Taron Egerton

Summary

Armchair Expert: Taron Egerton (August 10, 2026)

Host: Dax Shepard
Co-host: Monica Padman
Guest: Taron Egerton

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Episode Overview

In this revealing and entertaining episode, Dax Shepard and Monica Padman welcome Welsh actor Taron Egerton for a conversation that dives deep into identity, masculinity, acting, fame, vulnerability, and the realities of body image in Hollywood. From Taron’s working-class Welsh roots and early struggles with confidence to the challenges and joys of stardom, the episode balances moments of introspective depth with the show’s trademark humor and warmth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Welsh Identity and Upbringing

• Taron’s Early Life: Raised in Wales by a young single mother, Taron describes a modest upbringing with a strong emotional attachment to the land and culture. He introduces "hiraeth," a Welsh term for a longing for home and belonging (06:19).
  • Quote: “We have a word called Hiraeth in Wales, for which there is no English equivalent. And it kind of means a longing for the land.” – Taron (06:19)
• Transitioning Homes: His mother moved to Wales for a better life, and Taron has a deep loyalty to his roots.
• Relationship with Parents: Taron shares about his complex relationship with his father, their eventual estrangement, and the empathy he’s developed for young parents (10:16-11:18).
  • Quote: “He's a guy who wanted to be a good dad... He was 23.” – Taron (11:04)
  • Quote: “We had just a unique gift to hurt each other.” – Dax (11:18)

Masculinity, Role Models, and Vulnerability

• Masculinity Confusion: Raised by a single mother, Taron discusses the confusion and burden that came with filling multiple roles in the household, and how it shaped his view of masculinity and his tendency towards hyper-vigilance (19:04).
• Honest Reflection: Both hosts and Taron dissect their insecurities and how "cockiness" in youth often masks profound anxiety (17:53-18:23).
• Impact of Upbringing: Taron openly discusses the “Superman thing” and the emotional burden of trying to appear strong, and his ongoing efforts to become more self-aware (13:59).

Acting as Emotional Expression and Craft

• Finding Acting: Taron was drawn to drama as a teenager looking for community, attention, and a sense of self after feeling lost and disconnected following family upheaval (21:54, 28:20).
  • Quote: “Acting is the thing that I love most and I do consider it to be a craft and one that I will never really understand.” – Taron (28:20)
• Early Theatre: His first acting experience, appearing in a cocktail dress for “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” was a formative, liberating moment (31:34).
• British Tall Poppy Syndrome: Taron explains his experience with the contradiction of wanting attention while also feeling embarrassed about craving it (32:20).
• Drama School Setbacks: Didn’t get into RADA on his first try, learned humility, and credited this with instilling seriousness about his craft (33:07).

Kingsman Breakthrough & The Nature of Fame

• Landing Kingsman: Taron shares his unshakeable certainty that the role was his, the intimidating nature of his first big studio casting, and the overwhelming experience of shooting the film (35:23, 38:01).
  • Quote: “I just knew this is my part.” – Taron (35:23)
  • Quote: “It was the best training ground. Because nothing's been anywhere near as difficult since.” – Taron (39:27)
• Confidence vs. Insecurity: Despite the success, Taron never felt "arrived" and describes his relationship with his image, including body fluctuations and feelings of self-sabotage after the high of Kingsman (41:50-43:36).
• Handling Criticism: Both Taron and Dax critique the click-bait–driven nature of modern film criticism, and Taron shares how he’s learned to stop reading reviews and focus on self-validation (51:48-53:00).
  • Quote: “My best mate...said, ‘I don't care. I'll just all make my own mind up.’ And I thought, wow, what a statement of integrity.” – Taron (53:00)
• Tribalism and Identity: Lively discussion about how modern identity politics and social media have led to rigid personal brands and tribalism, with Taron advocating for embracing multiplicity and personal change (55:46-57:36).
  • Quote: “There are so many different versions of me within me. And I think it's true of all of us. And that's one of the things that I really love about acting, is it's like a way of embracing your multitude of self.” – Taron (72:52)

Therapy, Shadow Work, and Self-Reflection

• Phil Stutz & Barry Michaels: Taron recounts the impact of discovering the Stutz documentary and working with Barry Michaels, emphasizing the importance of integrating his “shadow” and self-acceptance (24:45, 25:59).
  • Quote: “I really try and bring that incredibly awkward, high pitched voiced kid with hair over his eye, schlubby, overweight...to the party and I gotta be proud of him.” – Taron (25:59)
• Transformation Through Therapy: Candid descriptions of ongoing therapy and the relief that comes with accepting one’s imperfections (26:52-27:08).

Work, Craft, and On-Set Lessons

• Mentorship: Shares that Colin Firth’s kindness (including the gift of Rilke’s "Letters to a Young Poet") was key supportive mentorship during a turbulent period (40:10-41:15).
  • Quote: “You are note perfect.” – Colin Firth to Taron after Kingsman (41:25)
• Physical Challenges: Details how physically grueling his roles have been, particularly preparing "Apex," achieving unreal physiques through deprivation, and the toxic cycle of body image in acting (62:58-67:41).
  • Quote: “The truth of the matter is that I starved myself and I was running myself absolutely ragged to get there.” – Taron (63:26)
  • Quote: “The tiny moments in my life where I've looked like I did those shirtless days...I just was filled with self loathing. I couldn't enjoy it at the time.” – Taron (65:33)

Notable Roles and Collaborators

• Working with Tom Hardy: Discusses the intensity and creativity of working with Hardy on "Legend," and how his role as Hardy’s lover was a subversive opportunity to play against traditional masculinity (46:32-47:49).
• Singing and "Rocketman": Taron reveals his history with singing, his approach to portraying Elton John, and the empowering advice from Elton himself to not do mere imitation (61:07).
  • Quote: “I'm going to use Elton John to slightly express something about who I am.” – Taron (60:30)
• "Apex" & Playing a Villain: Taron delves into embracing villainy in "Apex,” his personal input into the infamous dance scene, and acting advice from Anthony Hopkins (“don’t play the evil, play him as the hero of his story”) (75:31-78:06).

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Highlighted Quotes & Memorable Moments

On Welshness & Belonging

• “We have a word called Hiraeth in Wales… It kind of means a longing for the land.” – Taron (06:19)

On Parental Complexity

• “We had just a unique gift to hurt each other.” – Dax (11:18)
• “He's a guy who wanted to be a good dad... He was 23.” – Taron (11:04)

On Shadow Work

• “I really try and bring that incredibly awkward, high pitched voiced kid...to the party and I gotta be proud of him.” – Taron (25:59)

On Fame & Self-Image

• “For the first time in my life, I felt really beautiful. And it was completely intoxicating… I just went bang the other way and I gained so much weight.” – Taron (42:31)
• “The idealized version of yourself...your job is not to aspire to it. Your job is to smash it.” – Taron sharing Barry Michaels’ advice (63:40)

On Artistic Growth

• "Acting is the thing that I love most and I do consider it to be a craft and one that I will never really understand." – Taron (28:20)
• “There are so many different versions of me within me. And I think it's true of all of us.” – Taron (72:52)

On Mentorship & Kindness

• “You are note perfect.” – Colin Firth to Taron after seeing Kingsman (41:25)

On Critical Reviews and Self-Validation

• “A fair, balanced appraisal doesn’t make for good clickbait.” – Taron (52:18)
• "I'll just all make my own mind up." – Taron quoting a friend (53:00)

On Embracing Authenticity

• “I get it. Hollywood celebrates the man...But it’s not my path, and it's not who I am.” – Taron (80:41)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Welsh Heritage, "Hiraeth," and Upbringing: 06:02–09:51
• Complicated Relationship with Father: 10:04–11:04
• Masculinity & Single Mother Dynamics: 19:04–21:17
• Discovering Acting: 21:54–28:20
• Therapy, Phil Stutz, Barry Michaels, & Shadow Work: 24:45–27:36
• Kingsman Candidacy & Experience: 35:23–39:52
• Mentorship from Colin Firth: 40:25–41:41
• Body Image and Fitness for Roles: 62:58–67:41
• Critical Response, Tribalism, and Identity: 51:31–57:36
• "Rocketman" and Personal Expression: 60:19–61:54
• Playing a Villain in “Apex”: 75:17–77:32

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Final Thoughts

This episode stands out for its honesty, blending Taron’s thoughtfulness about fame, acting, and self-acceptance with the comedy and relatability that “Armchair Expert” is known for. Their exchange is heartfelt, candid, and full of encouragement for listeners to embrace vulnerability, accept imperfection, and remain curious about their evolving sense of self.

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Listen if:
You’re interested in the realities of working-class beginnings, complexities of family and masculinity, the psychological weight of typecasting and body image in Hollywood, or want a candid window into the craft of acting from one of its best young practitioners.

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Transcript

[Dax Shepard]

Welcome, welcome, welcome to Armchair Expert. I'm Dax Shepard and I'm joined by Lily Padman.

[Monica Padman]

Hi.

[Dax Shepard]

This is Pop out. Pop out episode of the year for me last year it was Alexander Skarsgard. This was a equal level Pop Out. Taryn Edgerton.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my, my. We. This whole room was. We couldn't in kind of shambles afterwards.

[Dax Shepard]

He put us in a trance. Yeah. Under his spel us. I'm so excited for everyone to hear this. I really want them to watch it.

[Monica Padman]

Me too.

[Dax Shepard]

Because he's so cute and so smart and interesting. Hyper intelligent.

[Monica Padman]

He's great.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't even know why he's acting. I mean he's got a. He's got it all. Taryn, of course was in Kingsman, the Secret Service. My favorite action movie. Rocket man. Doing an impeccable job as Elton John. Blackbird, Testament of youth. Carry On. And his movie out now on Netflix that I imagine most people have watched by now because it's so good. Apex, check that out. Prepare to be charmed. Taron Edgerton. We get support from Quints.

[Monica Padman]

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[Dax Shepard]

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[Monica Padman]

I love a lot of stuff from Quint, honestly. They have incredible premium denim which is very important for fall. It's pretty much all I wear in the fall is denim. And Quint has such a good selection of quality denim. Their stuff is so versatile, timeless and built to last that you just grab every single day without thinking.

[Dax Shepard]

Right. And all of that for 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They go direct to ethical factories, cut out the middlemen so you get all that quality without overpaying for it.

[Monica Padman]

We love that. And they do way more than clothes. They have bedding, cookware, bath essentials, travel must haves same deal and great quality.

[Dax Shepard]

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[Monica Padman]

Dax, honey, did you invite the Minions over?

[Taron Egerton]

Well, you know how we talked about

[Dax Shepard]

getting WI fi from Xfinity?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I ordered it this morning. Was online in minutes, then they showed up.

[Monica Padman]

So they just came over to use the WI fi for what?

[Taron Egerton]

Better not to know.

[Monica Padman]

Get online in minutes with same day WI fi from Xfinity plus, lock in your price for five years and see Minions and Monsters only in theaters. Xfinity. Imagine that.

[Dax Shepard]

Restrictions apply.

[Monica Padman]

Not available in all areas. Learn [e-mail] SameDayWiFi he's an unchanger.

[Dax Shepard]

He's an unchanged man. He's an. This handsome motherfucker.

[Taron Egerton]

Holy smokes. Same to you.

[Dax Shepard]

What's up, dude?

[Taron Egerton]

Good to meet you. Thank you so much for having me.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah. Delighted to have you.

[Monica Padman]

Thank you. Hi, Monica.

[Taron Egerton]

So nice to meet you.

[Dax Shepard]

How are you?

[Monica Padman]

Happy to have you.

[Taron Egerton]

Oh, well, thank you for allowing me to reschedule after I.

[Monica Padman]

Of course.

[Dax Shepard]

Thank you for saying schedule.

[Monica Padman]

It's already all working.

[Dax Shepard]

Out of the many charming things about the accent, schedule's really high on my list.

[Taron Egerton]

Thanks so much. I'm glad I'm winning approval already.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you say, oh, what's my friend Jethro, the one that really gets me? Oh, do you say controversy or controversy?

[Taron Egerton]

I don't know. I think I code switch depending on

[Dax Shepard]

who I'm with, because controversy's more like posh.

[Taron Egerton]

Or it might be a bit more posh.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

It might be when I'm trying to sound erudite and impressive, which he's normally on a podcast.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

So let's say controversy.

[Monica Padman]

Don't do it here.

[Dax Shepard]

I love your Range Rover. It's very sexy. It's very typical titan of industry. Thank you very much.

[Taron Egerton]

Thank you. It's making up for some sort of deficit in my sense of self somewhere.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, you should look in my garage. You'll see the holes are the same. Yeah. Yeah, for me. And I bet it's the same for you, but it's a very specific thing. It was when I was a kid. BMX bikes were everything. I raced BMX bikes. You had to have a Hutch or a gt, and I had a fucking mongoose, which is fine, but it's not what I wanted, and I coveted it so much. And then I wanted a dirt bike. Boys had dirt bikes. I didn't have them. So all of this bullshit is healing.

[Taron Egerton]

I think it is that. And I don't think that's just the get out of jail free card. I haven't really scrutinized why I have a Range Rover, but it's aspirational. I think it makes me feel like I've done good.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And I think when you grow up broke, you, like, covet these things because they're so out of your range.

[Taron Egerton]

How'd you know I grew up broke?

[Dax Shepard]

I know about you. Unless you have the world's only rich social worker mother, single mother, then. Oh, wow. I've done some research. Not the case. I'm going to say it was probably a modest upbringing.

[Taron Egerton]

It was a pretty modest upbringing, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You started in England.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, I did. Well, I was raised in Wales.

[Dax Shepard]

But up till 2. You're in England by Liverpool.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, this is exactly right.

[Dax Shepard]

So you're just across the body of water from Wales.

[Taron Egerton]

That's right.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. And first and foremost, I want to know, because I've heard you state it, you're Welsh through and through.

[Taron Egerton]

Do you feel that way?

[Dax Shepard]

So tell us the distinction between being an Englishman and a Welshman. We've had the great pleasure of interviewing Matthew Reese. Yeah, Matthew. And then also, he's the only other Welsh person.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, Anthony Hopkins.

[Dax Shepard]

Anthony Hopkins, yes.

[Taron Egerton]

I saw that episode.

[Dax Shepard]

But what is the distinction?

[Taron Egerton]

I guess it depends on who you are. For me, I suppose it means being a little bit of an underdog. So Wales is a lot smaller than the uk, than England, rather. The thing that springs to mind is that I suppose England is based on a mixture of different people who've come to that country at various different times over hundreds and thousands of years. Whereas Wales is a little more ancient. We have a word called Hiraeth in Wales, for which there is no English equivalent. And it kind of means a longing for the land. And I think that relationship with place, country, there's a loyalty there.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And a sense that you are one, that you are one with the land, that you're a part of the land and that there's something.

[Dax Shepard]

You're from it.

[Taron Egerton]

That you're from it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Have you ever read a book called

[Taron Egerton]

Anam Kara by John o'? Donoghue?

