Sasheer Cheered for Tobey's Spider-Man (w/ Paul Feig)

Summary

Podcast Summary: Best Friends with Nicole Byer and Sasheer Zamata

Episode: Sasheer Cheered for Tobey's Spider-Man (w/ Paul Feig)
Release Date: December 17, 2025
Guest: Paul Feig

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Overview

This episode welcomes director, producer, and comedy icon Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Spy, Freaks and Geeks). The main theme is friendship—on and off screen—and how it shapes creative work and personal lives. The hosts and Paul dive into the evolution of female friendships in film, comedic storytelling, making movies authentic, and the magic of collective moviegoing. Lively, candid, and packed with funny behind-the-scenes stories, the episode also shines a light on sustaining friendships in adulthood and the reality of Hollywood life.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Paul Feig’s Career & Inspiration

• Upbringing and Influence
  • Paul discusses growing up an only child, close to his mom and surrounded by female friends (04:36):

    "I grew up around a lot of girls and women. ...I just really have enjoyed, you know, being around women who are friends." — Paul Feig, 04:36

• Female Friendship in Film
  • Feig’s fascination with complex, realistic female friendships is inspired by his upbringing, reflected in much of his work.
• Bridesmaids: Not a Romantic Comedy
  • The hosts and Paul clarify that Bridesmaids is primarily about adult friendship evolution.

    "People refer to it as a romantic comedy. I'm like, no, it’s a friendship movie." — Paul Feig, 06:06

  • Paul emphasizes the nuance of character motivation, avoiding “mustache-twirling” villains. Everyone believes they’re doing the right thing, even in conflict (06:06–06:51).

2. The Housemaid: Directing Thrillers and Twists

• Feig’s latest movie, The Housemaid, is a twisty thriller centered on two women with upended expectations (07:00–08:14).

  "I like how we get you to root for everything you should not root for the first hour." — Paul Feig, 08:10

• Both Sasheer and Nicole praise the film’s ability to surprise and unsettle viewers (07:55–08:21).

3. Comedy vs. Drama in Awards

• Struggles with Comedy Recognition

  • Paul discusses making a drama (I Am David) to feel “legit” but finds comedy “harder and more rewarding."

    "Stop. Don’t make movies to try to win awards. ...All my comedies are actually dramas that are funny." — Paul Feig, 09:18

• Awards rarely go to comedy; Steve Carell never won an Emmy for The Office, which Paul calls “crazy" (10:25–10:43).

  "Great comedy looks easy. If comedy looks hard, then it’s not funny." — Paul Feig, 10:21

• The group agrees that comedy, though undervalued by awards, deeply impacts audiences.

4. Freaks and Geeks, Magic, and Finding Your Voice

• Feig shares the bittersweet cancelation of Freaks and Geeks and why sometimes a brief run can make a show special (12:12–12:36).

  "Maybe we were just better off being 18 episodes." — Paul Feig, 12:22

• Memories of childhood magic tricks and learning skills like tap dancing—paralleling how creative confidence is built through joyful failure (13:15, 17:43–18:13).

5. Paths into Comedy and Filmmaking

• Stand-up roots: Paul started at 15, supported by comedy-loving parents and hard lessons on stage (20:03–20:23).
• Transition from performing to directing: He prefers “making other people look good” over acting now (28:57).
• The group reflects on how performers often “borrow" styles before finding their own voice, emphasizing there's no shame in imitation as a learning step (31:00–31:30).

6. Industry Gatekeeping and New Opportunities

• Nicole and Paul explore how the internet and technology democratize filmmaking.

  "You guys have no excuse not to be doing stuff and getting yourself out there." — Paul Feig, 32:32

• Making shorts on phones vs. expensive, film stock-driven projects of the past (33:00–33:32).

7. Love, Partnership, and Best Friends

• Paul’s wife is his best friend; they met through the industry before romance blossomed.

  "I fired her and proposed to her on the same day." — Paul Feig, 36:49

• She remains his core sounding board for scripts and career moves, embodying the best friend dynamic at the heart of his work (38:02–38:38).

8. Process: Test Screenings and Audience Feedback

• Paul swears by broad audience test screenings, not friends-and-family, for real feedback (41:22–41:32).

  “I live and die by test screenings... that’s the only way to really know how your movie’s working.” — Paul Feig, 41:22

• Anecdotes include receiving a blunt “it was gay” from an 8-year-old reviewer (40:17) and the phenomenon of “angry villagers” when jokes in a comedy don’t land (60:56).

9. Moviegoing as Shared Experience

• The hosts and Paul are passionate about cinema as a communal art.

  "There's something magical about watching a movie on a big screen with a bunch of strangers." — Nicole Byer, 43:13

• Streamers can't match theater energy; audience reactions, including laughs or scares, are “catnip” for directors (43:22–44:34, 62:20).

10. Collaborating with Stars and Personal Style

• Working with Jason Statham and Melissa McCarthy:

  "When you find somebody who has the same sense of humor that you do, it’s like a gold mine." — Paul Feig, 52:33

• Statham’s comedic deadpan surprised Paul; he advises actors to stay spontaneous if it’s working (46:27).

• Paul credits classic Hollywood for his dapper style, likening a director’s responsibility to captaining a ship (65:43–67:19).

11. Friends, Geography, and Adult Connections

• Paul notes his inner circle has shrunk to a meaningful handful as he’s aged:

  “Now I’m 63, so we've weeded our friend down to a pretty core group of probably about eight people.” — Paul Feig, 53:23

• Nicole and Sasheer share how proximity shapes LA friendships, with Sashir strategically moving near Nicole (54:02).
• At dinner parties, Paul opts for classic comfort food ("roast chicken") rather than competing with gourmet friends (54:42–55:55).
• Longest friendships trace back to childhood and early career, creating unshakeable bonds (56:18–57:03).
• The hosts reminisce about their own 16-year friendship, which began with improv (57:11–57:55).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Comedy’s Elusive Nature:

  "Comedy’s the most specific of all the art forms...Nobody can agree what’s funny." — Paul Feig, 58:25

• On Moviegoing:

  “You have that one experience and...it's implanted in your brain. Not only do you hear the movie, you hear the laughter you heard when you first saw it.” — Paul Feig, 43:22

• On Awards:

  "Great comedy looks easy. If comedy looks hard, it’s not funny." — Paul Feig, 10:21

• On Doing vs. Schooling:

  "I think I learned more when I just started doing my own stuff... failure, that's the ultimate teacher." — Paul Feig, 34:08–34:24

• On Partners as Best Friends:

  "I fired her and proposed to her on the same day because it’s kind of like... we're both going for the same goal, which is to make me successful." — Paul Feig, 36:49

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Guest Bio: 02:30–04:06
• On Female Friendship in Film: 04:29–06:06
• Bridesmaids Movie Dynamics: 06:06–06:51
• Housemaid Movie & Twists: 07:00–08:21
• Drama vs. Comedy/Industry Awards: 09:18–10:59
• Freaks & Geeks, Magic, Standup: 12:12–13:15, 20:03–21:24
• Finding Comedy Voice: 31:00–32:13
• Tech and Accessibility Shifts: 32:54–33:32
• Paul’s Relationship Story: 34:30–36:39
• Test Screenings and Audience Reactions: 41:22–44:34, 60:56
• Movie Theater Magic & Community: 43:13–43:50, 63:00–64:44
• Collaboration and Personal Style: 45:56–47:17, 65:43–67:32
• Sustaining and Creating Friendships: 53:23–54:02, 56:15–57:55

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Conclusion

This episode delivers a warm, laughter-filled exploration of both friendship and the realities of comedy filmmaking. Paul Feig’s anecdotes about Hollywood, moviegoing, and his deep appreciation for friendship—whether with his wife, recurring collaborators, or lifelong pals—make for an engaging, heartfelt, and reflective listen. The chemistry between Nicole, Sasheer, and Paul invites listeners to feel like part of the circle—reminded that friendship, creativity, and joy walk hand in hand.

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Recommended Segment:
Start at [04:29] to hear the meat of the discussion on female friendship in film, authenticity in comedy, and Paul's vision for storytelling.
Don’t miss the spirited moviegoing talk at [43:13] and the delightful story of how Paul met his wife at [34:30].

Transcript

[Paul Feig]

This is a Headgum podcast. Quick choose a meal deal with McValue. The $5 McChicken meal deal, the $6 McDouble meal deal or the new $7 Daily Double meal deal. Each with its own small fries, drink and Four Piece McNuggets. There's actually no rush. I'm just excited for McDonald's for a limited time only. Prices and participation may vary. Not Valder McDelivery.

[Nicole Byer]

Guys, thanks for helping me carry my Christmas tree.

[Paul Feig]

Zoe, this thing weighs a ton. Drewski, live with your legs man.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Santa. Santa, did you get my letter?

[Paul Feig]

He's talking to you Bridges. I'm not.

[Nicole Byer]

Right Santa, you know my.

