Chris Pratt | Club Random

Summary

Club Random with Bill Maher

Episode: Chris Pratt | Club Random
Date: August 18, 2025
Host: Bill Maher
Guest: Chris Pratt

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Club Random, Bill Maher sits down with Hollywood megastar Chris Pratt for a sprawling, relaxed, and unguarded conversation covering everything from artificial intelligence paranoia and the evolution of acting, to the realities of parenting, the culture wars, the business of show business in California, and the intimate realities of family—including Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Kennedy clan. Pratt and Maher riff candidly on the political climate, masculinity, media cynicism, and the balance between public persona and private reality, all with Maher’s signature irreverence and dry wit. This episode is light on politics and heavy on personal anecdotes, industry insights, and generational perspective.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Injury Talk, AI Anxieties & Tech Paranoia

• 00:55-02:50: Maher jokes about a recent basketball injury (“mallet finger”), while Pratt shares his own past injury, leading into a riff on self-diagnosis and technology’s role in medicine.
• 03:35-05:24 Bill raises concern over AI and ChatGPT “hallucination":
  • Bill: “When it’s not fucking up humanity—which it definitely will do—it does things that, like, you take a picture of your finger, and it’s like, ‘Hey, it’s a mallet finger.’” (04:04)
  • Chris: “At some point, it’s going to get funny, right? And how do you know it’s not already there?” (04:19)
• 05:24-06:31: They reference Terminator films—Maher points out Pratt’s connection to Schwarzenegger, musing on pop culture’s prescient anxieties about “hostile robots.”
• 06:39-07:04: Maher observes, “We are moving into a post-I have-no-idea-what-truth-is age.”

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The Business & Challenge of Filming in California

• 07:29-09:55: Maher discusses Pratt’s acting trajectory; praises “The Terminal List,” which Pratt produced and stars in.

• 10:09-12:44: Pratt shares the production logistics of TV vs. movies, emphasizing his desire to work close to home as a father and producer, despite LA’s challenging business environment.

  • Chris: “You can attract great talent... Maybe we can negotiate that you get paid slightly less than you would if you were on location, but you’re going to be close to home.” (12:10)

• 13:15-15:31: They lament California’s overregulation and high taxes but confess neither wants to leave, given social and weather advantages.

  • Bill: “If we’re selling sunshine, they’re not selling it in Indiana.” (11:51)
  • Chris: “I’m not going anywhere.” (14:51)

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On Family, Arnold Schwarzenegger & The Kennedy Clan

• 15:31-18:19: Maher dives into life with Arnold as a father-in-law:
  • Chris: “[Arnold’s] a doting grandfather, which is pretty cool.” (16:54)
  • Describes Arnold’s hands-on activities with the grandkids and his unique wisdom about global markets and stardom.
• 18:08-19:29: Maher and Pratt discuss Schwarzenegger’s “bad boy” Hollywood days versus his gentler, family-oriented present.
  • Bill: “You… seem to be a guy who’s really on the straight and narrow... that kind of square-jawed Navy SEAL guy. Maybe that’s why you’re so convincing in those roles.” (17:27)
  • Chris: “He’s a one of one. There’s no one like him. That’s the truth.” (18:19)

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Politics, Governance & The Thermostat War

• 19:08-21:14: Both agree on the appeal of moderate governance, riffing on Schwarzenegger’s time as a Republican in a blue state.
  • Bill: “Our whole political system now… reminds me of a thermostat war.” (20:08)
  • Chris: “Maybe the thermostat breaks and the thermostat is broken.” (21:14)

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Religion, Christianity & Upbringing

• 22:08-25:14: Maher quizzes Pratt on Catholicism and his spiritual journey.
  • Chris: “I’d probably consider myself to be more Christian than Catholic. I don’t know that I’m necessarily, like, one or the other.” (24:01)
  • They discuss the history of Protestantism, Martin Luther, and lightly debate the trauma and inspiration of religious upbringing.
  • Bill: “You can believe in Jesus as a God—I don’t. But you can and still be critical of his minions on earth and the things they’ve done.” (25:57)

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Portrayal and Real-life Consequences in Art

• 29:25-32:28: Talk of “The Terminal List” and its hyper-real prescience regarding global politics (Russian invasion, Hamas attacks).