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Taron Egerton]

I mean Soul Friend. It's spiritual wisdom from the Celtic world. And that book talks a lot about man and his relationship, particularly through the prism of Ireland. People from that country's relationship with the land and how it informs their spiritual identity. And I think although we may not have quite the same international literary heritage of Ireland, I think we still have that same cultural connection with where we're from.

[Dax Shepard]

Maybe a nice healthy chip on your shoulder, too.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes, a little bit of underdog syndrome. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Say it. Little brother.

[Dax Shepard]

No, that's different. I would argue it's the opposite.

[Monica Padman]

How could it be the opposite?

[Dax Shepard]

Because little brother energy is like, hey, I'm like you. Pick me. I'm just like you. I'm old enough wanting to belong. This is like you.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, right. Little brother.

[Dax Shepard]

Renegade.

[Monica Padman]

One or the other.

[Dax Shepard]

Renegade, little brother. We gotta have a whole new little brother energy.

[Monica Padman]

They just have. They need their own identity very badly. Little brothers in general. Are you a little brother?

[Taron Egerton]

No, I was raised as a only child.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, nice.

[Taron Egerton]

But my mother and my stepfather, when I left home, started again. So I have a 13 year old and a. I'm an older brother. Yeah, 13 and 16 year old sisters.

[Dax Shepard]

You have a little sister.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, that's sweet.

[Dax Shepard]

Who you've sang with.

[Taron Egerton]

Probably somewhere on Instagram, maybe. There's nothing I won't commodify at the moment.

[Dax Shepard]

You gotta extract every penny. How else are we gonna get Range rovers and dune buggies? Fuck, they're not free. Yeah. So you went with mom? I guess they got divorced at 2. Mom and dad?

[Taron Egerton]

Yes. So they weren't married. Had me very young, 23 and 24, I think the writing was on the wall. And my mother left when I was probably two, maybe nearly three, and she moved to kind of pursue a new life. I think Wales and the north part of Wales has a bit of a romantic notion for people from Liverpool, which is where my family are from, because it's like a very working class holiday destination. So people who went there as children to vacation, grow up and think, that's where I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go and revisit this place I loved as a child.

[Dax Shepard]

And life will be like vacation.

[Taron Egerton]

It'll be exactly like summer holidays.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. I think that regularly visiting a place I like to go to and I go like, oh, yeah, I gotta live here. And then I go like, yeah, you won't feel like this if you live here. You ruin it.

[Taron Egerton]

Of course, there's a reason they say grass is always greener.

[Dax Shepard]

How long did mom hold onto the holiday spirit, do you suppose?

[Taron Egerton]

Well, she's still there, so she must have liked something about it. She's still there in a slightly different part of Wales, place called Aberystwyth, which is where I kind of did my formative years. And I think she loves it. I think like anything you love, you have a love hate relationship with it. You know, she hates the short days in winter and all the rain and wetness.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Okay. So from 2 to 12. You were at the initial place, right, that you guys moved to? Also, side note, dad ran a bed and breakfast in Liverpool area.

[Taron Egerton]

He did, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

How often were you seeing each other? What was that like? Distance you had to travel to see him?

[Taron Egerton]

So my father and I, when I was growing up, were able to maintain a sort of fairly kind of functional relationship. As I got older, that became more difficult. And I haven't spoken to him for a number of years now.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Yes. I noticed when you closed your eyes. It's a similar way at the periods of my life, I would have had to tell you about my father.

[Monica Padman]

It's hard.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

My parents got divorced when I was three. He was a good time man. He was a fucking. Had a Corvette and did coke. He was a car salesman. He was living a very exciting life, and we had a lot of ebbs and flows. The father son thing's really complicated. I think if you're not constantly in close proximity, I think that compounds an already tricky relationship. Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

I mean, I'm, you know, reluctant to talk in too much detail about him because he's living his own life and doing his own thing. And I'll always love him. I do love him. I just don't think we work very well in terms of our relationship. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so there was a point where I pushed the ejector seat and haven't

[Dax Shepard]

seen him since my father died in 2012. But I think what I now notice is, whereas before I knew about all the hurt I was experiencing, and I think now from this vantage point, I'm like, oh, yeah, we had just a unique gift to hurt each other.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

I think we were very similar, more than I ever wanted to admit. And I think the way we got injured and the way we protected our. Ourselves was just like a match made in hell for the most part.

[Taron Egerton]

Generally speaking, I find that I am happier and more functional when I try and view everybody else as just trying their best. And with some people, that's really challenging. I don't find that challenging with my father. I think he's a guy who wanted to be a good dad.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Was 23.

[Taron Egerton]

He was 23.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Dude, if you gave me kids at 23, my kids would be right now telling you I was a shitty dad.

[Taron Egerton]

100%. I mean, I feel like maybe I started to grow up about 18 months ago, maybe not, and I'm already 13 years older than he was when he had me.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, but it sounds like you had a bit of an idyllic 2 through 12 in this place. It's a 59 letter.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. You want me to do it?

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow.

[Dax Shepard]

I've heard you won't do it. I wasn't even going to ask you because I know it's triggering, but.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes. No, it's become a bit of a party piece, but I maybe have gotten over myself is where I.

[Dax Shepard]

You got to hit a slice if you're going to do it once, because I didn't catch it the first time.

[Taron Egerton]

I mean, look, it's a name that is, I think, contrived to create that reaction and generate tourists interest.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Dax Shepard]

I read a British GQ interview with you from probably. I don't know, it's probably Rocketman Press. And the actual magazine said he won't say it and it's too many letters for us to even print. He said it's 59 letters long.

[Monica Padman]

Wait, hold on, hold on. I missed the very beginning because I was thinking about dads. So, wait, what is that?

[Dax Shepard]

That's the town they moved to in Wales.

[Taron Egerton]

It's a village in Wales.

[Monica Padman]

So when people say, where do you live?

[Taron Egerton]

They shorten it to like. You can shorten it to various different.

[Dax Shepard]

I imagine, like first grade through fourth is just teaching all the kids in town how to pronounce the fucking town they live in. Maybe five through eight. And learning to spell it.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. And I was a kid coming from England as well, so I didn't speak the language at that point. So it was a real.

[Monica Padman]

That's impressive.

[Taron Egerton]

Real challenge.

[Dax Shepard]

But you got on well there, right? You had a lot of friends.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, I was okay at that stage. In hindsight, I think being raised by a single mom who was pursuing a degree and trying to make ends meet through the mists of time. Looking back, I think I was possibly a little more anxious than I maybe thought I was aware of until quite recently.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

Because I think I'm a fairly empathic guy. Single parent, single child relationship. And I think I probably picked up on a little bit of her, of course, but she was great mom. You know, I never felt that I wanted anything or missed anything.

[Monica Padman]

But you're the only other person in the house. If she's your parent, of course you're gonna pick up that.

[Taron Egerton]

I've definitely got a bit of that man of the house, I'm trying to take care of everyone things, Superman thing, which sounds like an advertisement or advertisement of virtue, but it's not. It's a thing that I'm working on.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, he has.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, I want to report. I want to pause this all to report I'm a super fan of Kingsman.

[Taron Egerton]

Oh, cool.

[Dax Shepard]

I've spent hours on here defending number two. I've got a compelling argument I'll hit you with later.

[Taron Egerton]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

But what I want to say to the listener who's not with you in person, you're way cuter even in person. You know, we go one way or another, us actors. It's like we're either not as good looking as we are on camera or we're better. And I'm shocked to report you're even better looking in person.

[Monica Padman]

And you're very handsome on screen as well. Absolutely.

[Taron Egerton]

Bless you, Bug.

[Dax Shepard]

I find myself moved by your handsomeness.

[Taron Egerton]

That's incredibly lovely. Thank you. Thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

Are you being moved at all? Are you feeling some movement, guys?

[Taron Egerton]

I mean, I thought it was all gonna be over when the hair went,

[Dax Shepard]

but I know it's nice working for you. When did stepdad enter the picture? What age were you?

[Taron Egerton]

14.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so that's post move at 12.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

And things hit the skids there when we move. Yeah, it's a little rough.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, that's right. So I moved at 12. It seems to me that around that age of preteen is when people are a bit in danger of abandoning themselves anyway. And we moved from one school to another. My grandmother was in the process of dying. We were being there to be near her. I just felt a bit lost and alone. And when you feel lost and alone, I think it's really hard to be outward looking and forge those connections with people and make friendships.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, you don't even know what you're selling them. You're like, you're grasping at what identity I'm gonna pitch them. Do I start with the fact that I like the who do I tell them I'm into this.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

How does it work in the uk? Like for us, you know, it goes kindergarten through fifth grade. So that's one chunk. You're six years in one school and then you're in a middle school six through eight, and then you go to high school. So where is 12 there?

[Taron Egerton]

So between 11 and 12, depending on what time of year you're born, you go to. We call it secondary school. People probably do call it high school now, but traditionally it would be called secondary school.

[Dax Shepard]

I guess what I'm trying to figure out is, were you also bracketing up?

[Taron Egerton]

Yes. So I'd done a year in secondary school in the north of Wales, which is already hard.

[Dax Shepard]

That's a hard year.

[Taron Egerton]

That was a rough year for sure. That was.

[Dax Shepard]

Everyone yeah. And then you moved.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. I had this horrendous experience where. The day where we went to that secondary school, you know, where they give you, like a taster day, where you go and meet other kids.

[Monica Padman]

Like an orientation or whatever.

[Taron Egerton]

Like an orientation. These two boys whose names I can still remember, who I won't repeat, but I can still remember the names. They just saw me. They saw me. They saw me. Fresh meat.

[Dax Shepard]

And they.

[Taron Egerton]

And they went for me. And that was the first year, so it was rough.

[Dax Shepard]

They marked you?

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, they marked me. They marked me.

[Dax Shepard]

We're gonna ride this guy like a rented mule for the rest.

[Taron Egerton]

That's right. They saw me for the little feminine, masculine, artsy boy that I was.

[Dax Shepard]

Ye. What was your size relative to the boys your age?

[Taron Egerton]

I was very small.

[Dax Shepard]

Very small.

[Taron Egerton]

Always very small. My voice didn't break until I was 16. It was rough.

[Dax Shepard]

That's not how you want to go

[Monica Padman]

into a nurse protected you.

[Taron Egerton]

No, I mean, no. I was quite sharp. I was quite funny. I was quite sharp.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that works for the girls.

[Taron Egerton]

No, I had a rough first year, so then we moved to Wales after that because of my grandmother being sick. It was a couple of years before I was sort of able to find my feet and find my. My tribe, my people.

[Dax Shepard]

Was there ever a comeuppance for the two unnamed gentlemen? Just life for them.

[Taron Egerton]

No. I mean, I'm not mad at them.

[Dax Shepard]

They were kids.

[Taron Egerton]

I don't know. I never heard from them again.

[Dax Shepard]

When was your growth spurt?

[Taron Egerton]

I kind of caught up a little bit. I think about 16, 17, and never felt short again. But I've never felt tall either, you know?

[Dax Shepard]

Well, you know.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I read out a quote where you said, I lost all my friends. I had as a child. When I moved, I was quite cocky and quite confident, but that was to mask the insecurity I was feeling.

[Taron Egerton]

That's why anyone's cocky and confident, though.

[Dax Shepard]

It's hard to know that, though, when you're a kid. I didn't ever see through that.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I was just like, why is this guy strutting around like this?

[Taron Egerton]

I think it was unremarkable. There was no extremity of tragedy or anything difficult in my life. I just think growing up's hard.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And it was rough there for a minute. I think I was also a bright kid and I had a really powerful imagination and if not an understanding of adult things, I could see grownups doing adult things, and I wanted to understand what those dynamics were. So I felt like I maybe stepped outside of the world of being a child at the time when things got difficult. It was just rough for a couple of years. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I think it's hard to escape if you were raised by a single mother as I was, you're out in the world, you become aware of, like, how dudes are looking at your mom, how people are talking to your mom. That role you somehow subconsciously know is supposed to be being filled by someone else to protect her is now on your shoulders.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And I think it starts down the road of hyper vigilance a bit.

[Taron Egerton]

I think it gives you a specific relationship with your sense of your own masculinity as well. Because my mother is and has always been an attractive woman. And I can remember that.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

As a boy.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And I can remember the feelings of rage, and I can remember the feelings of inadequacy. And I can remember not knowing what to do with all of that and probably also wanting her to be looking at me more than them. And you know all of those.

[Monica Padman]

Of course.

[Dax Shepard]

Well and often single mothers. I'm not saying yours was, but also there's a blurry line between child and partner. Like, you are filling in some gaps.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Because they don't have anyone there to share their day with. You take on a role that is a little more complex than otherwise. I think I remember, dude, my mom has big boobs. And my mom would occasionally wear, like, fucking white tank top. And I just remember, like, like, oh, man, we're going to the grocery store. She's in the white tank top. There's giving me, like, weird dudes that just start talking to her, and they

[Monica Padman]

just, like, thing a kid should have to think about.

[Taron Egerton]

No, I think that's maybe that's right.

[Monica Padman]

You know, but you're in this position.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I'm not gonna say anything to my mom like, oh, fuck, mommy, you're wearing the shirt.

[Monica Padman]

Put a sweater on.

[Dax Shepard]

We're gonna be dealing with all kinds of heat here. It's an interesting experience. And then, I don't know about you, but for me, in the absence of a dad going like, good job, little tiger. You're on the road to masculinity. Mine was just like, okay, what are the boys all gonna acknowledge as masculine?

[Taron Egerton]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

And I did all of it, but it was all peer driven. There's no wisdom in the mix.

[Monica Padman]

Everyone just making it up as they go.

[Taron Egerton]

I didn't follow that route. And I still now, I think when I'm asked about tropey masculine things, I kind of go, oh, shit, I'm gonna be found out. Oh. And so ra then pursue what you're talking about, which is that pushing. I think I sort of slightly fell into being a bit introvert for a couple of years there. Whereas I'm naturally somebody who's quite expressive and outward looking. I think.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, it's funny is we both have. Mine's driven by the fact that no one's confirming a masculine right. It's like this deep insecurity. So like. Yeah. Found out I relate too deeply.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Despite doing all the things.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. On some level I still feel that now. Particularly I feel it in my romantic relationships and things. You know, it's. It can be hard to. But we're getting real deep here.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. That's what we do.

[Monica Padman]

That's what we do.

[Dax Shepard]

You were right to cancel the first time. I did want to ask though about the character of cockiness and confidence. Because again, there's so many ways to evaluate your life. It's like, oh, boohoo this. But it's like, well, that's the skill. My hunch is that's a skill that ends up being applied to Eggsy. Like that's Eggsy. He's trying.

[Taron Egerton]

And you've already practiced it 100%. And don't mistake me for a second because I was aware of that. When you talk about yourself and you talk about your negative experiences. I think in the cynical world we live in, there can be an assumption that you think that your lot was tougher than anybody else's. Yeah. And I absolutely do not think that

[Monica Padman]

you're not giving that off.