[Paul Feig]

Elf Drew Ski here. He handles the nice list. And elf, I'm six' three. What everyone wants is iPhone 17 and at T Mobile you can get it on them. That center stage front camera is amazing for group selfies. Right Mrs. Claus?

[Nicole Byer]

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[Paul Feig]

Keep your old phone or give it as a gift.

[Nicole Byer]

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[Paul Feig]

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[Nicole Byer]

Hi Sasheer.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Hi Nicole.

[Nicole Byer]

How are you? I'm good.

[Sasheer Zamata]

How are you?

[Nicole Byer]

I'm good. We have a guest today. We do that sometimes.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Hit it. Oh, okay. Yes. Known as one of the most stylish filmmakers for his impeccable personal style, Paul Feig is a DGA winning Emmy nominated filmmaker who has directed a number of films including Bridesmaids. Bridesmaids.

[Nicole Byer]

The Heat. The Heat.

[Sasheer Zamata]

A Simple Favor.

[Nicole Byer]

A Simple Favor.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Last Christmas.

[Nicole Byer]

Last Christmas. Another simple favorite, Simple Favor, Spy. Oh Spy.

[Sasheer Zamata]

The latter of which is celebrating its tenure year anniversary. This year he also created and launched his own award winning gin brand, Art Arten Arten Arting Stalls. Arting Stalls which won best gin Damn. And double gold at the 2019 WSWA competition. And a cocktail book called Cocktail Time. That's a cute name. That was released by Will William Morrow. Paul's next film, Lionsgate the Housemaid stars Sydney Sweeney, Amanda Seyglob.

[Nicole Byer]

Brandon.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Brandon.

[Paul Feig]

Brandon Skinnar.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Brandon Skinnar and Michelle Michele. I mean, great. This is why she wanted me to do this trick. And comes out Christmas Day. The film is based on the global literary Sensation by Freda McFadden and spent 120 weeks and counting on the New York Times bestseller list. We have Paul Vo.

[Paul Feig]

Thank you.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yay.

[Nicole Byer]

Thank you for being here.

[Paul Feig]

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Thank you. It's great to be here. Thank you both. It's so sweet of you to have me on the show. I really appreciate it.

[Nicole Byer]

We're excited.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Paul Feig]

Well, thank you. I'm not as excited as I am. This is really cool.

[Sasheer Zamata]

This is really cool. You. So this is a show about friendship.

[Paul Feig]

Excellent. I have no friends. That can't be true.

[Nicole Byer]

That can't be true.

[Paul Feig]

I have lovely friends.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I do feel like a lot of your work involves friendship. Like a lot of especially female friendship as far as I can tell. Yeah.

[Paul Feig]

I mean, definitely. I love the relationship between female friends. That's why I think so many of my movies are about the bond between them and all that. Just because I grew up around a lot of girls and women. I was an only child, close to my mom. My next door neighbors were a family of eight and six of those kids were girls. They were my pals. So. Yeah. So I just really have enjoyed, you know, being around women who are friends.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. That's really sweet. I like the like seeing complicated relationships between women too because sometimes it's like, you know.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

They're just like very bland or like, how is, how does this relate to a man? Or something like that? But I feel like seeing a nuance on screen is like so nice.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, well, that, you know, when we did Bridesmaids, you know, Kristen, we were all very much wanting to make sure, even though this was about kind of a rivalry between these two women that had never devolved into cat fighting and all that kind of thing. Because that's, you know, so many comedies have just reduced women to that level and it's so terrible. So, yeah, complicated three dimensional women on screen. That's my favorite thing.

[Nicole Byer]

The thing I liked the most about Bridesmaids was just the evolution of an adult friendship. Because it's like, oh, we knew each other at one place, we've grown apart a little bit. I've made another friendship and, and I can have the capacity to hold both of you in the same way, but maybe one of them, Kristen's character was like, no, I don't want that. I don't want anything to change. And I fully get that. And I think that's why, I mean, also deeply funny, but I feel like that's why it resonated with a lot of women.

[Paul Feig]

No, it's funny cause people refer to it as a romantic comedy. I'm like, no, it's a friendship movie. And what I love about the dynamic in that movie is everybody's got the right intentions. Like Rose Byrne's character looks at. Kristen's character is kind of somebody who's holding Maya's character back, you know. Cause Kristen's such a mess when we first meet her. And so she's very kindly trying to move this person, this toxic friend she considers her to be out of her life. And that's very, you know, very resonant thing. And again, you know, I always, I never like to do movies where like the villain just she's terrible or she's terrible and they, you know, they're just mustache twirling. Like everyone has to have the reason why they're doing something. Even they're doing something terrible in their head. They think they're doing the right thing. So we were able to pull that off in that movie.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Speaking of people doing things that are terrible, what drew you to this book? And wanting to make housemaid into.

[Nicole Byer]

That was a good segue.

[Paul Feig]

That was. I'm gonna catch my breath after that. Yeah, I mean, well, again, what I loved about this book, this is very different, you know, thriller. And if you know the book at all and if you haven't read the book. See the movie first, then read the. When you make a movie based on a book, everybody's like, I gotta go read the book. And it's like, no, go. Because there's a lot of twists and turns in this movie, and it's more fun to experience them. But, no, I liked how this movie put these two women together and we play with these stereotypes right up front. You go, here's the perfect rich lady housewife who's kind of, you know, she's goofy and probably not that smart. And here's this young woman who's innocent and probably not that strong. And here's the husband who's perfect, and then we just turn it all on his head as we go along. And I love doing that.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, I love. I didn't see the twist coming. I was like, whoa. And then it just felt, like, so jarring. And it's like, I don't know what to expect anymore. I don't know who to trust.

[Paul Feig]

See, we knocked you off your game.

[Nicole Byer]

It's like a twist and then a twist, and then you're like, oh, my God.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. Yeah. I just like how we get you to root for everything. You should not root for the first hour.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. Then I'm just like, well, now I can't trust my instincts anymore.

[Nicole Byer]

And that's what movies do, Sasheer.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

They help you to not trust your instincts.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I'll never see a movie again.

[Paul Feig]

Stay home.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. I don't know if we can cut this, if you don't want this in there, but I did notice there was a little cameo from you in the movie. What is that from?

[Paul Feig]

That's from a movie I did. My first kind of studio film I did called I Am David. It was a little drama. And the day we were supposed to shoot, we shot it in Bulgaria. And when we were supposed to shoot, the actor who was flying in couldn't get in. And so I was like, I guess I'm doing it.

[Sasheer Zamata]

So funny.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. So it's a movie like no one's ever really seen. And so I like to always try to drop myself into my movie somewhere. And this seemed like, oh, let's just put an old clip in.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That's cute.

[Nicole Byer]

I love that. That's so fun.

[Paul Feig]

Easier for me, too.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. It's like, it's done already done. It's edited.

[Nicole Byer]

Just throw it in there. So your first movie was a drama, and then how did you get into comedy? Because I feel like you're known for a lot of comedy.

[Paul Feig]

Well, I was always Doing comedy, doing that drama was sort of a ill fated sor of attempt to be legitimate in, you know, for the filmmaking world and do kind of an awards movie, which I learned a valuable lesson on that, which is, stop. Don't make movies to try to win awards. Because, look, I'm proud of the movie, but, you know, it was right after I did Freaks and Geeks, and so everybody wanted me to do more high school stuff, and I was like, I did it already. And so I thought, this will make me really legit. And then after that, I just kept doing comedy. So. But, you know, to me, every movie I do is a comedy, even if it's like a thriller in that I think all my comedies are actually dramas that are funny because the storyline, the characters, the arc, the importance of the story, the emotions all have to be grounded. And then you can do extreme things on top of it to make it funny.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I love that.

[Nicole Byer]

I like that too. But I do think it's interesting that you said that you made a drama to legitimize yourself, because it is interesting. The awards circuit does not reward comedy.

[Paul Feig]

Did you notice that? Exactly.

[Nicole Byer]

It's so hard. To be funny is hard.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. Frustrating, you know, But I. My theory on that is always great comedy looks easy. If comedy looks hard, then it's not funny. So we have to work so hard to just kind of look like we're just breezy and doing this thing, you know? The example I always bring up is Steve Carell never won an Emmy for the Office.

[Nicole Byer]

I didn't know that.

[Paul Feig]

That's actually once. But he never won an Emmy. He always lost it to Alec Baldwin, who had this very showy kind of role. And I would ask other voters, like, why would you not vote for Steve? And they're like, well, he just shows up and he's just crazy. And it's like, that is not Steve at all.

[Nicole Byer]

No, that's not.

[Paul Feig]

He works so hard. No, totally. So, you know. But hey, look, if we could. If we could either have awards or people loving what we do and they go back to it over and over again and it makes them feel good. Let's take the second one.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That's true.

[Nicole Byer]

I agree. I just watched the Office, like two or three years ago, way after everybody else. I was like, wait a minute, you guys, this is really fun. Did you guys know?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Really?

[Nicole Byer]

Did anyone know?