  • Chris: “Jack Carr… predicted the invasion of Ukraine by Russians, and… a Hamas terror attack on kibbutzes in Israel.” (30:21)

• 32:28-34:46: Quantum computing and AI become a centerpiece:

  • Chris explains: “Quantum computers don’t [process] on [binary], they work on qubits… processing each bit [as] infinite possibilities.” (34:18)
  • Bill: “What is the ramification?”
  • Chris: “Much faster processing speeds... [which] could breach encrypted information, like our entire financial system, instantly.” (36:10)

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Acting Philosophy, Emotional Toll & Shifting Norms

• 37:33-40:26: Method acting, the emotional labor of modern actors, and the difference between old Hollywood and current standards

  • Bill: “Spencer Tracy never had to do this. Clark Gable didn’t do that. Hit your mark and bark… There’s a certain revolution in acting in the 60s… method acting…” (38:39)

• 40:26-45:55: Chris unpacks his transition from “schlubby” comic roles to action stardom.

  • Chris: “I could only get the boyfriend-douchebag guy… But I wasn’t very good at playing that character because it’s just innately not really who I am.” (43:03)
  • Shares the fun—and toll—of gaining weight for “Parks and Rec”: “It became like a challenge. How fat can I get?” (45:31)
  • But admits, “It wasn’t healthy and I didn’t like it.” (45:55)

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Showbiz, Success, and Being Funny

• 46:21-48:09: The value of a leading man who can do comedy—Cary Grant, Burt Reynolds, Ryan O’Neal as models.

  • Bill: “The best thing you can be is the hunky guy who also can be funny… You’re positioned greatly for it.” (46:22)
  • Chris: “I think that’s where I feel the most comfortable.” (48:09)

• 48:49-50:16: Set culture and leadership: no drama allowed.

  • Chris: “If I’m gonna be number one on the call sheet, then usually the vibe and the tone is gonna be really good.” (50:02)

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The Temporary Intensity of Filming & Real-Life Anchors

• 50:38-52:15: How filming is like summer camp or joining the circus—intense brief relationships, then sudden separation.
  • Chris: “You make these temporary but really powerful and meaningful relationships. Some of them do last a very long time, a lot of them… you plug right back in.” (51:42)
  • “That’s why it’s really important for me to make sure my wife, my children, my family, my roots here… are what I really foster…” (51:56)

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On Parenting, Masculinity & “Bro Culture”

• 54:50-60:17: Maher jokes about not understanding kids, Pratt shares the awe of seeing the world through their eyes.
  • Chris: “[Parenting is] tough, you know, it’s not easy to… being a good parent.” (56:53)
  • They discuss toxic masculinity versus healthy masculinity and the importance of male role models.
  • Chris: “There’s been this move toward… affirm[ing] a healthy masculine male… It’s important to step up and try to be a good influence.” (58:56)
  • Bill: “We’re not a patriarchy anymore. No, I don’t care what Barbie says... Girls are doing good. It’s boys who are not doing good.” (59:35)

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Free Speech, Media Cynicism & Personal Reputation

• 60:17-74:50: The pair rail against speech suppression and cancel culture; Pratt reflects on his own media treatment.
  • Bill: “My cynicism… about the media comes from something most people don’t… We read things about ourselves.” (71:28)
  • Chris: “You go, wow, that is pure fiction, and hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people are being fed that…” (69:44)
  • Both lament the distorting, rumor-driven nature of entertainment journalism and the way “show business minders” can toxically protect or misrepresent stars.

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Life Before Fame: Door-to-Door Sales & Stand-up Comedy

• 88:05-93:52: Pratt shares his former life as a door-to-door coupon salesman in Seattle—winning “Salesman of the Year,” opening an office at 18, and hiring unlikely colleagues:
  • Chris: “You just cold called the door… I was salesman of the year. Won a trip to Jamaica.” (90:52)
• Maher and Pratt compare notes on standup comedy.
  • Chris: “I don’t know that I did it enough times to really get into a rhythm… but I liked it. I liked performing.” (87:44)

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The Magic of Seattle & West Coast Living

• 88:19-96:05: Seattle’s mood, weather, and unique character (“politeness on the surface”), contrasted to East Coast cities and Maher’s affection for California’s open, nature-filled vibe.