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Monica Padman]

You're not giving victim off.

[Taron Egerton]

I am one of the luckiest people on the planet. And my upbringing was amazing and it was always love filled and great people. But I am also interested in my upness and I'm interested in how it contributes to who I am. The artist I want to be, the work I want to make.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, you have to be.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Because as you age, you start becoming aware of these patterns you're in and these cycles. And then you're required to come up with an explanation.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

So it's like, I don't think it's self indulgence. It's actually in pursuit of like transcending these fucking patterns you want to break.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, I think that's right.

[Dax Shepard]

And I don't think it's boo hoo.

[Taron Egerton]

It's.

[Dax Shepard]

It's explanations, not excuses, not pity party.

[Taron Egerton]

No. And I'm also very interested in all of the bits of myself that I have a natural aversion to the bits of myself that I'm scared of. The bits of myself that if you're therapized enough, you would call shadow. You know, I've done a lot of work in recent years. In terms of like five or six years ago, there is no way I'd have come in here with a shaved head owning who I am. I was still too scared. I was still too worried about my currency as a leading man. I was still too worried about being rejected by women and all of those things. But I found that work, in terms of actively engaging with the parts of myself that I don't naturally feel that great about and aggressively loving them, for better phrase, has been quite transformative in my life.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you know Phil Studs? I mean, do you know of him?

[Taron Egerton]

So Barry Michaels is my shrink.

[Dax Shepard]

Are they colleagues?

[Taron Egerton]

Yes, they're co writers.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, okay. So look around your shoulder there. You see that little drawing?

[Monica Padman]

Phil did that drawing for us.

[Taron Egerton]

I didn't know he'd been on the show.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

So, okay, so about four years ago, I was in New Orleans. I was making a movie called Carry on. And I was sat in my apartment flicking through Netflix. Thank you. And I saw a documentary come on

[Dax Shepard]

called Starts, the Jonah Hill.

[Taron Egerton]

The Jonah Hill made movie. And I love Jonah Hill. And I thought there was something that looked interesting and different about it. And I put it on and something about it really spoke to me. Something about him really spoke to me. And something about Jonah Hill's candor and vulnerability and willingness to put all of his baggage, for want of a better word, front and center. And I still don't know why, but I text my lawyer, of all people. What? My lawyer. I don't know why I did this.

[Dax Shepard]

Your concierge lawyer?

[Taron Egerton]

My entertainment. It was so weird. He's somebody that I have a friendship with, but I'm not in the habit of sending him what I sent him, which was a quote from the movie saying, how extraordinary is this as a sound bite? He sent me a message back immediately saying, phil Stutts, practice partner is my shrink. And I could see if he will see you.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Taron Egerton]

And what started was a relationship with Barry Michaels, who he co wrote the Tools with and he co wrote Coming Alive with. And Barry changed my life for me.

[Dax Shepard]

It's the most poignant, beautiful moment of the documentary. They show this picture of Jonah that is virtually his shadow. Right. It's everything he thinks is bad about him. Yeah, it's little him and he's overweight and all these things. And Phil Says he wants you to take him along and let him experience this with you. And that fucking touched me in a way nothing ever has. Where I was like this kid, I'm trying to hide, man, he deserves to come to the party and I gotta be proud of him.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And I just found that very powerful. Is that one of the moments?

[Taron Egerton]

I find it moving even as you're saying it. And it's been at the core of all the work I've done over the past few years. It really has changed my life in so many ways. And I don't always succeed, but I really try and bring that incredibly awkward, high pitched voiced kid with hair over his eye, schlubby, overweight, you know, this year I realized that I round my shoulders cause I'm still hiding the weight. I carry it on my chest when I was like 15.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

It's wild.

[Dax Shepard]

It's like muscle memory. Yes. So ingrained kind of muscle memory, bad muscle memory.

[Taron Egerton]

But there's also something really thrilling and exciting and then makes you feel very whole about learning things about yourself. And, you know, I don't know that everyone benefits from that kind of wisdom. And it's such a gift and it's been an amazing thing for me.

[Monica Padman]

You also have to know the things in order to say, I don't need that anymore, that's not serving me anymore. Or, you know, but if you don't know them, if you're not doing the work to know, like, oh, wow, I round my shoulders and it's because of this. If you don't know it, then you can't get past. You'll never, never get back.

[Dax Shepard]

You fix it.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

That moment you talk about in that doc with the photo, that's emblematic of Jonah's shadow. It's so hard to love that person. It takes a lot of work. It doesn't just go, okay, I'm gonna love that person now. And it start. It's like a process of attrition. Because to begin with, if I don't manage the relationship with myself well enough, that part of myself makes me feel ill, you know, like, I hate that part.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. It robs you of everything in the present.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. Barry. I don't think he would mind me saying he also, at this stage in his life, has quite pronounced health problems. He has Lewy Body Dementia. And watching the dignity and courage with which he's dealt with that adversity has been the single most inspiring, affecting thing that I've ever been near to in my life. And it really does put Everything in perspective. And I know that a big way that he's achieved that is through the shadow work that he prescribes.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You're watching him use these tools he claims at work, and they work.

[Taron Egerton]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah. That's wild. I want to meet him.

[Taron Egerton]

You should. He's an amazing man.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Okay. So you kind of get into acting, right, to make friends. Is that true?

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, that little nadir, to use a grandiose word. But that little period of time where I was a bit lost, I became aware of other people doing drama, and I think I always had that swagger that you mentioned, masking stuff. But that really started to appeal to me. Took me a while, but When I was 15, I joined a youth theater. Look, I used to be really reluctant to talk about myself as an artist, and I've completely lost that because acting is the thing that I love most and I do consider it to be a craft and one that I will never really understand. And I. I love it. But tracing back to that moment when I first had a taste of it, I remember as being a real inflection point in my life where I was like, this makes sense. There's something large about this that to begin with, sure was about a bit of attention seeking and probably was about making friends and fitting in finding my tribe. But, you know, over the ensuing 21, 22 years, it's the thing that's the most important to me and started there at that youth theater.

[Dax Shepard]

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[Monica Padman]

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[Dax Shepard]

Well, you probably tried on a few different identities by that point and you have some light purchase on them. You're kind of convincing in that realm. But then when you actually find the thread, that is the thing, you know, in your heart. Oh, wow. Yeah. This is the thing I'm gonna build my whole life around in. My kind of identity is very powerful.

[Taron Egerton]

Totally. When I did that first play, you

[Dax Shepard]

were wearing a cocktail dress.

[Taron Egerton]

That's right.

[Dax Shepard]

Midsummer Night's Dream.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, I've told this story too much, but it was a real moment. And look, it makes for a great late night moment telling this story of me. I basically had to step out on stage in a dress and I had so much anxiety and, you know, body consciousness and all this stuff. And my voice hadn't broken. It's just all felt wrong.

[Dax Shepard]

It was a make or break moment in your life, baby.

[Taron Egerton]

It was a make or break moment. And I stepped out in this dress to adoring laughs and I just was like, thank God. In my memory, in my mind's eye, I sort of processed myself kind of looking around going, hang on, this is, you know, it was amazing and I've loved it ever since.

[Monica Padman]

Why have you been reluctant to talk about acting before? You just thought it was silly.

[Taron Egerton]

You know, we're all a mess of contradictions. I think particularly as a younger person. I did have a kind of cockiness and a swagger, but I also have a kind of classic British tall Poppy syndrome thing which runs completely in the face of it, where I sort of both have wanted to be the center of attention, but then I'm also embarrassed about it.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You Brits have really figured out how to torture yourself.

[Taron Egerton]

We just wonderfully good at ourselves and we like to judge everyone, everyone else for that music taste and that kind of thing.

[Dax Shepard]

The notion that the great British Empire would have tall Poppy syndrome is already the most ironic condition that the fucking country that taking over the world could have. Maybe it's some residual guilt of that. Like some probably. So you get into the Royal Academy of Dramatic art at what, 17 or 18?

[Taron Egerton]

I was a bit older. I was 19.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, 19. Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

Oh, right.

[Dax Shepard]

Cause you didn't get in, and then had to wait a year.

[Taron Egerton]

I did a round of auditions, no joy, and experienced what was probably one of my first real, like, little ego deaths and had a little moment to reflect. And the second year I got in,

[Dax Shepard]

my guess would be, like, you were pretty hot shit in school. And then you get kind of humbled dramatically by not getting in.

[Taron Egerton]

It wasn't that I was hot shit. I don't remember feeling like I was ever in a league above anybody else that I was doing acting with or drama with. But I think I had, in general, a sort of slightly cavalier attitude of invincibility to things at that age that I think walking into an audition room where they probably wanted a sense of somebody being serious about the craft and growing up and mature. I probably read as being a bit. Whatever, you know, and so they put me in my place a little bit, I think.

[Dax Shepard]

So in between school and Kingsman, you're on a TV show, you do a little bit of work.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But obviously, this Kingsman thing, that was insane. Yeah. This happens once every five years where a new actor gets in a mega worldwide hit and it's overnight. I presume you had an agent at the time. I did, and they called and said, you're going to go read for this thing. Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

I was in Holborn in London, and I. I was filming a TV show called the Smoke, which was about firefighters in London. And I can remember the street corner I was on, we were filming in an old arch building which had been repurposed as this fire station. And I was on the end of a street and I had got this email through about something that was called Huntsman and. Oh, Huntsman and Son. And I wasn't sent the script. I was sent two sides, but it was a scene in a pub with Harry Hart, Colin Firth and one other, also with that character. I read those two scenes. I was struck by a certainty. I just knew this is my part. Oh, wow. I've had that one other time, actually, but much, many, many years later. But I remember it as kind of clicking into a mode and it feeling like, you know, like when you're, I don't know, preparing for some live event or creative pursuit, and you feel like you're drawn into a kind of inexorable bit of momentum and you can't get off the R and all of your being is channeled towards this one thing. That's what I felt like about that test. I didn't know anything about who was involved. I just knew that it really Zinged off the page even at that age. I was 23. Went along to Warner Brothers Studios, Leavesden, which is where they filmed all the Harry Potter movies. And they were setting up to do the movie. And I somehow got a recording, a taping with Matthew Vaughn in the room. I don't know how I managed to get there. He arrived 45 minutes late. And I was nervous, but I was also possessed by something. And I read for him. And I remember he didn't look at me once during the audition, which I can remember feeling furious about. And that probably manifested somewhere in that attitude that that character has. And, yeah, that started a process of several weeks of auditions where, you know, I got to read the full script, learned that Samuel L. Jackson, Colin Firth and Michael Caine were attached. It was mad, really. It was a really mad time.

[Dax Shepard]

Do you think your brain compartmentalized in a helpful way where you were able to ignore the stakes of that?

[Taron Egerton]

My own experience has been that my relationship with stakes has shifted as I've gotten older. Someone recently sent me a video of me singing with Elton. I don't recognize the guy who did it. You know, I'm like, wow, how did I do that? But at the time, I was like, this is a movie I want to see. And that's the best feeling when you're an actor auditioning for something or hoping to be a part of something is like if you feel like you're making something that you yourself would want to go to the movies to see. That's absolutely correct.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

You know, that's the right reason to be somewhere. And that's what I felt. And Matt obviously liked me. And we went through all of these various different tests and readings and I ended up getting the part. It was insane. It was life changing. And it's funny, in some ways it feels like. Like last year. And in other ways it was 13 years ago.

[Monica Padman]

Yes. Wild.

[Dax Shepard]

Matthew Vaughn has said some interesting things about casting you. One being, he liked that this would be overwhelming for you. He liked that this was too big of an opportunity for you. Because that is exactly what Eggsy was going through. He's this street kid with a fucked up family. And now he's in the elite of the elite world of privilege and money and espionage, all the stuff. So that that was like a quality. He thought he could mine for it.

[Taron Egerton]

No one outside of our industry wants to hear that. It's hard to make a movie no one wants to hear.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And so I'm not going to say it's hard to make a movie. But that was one of the more challenging creative episodes in my life.

[Dax Shepard]

Isn't it great to have that as your first? Because then for the rest of your career, you're like, oh, it's not that hard.

[Taron Egerton]

Nothing's been as hard as that one.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, Same thing.

[Monica Padman]

Even this last one.

[Dax Shepard]

Tide Amex no.

[Taron Egerton]

8. Are you kidding me? Saga. I've got Equal Bill into Charlize Theron walking the park. No, that was a tough job. Matt's. I think he's softened a little bit over the years. But at that stage, he was still pretty old school. You know, he's coming out of that guy. Ritchie 90s. I would flatten myself that I might have had an effect on him over the years. He's slightly softer than he used to be. But at that time, it was like, this is what you're doing. This is what you need to do. And this is how it's going to be. And it was tough.

[Monica Padman]

Well.

[Dax Shepard]

But again, it's kind of great. Because what Eggsy's going through is exceedingly tough.

[Taron Egerton]

Life is tough. You know, Life's light and shade. And that's one of the things that Barry actually is. You'll know this from talking to Phil Stutz and the tools. The idea that pain and negative experiences are something that grow if you back away from them. And the more that you move towards them and attack them. The smaller and more manageable they get. It's an absolute truth. And time and time again, again, it's that thing, you know, the most obvious pedestrian one is, I don't feel like going and doing hot matte Pilates this morning. I want to lie here and drink coffee in bed. But you go and do it. The gates to the kingdom open when you leave. You know, I do think it's an absolute truth. And you're exactly right, Dax. My experience of making Kingsman at the time was overwhelming.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

It was the best training ground. Because nothing's been anywhere near as difficult since. Yeah, yeah. And also the thing that I. My experience about it. That is one of the things that's harder to explain is the thing about acting is that it eludes you most of the time. It's not like you show up and you do the thing. And you're fucking great at it all the time. Like, I'm shit at it most of the time now. The filmmaker, if they're any good, makes sure that they pick the bits where you're really good.

[Dax Shepard]

Exactly.

[Taron Egerton]

So you look like you're good, but you've spent 90% of your working day being fucking frustrated and annoyed with yourself because you can't achieve that thing, the flow thing, where you're like, oh, I'm cooking here. I know what I'm doing. So it's hard for a number of reasons, but I love it. I probably love it for those reasons because it does elude you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, in the movie, Colin Firth is very much your mentor. And I was curious, do you have the disposition where you can avow yourself to mentorship? Because, like, if I were you and I was in that situation, I probably would have missed a great opportunity to be mentored by him.

[Taron Egerton]

No, Colin was amazing. I remember I was going through a difficult time. I broke up with my first girlfriend, and I. I was really aggressively partying to deal with it and was coming in in a bad way. And, you know, I remember there were a couple of days on Kingsman where Matt was like, you're going home. I can't film you today.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow.