[Paul Feig]

I found this new show that's always my wife. We always know something is about to be not cool anymore because she's like, I found this singer. She's so Cool. It's like. You mean that person that everybody's been listening to for five years? Oh, really?

[Nicole Byer]

I'm much like your wife. I'm so late on everything. What's the latest thing that she's into? That's gonna be.

[Paul Feig]

She's really in a role model now. So if I have to hear the song Sally one more time. And I love it, but gee whiz, I love that.

[Nicole Byer]

That's so funny.

[Paul Feig]

No, she came only a couple years ago and had just discovered Amy Winehouse.

[Nicole Byer]

Oh, wow. Well, we got.

[Paul Feig]

Sit down, honey. I gotta tell you something.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That'S really funny. I really loved Freaks and Geeks too, and binged it so fast and then was so sad that there was no more to watch.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, we didn't make it a whole year back in old network times when it was 22 episodes, we made 18 episodes out of that. Very proud of it. You know, we should be. Thanks.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, it was a great show.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. I mean, you know, it was sad that we got canceled, but at the same time, sometimes I go, maybe we were just better off being 18 episodes.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That's true. Because you're like, well, this was great. This is, like, actually, like, really great work. And it didn't. Jumpy, the decline.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. We always feel like he got away with something when something works. So it's like, okay. But, you know, people over the years have always wanted us to do a new one. I'm like, I don't know, just step away. You know, people don't need more of something they love, like, make that special. There's this whole thing, you know, Hollywood, just people in general go, like, I want more. It's like, do you want more? You know, it's like when I was a magician for. In my childhood, and whenever you do a trick, you know, magic.

[Nicole Byer]

And I both went, yeah.

[Paul Feig]

Not a good magician, by the way. But whenever you do a trick, people go do it again. It's like, no, if I do it again, you're gonna see how I did it. So. Yeah, but it's a natural instinct, I guess, to want more.

[Sasheer Zamata]

What was your favorite trick that you did?

[Paul Feig]

Oh, gosh, I had. I mean, the funny thing about being a magician when you're a kid is you just buy the tricks, you know? So. So basically, you know, you have, you know, these tubes with, like, the silks can come out of and, you know, rabbits that disappear in different boxes. Not real rabbits, but, like, painted rabbits. So. Yeah, but I always like to try to learn how to do sleight of hand. So I got. I could kind of do it for a while, and I've sort of lost the skill, but that's. That, to me, is the most pure form of magic, because I have friends who are like real magicians. If you're at a dinner table with them, they'll pull out a coin and just blow your mind for, like, 15 minutes.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I love it.

[Nicole Byer]

I love that. I love when people can do magic tricks, but I also really love when people can play the. Like at a dinner party.

[Paul Feig]

It's like a superpower, right?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yes.

[Nicole Byer]

You're having, like, a cocktail, and they're like, hey, what if I just tickle the ivory?

[Paul Feig]

Exactly. I'm like, please, let's have a single one.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Here's an unexpected skill. What I didn't know. We're just gonna eat, now we're enjoying something.

[Paul Feig]

What always blows my mind when people can do it is speak a second language.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Paul Feig]

I'm always like. And I've tried so hard over the years to learn a second, and I just. It doesn't. It doesn't go in.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Our friend Mateo can speak like, he's a polyglot.

[Paul Feig]

Polyglot, yes.

[Sasheer Zamata]

He knows.

[Paul Feig]

I guess either everything.

[Nicole Byer]

It's so nice.

[Paul Feig]

Your brains wired for it, or. No, like, I just. I mean, I had four years of French in high school. Nothing's there. Three years of German, and in college.

[Rakuten Advertiser]

Nothing we can see.

[Paul Feig]

Deutsche. Exactly. Yeah. We got. We can say things are nice in a lot of different languages. Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I studied Latin in high school, which, in my mind, I was like, I'm going to learn any Romance language after that, I didn't. I just stopped with Latin, which is a dead language, and then learn American Sign Language in college, which was great. But then it's. It's tactile, so if you don't keep up with it, you lose it.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, I was gonna say.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Paul Feig]

So. Well, that's cool, though.

[Sasheer Zamata]

It is cool.

[Paul Feig]

I admire you doing Latin, because that is true. Like. Yeah, but at least you, like, if you go to Europe now, you. There's certain words you can kind of figure out.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That's true. I kind of. I know the root word of things, but I don't know how to, like, speak a whole phrase.

[Paul Feig]

You know what? I heard that the new ipod, you know that translate. Translate. So, like, somebody's talking to a different language and it goes in. That's crazy.

[Nicole Byer]

That is crazy.

[Paul Feig]

Now, when will it make it so I can speak it?

[Nicole Byer]

When will that happen? When you get your little ipod chip.

[Paul Feig]

Oh, no, the Tesla chip.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Or Whatever. Oh, gosh.

[Nicole Byer]

I do have a question. So you worked as a tour guide for Universal Studios after first moving to LA?

[Paul Feig]

I did, I did. I know, back in 1980, way before you were born. Exactly. Oh, yeah, we had the tram and Jaws was there, the Jaws Lake thing, and. But it was. It was not what it is today. If you go there now, it's all these special effects and all this stuff. It was pretty rudimentary and I was working there. It was 81. It was one of the hottest summers on record. And when you were in those old trams, you were sitting right next to the engine and it was so hot.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Oh, gosh.

[Paul Feig]

And yeah, it was kind of miserable, but it was also. I was, you know, becoming a standup at that point. And so it was great training to just be on a mic every day in front of, you know, different crowds. So that was fun.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That is fun.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Were you always a very performative person, even when you were younger?

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, yeah, I was. When I was five years old, I decided I wanted to become an actor and a comedy guy and all that. Yeah, I just always loved it. And my mom was very. She loved showbiz. You know, I grew up in Detroit, but she just loved watching funny movies and all that, so. And then my dad was a really good wreck on tour. He could tell jokes like nobody else could. Like those kind of long story jokes that normally people start telling me, you want to kill yourself. Say, oh, well, here it comes. But he could just do it where you would kind of laugh the whole way through. And then my mom liked, like I said, really silly humor. She just liked physical comedy and stuff like that.

[Nicole Byer]

Do you have a movie that you remember watching as a kid with your parents?

[Paul Feig]

Well, I remember watching Singin in the Rain with my mom and I so was taken with the tap dancing in it that I immediately said, I want to take tap dancing classes. And I did for about eight years and never learned one time step. I had the worst teacher. It was at this school where it was like jazz on tabs. And I didn't know it wasn't just like hoofing. And so it was all like, flat ball, chain, flat ball change, flat ball, spin, spin, spin. It's like, why can't I do a time step? I'm so mad to this day I can't do a time step.

[Nicole Byer]

I'll tell you something, I also took tap for like eight years. I also cannot time step. I can only shuffle off a buffalo. I think that's what it's called when you shuffle and travel.

[Paul Feig]

Yep, exactly.

[Nicole Byer]

That's it. That's all I can do. And I can do, like, know, flat ball change or whatever, but I can't time step.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I feel like the only thing I can do is time step.

[Nicole Byer]

Really?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Paul Feig]

But I only did teacher, which we had your teacher.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Okay.

[Paul Feig]

I guess you had a better education than us.

[Nicole Byer]

Okay. Detroit, New Jersey didn't teach. Indiana taught.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I just took a drop in tap class. And that's, like, mostly what they taught us.

[Paul Feig]

But that's good. You had a good teacher. Like a traditional teacher. I was. I was the only boy in the class of, like. Like, 10 or 12 other girls. And in eight years, not one of those women ever spoke one word to me. Never. Oh, no, it was just recitals, anything. It just, like, I would just come in. Because you're a boy, I guess. I mean, obviously, I didn't instigate anything either. Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

They weren't talking to you. They wouldn't tell you either way.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, exactly. But no, it still blows my mind when I think about that. I could not tell you who was in the class. Wow. Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

That's so rude. There were no boys in my class and. And I'll never forget, we had one recital where the song was Hit the Road, Jack, and I was Jack. I was the star. I have pictures, and I remember it as being, like, a pivotal moment where I was like, I'm the star.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

These other bitches, they don't matter.

[Paul Feig]

And that led you here. That led you here.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Exactly how did you hit the road? Like, what was. How was it? I had a little bindle.

[Nicole Byer]

Okay. I wore white little kids.

[Paul Feig]

You were a hobo.

[Nicole Byer]

I was a little hobo. And then they would be like, hit the Road, Jack. And I'd shuffle up a buffalo.

[Paul Feig]

Please tell me there's tapes of this.

[Nicole Byer]

No, I wish there was. My dad bought one of those camcorders, and then it just lived in the closet. So there's no footage of me. Young and adorable.

[Paul Feig]

Oh, well. They were so gigantic back then, too.

[Sasheer Zamata]

You can bring them.

