turnaround and Guar was on a stage up there shooting blood out of their penises and stuff, you think kids were leaving with the zombies? Wait till Blar the Blaster gets his penises out. We gotta get Gwar performing in the neighborhood.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Just maybe put. Perhaps ask him to wear pants over all those penises. Yeah. Desexualize it a little bit.

[Monica Padman]

Just a little bit. On Halloween. I guess that's it for Halloween. It was just really fun.

[Dax Shepard]

It was so much fun.

[Monica Padman]

It was really, really fun.

[Dax Shepard]

What a holiday.

[Monica Padman]

One thing we need to talk about.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, God, yes. And we're adorned in it right now, so not a problem.

[Monica Padman]

A problem.

[Dax Shepard]

You guys, new merch is the. The best we've had ever.

[Monica Padman]

Absolutely ever. It's so high quality. This is actual embroidery. Embroidered and yeah. So for the listener, you might want to go to YouTube to see it. I'm wearing a sweatshirt.

[Dax Shepard]

Sweatshirt.

[Monica Padman]

Gorgeous sweatshirt. Says armchair expert has a crow on it has a little mouse on the sleeve. Tiny mouse.

[Dax Shepard]

Very cute little mouse.

[Monica Padman]

And I really can't get around the qua. The over the quality.

[Dax Shepard]

The quality off the charts.

[Monica Padman]

I.

[Dax Shepard]

And I've been wearing this non stop. I wore like four days in a row.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

It just got out of the wash though for today. Finally a really great station shirt. And then I'm going to turn around to look at the back.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, it's great.

[Dax Shepard]

Hey, y'.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

All.

[Dax Shepard]

Really great station.

[Monica Padman]

So this is going to be available in time for. In time for the holidays.

[Dax Shepard]

But it's coming out November 14th for pre order.

[Monica Padman]

November 14th for pre order. And there's other stuff too. There's plenty. There's lots.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I got a hoodie here too.

[Monica Padman]

Show the hoodie.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm gonna show off the hoodie. It. It has a cute crow embroider.

[Monica Padman]

Gosh. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh my gosh.

[Monica Padman]

It also has a mouse on the sleeve and it has cherries on the hood.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes.

[Monica Padman]

But it's all very minimal and like very discreet. It's. It's a really good looking collection, guys.

[Dax Shepard]

And it's. I applaud you, Monica. You really spearheaded and steamrolled. What is it? Where are the words we use?

[Monica Padman]

Micromanaged.

[Dax Shepard]

You know what? You made people's life hell to get here.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, you really did all this and it turned out great. I'm so into it.

[Monica Padman]

It's a really nice classic collection and we're excited to put it out.

[Dax Shepard]

I think I was wearing one the other day too. There's a super cute heart shaped cherries.

[Monica Padman]

I love that one.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. What does it say on that one? Just arm Cherry. Okay. Have a good time. Have a great time.

[Monica Padman]

We love it here.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Gwar.

[Dax Shepard]

Vote for gwar.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. So go check that out and pre order and it's. It'll be for domestic. It'll be ready by the holidays.

[Dax Shepard]

Buy yourself something for Christmas.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, do it. Okay. So I started watching a show. An old show.

[Fact Checker]

Me too.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow. It's in the air.

[Monica Padman]

What did you watch? No, I don't trump your thing defending Jacob. It was a. It's a show on Apple and it's old Earth. You know, it's older.

[Dax Shepard]

Older than Apple. 2020.

[Monica Padman]

2020.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

And it has Chris Evans and is adapted from a book and it's a little bit Of a whodunit. It's kind of like a broad church. Who done it? Presumed innocent.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure. Murder mystery.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly. And, you know, obviously I watched the whole thing in two days because that's how I operate. Yeah, yeah. And there was something really interesting. So you used to. You haven't brought this up in a long time, but you used to bring up a. Something you read about a gene that you called, like, you called ma. Ma.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, mao.