[Taron Egerton]

And Colin was amazing. He was never anything other than kind of gentle and fatherly and understanding. I actually found it and read it a couple of years ago because I'd never read it, but I remember him getting me a copy of Rilke's Letters to a Young, which is an amazing collection of letters from Rainer Maria Rilke to a young aspiring writer who admires his work. And I would recommend it to anybody. It's just the most beautiful advice for life. And Colin bought me a beautiful edition of it at the time that I did not have the fucking bandwidth to look at. But I later found it on the shelf and a couple of years ago read it and was like, man, this was an incredible act of generosity. And he was always lovely to me. And when he saw the movie. Movie, I always remember what he texted me. He said, you are note perfect. He's such a generous, kind man. You know, one of the reasons I would like to make another installment is because it would be fun to get to ride with Colin once more.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Your performance is astonishing for a first movie of that size and scale. It's astonishing.

[Taron Egerton]

Thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I obviously had no clue who you were. And at the end of that, I

[Monica Padman]

was like, yeah, well, everyone was like, who's.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm in. I'm in. Yeah. Did you learn some parkour? How good were they with the stunt doubles?

[Taron Egerton]

No way, man.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Taron Egerton]

That's Damian Walters, who's an incredible gymnast, stuntman. Now director Greg Townley. There's a lot of people making me look very Good. In that movie.

[Dax Shepard]

How did the ego handle the enormous success of that? That's a pretty light switching moment.

[Taron Egerton]

Honestly, I never felt like I had at the moment of a rival. If I'm completely candid, I was in incredible shape for that movie. I think for the first time in my life, I felt really beautiful.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And it was completely intoxicating. And I was like, oh, my God, I am ripped. I've got this jaw.

[Dax Shepard]

I've got all this hair.

[Taron Egerton]

I mean, the hair was starting to go, but I had enough. And I felt invincible. And when we finished the movie, I just went bang the other way and I gained so much weight. And that really has been a feature of my adult Life. In my 30s, I've kind of got a handle on it. But in my 20s, I never really felt like the movie. I never felt like, well, now I can go out and enjoy this, you know, because I didn't feel camera ready ever.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

So I never felt like I really got that moment to be strutting around. I never did again, you know, I don't want it sound like woe is me. That's just my path. We all have our battles to fight. But that was my own personal experience of my own success. I went, I bought a little place in my hometown. I would live there. I would then go away and film. I think in the face of that success, my instinct was slightly to withdraw a little bit.

[Monica Padman]

Do you think you do any self sabotage? Because even when you said during filming and you were partying and like, that's your huge opportunity, you know, it sounds like maybe there might have been a tiny bit of, I don't deserve this, so I'm gonna do a little self sabotage maybe.

[Taron Egerton]

I don't know. I definitely was flagrant with the opportunity with regards to what I would do on a Friday, Saturday night, I'd be dialed during the week and then I would fucking go for it on the weekend.

[Monica Padman]

I mean, most of us do, but when you're in that position, oh, we

[Dax Shepard]

could have had some real fun. If I could have time traveled with you back in the day. Yeah, I really relate to that, though. Never ever experiencing the moment of arrival. I remember watching American Idol one season or I watch multiple seasons, but this one time we were watching it and I'm on the couch with my wife and once they make it to, I don't know, maybe it's the bottom three or whatever, the top three, they go back to their hometown and they take a ride in a convertible and the whole town cheers. For them and they weep uncontrollably because clearly they're experiencing. I'm like, why have I never had that feeling? Yeah, I don't feel like it ever happens in some way. Way.

[Taron Egerton]

No. I don't know that that's really happening for them either, though.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, that's the awful prison of those kind of shows is you're being presented an idealized version of things that does not fucking exist.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, you get your dreams and then you're filled with elation. And I was like, where's the elation?

[Taron Egerton]

You know, there were other ways that it was incredibly satisfying and life changing in terms of being able to buy a house and do things for people I cared about and experience an incredible uptick in. In lifestyle. But I never had that thing where I felt like, now I'm the guy and I've made it.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm the shit. Yeah. I have to ask one question about Tom Hardy because I'm pretty obsessed with him.

[Taron Egerton]

What is it about him that you're his talent?

[Dax Shepard]

He's so talented.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

There's just these scenes in Peaky Blinders that are just so next level. They'll have the dialogue, they will have the upper hand. They will be delivering this thing. And he has a presence where you go, nah, they don't have the upper hand. He can't not have. Like, there's something intrinsic about him. Talk about masculinity and my obsession with masculinity. He seems to embody all these things that if I were just like him, it would have been an easy ride. So I think it's very much fantasy.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, I think that's right.

[Dax Shepard]

But also I admire. I think in my moments of insecurity, my instinct is to go bigger, try to command control through volume and dominance. And I guess I'm intrigued by his. His. His opposite approach almost always to what you think is going to command that. So I find that fascinating and. Yeah. And then I'm just intrigued by what's really. I don't know. I'm so curious about that dude. But at any rate, you worked with him right after that. Yeah, I did. Was he already kind of legendary status? He was.

[Taron Egerton]

He was, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And were you intimidated at all?

[Taron Egerton]

No, I wasn't. I've thought a lot about that time because he is intimidating.

[Dax Shepard]

He's also playing the craze, right?

[Taron Egerton]

He was playing the craze. I had a kind of slightly off angle to Tom because we were depicting a bunch of guys in a hyper masculine world playing gangsters. But I was playing his lover, Ronnie Cray's lover. So my job was kind of to subvert it all. And Brian Helgeland, who directed it, was very open to us improvising and trying things out, which Tom loved. And I kind of grabbed that ball by both horns as well. I have all of my insecurities and all of my fears, but one thing I'm not worried about is I believe in myself as an actor.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Y.

[Taron Egerton]

So I think in that environment, I felt really excited to work with him because he's this unpredictable ruler.

[Dax Shepard]

He's a heavyweight.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, he's a heavyweight. And, you know, as anyone knows, you're only as good, really, as the person you're opposite. And it's a dance. And he was someone I was really excited to dance with, and he. And I got on really well.

[Dax Shepard]

And your character, I would argue if you're his lover, you are the person in his life that doesn't think he's so intimidating. That you're afraid to get intimate.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes, exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

So it's almost like we wired up on you to be the mindset of that, to not be fearful of him or you entrust him.

[Taron Egerton]

There was a scene. It never made the movie, but I was so pleased with myself. There was a scene where he murders someone and gets back in the car. And I was sat in the back of the car waiting for him, and I grabbed his face and I snugged him. And it wasn't in the script. I can remember backing off from him

[Dax Shepard]

thinking, I like, how will this land?

[Taron Egerton]

But I think he loved it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I think. I think.

[Taron Egerton]

I think I have not seen him for 10 years, but at the time, I think he quite liked my chutzpah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, that's bald.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

So obviously, the thing I'm most curious about after that is sing. Had you been singing? Where's the singing come from?

[Taron Egerton]

Singing is a big thing in Wales, So I did choir stuff in school. Loved singing My Real father's musical, and so that probably had an effect as well. I think I was introduced to music very young. There was always music being played because I auditioned for that. It was in 2015. I think I got that audition through, and I did know all the people involved, and it was an incredibly illustrious cast. And I went along and sang. I think I sang these Arms of Mine. I sang Otis Redding and ignored what Garth had asked me to the director, the options he'd sent. I got the part, and it's been a really lovely thing to be a part of. They're Such good movies. I think you can say that when you're voicing in something because you're really so little to do with it. You know, a few hours.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow. Is it? Yeah. You have a very interesting relationship with it. Like you don't even feel like you're in the movie.

[Taron Egerton]

That's right.

[Dax Shepard]

You know, they made a movie for two years but you certainly weren't a part of that. So it's almost like disorienting when you hear yourself in the animated thing. Like, oh, that's right, I'm in this.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. You feel like an ambassador for the movie rather than actually being in the movie.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, it is. It's really interesting. I only want to talk about Golden Circle. I'm just going to give you my defense of the movie.

[Monica Padman]

Go.

[Dax Shepard]

I was on a tirade monocle, remember?

[Monica Padman]

Yes. We saw it together.

[Taron Egerton]

You did?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

Went to the movies to see it together.

[Monica Padman]

We did with our friend Jess and Dax spilled popcorn everywhere and it was a huge deal. It was.

[Dax Shepard]

I had a huge fall.

[Monica Padman]

I had a huge fall and popcorn went everywhere.

[Dax Shepard]

At the beginning had a comically large portion of popcorn too. It was like a couple gallons of popcorn.

[Taron Egerton]

How did you respond to the fool?

[Dax Shepard]

He died laughing before I even hit the ground. I was laughing at how ridiculous that looked because I threw brew like a 30 ounce drink and a 90 ounce. If we were at 120 frames, this would be so enjoyable to watch this fall for about three minutes because it's spectacular and it's in front of all these people and I've landed on a

[Monica Padman]

greasy popcorn, you know, famous, you know, there's a lot going on.

[Taron Egerton]

This is perfect.

[Dax Shepard]

This is as bad as it can go. I kind of loved it, weirdly. But anyway, I read some reviews and my anger was simply this. I compared it to automotive journalism. Most writers at Car and Driver and Road and Track, they don't want to own a Honda Accord. They didn't get into writing about cars because they love Honda Accords. But they have some integrity where they'll acknowledge, hey, all these things go 300,000 miles. The fit and finish is off the charts. You know, you'll get a review that they understand why that is a great car, whether they like it or or not. And my frustration often with reviews of movies is like, if it's not your type of movie. But you cannot discount the master class of directing that's on display. Like you have to acknowledge if you know anything about movies, what went into that movie and how well it was executed. You know, as A physical product. You must acknowledge that. You can then go on to say, it's not my cup of tea or it's not my sense of humor, whatever, but just the full disregard of this thing and ignoring how much skill was on display and acting talent was on display and great music. I'm like, there's no integrity to this whole review thing.

[Taron Egerton]

It's a tough one, isn't it? Because as an actor, it almost feels taboo to acknowledge any kind of relationship with critical evaluation and review.

[Dax Shepard]

Right.

[Taron Egerton]

It's like you should pretend it's not happening. And of course, how many of us are successful at that?

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

Even if you ignore it, it'll get to you.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes, it'll get to.

[Monica Padman]

To you.

[Taron Egerton]

The movie I just made is the first experience I've had where I got through it without succumbing to the temptation and reading them. It's the first time in my entire career that I've done that I didn't read one. Look, I share your frustration. And the thing that has been my experience of it that I think is quite specific to my time is I feel like the integrity of it is compromised by the means through which you consume the review. A fair, balanced appraisal of something coming from a place of goodwill does not mean make for good clickbait.

[Dax Shepard]

Exactly.

[Taron Egerton]

So you have to understand the myriad of complex motivations there are in writing something. Everybody's fallible, everybody's coming from their own subjective experience. Everybody has an agenda. My best mate, I can't remember what the movie was, but he worked with me for a time. He traveled with me and worked with me as an assistant. And I'm thankful to say that our friendship survived it. I spoke to him on the way here, but I always remember him saying to me once, there was a movie that we were both. Were both interested to see. And I said, bro, it's got shit reviews. And he went, I don't care. I made my own mind up. He didn't say it, even with that bit of vim and vigor that I said. He didn't say it to prove a point. Yeah, I don't care. I'll just all make my own money.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And I thought, wow, what a statement of integrity. And I think that that is something that I've tried to practice well and repeat to myself at the times where because we all slip into the mode of thinking that external affirmation, validation is going to be the thing that makes us whole. And actually it never is. It's turning to yourself and going, well, how do I actually fucking feel about this. And I think. I just can't imagine. Maybe I can imagine. I just think the desire to eviscerate something is an impulse that is worthy of scrutinizing.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Why? Why?

[Taron Egerton]

Sure. This is a pithy bit of writing, and, yeah, you've managed to completely undress this thing a large group of people have spent a couple of years making, but I don't know how much real value it has.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And I think it contributes to this issue we're having in this country definitely right now, where it's like, if you like this, you're stupid. You don't get it. And it's like, oh, I guess I shouldn't like that. Like, it's creating this division between, like, intelligent people and not intelligent people, or, like, classy people and not. And it's like, this is not good for us. This is already such a problem, and these critical pieces are not helping. I think it's pushing a lot of.

[Taron Egerton]

I've never thought of it that way. And I completely agree. Things are made for different reasons, for different people at different times. And I'm a different person today to who I was yesterday, and I'll be a different person again next week. And, yeah, sometimes I have the kind of bookish filmmakerly appetite to watch something brilliant that was made in 1972 by someone that I should have watched. And sometimes I want to watch a kind of goofy Eddie Murphy movie made in the naughties because I want to just decompress. And that's.

[Monica Padman]

Yes, it's all valid. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I think the thing that's going on. I totally agree with you, Monica, is like. I think because of the political identities got so massive over the last decade that. That now is the muscle memory of, like, oh, I got to declare my identity all the time. And I declare, flare it on that thing. I had this situation where I had watched Justin Bieber singing at Coachella, just him on stage in a microphone, and I was so blown away by it and moved by it. We're all hanging out and someone's like, oh, yeah, I heard. It's like, he didn't even fucking do anything. He made $10 million. And it's like Sabrina Carpenter had this whole thing, this whole takedown of him, which, by the way, I had seen simmering online, and I was. Was like, yeah, I just don't know how you could watch that and not feel the authentic power. That's exactly why it rocks, because it's

[Taron Egerton]

stripped back and it's him being honest. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

And she goes, I haven't seen it because it was only live, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, yeah, that's what happened. The silo she's in had declared that as a money grab and this and that. And she hadn't seen it. But her tribe, that was the synthesis. And I don't blame her. I do the same thing. But I was like, yeah, that's kind of what happens. A lot of times their chamber declared a verdict. You got to go along with it because that's your tribe. And it's all about tribes.

[Taron Egerton]

Idea of declaring an identity is in some respects it can be a really powerful thing, certainly for traditionally marginalized groups of people. And I totally get the power and the importance of that. But I think that on a different level, the idea of declaring anything about oneself as being fixed and absolute is sort of preposterous. And I hear myself do it sometimes, like, oh, I'm not really that kind of guy. I'm not a kind of guy who does this. And I hear my myself and go, what the fuck are you talking about? What weird narrative are you writing about yourself as you go along? Like you're a mess of cells in a swirling chaos. We're trying to derive security from something, some permanent I am this, I am this fixed thing.

[Monica Padman]

It makes us feel safer.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

It feels like you've anchored into bedrock, but all you've anchored into is something that's not going to change and evolve as the context should demand that you change and evolve.

[Taron Egerton]

Except exactly, I think.

[Dax Shepard]

And by the way, I love capitalism.

[Taron Egerton]

You've benefited well from it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. And I think it brings the tech and it's raised the overall starvation rates and infant mortality. I think it's the best system we got. So I'm not critical really of capitalism. With that said, I think what's fascinating about capitalism is like, how long will it take before people themselves are a product? And that was a kind of an unimaginable scenario until social media, because you literally have a billion billboard. And on the billboard, you know, because you've watched every other product, the product declares what it does and what it doesn't do and how it's opposite of that. Those advertisements or advertisements are declarations of what the thing is. And so we have just modeled our now presenting image online as a product. So we got to declare what we are and what we're not. And it's all very fixed and ridiculous. But I think we've become products in some way.