[Paul Feig]

When I was doing Stanford, I used to bring. I got one of those, and I would bring it to the club and tried to set it up. And, like, it was so big. First of all, I remember some famous comedians who I won't name were like, you can't tape my act. It's like, I don't want to tape your act. I'm trying to take my act. Exactly. But everybody got mad.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Send this up 30 minutes before I go on stage.

[Nicole Byer]

So many parts.

[Paul Feig]

Is it Rolling.

[Nicole Byer]

How long did you do stand Up?

[Paul Feig]

I did it professionally for five years and really loved it. And then immediately when I decided I didn't like it anymore, I got out because I knew so many people who stayed in and just got angrier and mean to the audience. And this is like, ugh. So. But it was fun doing. Doing it.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Which city did you do it in?

[Paul Feig]

I was mostly West Coast. Yeah. So I kind of. I. I started when I was 15 years old in. In Detroit, and I was terrible, you know, and I was so young, my parents had to take me to the comedy clubs because, like, you know, you couldn't get in otherwise. But then when I got out here, yeah, I went pretty hardcore at it and. Yeah. But all up and down the West Coast. I never became an east coast guy for some reason. There was a couple of, like, bookers who had. Would have me all up, up and down. But it was fun, you know, that.

[Nicole Byer]

Is a thing about stand up, though. You have to find the joy over and over and over again. I've done shows where I'm like, I'm being mean. I'm doing crowd work and I'm being mean.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I'm mad at you guys for being here. Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

It's like, what am I doing? Gotta find the joy right here in the moment. Yeah.

[Paul Feig]

No, that's the worst. When I would watch these guys just get mean with the audience, you know? You know, my favorite thing was always when they. They tell a joke and it wouldn't land. They do. They. They go this. You know, those. Over their head. I'm like, no, it's this. They got it and they didn't like it. It's funny.

[Nicole Byer]

Oh, no, no, they got it. They don't like you.

[Paul Feig]

They don't think you're funny. And I don't either.

[Nicole Byer]

Real quick, we do have to take a break.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Let's take a break. Happy holidays from best friends. Okay, so my holiday shopping is almost done. But not gonna lie, I. I'm sweating a little bit. I have one name left on my list, one left to cross off. And it's the same one I have every year. My grandfather, he's the oh, don't get me anything type. So every year I panic and buy him golf balls. Just a bunch of golf balls. I don't even know if he loses that many golf balls. But this year, I have hope. Macy's great gift sale is happening right now. They have 10 days of curated gift gifts for every type of person, including your own personal. Don't get me anything. Nemesis and things are up to 60 off, which is very satisfying for those of us who love both giving and saving. Forget the golf balls. This year I'm getting him an espresso on sale. He's gonna love it almost as much as I loved getting it for him. The best part is, even though we're a bit down to the wire, don't.

[Nicole Byer]

Worry, I'm there with you.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Macy's has same day delivery and buy online pickup in store, which means this is the moment. I'm taking out my pen, I'm crossing off my grandpa's name and boom. Wow. I feel a rush when the weather.

[Nicole Byer]

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[Sasheer Zamata]

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[Nicole Byer]

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[Sasheer Zamata]

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[Nicole Byer]

Who will you be? No.

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[Paul Feig]

We're back. Oh, my goodness.

[Nicole Byer]

We're back. Oh, what a break.

[Paul Feig]

Oh, my gosh.

[Sasheer Zamata]

How old were you when you started actually working for tv?

[Paul Feig]

Well, I. I transitioned out of standup into being an actor in television. So that was around 1990s. So I was probably, you know, in my mid-20s and kind of lucked into some. Some nice roles. The first big one for me was on Garry Shandling. Had a show called It's Garry Shandling show before the Larry David show or Larry Sanders show. And I got to be like a guest star on that. That they turned into, like, a recurring. And that was really cool. Yeah, my first job was on Facts of Life, though. I played a nerd. And when I say I played a nerd, I mean a propeller Beanie cat.

[Nicole Byer]

You love to see it.

[Paul Feig]

There you go.

[Nicole Byer]

That's such a showdown stereotype because I don't think I ever seen anyone in.

[Sasheer Zamata]

The Wild be like, third.

[Paul Feig]

Totally. It's like, really? Even your first job, you kind of just want to do what they say. But it's like, really? Is that your image of nerds seems.

[Nicole Byer]

A little over the top?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Definitely.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. But. Yeah, but that was, you know, that was my. Oh, I'll tell you the worst story about that, though. It was an episode called the Ratings Game. And this was back when, like, it became popular to be like, he was a 1, he's a 10, he's a 8, or whatever. And so, you know, they have the warmups between scenes. So me and this other poor guy are playing the other nerd. I stand there and the woman. It was a party with all these hot guys there. And so she goes, all right, hey, everybody in the audience, let's rate these guys, shall we? And I was like, I'm out of here. And I walked off the set because I'm like, I see where this is going.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Hot guy.

[Paul Feig]

Hot guy. What about him? He's a two. Ha, ha ha.

[Sasheer Zamata]

So, yeah, that sucks.

[Nicole Byer]

I'd leave, too. I'd be like, I don't want to be rated. Not today.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I'm already an actor.

[Nicole Byer]

I'm already like, yeah, it's not bad.

[Paul Feig]

Enough for approval, right? Exactly.

[Nicole Byer]

In front of an audience.

[Paul Feig]

No.

[Nicole Byer]

I'm gonna get out of here. I have a question about directing. I feel like directing is. There's so much details and whatnot. Like, I've been in production meetings where they're like, what fork should we use?

[Paul Feig]

Oh, God, yeah. That's my whole life.

[Nicole Byer]

How do you deal with that? Or is that something you enjoy?

[Paul Feig]

Well, I mean, I understand it because anybody who makes a decision and if I come on and go, like, why is that here? Then they're in trouble. They think they get fired or whatever, so. And I do want to micromanage stuff, but there are things like, you're like, I don't care about that. But if you say that, then they'll just make a bunch of decisions you don't want, but it does. That's the assault. And it's your poor spouse, basically, because you're just in a day with questions. So the minute you come home and like, hey, how was your day? He's like, don't ask me anything. Please don't make me answer any questions. But it's fine. I love it. I mean, you know, it's so funny because people don't. Most people don't know what a director does, you know? Like, I had people, you know, they knew I directed the Office, like, oh, have you met Steve Carell? Yeah, I think. I think I met him.

[Nicole Byer]

That's a wild.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Wouldn't be on set.

[Paul Feig]

Right. Exactly. They're like, are you involved in the casting? Are you involved in the editings? Yes, we do everything. But I love it. It's. It's. You know, I don't miss acting just because I like the. I like making other people look good. It's really fun. And to tell a fun story is really cool.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. Was there a director you looked up to as you were coming up?

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. Yeah. Nicely done. I mean, there's old directors that I really was a fan of. Howard Hawks was an old director from the 30s and 40s, and he did a lot of screwball comedies, but he also did, like, gangster movies and did westerns, and I was like, that's cool. Like, I like the idea of not getting stuck in one genre, so I really loved him. I like Blake Edwards, who did like the Pink Panther movies and all those comedies. Yeah. And just. I don't know. I had a lot of influences and. But I was. I was really influenced by more by, like, comedies that I would see, you know, And I loved all the old. I mean, from Three Stooges to Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy and all that old kind of stuff. And then a lot of television really influenced me growing up. A lot of sitcoms I just thought were really fun. All the Norman Lear shows were really great. But. Yeah, I just. Big consumer of comedy back then.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I think that's what helps. I think a lot of comedians get the urge to do it because they're just a fan of it.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. Well, you start to go like, oh, I think I could do that. But it's interesting how you find your voice, especially as a standup. Cause you're basically just kind of copying other comedians when you're starting out. And then as you're with an audience, you start to go, oh, they're responding to this. And that was the moment I was actually kind of myself. Cause I was really influenced. Well, I mean, I. Coming up, I. All I listened to was, like, Steve Martin albums and George Carlin and Lenny Bruce. But then when I was doing stand up, I got really influenced by Richard Lewis, who. I just thought he had the same kind of cadence as the way I talk. And I like the way he processed the world. And so started out kind of copying his thing and then slipped into my own thing. But, you know, it's. It's not bad. As long as nobody accuses you of stealing from somebody.

[Nicole Byer]

Well, I do think that that's interesting that a lot of people don't talk about, because when you first start out, how do you do it? I think it's like, yeah, you just borrow from people until you figure out your voice.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. 100%, right?

[Sasheer Zamata]

I think so. Yeah. Because it. I guess there are standup classes. I don't know if there have always been standup classes, but, yeah, you kind of need to just do it.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. You just gotta throw yourself into the fire.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. And. And, yeah, you probably will mimic someone until you're like, oh, actually, this is what I.

[Nicole Byer]

This is my voice.

[Paul Feig]

This is.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah. How I present.