[Monica Padman]

You called it mao.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

This is the watching the grass grow gene.

[Monica Padman]

Right? So. So, yeah, you talk about it and you.

[Dax Shepard]

It's not a gene. It's just a chemical in your brain. People have high levels of it and low levels of it.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, and then what happened about it?

[Dax Shepard]

Well, if you have a lot of mao, you're very content to watch the grass grow. And if you have very low mao, you need a lot to stimulate you. So these are like adventure seekers and.

[Monica Padman]

Adrenaline junkies right now. Used to talk about that all the time, and I think I probably, like, looked it up at some point. I don't remember. But on this show, they talk about something called the murder gene or the warrior gene.

[Dax Shepard]

Ooh, warrior gene.

[Monica Padman]

And it is the MAOA gene.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, so maybe that's the gene that makes.

[Monica Padman]

I think it's connected to this. Yeah, it's monoamine oxidasis. MAOA enzyme, which breaks down transmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Low levels of this enzyme are linked to a predisposition for aggressive behavior, especially when combined with environmental factors like childhood trauma. The MAOA gene is located on the X chromosome, leading to differences in how it affects males and females. Um, but.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, so it's passed by mom.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, isn't that interesting? They talk about that in the show.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And so some. Like in the show. I don't know how. I don't know if this is used in real life, but like in the show, they test boy for. Yeah, this boy Jacob for it. And they test the family. Yeah, Jacob doesn't have it.

[Dax Shepard]

Doesn't have it.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Doesn't have it. But also. Also the mom, because it's passed through. The mom and the dad and the grandpa have it.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. The maternal grandpa.

[Monica Padman]

No, the. Okay. In the show.

[Fact Checker]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

This is a spoiler.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, it's five years old.

[Fact Checker]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Chris Evans has this son, and then he also has a dad, but he's been lying about the dad. He says he didn't know his dad and he never knew his dad, but turns out he did Know his dad and when he was about six, the dad went to jail for raping money. Murder.

[Dax Shepard]

I wish it would just murder.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, everyone wishes that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

It's played by J.K. simmons.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, we love J.K. simmons. Yes.

[Monica Padman]

So Jacob is in a little bit of a pickle. Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Legal issue.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. And so the legal team is trying to see if they can say that he has this gene in case he's found guilty. They can say it's. It's not his fault.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

So I just thought this was a full circle moment.

[Dax Shepard]

It really is murder gene. Now I want to watch it. I've decided to start Boardwalk Empire.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I never watched that.

[Dax Shepard]

It's great. Of course it was a hit. But within two episodes I'm like, yeah, this is phenomenal. This is like Sopranos, kind of.

[Monica Padman]

It's fun to find shows.

[Dax Shepard]

It is.

[Monica Padman]

If you're supposed to recommend more whodunits. I'm in the mood for whodunits.

[Dax Shepard]

I'll try to keep my thinking cap on.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

All right. Now we can talk about facts.

[Dax Shepard]

Facts.

[Monica Padman]

It was so cool that he did Silence of the Lambs.

[Dax Shepard]

Then we got him to.

[Monica Padman]

That was scary.

[Dax Shepard]

You know what's funny is I would never have the gall to say like, could you give me a little Clarice?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But he just did it on his own and I thought, get out of the way.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Hopefully he'll do this for the next 30 minutes. I could have watched his entire role.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. We should invite someone on to do their whole role from something.

[Monica Padman]

What we.

[Dax Shepard]

You pick Nicholas Cage from Vampires Kiss.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

Because I need you to see him. Count to or do the Alphabet.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I want to see that. Also, though that's tricky because we also want to talk to him. Like, who are you willing to not talk to but just have them do their role.

[Dax Shepard]

Tom Cruise as well would be a good one.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

Because as I've said on here many times, and this is another pledge to anyone in his world or sphere.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I won't ask a single hard hitting question.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I just want to talk about his career. I don't care if he killed someone on the way over.

[Monica Padman]

I won't mention it for anyone listening. I have not agreed to that pledge.