[Taron Egerton]

And meanwhile, none of us know who we are or what we do move forward. And we're all having mini existential crises several times a day. And these are huge questions that are way above my pay grade. But I know that for my own self, I'm kind of excited by my own capacity to change and be different from one moment to the next. And I think there's tremendous power in not allowing yourself to be too fixed or brittle or rigid in your sense of who you are.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. A lot of funny, suspicious things along the way that add up to things where you could get suspicious wearing a sim, Elton John being a cameo in the Kingsman and then you having to sing for sing really adds up quickly to you being in Rocket Man.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. I wish I'd read actual Jung, but I haven't. But you know, he talks a lot about synchronicity and that is one that kind of came up for me. I auditioned for drama school singing Alton as well.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, really?

[Taron Egerton]

When I was 18.

[Dax Shepard]

And you sing Elton and sing.

[Taron Egerton]

And I sang out and sing.

[Dax Shepard]

It's suspicious.

[Taron Egerton]

It is suspicious.

[Dax Shepard]

Will you ever let yourself go down a fun effervescent fantasy about the suspicion? Like, ah, there may have been charmed magic dust floating around?

[Taron Egerton]

I think I like to back to the ideas of certainty and rigidity. I like to remind myself that my perception of the world is entirely fallible because my eyes are my eyes and actually, who knows what forces are at play in the universe. I saw the Tony Hopkins episode and when I first met him, he told me about his fascination with. With Jung's ideas around synchronicity and how the song Pro Cole Harem has followed him around and he feels that there's significance and meaning to it. I like the idea that there are things at play in the universe that we don't fully understand. And I think I used to be somebody who had a very kind of staunchly atheistic, quite certain view of things that were quite stark and quite chaos driven. And I don't feel that way anymore. I don't know what's going on.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah. There's a freedom to that.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes. And I also feel that when I believe in a benevolent universe, the universe gets more benevolent.

[Monica Padman]

That's right.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. When all of us humans. It's a very well established bias, confirmation bias. Once you have a theory, you only see things that confirm your theory and you exclude all other evidence. If you want the real view of the world, you almost have to let go of any fucking theory because you'll miss everything else that doesn't confirm that that theory yeah. God, we're cutting so deep right now. I don't even know what. Should this be in a philosophy class? Part of a curriculum? Anyways, Rocket Man. I know that the Kingsman were harder, but Rocketman is the biggest swing you maybe ever take in your life. I don't have the balls for that, even if I could sing.

[Monica Padman]

Really?

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Taron Egerton]

You know, I think it didn't feel

[Dax Shepard]

like that at the time because can you recognize now? It's like a swinging for the fences. Not to drop a baseball metaphor on you, maybe.

[Taron Egerton]

What do you do on a. My masculinity. Absolute father. No. There was something to do about the fact that it had a musical component. And it was about somebody incredibly dysfunctional. A lot of the dysfunction I related to in terms of who he was, it just felt like a chance to express me. I'm really proud of that movie and I always will be. And I am proud that people who like Elton John like me in that movie. But I only ever really felt like I was expressing me. I was playing Elton John, but I also just felt like I was going, I'm going to use Elton John to slightly express something about who I am. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Elton John was like the outfit you put on. Yeah, a little bit. He encouraged you to not do an impersonation. Right. He said, go be you. Is that liberating?

[Taron Egerton]

Yes, absolutely. And he's a brilliant, creative person. And I think he understands that in order to do something well, you have to feel a degree of ownership and authorship. Nobody's going at any point. Oh, Elton John wouldn't have turned his head that way in 1981 because he was doing this or wearing that hat. It's like, who gives a fuck? The point is that we're trying to capture the spirit of who somebody is by recognizing commonality between myself and him. And it was a totally beautiful experience. He's still somebody that I care about enormously. And I will always, always be thankful for it. And I could not be more proud of the film. I loved making it. It was just awesome.

[Dax Shepard]

It's a mega accomplishment. It's crazy.

[Taron Egerton]

Thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for more armchair experiments, if you dare. We're gonna skip everything else because I've taken so much of your time. We're gonna go to Apex. I watched Apex, and my mother was in town visiting. She and I watched it together.

[Taron Egerton]

She hates it.

[Dax Shepard]

No, but I've never seen her have an experience in a movie like this. It was thrilling. I was so distracted by her. She's like, oh, oh, oh, Daxer. This Is this might be too much. Oh.

[Taron Egerton]

Oh, Dax.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh. Just get her off the cliff. Why is she gonna.

[Monica Padman]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, here he is. Yeah, like she.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Visceral.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Her arousal setting went to 30. I loved it. Right out of the gates. I'm sure you don't know this about me, but I fucking love men's bodies more than anything in the world.

[Taron Egerton]

Really? You're in very good shape.

[Dax Shepard]

I love muscle so much.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. What is it about it, do you think?

[Dax Shepard]

Well, for me, I'll explain it as like being born in 75 and my first drive in movie was Conan the Barbarian. I was just like, wait a minute, a man can look like a gorilla? And then Stallone was at his height. It was like the birth of muscles.

[Taron Egerton]

It's worth being wary of that, though, I think, because that version of me in Apex, the guy who's whatever, silly body fat I was and all kind of, you know, strong. Every day I punish myself for not. But the truth of the matter is that I starved myself.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Taron Egerton]

You were probably miserable, and I was running myself absolutely ragged to get there. And Barry once told me, and it's such a great sound bite, but the idealized version of yourself, look, I don't want to get too heavy.

[Dax Shepard]

You do that muscle.

[Taron Egerton]

He once said to me that the idealized version of yourself, the kind of hero version of yourself, your job is not to aspire to it. Your job is to smash it.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, wow.

[Taron Egerton]

And I love that.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

It's been a great. A tremendous help. To me, it's one of the things that is a challenge that nobody wants to hear about. But fluctuating relationship with your own images have that.

[Monica Padman]

That's universal.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. Yes, absolutely.

[Dax Shepard]

I'll hit you with my current understanding of my fascination. One is just. I grew up in a house with a violent stepdad beating everyone up.

[Taron Egerton]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

So when I saw Conan, I was like, oh, if I look like that, I got no problems for the rest of my life. So that was like, yeah, if I was convinced, bone in. I got no problems. Mom can wear her tight tank top all she wants, you know? Yeah. Second, and I think this is the true thing that intrigues me about muscles is it's rare that you can see a visual display of someone's work ethic and dedication. And as someone who the my shadow is, you're a lazy piece of who's undisciplined to conquer. That is, to me, the ultimate goal. I can see there's some dedication here. There's some execution. There's like real commitment. There's struggle. This is the proof of making oneself suffer for a goal. Kind of forget the goal. In all honesty, at this point, for me, I don't make myself miserable. I eat in a way that, like, works for me, that I'm not miserable at all.

[Taron Egerton]

That's so good.

[Dax Shepard]

I work out all the time because I'm a nutcase and it's my medicine. And the esteem I get from knowing I did the thing I didn't want to do is joyful.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, I love it and I feel the same way. I've always loved to move. And I'm a little bit at odds with the world if I'm not doing it. But it's complicated and it's all tied up with food and all that shit which we all struggle with.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. It's toxic.

[Taron Egerton]

The tiny moments in my life where I've looked like I did those shirtless days in Apex or I did a show called Blackbird or in the first Kingsman. Those days I just was filled with self loathing. Yeah. I couldn't enjoy it at the time because. Because I'd completely lost any distorted sense of perspective. Also, it ain't that deep. You bounce back, you carry on. It's fine. It's just what it is, you know?

[Dax Shepard]

How about the attention you get from other men, too? Isn't that hysterical?

[Taron Egerton]

Well, that's the thing. Women do not give a fuck.

[Dax Shepard]

No, no, no. We both know that they don't care.

[Taron Egerton]

That's an established fact at this point.

[Monica Padman]

In fact, sometimes it's like in the way you're saying, it's apparent when you look at someone's body, it's like, God, they really care about how much. It's not. It's like, oh, they.

[Dax Shepard]

It reads as vanity.

[Monica Padman]

It can't.

[Dax Shepard]

They don't know I'm on an internal battle for self discipline.

[Monica Padman]

Sure, sure.

[Taron Egerton]

But you know what I do love? There was a slightly different type of training I did for that movie. It was much more functional than just getting pumped up. And I felt so fit. It felt amazing. You know that just the joyous feeling of your body's just primed. Felt great.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Peak. Like what it can get to.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes. I used to have a picture on my wall when I was about 15 that I drew because I used to love drawing. I drew that clown, classic Arnie shape and would write, I will get to this shape in X number of days. And, you know, I'd mount a chin up bar in my room. And. And I had no notion of how one achieves anything. Like that.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And it's crazy, you know that kid. To think that years later I would potentially be the model for another 15 year old kid whose head I'm fucking up by your genius, unrealistic body type. No. Do you know what? I feel like it's a part of the job and it's fine.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

I feel like during things like this, I do feel an impulse to say that it's a moment in time that you sweat for and you restrict the amount of food you eat for to get your body fat down and there's a lot of pain. And while moving well and using your body is a prerequisite and it's important and we should all do it, that doing tons of rigorous esthetic driven work is a path that can fuck you up.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And I think there's a responsibility to say that sometimes. And also, also it's diminishing returns. Like right now, I think it's nice to think I can run and I can move, but who knows in 25 years, what is it gonna be able to do? And what I refuse to do is turn into the person who hates their form as they age and change, you know, because the temptation is so there. And I do think you see it in people when they develop a kind of sense of being at odds with their own form. And I wanna enjoy what it can do right now. And I want it to stay malleable and functional for as long as possible, but I also to accept it as it shifts over the coming years. And I want to love it when I'm 75 and it maybe doesn't do as much as it used to do.

[Dax Shepard]

You know, I'll let you know if it's possible I'm a bit further down the road. I'll tell you.

[Taron Egerton]

Send the message back.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Is the Aussie accent that you have in there, to me it seems like you have a leg up on accents or Monica and I trying it. Although to you probably that doesn't.

[Taron Egerton]

It was a nightmare. I worked with an incredible dialect coach named Felicity. I think Felicity said name is. Begins with a J. I think it's Jerd. Sorry, Felicity.

[Dax Shepard]

Felicity Jerd is right. It is, right? Yep. Oh, you're right.

[Taron Egerton]

Felicity Jerd.

[Monica Padman]

Wow.

[Taron Egerton]

This is an operation.

[Dax Shepard]

There's 23 people in the backyard right now.

[Taron Egerton]

I am impressed. We did a lot of work. It is just a really tough one. And people warned me before the studio, in fact were very like, we'd actually be happy if you did it British. We would like you to Be British. And I was like, well, that's not really what I want to do. But I remember I got a certain way into the process and it wasn't quite, quite clicking in. In the way that it has when I've done certain American dialects and things. Anyway, look, I think I got away with it, but it's a tough one.

[Dax Shepard]

As a American watching, I feel like you nailed it. I haven't run it by any Aussie friends of mine, but I was like, oh, this is impressive.

[Taron Egerton]

I taught to know whether people are lying to you, but I feel pretty good about it.

[Dax Shepard]

The whole thing with an accent is so dicey, in my opinion, because I remember doing a movie and I can't even fucking remember it was set in. And they got a dialect coach for me and I started going down the path. And maybe I'm just a quitter or I'm fearful, but I was like, this is making me way too self conscious. I can't even think about what the scene's about. I'm thinking about where you showed me on the piece of paper. I'm changing this vowel to that vowel and I'm like trying desperately to understand why I care in the scene or the other things. I had to make a call. Maybe I don't have the skill set. I was like, I can't prioritize that because it's going to take a toll on this other thing I care more about.

[Taron Egerton]

But I think we're all different. We all have different skill sets.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And different.

[Dax Shepard]

You can sing.

[Taron Egerton]

There is no fucking way that I am ever getting up and doing stand up in front of everyone I respect and see it for the extraordinary feat of artistry it is and daring. There's no fucking way I'm ever doing it. I'm not interested.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

I don't want to go out there and die. No, thank you. And also, I think, you know, growing up, whilst there are some really interesting diverse distinctions between dialects in America, I do think generally there is a more cohesive sense of self with regards to the way that people speak. Whereas I'm from the UK and I moved from Liverpool to Wales, it sounds as different as South African does to American to most things, you know. So I think there's a fluidity that's baked into who I am. That means that it doesn't feel that way to me. To me, it feels like the first domino. I'm knocking in a string of dominoes. That's going to change other things and lead me to feel like I'm really Somebody else. Yeah. So I did. Made a movie in the autumn where I made the conscious decision to not adopt any kind of difference in the way I speak and to play as close to me as. As possible, because I felt like I hadn't. Hadn't done played a Brit for seven years. So I didn't feel like I'd played anything near to me. And the first week, I thought I was gonna have to give up acting. I was terrified.

[Dax Shepard]

You had no artifice to hide.

[Taron Egerton]

I had nowhere to hide. I felt overexposed. I didn't feel there was something I could lean into, and it nearly fucked me up. So it swings around. And I would be nervous to go back there. I felt a little.

[Monica Padman]

So raw.

[Taron Egerton]

Felt a little close to home. It was a weird thing to experience. I didn't see a couple coming at all.

[Dax Shepard]

And then underneath of all that, or at least maybe an aspect of that, is it the fear, like, well, I'm not interesting enough on my own, maybe.

[Taron Egerton]

I definitely know that I want to feel like things that I do with. Distinct from one another. And that's because, I don't know, maybe some sort of lofty aspiration to be like the people I most admire. But I do genuinely enjoy it, and I feel that once I. Like, I just made a movie in Australia that's actually set in New York, and I. For the first time in my. My whole life, I stayed in the accent the whole time. I've never done that before.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, offset.

[Taron Egerton]

No. From arriving in the makeup bus.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Taron Egerton]

To leaving at night and what. I found that in the car on the way home. I kind of struggled to shake it off. Not because I felt like I was this guy in 1957, but because you get into a muscularity. It's like, you know when you're acting out as a kid and you, like, can't stop the bit that you do, it's like that.

[Dax Shepard]

I agree. What's so fun about. About doing something. For instance, I was in this movie, Idiocracy. It was a character I used to do at the Groundlings. And once I start talking like him, Frito, I have completely different thoughts that that doesn't have.

[Taron Egerton]

It is weird.

[Dax Shepard]

It's so fun and interesting.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, it's interesting as well, because going back to that thing earlier where we were talking about reviews and that sense of certainty about anything, there are so many different versions of me within me. And I think it's true of all of us. And that's one of the things that I really love about acting, is it's like a way of embracing your multitude of self.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

You're not just this one. And maybe you're right. Maybe it is a self love thing.

[Monica Padman]

Maybe.

[Taron Egerton]

Actually I'm rejecting Taryn a little bit. You know, like I quite like the idea of being able to aspire to be somebody else for a little while.