[Paul Feig]

Although a few years ago, I. I was. I got a comedy festival down. Down south somewhere that Richard. That Lewis Black was doing, and he might be down. And there was this thing of like, okay, all these new people are going to do it who want to be stand ups. I was like, okay, this is going to be terrible. They were all really kind of good. The confidence level of all them and their voice. I was. And I think, I think there's so much standup out there now that there's a lot more to see. Like I was coming up, you just had the big, big people and then that was it. But now there's so much comedy everywhere. But I think it's great because you get a chance to discover your voice and then all the stuff you can do on the Internet, you know, on YouTube and all that, you got to find it. So it's really, I think it's a good time to be coming up in comedy.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I think so. Yeah. Because also you just film your stuff with a phone, not a camcorder and.

[Nicole Byer]

Just a little smaller.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. Immediately put it online and have an audience have access to it. So much quicker than like, like promoting a show, having people come to a club, hopefully getting booked at the club, you know. Yeah, it's very different.

[Paul Feig]

No, that was always the power that Hollywood and the entertainment business in general held over us was distribution. We could do the stuff. Although even then it was hard if you had to film something that was expensive. But yeah, even if you could just videotape it, how do you get it out there? And so, you know, when I lecture to film students and actors and stuff, I'm always like, you guys have no excuse not to be doing stuff and getting yourself out there.

[Nicole Byer]

You're right. Because you have an iPhone, there's imovie. You can actually absolutely make a short very cheaply put it out there and.

[Paul Feig]

It'S going to look great too, you know, HD and all that stuff. I mean the first movie I did before I did I Am David, I did, I self funded this feature film like for like $30,000. And all the money went into buying 16 millimeter film stock and processing it. And it, it didn't look that good, you know, it just kind of was degraded. You know, it just looked like a, like a horror movie or something. It wasn't supposed to be, it's a rom com.

[Nicole Byer]

But you're like, oh, it's a little.

[Paul Feig]

Grainy on this screen.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Did you study film or did you just self teach yourself?

[Paul Feig]

Well, I kind of self taught when I was lived back in Michigan with my next door neighbor that we would just make these Super 8 films. But then I did end up going to USC film school when I was a tour Guide at Universal, I discovered. I heard about USC film school and applied and got in. But I don't. You know, as much as I like going to USC film school, I think I learned more when I just started doing my own stuff. You know, when I did that movie that I was talking about, talking about the $30,000 one that was just a crash course and how to produce, how to just deal with everything, I'm sure. Yeah, yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

I feel like doing is way more helpful than. I mean, you can learn things and learn how to do the thing that you want to do, but just doing it.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

Trial and error, seeing what works, what doesn't work. I think that's so much more helpful than school.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, well, failure.

[Nicole Byer]

Yes.

[Paul Feig]

That's the ultimate teacher. Because you're, like, not going to do that again. Okay. Screw that up. So. So let's learn.

[Nicole Byer]

Is your wife your best friend?

[Paul Feig]

Yes, she is.

[Nicole Byer]

I love that. Will you tell us how you met?

[Paul Feig]

Oh, I certainly will. Well, she was my manager, but before that we had, unbeknownst to me. Well, actually, I was going to say when you brought up Hit the Road Jack, that's kind of how she first became aware of me, because I was working with this guy from my film school and we put together this trailer that I was going to be the star of this movie and he was going to direct it. We filmed this trailer and in the trailer for one scene, there was kind of a takeoff on Cocktail with the Tom Cruise throwing the bottles around. And so this juggler we hired to play that. Well, that juggler is one of her clients. So he showed her the trailer. She's like, who's that guy? Yeah, because she liked me. Because. Here, I'll explain this. Her perfect man back then would be Jerry Lewis. So, you know, she wasn't looking for like a hot gu. But. But a funny guy. Exactly. So, yeah, so then we kind of were parties at the same time, but I didn't know who she was. And she would come up and talk. I was like, oh, that girl's really cute, but I don't know who she is. And she was like, so, like, you know, aggressively kind of being friendly. I was like, who are you? And then finally when I. I did a movie as an actor called Ski Patrol, and I thought I was, you know, gonna be a big movie star from that. And I had these managers that were pretty high end at the time. And I came back and they immediately. Because they thought the movie was ridiculous, you know, and so.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Okay, so then it was so harsh after One movie?

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah.

[Paul Feig]

Oh, really harsh. I know. Yeah. So. But then one of the guys from the movie said, oh, I have a friend who's a manager. And I went to meet with her, and it was her. And so she managed me for about two weeks, and then we fell in love. And she continued to manage me for four years after that, but we didn't tell anybody. So we were top. Secretly.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Scandalous scandal.

[Paul Feig]

I know. And now we've been married. We've been together for 35 years. Married for 31 years.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. That's so wonderful. I love that.

[Nicole Byer]

That's such a long time.

[Paul Feig]

I know. It really is.

[Sasheer Zamata]

You must work well together. Because I feel like it's tricky sometimes to, like, be in a partnership with someone, like a romantic partnership with somebody, and also work with them.

[Paul Feig]

Well, yeah, that's what I always say is, I fired her and proposed to her on the same day because it's kind of like, I don't.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Bad news and good news.

[Paul Feig]

Exactly. Guess what? That's right. Your commission just went up. But, no, she's great. And honestly, because before that, I was only in a couple relationships before that, and they're both with fellow actors, and it just was too hard because we were. You're in competition. So if I'd come home and say, oh, I got this job, then suddenly she'd be like, oh, you're cooler than me. It's like, oh, so you had to hide stuff, but having your manager become your wife. We're both going for the same goal, which is to make me successful. Perfect for a guy with a big ego.

[Sasheer Zamata]

And she's in the business, but not doing exactly what you're doing, which is really nice.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Like, she gets it, but totally. Yeah. Not competition, I guess.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. Yeah. So that kind of. It's. It's the greatest. If you marry your rep, it'll be great. You heard it here first.

[Nicole Byer]

Do you share movies with her before they're, like, absolutely finished? Does she, like, give you notes and stuff or.

[Paul Feig]

Well, I share the script with her once I'm happy with it or if it's a project I'm considering because she's really populist. She's got a real populist taste, which you need, because I don't want to make movies that people aren't gonna see. Or the prestige films. I have no interest in doing that. But then once I have it, I make her wait until I've got a cut that I'm really happy happy with, and then I'll bring her to a test Screening so she can see it with a big audience. Because I'm really about fresh eyes. Like, you know, somebody knows something then. But, like, somebody who doesn't know anything about her. Very little. You're going to get a pure response out of it.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. Has she ever given a thought on something that actually made you change something?

[Paul Feig]

Oh, all the time. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Especially in the, you know, trying to figure out what project to do next or even casting things. I'm like, I'm thinking of this person. Like, no, not that person. You know, what about somebody like this? Like, oh, that's a better idea.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, that's great. And it's good to have an outside perspective, too. Cause, like, like you said, she's a consumer.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

And you want somebody's opinion who's like, yeah, actually, I want to watch this kind of movie.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. You know, because. Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

She just.

[Paul Feig]

She doesn't want to watch any heady movies or anything like that. Not that she's, you know, not smart, but it just kind of. She goes, that's my relaxation is watching stuff. And I love that, you know, because, you know, there's certain projects you sometimes get all like, oh, this will be so, you know, we'll win awards again. Back to the awards thing. Like, don't do it. But, you know, obviously, Bridesmaids got nominated for two Oscars. Do you think any of us thought we were gonna get two Oscars for a movie where somebody shits in the sink? No.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That's why it got nominated.

[Paul Feig]

There you go. Exactly.

[Nicole Byer]

That scene truly is so funny. And it is like a scene about shitting, but it's, like, not nasty.

[Paul Feig]

Well, the reason that scene is funny is because Kristen screws up. She's trying to compete with a richer person, takes them to a restaurant and passing it off as a great restaurant as a shitty restaurant, and everybody gets food poisoning from it. And it's her not admitting that everything's going wrong. So the comedy is her going, nobody's sick. I think everybody's fine. Cut to throwing up all over the place. But that's why I think it works really well.

[Nicole Byer]

It's so funny. Test screenings, I don't know anything about them. What's the dumbest thing you've heard from a person at a test screening?

[Paul Feig]

Oh, my God. Well, here's the thing with test screenings. They used to always be they would hand out pieces of paper, people would write on them. Now they hand out, like, phones and you electronically. And I hate that because I used to love getting the written thing because you See, depending on the person's handwriting, whether do I take this seriously or not? Some people literally, I mean, it's like a caveman is just scrolling on this thing. No, my favorite thing was when I did a test screening for this movie I did. It was a family film called Unaccompanied Minors. And it was a bunch of kids trapped in an airport over Christmas and going through the things. One was from like 8 year old boy said. The only thing it said was it was gay. It's like, all right, there you go. Thank you. Eight year old boy who probably would have beat me up when I was a kid.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, it's not for you, actually.

[Nicole Byer]

That's so.

[Sasheer Zamata]

It was gay. That was gay. Got it.

[Paul Feig]

Nailed it.

[Nicole Byer]

That's so funny.

[Paul Feig]

But I love test screenings. I live and die by test screenings. You know, it's really. That's the only way to really know how your movie's working. And I don't do friends and family screenings. Those are absolutely worthless.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Oh, wait, why?