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On Cannabis, Regulation & California Governance

• 96:42-102:49: Maher reveals he smokes his own homegrown cannabis; both vent about the bureaucratic nightmare of establishing (legal) cannabis businesses in California.
  • Bill: “If I told you all the hurdles that we had to try to get over to just establish a marijuana company in this state… It’s just ridiculous. They do not make it easy.” (98:42)
  • Criticism of California’s heavy-handed regulation and red tape, even for benign projects.

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The U.S. Military, Service, and American Idealism

• 103:01-105:31: Both praise the American military as a moral and stabilizing force in turbulent times.
  • Bill (quoting Orwell): “Most people sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men are willing to do violence.” (62:04)

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The Terminal List, Jack Carr, & the Kennedy Experience

• 104:37-106:32: Pratt discusses “The Terminal List” and its connections to real military culture (inspired by author Jack Carr, former SEAL).
• 105:19-106:32: Life with the Kennedy family, and Maher’s perspective as an East Coast Irish Catholic—how the Kennedys shaped American socio-political identity.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AI Paranoia:
  • Maher: “We are moving into a post-I have no idea what truth is–age.” (06:39)
• On California:
  • Maher: "If we're selling sunshine, they're not selling it in Indiana." (11:51)
  • Pratt: "You can attract great talent... but you're going to be close to home." (12:10)
• On Arnold Schwarzenegger:
  • Pratt: "He's a one of one. There's no one like him. That's the truth." (18:19)
• On Parenting:
  • Pratt: "It’s tough, you know, it’s not easy… being a good parent." (56:53)
  • Maher: “We’re not a patriarchy anymore. …Girls are doing good. It’s boys who are not doing good.” (59:35)
• On The Media:
  • Maher: "You go, if you got this much wrong about something where I know what the truth is, what are you getting wrong about the other thing?" (71:28)
• On Transformation:
  • Pratt: "[My life now is] almost a photo negative of what it was then in terms of process…" (42:13)
• On American Military:
  • Maher / Orwell: “Most people sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men are willing to do violence.” (62:04)

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Other Highlights

• Pratt describing his early years: “I was the ‘fuck that guy’ guy for a long time. …I wasn’t very good at playing that character because it’s just innately not really who I am.” (43:03)
• On acting craft:
  • Maher: “Older actors are better… In their 50s and 60s… you don’t see the acting.” (78:26)
• On standup:
  • Maher: “To me, freedom in the arts is when you can have, like, structure and then the freedom to make it even better.” (82:12)
  • Chris: “I didn’t have a great act, but I liked it. I liked performing. I was hungry to perform.” (87:44)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 03:35 – Discussion turns to AI, ChatGPT, and paranoia
• 07:29 – Bill praises “The Terminal List”
• 10:09 – Producing/acting in TV vs. movies and family priorities
• 12:44 – Why LA remains home despite challenges
• 16:54 – Pratt describes Arnold as grandfather
• 19:08 – Politics as a “thermostat war” metaphor
• 24:01 – Pratt discusses spirituality
• 29:25 – Jack Carr, Terminal List, and “predictive” fiction
• 34:18 – Quantum computing explained with “qubits”
• 38:39 – Maher on method acting revolution
• 43:03 – Pratt’s comic-to-action stardom transformation
• 54:50 – Pratt and Maher on the experience of parenting
• 60:17 – Free speech as remedy for “bad speech”
• 69:44 – Media, public perception, and misrepresentation
• 88:05 – Pratt’s door-to-door salesman story
• 96:42 – The reality of legal cannabis business in CA
• 103:17 – U.S. military as the public’s most trusted institution
• 104:37 – Authenticity of “The Terminal List” and SEAL culture
• 105:19 – Maher recalls Kennedy influence on American identity

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Conclusion

Throughout this wide-ranging episode, Pratt reveals himself to be thoughtful, grounded, and somewhat old-fashioned in his values, committed to family and comfortable with the contradictions of fame. Maher is both needling and commiserating, finding plenty of common cause with Pratt as they both navigate the double-edged sword of celebrity, the headaches of bureaucracy, and a rapidly changing cultural landscape. The conversation is warm, digressive, and insight-rich, offering a rare, intimate look at one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Support for this podcast and the following message comes from America's Navy. The Navy offers new graduates hands on.