[Dax Shepard]

The movie, we should explain it. And it's been out for a minute. So probably most people listening all have seen it. But in a nutshell, Charlize Theron is a woman who is in love with a man in that beginning. Opening scene is bonkers. I just kept trying to figure out the math of how they had filmed that so convincingly. Them sleeping on the side of that cliff. Oh my God. It brought me back to that climbing movie we all saw. But her partner dies. She's on this kind of soul searching mission. She continues to be an outdoorsy person. She's going to go down to Australia and climb and kayak.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. Rediscover herself a bit.

[Dax Shepard]

And she meets you at a gas station. Right. And you kind of step in to protect her from some locals. You guys are in the middle of fucking nowhere.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Were you down there?

[Taron Egerton]

We shot that just outside of Canberra.

[Dax Shepard]

Where's that?

[Taron Egerton]

It's a city in Australia. It's got this kind of political seat of Australia. I think Canberra is the capital. I think we'll edit that out if it's not.

[Dax Shepard]

It is. Rob said it is.

[Taron Egerton]

It'd be great.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

Thank God.

[Monica Padman]

You've been right twice.

[Taron Egerton]

Not as good remote as it appears. Like many of the locations. All of the locations in that movie.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. So I can't remember you playing a fucking evil human being. Is this the first time?

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. I did a TV show last year called Smoke on Apple where I played somebody pretty wobbly. But it's definitely a newer chapter in my life.

[Dax Shepard]

You're psychopath.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah. Yeah. I'm a total freak.

[Dax Shepard]

And we meet you and you're very kind and soft spoken. You're very appealing. It looks like you're going to be probably, you know, a good sweetheart. A sweetheart heart.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. And then we have some more interactions with you as she's on her trip. And then the turn is one of the freakier turns I've ever seen. I do want to know a little bit about that moment where basically it's starting to occur to her you're not a good dude. And then you basically put on a song for her.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

So creepy.

[Dax Shepard]

And you start dancing. It gets real creepy in a hurry.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

The scene Was written that way. Like, what's the fear level going into a scene like that?

[Taron Egerton]

Well, massive. It was sent to me the fall of 2024. It was a slightly different version of the story. And the character originally was imagined as it sort of felt like it was written for Chris Hemsworth, kind of like top knot beard, man of the woods, one with nature Leaf whisperer sort of vibe. And I read it and was like, well, look, I can't. This is not me. Yeah, they'd expressed a desire to. So I said I'd be really interested in us finding a version of it where it's a guy who wants to appear like that kind of guy, because that feels more honest to who I am. And what started was a really remarkable process of, like, creativity and open discourse for quite a big studio movie. And they were really open to ideas. So one of the first things we discussed, I said, look, villains dancing in movies is not a revolutionary idea. But I thought, wouldn't it be cool if he kind of declared the beginning of this hunt and we could find a cool song and they were open to it. And what was birthed was that sequence. And I'd been searching high and low for a song. And I was training over Zoom with my trainer here in LA and that Chemical Brothers track came on in the gym. And so, yeah, I asked the Chemical Brothers, I wrote to them and asked if we could use their track and they let us use it. It was quite a thrilling thing to shoot.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, basically, can I just say, it is a fun mental trick. If you had got there and they go, you're dancing to this song. You would have found nine reasons why that's not a fix. It was your idea and you had

[Monica Padman]

to live with it.

[Taron Egerton]

Exactly right. And also, as much as I'm playing a sociopathic, cannibalistic nut job, that guy dancing is just me at a festival at 21.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's just me.

[Taron Egerton]

It's just me at the chemical brothers in 2010.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

You know, so me bringing something of myself to it is what I think makes it extra weird.

[Monica Padman]

Exactly.

[Taron Egerton]

Because people are going, oh, my God, this feels really, really real.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And it is real because it is me.

[Dax Shepard]

I can feel that he is feeling this song.

[Taron Egerton]

Yes, exactly.

[Dax Shepard]

This song really is his song. I'll put. I'll put it in a two way tie with. Was it Buffalo Bill and Silence of the Land?

[Taron Egerton]

You can't put us up there.

[Dax Shepard]

No, I went like, oh, dude, this guy's even weirder than I was anticipating.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, I mean, that shot the Buffalo Bill opening, that. That rope. I'm very honored to say that I have a sort of slight pen pal relationship with Anthony Hopkins. And I asked him before doing the movie for advice about playing a really fucked up individual.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow. You got to go to the.

[Taron Egerton]

The source.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

He said something like. He said, I don't know where Lecter came from, probably something in my childhood, but he said, the only advice I would give you, and I don't need to tell you this, but the only advice I would give. Give you is don't play the evil. Play him as the hero of his story. I really took that advice forward with me, and, yeah, I had a great time. Parts like that, where the rules are a little bit malleable and you get to do something where you're being a license to be as strange as possible. So freeing and expressive.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, how fun.

[Taron Egerton]

I had a great time.

[Dax Shepard]

Charlize is just a bad motherfucker in this.

[Taron Egerton]

And honestly, I know that people say this when they're promoting movies, but the movie's been out. We're. We're, you know, we're here as friends. I mean, she is a force of nature. Talk about grit. She really went there, and I think it's kind of what makes the movie work. She trained for so many months as a climber and has taken it on as a hobby. You know what you were saying about me really digging that song?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

That was her with the climbing.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Taron Egerton]

And I think that's what it takes to make it feel really real.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Did you get to keep those crazy teeth?

[Taron Egerton]

No, I didn't keep those, actually. I hadn't shown them to anyone the day we filmed. I had them designed here in la and I had them shipped over independently of production. They hadn't seen them. No one had seen them when I did it on set. So Charlize's reaction is really legit because

[Dax Shepard]

I think you could plan the most incredible scare in your real life if, like, you're just having a wonderful evening with somebody and then you go into the kitchen to grab a couple more things and you come back and resume talking. You just don't do a thing. I mean, that could. They are so fucking scared.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You're missing out on a real good.

[Taron Egerton]

It's not as good as the bridesmaids actors with a little bit of chocolate cake on there. That's so good. That's a great one.

[Dax Shepard]

Last thing I'm gonna say is I'm now following you on instagram. Which was new once we started doing research a while back. I just really enjoy you dancing. And I want to know about the decision to do so much public dancing, which I applaud. I, too, have a video of me dancing. So it's a big swing.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah, it's a big swing. Here's a big swing. I think it's the shadow thing. For my entire prior 20s, I thought that what I should be aiming at, what I was supposed to be. Choose your fighter. Those guys who epitomize the Hollywood leading man. And what I have found in my 30s, to use rough parameters, is that I am much happier when I'm not trying to be the guy.

[Dax Shepard]

The man, the man.

[Taron Egerton]

And. And I get it. Hollywood celebrates the man. And there's a reason, you know, there's a reason Tom Hardy's the man. And it's cool.

[Dax Shepard]

We like those characters.

[Taron Egerton]

We like those guys. I like those guys. But it's not my path, and it's not who I am. And I suppose me doing stupid dancing on Instagram feels like a statement of intent about me going, actually, I'm this guy, and I'm okay with that. And I like my weird and I like my shadow.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Oh, that's beautiful.

[Dax Shepard]

I've been charmed on this show. We've done 1200 episodes, but I'm putting you in the top 10 of Charm. I am putting you so charmed by you.

[Taron Egerton]

Well, I felt when I couldn't make it the first time, I felt pretty wrong about it. So I'm glad we got to do this.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, me too. This is a blast.

[Taron Egerton]

Thank you.

[Monica Padman]

So fun.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm so rooting for you.

[Taron Egerton]

Thank you.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah. And everyone, watch Apex. It's stellar. Watch it with your mom and just see what happens to her physiologically, cardiovascularly. Check her heart rates.

[Taron Egerton]

All right.

[Dax Shepard]

Be well, brother.

[Taron Egerton]

Thank you. You too.

[Dax Shepard]

Just a quick reminder that as part of our summer break, here's a rerun of one of our favorite fact checks. I just really. The bed myself on my time management.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, okay.

[Dax Shepard]

I had got all my workout gear on. I was like, should I ride my bike today?

[Monica Padman]

Sure. Always a big question.

[Dax Shepard]

Big, big question. And I was like, I still really need to change this rear inner tube. The nozzle kind of popped off. It's still holding air, but I can't risk it.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

They're like, I'm going to need to repair it and then just lift. We're going to lift. Got in my outfit. Then I went to. I thought, well, now I have a little extra time. I got to working on the bicycle. I did the tires a little more challenging than there's a lot of challenges. So when I finally got it all done, cleaned up the tools, go work out. I looked at my watch. 12:40. My entire workout had blown by.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah, that'll happen.

[Dax Shepard]

Got away from me.

[Monica Padman]

That'll happen.

[Dax Shepard]

You get tinkering in the. The shop. You know, those guys get tinkering in the shop and the time just flies by. Blew right by.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my.

[Dax Shepard]

This cookie boy likes to tinker.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, cookie boys do like to tinker.

[Dax Shepard]

They'll tinker. Your morning was good. The time get away from you.

[Monica Padman]

My Internet was out at the beginning of the morning.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow. Unacceptable.

[Monica Padman]

I know. And I. I got a text from AT&T saying so. But I thought it was spam.

[Dax Shepard]

Sure.

[Monica Padman]

Or a trick. I thought it was a trick and a way to. For them to take all my money. So I didn't click it.

[Dax Shepard]

Kristen just dealt with the exact same thing. She started getting tons and tons of emails and texts from Spectrum like, you're. We're going to shut your cable off.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

Shut off your Internet.

[Monica Padman]

Sure.

[Dax Shepard]

And she's like, I don't even think I signed up for the account. I don't think I. It's in my name or anything. Now there's a big mystery. There's a huge mystery. And so very similar. But she. The whole time, she like, this is all a ploy to get my credit card.

[Monica Padman]

Got to be careful.

[Dax Shepard]

I think they got it.

[Monica Padman]

They did.

[Dax Shepard]

I think so.

[Monica Padman]

You're never supposed to click on it.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, she looked up the actual web address for Spectrum and it was the right web.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, you don't click on it.

[Dax Shepard]

Scary.

[Monica Padman]

So scary. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I didn't click on it. And I was wrong. They were. That was real.

[Dax Shepard]

That was real.

[Monica Padman]

And my Internet was out and. But that. It came back.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wonderful.

[Monica Padman]

Then it came back. But I do this, right? Do I like, plan. I plan my morning or my getting ready to the minute, which is a problem.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But I. I'm a busy girl.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. Very busy.

[Monica Padman]

Multiple jobs, a lot to fit in there. But then the makeup, okay, that's going to take seven minutes, and then it takes seven and a half. And then you add a half minute to each each of these line items and you're late.

[Dax Shepard]

Line items.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Business speak. You do your P. L and you realize more losses than profits.

[Monica Padman]

And the ROI is low.

[Dax Shepard]

Not good. It's not a good roi. I hate all those terms. Then once I learned them, I Realized they really are useful. I know it's annoying. And then I'm the person I hate.

[Monica Padman]

You. You're the. You've become the person you've always hated.

[Dax Shepard]

It's almost my full arc as a human is becoming fully the person I. I hated. I did a good prank last night.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God. Tell me, because I'm into pranks now.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so as you know, my girlfriend Khaleesi's visiting.

[Monica Padman]

Yes, your little baby friend.

[Dax Shepard]

She's seven. Kenny's daughter. I told you about the hike. We had a great hike. We held hands the entire time. I'd love to show you some pictures.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yeah. She calls Kristen, your wife. Aunt Kristen.

[Dax Shepard]

My wife and Kristen previously.

[Monica Padman]

Dax's mom.

[Dax Shepard]

Dax's mom. Which is really sad. But I did discover afterwards we talked, she is calling my sister Delta's grandma, which is great. She kept saying, is Delta gone with her grandma to the movies? When she gonna be done with her grandma at the movies? So now tt is grandma, which is so fun.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God. I'm scared for her to give me a name.

[Dax Shepard]

At least it's consistent. So, like, if. If Kristen's my mom and my sister is Delta's grandma, those are their peers, which they are, of course, in this weird structure.

[Monica Padman]

What if she started calling me Dax? What about your Indian friend?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no. Yeah, no, she's not gonna do that. It's more of an age mix up. So anyways, Khaleesi, Delta, Lincoln, Kristen, Kenny and I went to Cafe 101 last night. We were in a big booth. Khaleesi's so excited. There's older. Older girls. Yeah, the older girls have had enough. But I tell them, I try to tell them, you know, what if we went somewhere and there's two older girls? You know, I. It's really tough being a parent in these situations.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

Because you're really kind of weighing a couple things.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

You want to teach them to be kind and civil. And also, they're in their house.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

They have some boundaries. I also want them to have boundaries. I don't know.

[Monica Padman]

I know. I think I may have made a mistake on this front.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Did you advise them to punch Khaleesi?

[Monica Padman]

I did.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

No, I told Delta the other day, I did a pop out. I pop out here. I walked by and I decided to go pop into my house. And as I was walking by your friends, I heard you grunt.

[Dax Shepard]

I was unloading motorcycles and power washing them.

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

And I heard your little voice coming from, like, the woods.

[Monica Padman]

I said, Hi. And you kind of, like, jerked around. This is why I'm into pranks now, actually. Because it was actually very funny. Cause you got really spooked. Well.

[Dax Shepard]

And you were obscured behind Fs, like a hedge, a row of hedges. So you got to watch me react and look stupid for a while, probably.

[Monica Padman]

You really funny. Come on.

[Dax Shepard]

God damn it.

[Monica Padman]

You said, who's saying hi? You got into that mode where you were scared.

[Dax Shepard]

Protect my family, my property mode.

[Monica Padman]

It's Monica. I'm here. I'm over here by the fence. I'm Monica, your Indian friend. I'm over here by the fence.

[Dax Shepard]

Your grandma.

[Monica Padman]

So then, yeah, you came over. And then Delta came over and so we were chit chatting a bit. Little lot. And yeah, she mentioned that there was going to be a young, young girl.

[Dax Shepard]

And Khaleesi's so friendly. She wants to talk to her.

[Monica Padman]

She's cute.

[Dax Shepard]

Cute and friendly. She really wants to get into it

[Monica Padman]

was anticipating being, you know, a little overwhelmed. A little overwhelmed. And then. But really her ire was towards Lincoln.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

She was like that. Lincoln shuts the door, and then I have to just play by myself with her. And also, she looks at me and she says, please take care of it. And then I do, and I just. I don't want to do that this time. And I said, well, that's good. That's boundaries you can. So I taught her about.