[Nicole Byer]

Because they're your friends, they're your family.

[Paul Feig]

That was so great. Wow. We loved it. And you're like, all right, because I've been screwed by that a few times. We got a hit. Then you put in front of a real audience. You're like, okay, this didn't work at all. But I like it. It's. You know, my whole thing is I've got to make sure that my movie appeals to the broadest possible audience. And I like it. I want to please people. I don't want to put in something that nobody else thinks is funny that I think is funny. I mean, you'll always put in a couple for sure yourself, but that's about it.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Have you ever snuck into a theater of just like, people watching your movie just to see how they would react?

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, well, that's. That's my favorite thing about movies is the opening weekend. We'll drive around and like, you know, this is my movie. Can I go in and come into the back? And sometimes it's terrible. You walk in and there's nobody here. You know, like three people and. But that was the most exciting thing with Bridesmaids was because we were predicted not to do well and Wait, Really? Oh, yeah. All the predictions and even that morning of the tracking and they did a midnight screening the night before that didn't do well at all because, like, of course, who's gonna go to a wedding movie at midnight on a Thursday? And then as the day went on, suddenly we were going up and up and up and Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben were at our house having dinner, and I'm getting these texts. I go, like, we're going to the arc light. And so we go and sneak in. The back of the place is just packed and rocking. And that was really cool.

[Nicole Byer]

That is really cool.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. That's why I'm so happy that this new movie, the Housemaid, is in theaters, because my last three movies have been streamers, and it's just. You miss that fun, you know, you can't go. I can just go stalk people's houses. Are they in the.

[Nicole Byer]

Like, in someone's closet? Like, do you like it? Sashira's heard me say this so many times. I really do think there is something magical about watching a movie on a big screen with a bunch of strangers.

[Paul Feig]

Totally.

[Nicole Byer]

And, like, there's community, and, like, you're all laughing, and I just think it amplifies what you're watching in a really beautiful way.

[Paul Feig]

Well, it's also why I. I always say, this is why you love certain movies and you watch them over and over again because you have that one experience, and. And that is implanted in your brain. Not only do you hear the movie, you hear the laughter that you heard when you first saw it. And that's why it's so much harder to get a comedy going on a streamer or to get people to love it because they're not having that same experience.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, I agree. Or like, a thriller and, like, seeing something scary, like, in complete darkness, just like. Ah, yeah, totally.

[Paul Feig]

It's.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. I feel like everything's more Is amplified in a theater than just, like, on your laptop or unless you're just distracted.

[Paul Feig]

At home, you can escape. I know about movie theaters. You can't get out. You can, but then you're really, like, making a big move to leave, but we have you. And when putting, you know, the streamers that I did, the movies, it was. You have to grab the audience in 30 seconds, or they could turn it off so you don't. I like starting a movie really big, but at the same time, takes some, you know, five minutes for people to get into the characters and all that. And so with a movie, at least we have you trapped for. Look, if you're like, just hate the movie so much, you'll leave after 10 minutes, but you still give us 10 minutes. And so that's really nice.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

I saw Spy in theaters, and that was so fun. So much fun. Also, Jason Statham.

[Paul Feig]

Oh, the best.

[Nicole Byer]

What a dream he is.

[Paul Feig]

I love that guy.

[Nicole Byer]

So funny.

[Paul Feig]

He really is. Is. He's.

[Nicole Byer]

What was it like working with Jason Statham? I love him so much.

[Paul Feig]

He's the best. I. I love Statham so much. Cuz I. My wife and I were such giant Statham fans. We watch every movie he did, no matter how good or bad it was. He's so good always. And I was like, maybe I'll have try to get a general meeting with him. You know, you can do that as a director, you know, like, hey, I can. Movie star can come to see me. And so lined it up. But then I was really nervous because was like, I don't know. I very. I've seen him, he's so tough and all this. I'm like, is he gonna be mean to me? Is he gonna beat me up? Like, what's it? And so they're like, it'd be so.

[Nicole Byer]

Funny if he came in.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I was like.

[Paul Feig]

Who are you looking at? Oh, my God. Would be kind of cool to get beaten up by Jason's. You're gonna get beaten up by anybody. But they came in and they go like, you know, Jason's out in the lobby and I'm in my office like, okay. So I kind of walk out and he's reading a magazine. He looks like Jason Statham. And I like Jason. Hey, Paul, Big smile. I'm like, oh my gosh, you're nice. And yeah. And then he would just. He had the best time doing it. It was so much fun because we'd write ridiculous jokes for him. I mean, a lot of those jokes for him were written on the set.

[Nicole Byer]

Yes. There's like a blooper reel of him doing the alts.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. So you see that? Me feeding him these jokes.

[Nicole Byer]

So funny.

[Paul Feig]

Oh, no, totally. Because I would feed him a joke and he'd just burst out laughing and then he'd do it, and he'd get halfway through it and start laughing. And then he'd do it the second time and just nail it.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Oh, my God.

[Nicole Byer]

Sushi. You have to watch it because it's very. He's like, ha, ha ha. And then he's Jason Statham.

[Paul Feig]

Exactly.

[Nicole Byer]

And it's really. It's really wild to watch him like lock in and then just like. Like he kills it. Oh, I love Jason Statham.

[Paul Feig]

He's so cool. Well, he. When I first cast him, I always like to have the actor combined just kind of read through the script with me just to see what they're gonna do. So he came in one day, he's like, so how should I play this? I'M trying to be funny as like, Jason. This is the most serious movie you've ever done. He's all right. Got that. And he reading through and every line destroys. So he does it once. I go, like, leave. Don't even look at the script again. I'll see you on the set. Don't rehearse. Don't do anything. You're perfect.

[Nicole Byer]

Oh, that's interesting. I like that. Don't rehearse. What you've done is great because I feel like sometimes as an actor you'll prepare something and people will be like, oh, okay.

[Sasheer Zamata]

And you're like, well, I don't. Oh. You said, oh, okay.

[Nicole Byer]

So what, do I change things?

[Paul Feig]

What do I do exactly? Am I fired?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, yeah. We have to go to a break. It's a break time.

[Paul Feig]

Break time. Oh, boy, do I need a break.

[Sasheer Zamata]

And do I need a break. Happy holidays from best friends. Okay, so my holiday shopping is almost done. But not going to lie. Lie. I'm sweating a little bit. I have one name left on my list, one left to cross off. And it's the same one I have every year. My grandfather, he's the oh, don't get me anything type. So every year I panic and buy him golf balls. Just a bunch of golf balls. I don't even know if he loses that many golf balls. But this year, I have hope. Macy's great gift sale is happening right now. They have 10 days of curating gifts for every type of person, including your own personal. Don't get me anything, Nemesis. And things are up to 60% off, which is very satisfying for those of us who love both giving and saving. Forget the golf balls. This year I'm getting him a Nespresso on sale. He's gonna love it almost as much as I loved getting it for him. The best part is, even though we're a bit down to the wire, don't worry, I'm there with you. Macy's has same day delivery and buy online pickup in store, which means this is the moment. I'm taking out my pen, I'm crossing off my grandpa's name, and boom. Wow. I feel a rush.

[Nicole Byer]

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[Sasheer Zamata]

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[Nicole Byer]

KitKat commercial.

[Paul Feig]

Give me a break. Give me a break. Give break me off a piece of that kit bar. There we go. Is it your new. It's your new sponsor.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Not as well.

[Paul Feig]

It is now. We just sang it.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yes.

[Paul Feig]

Send the check to best friend friends.

[Nicole Byer]

And Wells Fargo is just like, who's best friends?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Which friends?

[Nicole Byer]

So you've gotten to work with Melissa McCarthy a lot. What's that like? She seems like fun. Terrible question.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Is that fun for you?

[Paul Feig]

Good. It's like a junket question. Exactly.

[Nicole Byer]

It really is. There's no thought.

[Paul Feig]

No, no, no. But she's great. I. I really love Melissa, you know, you know, being all comedy people, like, like we all are. When you find somebody who has the same sense of humor that you do, it's like a gold mine. And we're just so in sync with, you know, we did four movies in a row together and yeah, we just kind of read each other's minds and kind of go, like, we don't want to do that. That's too much. But try this. And you know, and then she surprised me with a joke and I'd surprise her with stuff. And it was really, it was really fun. It's very nice, fluid working environment.

[Sasheer Zamata]

And do you. You mentioned earlier that you were getting dinner with her. Do you. Are you guys, like, actually friends outside of work too?

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, yeah, we're pals. I mean, I. I haven't seen recently. Cause she's off working and I'm off working. But we keep in touch all the time.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Paul Feig]

Try to send each other birthday gifts and stuff like that.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That's sweet.

[Paul Feig]

That is sweet.

[Nicole Byer]

How do you stay connected to your friends as a person who works so much?