[Dax Shepard]

That's not your thing.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

People have already yelled at me and this hasn't even happened. People are like, you can't have them on.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

And not.

[Dax Shepard]

And I said, no, I can just worship somebody. Because you get a lot. You know, you get a lot of the other version. It's okay if I just fellate someone once in a while?

[Monica Padman]

You can. I won't be doing that.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so what are you going to ask? Because you might have just ruled us the way home.

[Monica Padman]

And how'd you do it?

[Dax Shepard]

We both know he saved somebody on the way over. Yeah, because that's kind of a thing.

[Monica Padman]

That's probably right. Yeah. Okay. Let's see. He said he thought Edgar Allan Poe said, if we think about it, our lives have been written by some other author. Now, that quote, it seems, is a misattribution and a popular misunderstanding of a philosophy expressed by Will Durant. Durant says Durant did not say this, but he wrote about how other people's opinions and actions can influence our lives.

[Dax Shepard]

Who's Will Durant? Historian and philosopher.

[Monica Padman]

He's a philosopher.

[Dax Shepard]

What era? 1885. He was born. You know, my kids have grown fond of saying to me, you were born in the 1900s. And it sounds so, so funny because it's true and it's true. I know, but it sounds ridiculous.

[Monica Padman]

It does.

[Dax Shepard]

She's like, oh, you were born in the 1900s.

[Monica Padman]

How tall is the Empire State Building? He knew that because of his books.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Do you want to guess?

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, I think it's probably 70 stories. So I'm going to say 680ft.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

More. More.

[Dax Shepard]

Is it like a hundred stories? Stories.

[Monica Padman]

It doesn't say stories on here.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, I'm sure it's 860ft.

[Monica Padman]

It's 1250ft.

[Dax Shepard]

Almost a quarter of a mile.

[Monica Padman]

That's a lot.

[Dax Shepard]

Almost a quarter mile.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you ever toothpaste?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. It's really tall.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. That's much taller than I would have expected. Say it again. 12, 1200ft. So it's got to be like 110 stories or 108 stories.

[Monica Padman]

And it's actually 1,454ft to the tip.

[Dax Shepard]

1004. So more than a quarter mile. Wow. 102 stories. 102 stories.

[Monica Padman]

I don't want to go to that. 100. Actually, I've been. I forgot. Yeah. With Kristen. We went to the top for a.

[Dax Shepard]

Press thing or something. Yeah. So funny all the places you end up going on a press thing. You can't. Because you didn't frame it. Right. You don't really experience it.

[Fact Checker]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

It's a different.

[Dax Shepard]

I have to go to the Empire State Building today.

[Monica Padman]

Right at 10 o'.

[Dax Shepard]

Clock. And then we got to be blank. At what? Yes. And then you're. You're leaving. You're like, oh, I was up there and I didn't even really.

[Monica Padman]

I know. And you do go up some like creepy stairs to get to the tippities. Yeah. Oh. I thought it was interesting because he knew Hitler's. I mean his just. His memory was so amazing and he knew Hitler's doctor's name immediately. Like you were telling a story and you said Hitler's doctor And he said Dr. Morale.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And he just knew it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

I know. We were discussing this, you and I off Mike and I was saying we have found this with a lot of people that were born in the 30s, 40s, 50s, my mom. Yeah. I do think there's something to be said with. There was no stimuli. There was like you watch TV for an hour at night.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

That.

[Dax Shepard]

There was just way less info hitting you, I guess. And so everyone of that age seems to have a much higher retention of names of kids and teachers from their youth.

[Monica Padman]

I think that's a good theory. I mean there is something.

[Dax Shepard]

What else? Something's different.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, something is different.

[Dax Shepard]

Or maybe it's that we're juggling a much huger pool of people cuz we're online and that opens you up to like thousands of people or whatever. Something. There's some. Something has to be the explanation.

[Monica Padman]

But he like new lines. He like new lines from movies and stuff. He wasn't in like.