[Dax Shepard]

But then if you saw little Khaleesi excited to play with him, you'd be like, girls, get over it. I can play with this cute little girl. So, yeah, Lincoln's largely spared because of the age gap. I think that's just more interesting, the cleansing. Anyways, all this to say we're at dinner and I love talking to her, right? Because I'm just messing with her the whole time. Exactly how I talked to Lincoln. And Delta is there because she's family. She's Kenny, of course. So she's. Kenny says something she doesn't like, so she starts punching. Kenny won't stop punching him. He's like, stop punching me. And I go, khaleesi, I'm going to tell you right now, they throw people out in this restaurant. They have a zero tolerance policy on violence. He's like, no, they won't. And I go, no, they'll throw you right out of here. And what is great is I've developed, developed now. I. Without this ever in sight, I've developed a really good relationship with the bus boy.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, nice. Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

I love the dude. You know, we have a Great rapport. So I go, that's it. I'm going to get the manager. So I got up and then luckily he was just standing right around the corner and I go, oh, perfect. Will you tell that? Ask that little girl. She's been punching people. And he's like, oh, yeah, yeah. So we come back and now there's an employee of the restaurant. And he goes, have you been punching people and shooting? She, she was busted.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

She was so scared. She was about to get thrown out. And then we all started laughing and then she started laughing. It was great.

[Monica Padman]

She laughed.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. But I came back with an employee and he got right into it.

[Monica Padman]

That is funny.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, it was, it was glorious.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, I just got mirror neurons, though. Like, I'm back to not liking pranks anymore.

[Dax Shepard]

Cuz you're afraid of getting kicked out?

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God. I would have cried and, and then, and then I would have felt bad that I was crying because I, I would know everyone else felt bad.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But I wouldn't be able to help myself.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, there a lot, there's a lot.

[Monica Padman]

Tricky.

[Dax Shepard]

But it did stop the punching.

[Monica Padman]

Well, that's good.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so the other thing she and I have going is we were in the hot tub two nights ago and she's telling me all these different stories and she tells me about how mean this gymnastics coach is, and he's real mean. And one girl is going to have her water. And he said, oh, you want some water? And he poured the water her on her head.

[Monica Padman]

No, he didn't. She's a liar.

[Dax Shepard]

And I go, I gotta be honest, I don't believe that story. And she's like, what, what do you mean you don't believe it? And I go like, I, I, I trust you and I love you, but at the same time, I just, I really can't. I don't think I'm able to believe that story. It became this whole thing about believing that story. And then later she told me, you know, your eyes turn color when you lie. My grandpa told me that. And I go, yeah, I love your grandpa, Grandpa Joe, he's one of my buddies. But I, I'm afraid I can't believe that story. And she fought me on that for a while, but then in the car on the way to Cafe 101, she was saying, yeah, my grandpa told me your eyes turn color when you lie. I don't think I believe it anymore.

[Monica Padman]

No, you made her turn on her grandpa.

[Dax Shepard]

That's okay. It's good to be skeptical. This. You can't believe in fairy tales.

[Monica Padman]

But the reason the grandpa said it is because she's a little Lia and she's running around telling lies and the grandpa's basically saying, don't you do that.

[Dax Shepard]

I'll just call her a liar. You don't need to make up a

[Monica Padman]

whole thing where her eyes little baby's lying.

[Dax Shepard]

You can tell kids exactly everything is what you do.

[Monica Padman]

But not everyone does that.

[Dax Shepard]

We are having a blast.

[Monica Padman]

Although don't they say that about Hazel? It's like sometimes you're green, sometimes you're blue.

[Dax Shepard]

Because sometimes you're in light that makes them look that way. And sometimes you're in light that makes them look the other way. Very wishy washy.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Transient.

[Monica Padman]

It's very ephemeral. It makes changes, it moves, it's amorphous.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. All to say your eyes don't turn a different color when you lie.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, this is back to me really wishing I had green eyes since I learned they're the rarest.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, you kind. Didn't you already know they were the rarest?

[Monica Padman]

Did you need to learn that we already talked about? I like, guess I kind of knew in my heart of hearts.

[Dax Shepard]

But haven't you just met the least amount of people with green. Green eyes? I'll answer for you. Yes.

[Monica Padman]

Well, no.

[Dax Shepard]

Yes. You've met way more people with blue and brown eyes than green.

[Monica Padman]

Brown. Yeah, brown's a diamond.

[Dax Shepard]

Here we go around. Also, I love browns. Don't listen to her. Daniel Ricardo's brown eyes.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

Like a saddlewood.

[Monica Padman]

I know, but like, it's just you always want the grass is always greener when your eyes are green. Yeah, no, I rob. What color your eyes? Brown.

[Taron Egerton]

Blue.

[Monica Padman]

Wow. See, I don't remember.

[Dax Shepard]

That was a dangerous question.

[Monica Padman]

Why?

[Dax Shepard]

Because people take it so personal if you don't know their eye.

[Taron Egerton]

Really?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I hear this all the time. This is one of these, I think trends about how to out guys for. You know another thing guys are terrible at is like guys don't know your eye color. This is a test for guy. Oh, what's your mom's eye color? What's your. What's your wife's eyes color? Eye color. Eyes colors.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, so it's d. It's real dangerous.

[Monica Padman]

It's.

[Dax Shepard]

People get very hurt if you don't know what color their eyes are. Do you know what color minor blue.

[Monica Padman]

Y. Yeah, cuz I know that. Talking about it, I think I sort of thought blue eyes were the rarest.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow. I don't know how you thought that

[Monica Padman]

I. I like blue eyes the most.

[Dax Shepard]

Name three people with green eyes.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Cali, she is green eyes.

[Dax Shepard]

Are we playing it fast and loose?

[Taron Egerton]

No.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, there's solid green.

[Monica Padman]

Let me text her. Well, what's solid green? Is there such a thing? Callie might be mad because now we're back to the thing I said, you have green eyes.

[Dax Shepard]

She goes, I'm so hurt. Lose my number. I think she has blue eyes.

[Monica Padman]

She doesn't.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

She either has green or hazel.

[Taron Egerton]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

My friend and Gina. Green or hazel?

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. You're asking me.

[Monica Padman]

No, I'm telling you. These are two people.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, so we're up to two.

[Monica Padman]

All right?

[Dax Shepard]

And you're currently sitting with two people with blue eyes, so that's already neutralized.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, so evens.

[Dax Shepard]

Even Stevens, with immediate people in your vicinity and all the people in the world you know. Yes. It's even Steven so far.

[Monica Padman]

What does Kristen have? Blue.

[Taron Egerton]

Blue.

[Monica Padman]

And the kids have blue. Yeah, see, I'm not paying much attention.

[Dax Shepard]

You know, the kids have blue eyes. They're so prototypical blonde blue. I know, but they're generic.

[Monica Padman]

I don't. I think. I don't. You know, people think eyes are like the window to the soul.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And I guess I get, like. When I look, like in your eyes, I get it.

[Dax Shepard]

Like, that's where the human is, right? Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But I guess I'm never looking.

[Dax Shepard]

You can't see very well, though. In your defense, I don't know that you can even see most people. People's eyes.

[Monica Padman]

Your eyes are like, blue. I don't say that when you know, I have brown eyes. It's so insensitive. Yours are like, grayish blue.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, yeah, for sure. Yeah, I would agree with that.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Which is nice.

[Dax Shepard]

Just has said the nicest thing about my eyes as anyone has ever said. He said there's icicles in them. Oh, it's very sweet. You know what color my brother's eyes are, right?

[Monica Padman]

What are his eyes? His eyes are probably green.

[Dax Shepard]

No, they're red.

[Monica Padman]

No, that's his hair.

[Dax Shepard]

He has brown eyes. Go ahead, test it. You're a bad boyfriend. I'm a much better boyfriend than you are.

[Monica Padman]

Color your eyes, question mark.

[Dax Shepard]

He's just going to start crying. He'll get back to you in 30 minutes.

[Monica Padman]

Who else should I insult?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, exactly. What else you should. You tell. You don't tell me you don't care about me without telling me you care about me.

[Monica Padman]

I actually. Actually, when I like all my. All the girls in the pod, I'm really Trying to think who's got what? I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And the boys, I guess. I. I hate eyes.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. They're not your thing.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, we have a really important thing to do today.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, are we gonna finally do the. It's a quiz from the book.

[Monica Padman]

What book?

[Dax Shepard]

The Quasi.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, no, but we.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, do it next week.

[Monica Padman]

Tune in next week for us saying

[Dax Shepard]

we'll do it the following week for the green. So what quiz is this?

[Monica Padman]

Okay, this is highly sensitive person quiz.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wonderful.

[Monica Padman]

Because this is for Blaze.

[Dax Shepard]

Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert if you dare. Now, do you want me to read it? I always feel bad. You're always administering the quizzes. And I'm happy to do it if you want.

[Monica Padman]

I'd like to do it.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Now discover your personality. Choose your gender. To start, male. Okay. You find it easy to make new friends. Strongly agree. Agree. Neutral disagree. Strongly disagree.

[Dax Shepard]

Strongly agree.

[Monica Padman]

You could spend days learning about random things that interest you.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, strongly agree.

[Monica Padman]

When others are.

[Dax Shepard]

They seem to have nothing to do with sensitivity, which is interesting.

[Monica Padman]

When others are upset, you feel upset too.

[Taron Egerton]

Oh, yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

I hate it.

[Monica Padman]

Which one? Agree or strongly?

[Dax Shepard]

Strongly agree.

[Monica Padman]

You aren't one for backup plans?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, that's. I'm not gonna go strongly. I'll go the next one.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You stay cool, calm and collected, even when under lots of stress.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Which one?

[Dax Shepard]

Strongly agree. Right. Have you ever seen me losing my.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, my God. Yeah. Wow. Really?

[Monica Padman]

Yes. So.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, wow.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. When.

[Dax Shepard]

I just think when the shit's hitting the fan, I'm very calm. Is that not what the question is? You would agree with that?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Like, my car's on fire and I'm like, okay, let's get the hood open. Let's. Like, there's no. I have no oh, no. There's no oh, no in me.

[Monica Padman]

Right. When your car's on fire. Yeah. Okay. When out and about, you don't really introduce yourself to new people. You prefer to chat with people you already know. That's true.

[Dax Shepard]

Even though I can make friends really easy. That's true.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

But not strongly.

[Monica Padman]

So, Rags, let's go medium neutral or agree.

[Dax Shepard]

Let's go neutral.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Yeah. Because part of your thing is that you like talking to strangers.

[Dax Shepard]

It's really weird. I like to talk to either dead strangers or people I know. It's periphery. People that people I know know that make me nervous.

[Monica Padman]

I understand. Yeah, I understand.

[Dax Shepard]

Can you understand? That's weird. Isn't it, though? But, like, if I'm at a gas Station. I talked like, I'm. I'm very engaged.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. You want to learn about them or

[Dax Shepard]

the server or whatever? I'm like, yeah, I'm gonna ask the Uber driver where they're from, right?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

But if, like, the Uber driver I kind of remember is friends with Cali, I'd be like, oh, oh, not her specifically.

[Monica Padman]

Friend is so cool.

[Dax Shepard]

But, you know, any friend of a

[Monica Padman]

friend I know feels like you have to be on in a little bit of a different way.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, we're supposed to connect, cuz we.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah, I. I get it. I'm like a no across the board. I don't want to talk to strangers and I don't want to free friends either.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You don't like to start a new project until the first one's finished.

[Dax Shepard]

Agree.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You're a sentimental type of person.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I strongly agree.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You enjoy using lists or schedules.

[Dax Shepard]

Neutral.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Making a small mistake can make you question your knowledge on a subject.

[Dax Shepard]

Medium, neutral.

[Monica Padman]

Or agree.

[Dax Shepard]

Medium. Agree. Is that just four?

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Agree.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You easily spark up a conversation with a stranger.

[Taron Egerton]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

5.

[Monica Padman]

You love talking about and analyzing creative works.

[Dax Shepard]

4.

[Monica Padman]

You follow your heart more than your head. This is an interesting one.

[Dax Shepard]

Boy, that's. That's a hard one to.

[Monica Padman]

That's hard.

[Dax Shepard]

Be objective about what do you think I'm open to your.

[Monica Padman]

You follow your heart more than your head.

[Dax Shepard]

I kind of think so.

[Monica Padman]

I do too.

[Dax Shepard]

I do too.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. Agree.

[Dax Shepard]

Regular four regs.

[Monica Padman]

You tend to prefer following a daily routine as opposed to just doing whatever you want.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Love a daily routine. Strongly agree.

[Monica Padman]

When you meet new people, you worry about whether you made a great first impression to.

[Dax Shepard]

Five.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

You prefer solo activities over group activities.

[Dax Shepard]

Neutral.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You love watching movies that let you interrupt.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, a little projection. No, not projection. Just interject.

[Monica Padman]

Interrupt.

[Dax Shepard]

You put something you.

[Monica Padman]

I wrote. What if I. Yeah, I started changing the quiz. Yeah, you love to interrupt. What do you think?

[Dax Shepard]

6.

[Monica Padman]

You love watching movies that let you interpret the ending yourself, self. That's a good question. 4. You get more happiness from achieving things yourself than you do from helping others.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Terrible quality, but yeah, strong. 5.

[Monica Padman]

You aren't interested in very many things.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, strongly disagree.

[Monica Padman]

You often worry about the worst possible scenario in any given situation. You love taking up leadership roles.

[Dax Shepard]

5.

[Monica Padman]

You are an artistic type of person.

[Dax Shepard]

4.

[Monica Padman]

The world would be better off if people made more decisions with their feelings.

[Dax Shepard]

No, it'd be worse.

[Monica Padman]

Disagree.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, Strongly disagree.

[Monica Padman]

Well, you work with your head. Heart.

[Dax Shepard]

I know, but I'm allowed to and no one else.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You prefer to relax before getting into chores.

[Dax Shepard]

That's weird. Relax before getting into.

[Monica Padman]

You, don't you.

[Dax Shepard]

I don't.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. So you're.

[Dax Shepard]

I like to keep. The more. I like to keep the motor floored or off. So that's a disagree.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You don't mind when other people are having a heated argument in front of you. Oh, this is interesting.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I don't mind. I like. Yeah, I like it. So you Is horny an option.

[Monica Padman]

Strongly agree.

[Dax Shepard]

Strongly agree.

[Monica Padman]

You like being the center of attention.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh. 15. Your mood is like how gross you are. Quiz.

[Monica Padman]

Your mood is generally pretty stable.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I'd say four.

[Monica Padman]

You have plenty of patience for people that aren't as efficient as you.

[Dax Shepard]

Zero. No.

[Monica Padman]

Strongly.

[Taron Egerton]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Strongly disagree.

[Monica Padman]

You're spontaneous.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh. Five.

[Monica Padman]

You have always been fascinated by the question of what, if anything, happens after death.

[Dax Shepard]

Neutral.

[Monica Padman]

You prefer to be on your own rather than with others.

[Dax Shepard]

Neutral.

[Monica Padman]

You love theoretical discussions and can engage in them for days on end.

[Dax Shepard]

15.

[Monica Padman]

You have a hard time empathizing with people who come from a very different lifestyle to your own. Interesting.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, I feel like you have a. What would you give me on that?