[Paul Feig]

It's hard. I mean, I, you know, I think like all of us, you start with a lot of friends and then you weed it down. And now I'm 63, so we've weeded our friend down to a pretty core group of probably about eight people, I would dare say.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Honestly, that's a good number.

[Paul Feig]

It's kind of great, you know, because we just every. There's nobody you don't look forward to seeing, you know, and that's always the Worst one, it's kind of like I don't have to see this person. Right. So everything's relaxation with that way. So. Yeah. But we have great friends, and we're all very geographically across la, so nobody lives close to anybody else. So it's always, you know, the friendship's strong. And you go, sure, I'll drive all the way over.

[Nicole Byer]

I'll drive to the west side.

[Sasheer Zamata]

When I moved from New York to la, Nicole was already living here for a few years. And she. She was like, if you live more than 20 minutes from me, I will not see you. And so I literally looked in places, like, 20 minutes around her, and I did that.

[Paul Feig]

There you go. There you go.

[Nicole Byer]

And I really appreciate that. Thank you so much.

[Paul Feig]

Isn't that nice?

[Nicole Byer]

And now you live at max distance. If you go any further, oh, my.

[Paul Feig]

God, friend, you're right on the board.

[Sasheer Zamata]

My God, I'm on the edge.

[Paul Feig]

You have one of those things that draws a circle and you put a map down just within this.

[Sasheer Zamata]

You're like, I'm okay in this area.

[Paul Feig]

You're right. Right. A block outside.

[Nicole Byer]

At a dinner party, what are you serving?

[Paul Feig]

If I'm cooking. You're saying, if I'm cooking, I'll do a roast chicken. Usually, I know which is really good. I'll do roto. I'm very good.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I do like.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, I'm the guy that stands there and stirs it for 45 minutes straight.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Someone's got to do it.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, exactly. And I'll roast vegetables, that kind of thing. But I try to be healthy and. Yeah, but one of my best friends is he's like a gourmet chef. And so when you go to his house, I mean, he cooks for days, and all these things he's prepared. There's a million different dishes. I'm like, okay. We used to be in competition. And then I was like, you win, I'm done. You're getting the roast chicken. Every time you go over one New.

[Nicole Byer]

Year's Eve, I made finger food, which was Mac and cheese and lasagna. And everyone was like, what?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Fingers?

[Nicole Byer]

What are you doing?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Technically, we could do use our fingers. We don't want to.

[Nicole Byer]

I don't know why I told everyone was finger food.

[Paul Feig]

Well, yeah. I mean, you use. You hold a fork with your fingers, I guess.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah, there you go.

[Paul Feig]

That's right.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Fingers are involved. Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

I kept saying. I was like, finger food will be there. Finger, finger, finger food.

[Paul Feig]

I found the way to make people really happy at a dinner party is to serve stuff. You don't normally get to eat, like, hamburgers and hot dogs and stuff like that.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Paul Feig]

You know, one of my friends who's in the business too, occasionally we get to dinner, go out, and he goes like, let's eat. Like, we're not in showbiz tonight. And you totally get that. Like, we always have to be all healthy and stuff. Like, let's just eat something shitty. And I love that.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That is nice.

[Nicole Byer]

That's what I did.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That's a little treat.

[Nicole Byer]

Mac and cheese and lasagna. Finger food.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Feels great.

[Paul Feig]

Can't go wrong.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Who's the friend that you've had for the longest?

[Paul Feig]

Ooh, probably my friend Rob, who we were standups together. Well, then I also have my friend Mike back in Michigan who was my babysitter. So actually, I would dare say probably that's the longest. But now that we don't live in the same area, we don't talk as much. But we still keep in. In contact. But yeah, Rob, we met in the comedy clubs when we were both starting out, you know, on open mic nights. And he's great.

[Sasheer Zamata]

What drew you to Rob?

[Paul Feig]

I thought his act was really funny. He was very kind of Andy Kaufman esque. Like, he would do a thing where he'd, like, play a record and then, like, lip sync to it, but it was always really funny. And so I just. I kind of, you know, again, finding somebody go, like, I think we have the same kind of dumb sense of humor, which is really fun. So, yeah, we've always stayed in contact.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That's so nice.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah, that's how I found Sashir. I was like, wow, she's so funny. I want to talk to her more.

[Paul Feig]

Nice. And when did you guys meet? Like, how long?

[Sasheer Zamata]

15 years ago. Wait, 16 years ago? Oh, yeah.

[Paul Feig]

Wow.

[Nicole Byer]

It's our sweet 16 year old.

[Paul Feig]

Oh, look at you.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Give me a car.

[Paul Feig]

Where was that? Was it here?

[Sasheer Zamata]

It was in New York.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. We were doing.

[Nicole Byer]

Doing improv and we were doing a show together, but we hadn't met before the show. Cause it's improv. You don't have to really know each other.

[Paul Feig]

Exactly. Better to be surprised.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

Surprised by these people. And she was just so funny. And I was like, wow.

[Paul Feig]

Was it ucb?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yes.

[Paul Feig]

Nice.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. Yeah. Our teacher, like, put a mashup group together, and that's how we first met. And then we kept seeing each other, but, like, we never had a class together. But eventually we were like, we should perform together. And yeah, it was pretty magic. It was like pretty instant. We were like, oh, this really works well.

[Nicole Byer]

Like being on stage, she would say something and I was like, I knew she was gonna say that because I have this, I wanna say this. Yeah, it was truly, truly magical. And we've been together ever since. And I've never said, give me a break.

[Paul Feig]

I was hoping you were gonna transition into that. Our new sponsor.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

It's nice when you can meet like minded people, especially ones that make you laugh is like so important.

[Paul Feig]

Well, again, yeah, comedy's the most specific of all the art forms because, you know, I. Movies, everybody can agree what's scary, what's sad, what's thrilling, what's all this, but nobody can agree what's funny.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, you know? Yeah, it's true. It's also, I think it's, it's so much harder to make people laugh than like cry or be scared. Like, because people, I think, I don't know, for some reason people feel like cynics. They like, they don't want to laugh.

[Paul Feig]

Yes. I found that this, like when we were promoting Bridesmaids, people really hostile towards our trailers, but they would always go like, I would hear that all the time. Oh, clearly all the funniest jokes are in the trailer. Everybody thinks you're trying to hoodwink them when you're doing comedy. And I think it's because I think for years there's been enough kind of bad comedies on top of the good comedies that people paid a lot of money going in and they're excited and then it doesn't work. But now it's just hard to get just a straight up comedy made. And I kind of get it a little bit because people need more stakes in their entertainment. And comedy, like old time comedy can be very. Just joke, joke to joke. And that's fun. I love those kind of things. I love those old movies, but the movies I do, I always want to make sure, like I said earlier, I want to have a heavy emotional core that's going to drive things through and a good plot that drives you through and then you hang all the comedy on that.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. Do you also think people are so harsh on Bridesmaids because there's so many women in it?

[Paul Feig]

Well, I, Well, I mean they, it was funny. They. A lot of people thought we were making fun of Melissa's character in the, in the trailers. So a lot of people were coming out, oh, plus size woman. And you're making all these jokes about it. It's like, no, no, wait, just see the movie. Like she's the hero of the movie, you know, but it just. I don't know. People are ready to be offended by and suspicious about a lot of things in comedy. And I'm not Mr. Anti Woke or anything. I. I also, you know, anybody who gets on this thing, you can't do anything. Comedy more. I don't agree with that. Just trying to make people laugh. I don't want to do comedy that makes people feel shitty about themselves or makes. Makes one group of people feel bad about themselves. But, you know, it's just. I think people are just on edge a lot lately.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah, I think so, too.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

And I. Sometimes when I'm, like, doing shows, or sometimes when I, like, go to a movie and I'm like, I'm laughing at things and people aren't, because I think people go to see things and they're like, yeah, totally make me laugh. And it's like, maybe if you just had a nice time and were open to things being funny, you'll. You'll. You'll have a nice time and you will laugh.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, but that's exactly it. Well, it's. It's what? It's why you have to make sure that all the do test screenings and make sure all the jokes in your movie are good. Because my editor who did Bridesmaids had this thing he called the angry Villagers syndrome. And it's basically people, you know, we like to assume, okay, people are coming in like, okay, let's see this. But they're kind of. I want to have a good tone time. And so the first joke comes, you go like, that's not that funny. But, okay, maybe the next joke will be funny, and then the next one's not that great. And you add up enough of those, and then they want to burn the village down, you know, so that's why you have to make sure that it's all really good. But, yeah, people, I find that. Well, also, there's just something about funny. Well, a lot of comedy now is kind of hidden in horror movies. Yeah, you saw Weapons, right?

[Nicole Byer]

Very funny.

[Paul Feig]

Very funny.

[Nicole Byer]

The end of it.