[Dax Shepard]

But that part is I think unique to him. That's his. Like that's why he can do Shakespeare.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

He has that kind of memory.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Remembering sonnets and poems and stuff. I can't do that. I have some rap songs from the 90s I. I know inside now one.

[Monica Padman]

You would you like to.

[Dax Shepard]

No. I know you never enjoy. When I do colors.

[Monica Padman]

When you do colors.

[Dax Shepard]

That's always the one I'll do. That's the one Aaron and I will do do together. I am a nightmare walking psychopath stalking king of a jungle Just a gangster stalking Living life like a firecracker Cook is my fuse Then that is the death that's the colors I choose Red or blue because of blood it just don't matter Suck a die for your life on my shotgun Scatter we come to LA we never die we just multiply colors. That's just the first verse.

[Monica Padman]

Nice.

[Dax Shepard]

We could go on.

[Monica Padman]

You can go. You want was who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? Mike Nichols first film. Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Highly recommend. Highly recommended.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. An Edward Albee play. It was one of my theater professor's favorite plays. It was so she would talk about it all the time.

[Dax Shepard]

You Know stuff that we don't know.

[Monica Padman]

I don't think so.

[Dax Shepard]

You don't remember?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. I don't have the memory that he has, so. No.

[Dax Shepard]

What do you remember? You remember Friends episodes in great detail.

[Monica Padman]

Not in as much detail as I used to. It's actually very sad. I don't like to be put to the test because I. It makes me sad.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Because I really. I used to be able to name all the episodes. Episodes and stuff like that. I don't think I could do that anymore.

[Dax Shepard]

I used to know every single word in Smokey and the Bandit, like from beginning to end. Every single world word in Raising Arizona. Beginning to end.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

There were movies I knew inside now.

[Monica Padman]

Good Will Hunting, obviously. Yeah, I did. I did someone's podcast and they put this to the test. They had me finish lines of Goodwill hunting.

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Oh.

[Monica Padman]

And I couldn't do it. Like I did a couple, but I. I missed a lot and it was really upsetting.

[Dax Shepard]

Sorry they did that. I would never do that to you.

[Monica Padman]

Thank you. Is that a commitment?

[Sir Anthony Hopkins]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Thank you out loud.

[Monica Padman]

Well, that's it.

[Dax Shepard]

That was all the facts.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

He knew Hitler's.

[Monica Padman]

Well. I just thought that was interesting.

[Dax Shepard]

It sure was. Is more of like a.

[Monica Padman]

It is a fact check.

[Dax Shepard]

We had like we. We named the things we thought were interesting about.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, that is a lot of what I do.

[Dax Shepard]

That's true.

[Fact Checker]

So I guess it's.

[Dax Shepard]

It's in keeping.

[Monica Padman]

It's a fact that you found it interesting. I checked it and it was correct.

[Dax Shepard]

The name was right.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. It's impressive.

[Monica Padman]

It really is. That's it.

[Dax Shepard]

All right. Love you. Follow Armchair Expert on the Wondry app, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to every episode of Armchair Expert early and ad free right now by joining Wondry plus in the Wondry app or on Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short [e-mail] survey.

[James Austin Johnson]

Mom and dad, mom and mom, dad and dad, whatever parents are you about to start? Spend five hours in the car with your beloved kids this holiday season. Driving to old granny's house. I'm setting the scene. I'm picturing screaming, fighting back to back hours of the K Pop Demon Hunter soundtrack on repeat. Well, when your ears start to bleed, I have the perfect thing to keep you from rolling out of that moving vehicle. Something for the whole family. He's filled with laughs. He's filled with rage. The OG Green Grump. Give it up for me. James Austin Johnson as the grinch and like any insufferable influencer these days, I'm bringing my crew of lesser talented friends along for the ride. With a list guests like Gronk, Mark Hamill, and the Jonas Brothers, whoever they are, there's a little bit of something for everyone. Listen to Tis the Grinch Holiday Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.