[Monica Padman]

You have a hard time empathizing people who come from a very different.

[Dax Shepard]

Also remember where I'm from.

[Monica Padman]

I know.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. I love gay dudes.

[Monica Padman]

I'm gonna say something ballsy right now.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

I think that has more to do with your contrarianism than it does with your empathy.

[Dax Shepard]

Wow.

[Monica Padman]

And I mean that positively. Like, I think you, you always want to look at the. The other side and you don't like a status quo. And in Michigan there's. There was a status quo about people. And I think it was not empathy that drove you.

[Dax Shepard]

But I have an outcast identity. Right. So I think I, I like. It's easy for me to lock into.

[Monica Padman]

I don't know.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm going to go with neutral.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

I think I'm. I think I'm more. I think I'm more empathetic than the average dog from where I'm from.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

But also, yeah, lot of times, like, I had to definitely become friends with you before I was able to truly understand how hurtful and doing an accent. Pretty shameful.

[Monica Padman]

No, I wouldn't use.

[Dax Shepard]

Let's use you.

[Monica Padman]

Me, I actually mean more like, I think currently you can't empathize with like a very hyper liberal person. And that is from where they come from too.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, me. Let's see though, is it that I can empathize? I mean, I think I understand where they're coming from. I think it's going to end in defeat.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

So I have, like, a real strong objection that I don't think we're ever going to get in power again unless people have a reckoning.

[Monica Padman]

So neutral.

[Dax Shepard]

We'll go neutral.

[Monica Padman]

When there's a decision to be made, you want to make it right away.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Four or five.

[Dax Shepard]

Five.

[Monica Padman]

You tend to second guess the decisions you make.

[Dax Shepard]

No, I disagree.

[Monica Padman]

Socializing quickly exhausts you.

[Dax Shepard]

Socializing quickly.

[Monica Padman]

If you start socializing, are you quickly exhausted?

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, no, I'm energized. Strongly disagree.

[Monica Padman]

Strongly disagree. You enjoy going to art museums?

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, my God.

[Dax Shepard]

Hate them.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Oh, my God. I went to one recently, and it was. It was lovely. I went by myself.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, where?

[Monica Padman]

This one in Echo Park. And I went to. To see this awesome artist. Her name is Sophie. I am already a fan of hers, and she had an exhibit there. So I went and I got a coffee and I went by myself. And I felt so cultured.

[Dax Shepard]

And you really enjoyed looking at the paintings? I did, yeah.

[Monica Padman]

But there was only, like, I was. I was in and out pretty quick.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

Well, there weren't that many.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, I can remember the couple that I've loved. I've loved two. The old Picasso, one in the alley in Barcelona, and then the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. I like walking around the Getty, but it's like, I look at the paintings and I feel like Larry David.

[Monica Padman]

Right.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm like. I'm more annoyed that other people are getting some transcendent experience that I might not be. And I'm like, why? What is.

[Monica Padman]

I see. Yeah, this is a ding, ding, ding for my other fact, which isn't a fact, but is flower poopy, the flower puppy outside the Guggenheim in Bill Bilbao. Frank Gehry designed building. I went there.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Yeah. That came up in this episode.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, right.

[Monica Padman]

And I just. I went there with Cali and it was great.

[Dax Shepard]

You loved it?

[Monica Padman]

I loved it.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

And I'd like to go back.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You struggle to understand what others are feeling.

[Dax Shepard]

No, I disagree.

[Monica Padman]

Disagree. Okay. You like to have a to do list for each day.

[Dax Shepard]

Where are. Anthony? Answer this. No, I don't. I don't. Regs. Don't. Regs. Disagree.

[Monica Padman]

You often feel insecure.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, what year is this question being asked now? Rarely.

[Monica Padman]

Disagree.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, but.

[Monica Padman]

But you prefer talking to people on the phone over texting or messaging them.

[Dax Shepard]

I used to, but not anymore.

[Monica Padman]

Disagree.

[Dax Shepard]

Go. Disagree. Regs.

[Monica Padman]

When someone has a different perspective on a subject than You. You genuinely try to understand where they're coming from.

[Dax Shepard]

I'd go right. Craigs agree?

[Monica Padman]

I think so. You find that telling the cold hard truth is more important than being tactful.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

5.

[Dax Shepard]

He almost puked.

[Monica Padman]

You're happy to go with the flow when your plans are interrupted.

[Dax Shepard]

No. I'm not at all. That's a strong disagree.

[Monica Padman]

Mistakes you made in the past often haunt your mind. Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

5.

[Monica Padman]

You feel energized after spending time alone engaging in solitary activities like reading or reflecting.

[Dax Shepard]

Not energized. No. Right. Rags disagree.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You prefer to rely on your instincts rather than sticking strictly to a set plan or schedule.

[Dax Shepard]

5.

[Monica Padman]

You often find yourself deeply contemplating the underlying meanings and implications of things rather than focusing solely on the surface details.

[Dax Shepard]

Rags agree. I think that's a neutral for me.

[Monica Padman]

No. I think you're strongly agree. Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay. Okay. Strongly.

[Monica Padman]

When making decisions, you prioritize logic and objective analysis over considering how it might impact others feel feelings.

[Dax Shepard]

I agree.

[Monica Padman]

You?

[Dax Shepard]

I would have gone right. I think we're there.

[Monica Padman]

You often find yourself worrying about potential future outcomes or what could go wrong in a given situation. You often find yourself drawn to new experiences and enjoy exploring unfamiliar places. Strongly agree. You tend to trust your gut feelings and intuition when faced with difficult decisions rather than relying solely on logical analysis.

[Dax Shepard]

And neutral.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You feel a strong sense of empathy towards others and are often affected by their emotions even if they don't directly involve you.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, I'm affected by people's emotions, but you said I'm not empathetic so I'm gonna have to take that. Let's go. Regs agree? I didn't say that.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You prefer to have a well structured plan in place rather than leaving things up to chance or improvisation.

[Dax Shepard]

Does regs disagree.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You thrive in dynamic, fast paced environments and feel invigorated by challenging situations that require quick thinking and adaptability abilities.

[Dax Shepard]

55.

[Monica Padman]

When faced with a problem, you're more inclined to seek out practical solutions rather than dwelling on abstract theories or hypothetical scenarios. That's a hard one.

[Dax Shepard]

That is. I would go neutral.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You enjoy engaging in deep, meaningful conversations with others. Yes. You often find yourself reflecting on past experiences and considering how they've shaped your beliefs and values.

[Dax Shepard]

Too much. So. Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

You're inclined to take charge in group settings, assuming leadership roles and guiding others through.

[Dax Shepard]

You already asked that.

[Monica Padman]

It's achieving.

[Dax Shepard]

There should be a question like do you hate being asked the same question twice? Or rather it would say you hate being asked the same question.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God. Okay. You Feel most comfortable when your environment is organized and structured, and you may feel stress or unsettled in chaotic or unpredictable situations.

[Dax Shepard]

I agree with that. It. Which seems like a contradiction, I know, but I. Yes, I. I keep my room really clean on my side of the thing, you know, like I am. Yeah, I'm a little bit of a.

[Monica Padman]

You prefer spending time with a small group of close friends rather than attending large social gatherings? Yeah.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

Four or five.

[Dax Shepard]

Five.

[Monica Padman]

When presented with multiple options, you tend to follow your heart and make decisions based on what feels right in the moment.

[Dax Shepard]

They're trying to confuse us. They keep asking the same question, but slightly different than you would.

[Monica Padman]

That's how all these are.

[Dax Shepard]

And they're trying to catch you being inconsistent. And they're about to catch me one more time.

[Monica Padman]

When presented with multiple options, you tend to follow your heart and make decisions based on what feels right in the moment.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, I agree with that.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You enjoy exploring new ideas and concepts, often seeking out opportun. Okay. Yeah. You.

[Dax Shepard]

You're really trying to piss off.

[Monica Padman]

Find it easy to.

[Dax Shepard]

What if at the end it said, did this piss you off? And that's the only question that mattered. Were. Because you're so sensitive, you find it

[Monica Padman]

easy to adapt to changes in plans or unexpected situations.

[Dax Shepard]

Regs? No.

[Monica Padman]

Often seeing them as opportunities for growth and learning.

[Dax Shepard]

No.

[Monica Padman]

Okay.

[Dax Shepard]

I mean, I get there after a long time.

[Monica Padman]

Later. When working on a project, do you value efficiency and strive to complete tasks quickly and effect?

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. 5.

[Monica Padman]

You often seek out opportunities to challenge yourself and push your limits, whether it's through physical activities or intellectual pursuits. Strongly agree. You prefer to focus on the present moment rather than dwelling on past regrets or worrying about future uncertainties.

[Dax Shepard]

No breaks. Disagree.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. You enjoy engaging in lively debates and discussions, sharing your. Yep. Okay. You have a strong desire for structure and order in your daily life, feeling most at ease when following a clear routine or schedule.

[Dax Shepard]

This is crazy strong. It's getting really crazy.

[Monica Padman]

You tend to be proactive in seeking out new experiences and opportunities. Embracing change is a natural part of life.

[Dax Shepard]

I like new things, but I don't know that I embrace change all that well, so let's go neutral.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. Do you feel energized and excited by social interactions, often seeking out opportunities to meet new people?

[Dax Shepard]

Is it in a. Is it like. Is there a glitch?

[Monica Padman]

No, but it is different. Different. Often seeking out opportunities to meet new people.

[Dax Shepard]

I do do that. Let's go. Regs.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. When making decisions, you prioritize logical reasoning and objective analysis. Considering the facts and evidence before reaching a conclusion.

[Dax Shepard]

I'd say four. Oh, four.

[Monica Padman]

You tend to be highly self critical and introspective. Frequently reflecting on your actions and decisions and striving for self improvement.

[Dax Shepard]

5.

[Monica Padman]

You often find yourself empathizing with others emotions even if you haven't experienced the same situation yourself and strive to to offer support and understanding.

[Dax Shepard]

I'm not good at that. Let's go regs.

[Monica Padman]

Regs disagree.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah.

[Monica Padman]

You prefer to have a clear plan and direction in life, setting specific goals and working diligently to achieve them.

[Dax Shepard]

Regs agree.

[Monica Padman]

Okay. What is your current relationship status? Married.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah, but five. What is that? No, now it's oh, now we're okay.

[Monica Padman]

Married.

[Dax Shepard]

Married.

[Monica Padman]

How long is your current relationship? Six plus plus years. How many relationships have you been in? Oh God, there's zero. One, two, three, four.

[Dax Shepard]

Four plus four plus four paws.

[Monica Padman]

Oh wow. How. This is personal.

[Dax Shepard]

How long is your penis?

[Monica Padman]

How satisfied are you with your current relationship? We have dissatisfied. Somewhat satisfied. Mostly satisfied.

[Dax Shepard]

Very, very satisfied.

[Monica Padman]

What's your age? K. Oh God, 500.

[Dax Shepard]

It's not even enough option. Oh my God, I'm too old to take this quiz.

[Monica Padman]

No, it's 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and above. 60 plus.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, so I'm okay.

[Monica Padman]

There's at least weird to say 50s.

[Dax Shepard]

Well, that's not even as concerning as I thought I was going to say 50 plus.

[Monica Padman]

Right? No.

[Dax Shepard]

And then the rest of everyone.

[Monica Padman]

Okay, male submit.

[Dax Shepard]

They going to ask you for 299?

[Monica Padman]

Yes.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, not these bastards.

[Taron Egerton]

What the.

[Monica Padman]

I have to pay it.

[Dax Shepard]

I know, cuz we filmed the whole segment.

[Monica Padman]

Oh my God.

[Dax Shepard]

What bastards. And this is like someone made this test up in their basement.

[Monica Padman]

I mean it is blossom.

[Taron Egerton]

Oh,

[Dax Shepard]

that's not confidence inducing.

[Monica Padman]

But some of their questions were good and repetitive.

[Dax Shepard]

Some of their questions were great. And then on the second time they were good and then sometimes on the third time they were no good.

[Monica Padman]

You didn't love it.

[Dax Shepard]

How much do I owe you for this? Was it 299?

[Monica Padman]

It was 199.

[Dax Shepard]

Are they gonna give you unlimited tests?

[Monica Padman]

Oh, you can take more quizzes.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, good.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, that's fun. Okay, well, let's find it, view my results. Show me.

[Dax Shepard]

We'll tell you next week. Oh, fuck. Another paywall.

[Monica Padman]

No, this just isn't about.

[Dax Shepard]

This isn't have anything to do.

[Monica Padman]

You're an ENT J.

[Dax Shepard]

An ear, nose and throat.

[Monica Padman]

Oh no. This wasn't even a highly sensitive person test. Oh my God.

[Dax Shepard]

What kind of test was this?

[Monica Padman]

It was like a. You know, those. It's Called something. And it's. It's a person.

[Dax Shepard]

Someone's happy right now. Like someone has wanted us to take this test, but we don't know about it.

[Monica Padman]

No, it's.

[Dax Shepard]

It's like an Enneagram test.

[Monica Padman]

It is, but it's like a really common one. You're a Ian or I, but it

[Dax Shepard]

won't tell you the name.

[Monica Padman]

I think it's Myers Briggs.

[Dax Shepard]

Maybe.

[Monica Padman]

Let's see. ENTJ personality, Stanford Prison. It's Myers Briggs. That's like the original one. So that's cool. Now you know.

[Dax Shepard]

What Am I? An ENT?

[Monica Padman]

You're an ENTJ. That's a confident leader. Okay, that tracks 76% extroversion.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay, I'd agree with that.

[Monica Padman]

Method of processing information. 81% intuition. ENTJ's are intuitive thinkers fascinated by possibilities, patterns and future outcomes. Interesting. Okay, 55% thinking.

[Dax Shepard]

That's feels like neutral. That's a push.

[Monica Padman]

Well, because it's either. So it's introversion versus extroversion. That's the I and the E. Intuition versus self sensing.

[Dax Shepard]

Okay.

[Monica Padman]

That's your method of processing information. Your intuition, decision making. Functioning is thinking or feeling. You're thinking, but at 55%.

[Dax Shepard]

Yeah. On the I'm on the fence.

[Monica Padman]

And then management function is judging or perceiving. And you're 61. Judging. Wow, what a left turn. We still don't know if you're highly sensitive.

[Dax Shepard]

You're right. We'll have to find that test and we'll do it when we do the.

[Monica Padman]

They. They tricked me.

[Dax Shepard]

Briggs and Stratton test. From your book. What was that called?

[Monica Padman]

Myers Briggs.

[Dax Shepard]

No, from your book.

[Monica Padman]

Oh, yeah. Green hats.

[Dax Shepard]

Green hats.

[Monica Padman]

What a mess of a fact check. All right, all right.

[Dax Shepard]

Goodbye.

[Taron Egerton]

Oh.

[Dax Shepard]

Are there any facts?

[Monica Padman]

That was it.

[Dax Shepard]

Oh, great. Love you. Love, Sam.