[Paul Feig]

But I was in a theater in Palm Springs with, like, two other couples and that, you know, the whole last act where, you know, the kids are chasing her around, I'm howling with laughing, and these people are looking at me like, this is a serious movie. I was like, you guys, this is not a serious movie. I'm telling you. All you have to see is Aunt Gladys. And, you know, this movie is not serious, but it's great. I mean, I love that Zach Kreger is, you know, A comedy guy. Like, a lot of us in comedy are now moving towards thrillers and horror and all that, because you get to elicit the reaction from an audience you get from a comedy, but then you get the extra reaction of scaring them and having them jump, and then they're gonna laugh too. So it's. It's kind of catnip for all of us.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. And do you like that? Do you like being like, I love it.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So much fun. I mean, I just, like. I like affecting an audience. You know, it's funny. When we do our test screenings, we record the audience, you know, their laughs. But also, we now use night vision cameras so we can watch them as a group watching the audience. And I'm always amazed because I'm a very interactive, like, viewer. I'm just always moving around, and so many people just sit there. Like, no matter what happens, they're just like. And I was like, God. But then you'll see there's other people in the crowd who are reacting like, I love you people. Like, everybody else is so jaded of like, yeah, show me more. I don't know. Like, they're. You know, it's the emperor, like, thumbs up or the thumbs down. Like, just have fun. So the more. The crazier these movies are, the more fun you can have with them.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Definitely.

[Nicole Byer]

We saw Madame Web in theaters after people were like, it's the worst movie. And dare I say, I don't know.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I had a blast.

[Nicole Byer]

I had a really fun time.

[Paul Feig]

There you go.

[Nicole Byer]

Like, the first weird thing that happened that was. Was like, what? Someone in the audience was like, wait, what? And then we were all like, yeah, baby.

[Sasheer Zamata]

We were like, we're now a community enjoying this together. And we were all just talking out loud, like, huh.

[Paul Feig]

I love that. Well, that's. The housemaid gets that. When we have, you know, our audiences, they really get interactive with it, especially in the. The last act, they really go crazy.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, it's fun. I'm very. I also. I just feel like I react to a lot of things in movies. I'm like. I'm, like, shrieking in my. In my se. And, like, putting my. My jacket on my face. And I feel like sometimes I'm with people who are like, you're doing a lot. And I'm like, but I'm enjoying it.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, exactly. I know. Exactly. Well, my wife's a big, like, head. Head hider. Face hider. I'm like, watch, watch. You're missing all the good stuff.

[Nicole Byer]

We saw the last spider man movie where there was three spider mans and Andrew Garfield got applause and then Toby Maguire got no applause. But since year went.

[Paul Feig]

Like, oh, my.

[Nicole Byer]

It was so.

[Paul Feig]

Come on, he's the og. So funny.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Couldn't believe it.

[Nicole Byer]

But yeah, I feel like I enjoy movies with you because you react so much. It's. We watched ballerina in theaters and you had your coat up and you were like, ah, o.

[Paul Feig]

I love it.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. I'm very active.

[Paul Feig]

You'll be my favorite audience member. Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

You'd be like, she's doing a lot.

[Paul Feig]

She's doing. She's.

[Sasheer Zamata]

She knows what she's in for.

[Paul Feig]

I watched a guy throw up in our audience once. Yeah. For no reason. Just all of a sudden, this guy leaned over and threw up. I was like, wow, that's interesting. Okay.

[Nicole Byer]

Was it on a joke or was it just.

[Paul Feig]

It just was random. I think he was just sick. You know, I was hoping it would be, like, during, like, one of the more disturbing parts. But at that point, you gotta.

[Nicole Byer]

You gotta go home.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Did he say after that?

[Paul Feig]

I think he kind of did. I was like, if I was around him, clearly I would leave. Like, what's worse than that smell?

[Nicole Byer]

Oh, God, that's.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Maybe he has a thing where instead of laughing, he throws up.

[Paul Feig]

Be sure to sit by him.

[Nicole Byer]

God, that's gross. Also, toxic masculinity. I came. I gotta watch this.

[Paul Feig]

I'm gonna borrow. I showed them.

[Nicole Byer]

Walt, do you own sweatpants?

[Paul Feig]

I own, like, workout pants, but only when I do my morning walk.

[Nicole Byer]

I really love the response. You were just like, well, yeah, I guess.

[Paul Feig]

But that's. What pants.

[Nicole Byer]

But you always look so clean and nice.

[Paul Feig]

Thank you. I just. I love, you know, old Hollywood. And you see those pictures of the directors, and they're in suits and ties and. I don't know, I just. I. Something I've always enjoyed.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I like it.

[Nicole Byer]

I like it too. It's inspiring me to dress up more.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I should. Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

I always wear a striped shirt and jeans.

[Paul Feig]

You look great. That's your style.

[Nicole Byer]

Oh, yeah.

[Paul Feig]

Have your style, you know?

[Nicole Byer]

I was like, oh, yeah. You can have personal style, and it can be different than other people.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I would dress up for tests in college because I would be like, if I fail, at least I look good doing it.

[Nicole Byer]

And it does kind of put you.

[Sasheer Zamata]

In a different mentality of, like, okay, like, I'm prepared. Like, not just, like, mentally, but also, like, physically. I feel more prepared when I'm, like, put together.

[Nicole Byer]

And when you say dress up, I'm envisioning you in, like, a Pencil skirt and a blazer.

[Sasheer Zamata]

No, not like that. I guess like maybe like a button down and like nice pants or like. Or a nice skirt or something. I like this.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah, that's funny.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, it's true.

[Paul Feig]

And focus you. I mean, that's a. Is a director too. I like the ritual of getting up in the morning, putting on a suit. If I rolled out of bed into sweatpants and onto the set, I'd be like, hey, what's going on, man? You know, like, not focused. There is something about that. And also for me, I'm in charge of a lot of people, so it feels disrespectful, respectful for me to show up, you know, dressed like, you know, garbage. So, you know, because I was like, if I got onto a ship and the captain was wearing sweatpants, I'd get off the ship, you know.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Really?

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I mean, even think of that. It's also a top down thing. People see you showing up ready to work, they're like, okay, we are also ready to work.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah. And they really respect that. I have all these crew guys come. Hey, man, I think it's great that you always dress up for this and stuff. So that's nice.

[Sasheer Zamata]

That is really nice.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah, that is nice. I like that.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, it up, everybody.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah. Step it up.

[Paul Feig]

Step it up.

[Nicole Byer]

Marry your reps. Marry your reps.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Dress up.

[Paul Feig]

Get represented by Kit Kat.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Well, this was really lovely.

[Nicole Byer]

This was nice. Thank you so much for coming.

[Paul Feig]

Thank you for having me on. It's so much fun. I love seeing you guys.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah, I love seeing you too.

[Sasheer Zamata]

And your movie's so great. I really was shocked at every turn and I can't wait to also see it in theaters and everybody else being like, like all the gaps and everything.

[Paul Feig]

Yeah, you'll react a lot.

[Nicole Byer]

I will react a lot. Y And I feel like you react on second viewings of things too.

[Sasheer Zamata]

I do. Even though I know it's coming.

[Paul Feig]

That's fun.

[Nicole Byer]

I like that.

[Paul Feig]

It's even better.

[Nicole Byer]

But truly, thank you so much for coming.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Thank you both. Thank you so much.

[Paul Feig]

Good to see you.

[Nicole Byer]

Do you wanna. When does it come out? Come on.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Christmas, right?

[Paul Feig]

Well, actually, they moved it up a week, so we get an extra week of the holidays.

[Sasheer Zamata]

So.

[Paul Feig]

December 19th, we.

[Nicole Byer]

December 19th, get ready. Head to the movie theater.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Get in the theater.

[Nicole Byer]

Get in the theater. All right, well, bye.

[Paul Feig]

Bye.

[Nicole Byer]

Best Friends is a production of Headgum Studios.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Our producer is Ali Khan.

[Nicole Byer]

Our executive producer is Anya Khanovskaya.

[Sasheer Zamata]

The show is edited, mixed and engineered by Richelle Chen.

[Nicole Byer]

Hi, I'm Nicole Byer.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Hi, I'm Sasheer Zamada, and this is.

[Nicole Byer]

The podcast Best Friends, and we're here at Headgum. So this is just a podcast where we just talk?

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah, we're best friends.

[Nicole Byer]

Yeah, we talk, and then we have a segment where we answer questions and.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Queries so audience members can ask questions about friendships, and we can answer them to the best of our abilities. Yes, we are professional friends.

[Nicole Byer]

We are professional friends.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Subscribe to Best Friends on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pocket Cast, or wherever you get your your podcast. And watch videos on YouTube. New episodes drop every Wednesday.

[Nicole Byer]

That's the middle of a work week. I was deeply unhelpful to you during that whole thing.

[Sasheer Zamata]

You were.

[Nicole Byer]

I'm really sorry. I was so. Okay. I was trying to be supportive.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Yeah.

[Nicole Byer]

But I was like, I don't know. Reading seems pretty hard right now.

[Sasheer Zamata]

It's a lot, I think.

[Nicole Byer]

You did good.

[Sasheer Zamata]

Thank you so much.

[Nicole Byer]

You're welcome.