[A]

Training and experience in careers like computer.

[B]

Science, aviation and medicine. Plus education and sign on bonuses. Parents help your grad start their career [e-mail] they're getting right. That's part of the craft. And every time an actor says craft, I feel like an angel gets kicked in the nuts. But I'm like, please, Brady, get in the car, bitch. And then they're like, twerpy guy kicks my ass. And the audience is like, yeah.

[A]

Then all I need is a guest.

[B]

What's up, bro?

[A]

How are you, man?

[B]

I'm good, man.

[A]

How you doing? Excuse my laugh. Oh, shit.

[B]

What'd you do?

[A]

Basketball injury.

[B]

Basketball.

[A]

Do you play?

[B]

No.

[A]

No. Uh, what a shame. I could use a rebounder.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Well, that's how you do this, you know, the ball hits.

[B]

You jammed it.

[A]

It's a very common thing. They call it a mallet finger.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

Did you ever hear of that? No, I hadn't heard of it either.

[B]

Was it like. Did it break at the end?

[A]

It's a severed. The tendon gets severed.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then your. Your finger is like this. So when you give someone the finger, it just looks so weak.

[B]

Yeah, I think that happened to Russell Wilson.

[A]

It. It's very common because the ball. This finger is longer.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Hence the you finger.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You wouldn't want to give someone like, hey, you.

[B]

Yeah, that's a gentle. That's a gentle one. That's like a. I only. I only mean it a little bit.

[A]

That's. Maybe we could get that going.

[B]

I, I, I.

[A]

You got a zillion followers. Put that on your Instagram. Start that.

[B]

Start that. This one.

[A]

The pinky challenge.

[B]

Pinky challenge.

[A]

Make it a challenge.

[B]

I severed this. The tenons in this finger a long time ago from sticking a steak knife in my hand on accident and help.

[A]

On accident.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. This is a bad day. Well, rough, Rough season.

[A]

Kids do crazy to themselves, brother. You're right, you know, I mean, it looks like.

[B]

It looks. I mean, look at this scar. It starts here. It looks like one of those. It goes all the way up my whole hand. Oh, but that's because they had to open it up and. Are you going to get a tenon surgery?

[A]

I don't think it's surgery. I think you just got to. I've been splinting it, I must say, because it didn't really hurt that I didn't treat it right. And I knew the person I was playing with immediately looked up on ChatGPT.

[B]

Oh, well, you're good.

[A]

To see what it was.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

A mallet finger. A mallet. And they knew. I mean, look, I will not have ChatGPT. And I want to talk to you about this because I saw your movie about the robots. Oh, yeah. And I'm all about the robots lately. I mean, like, even the people at work are like, bill, you know, don't get Lenny Roos about the robots. Like, but I am. But. Okay, so let's just wait. Why did I bring this up? What would it.

[B]

You were talking about mallet finger, and you went on chat GPT.

[A]

So, like, chat, I got to give it this. When it's not fucking up humanity, which it definitely will do, it does things that, like, you take a picture of your finger, and it's like, hey, it's a mallet finger, and you should put a splint on it. And it wasn't wrong.

[B]

I want, like, clearly the progression of ChatGPT and AI becoming sentient. @ some point, it's going to get funny. Right? And how do you know it's not already there? And it just made up mallet finger, and that's not a real thing. What if it's like, you know, I've watched your stuff, Bill, and I think you're pretty funny. And I think it would be funny is if you went around and told Chris Pratt that you had mallet finger, because I'm the one who told you what that was.

[A]

That is not an outrageous Scenario. It already hallucinates. You know this.

[B]

Is that true?

[A]

You never heard this? No, it's called hallucinating.

[B]

Hallucinating, they called it.

[A]

Well, that's the term the experts have coined for this. It's when it just completely makes shit up, which it does frequently. Wow, really? You're not on this? Oh, oh, I'm going to. You're going to leave here much more paranoid than you came for good reason.

[B]

Oh, is that right?

[A]

And you know, you keep making these movies about this shit. I mean, fuck. Your father in law made the original, of course. And it wasn't wrong then. It wasn't.

[B]

Well, I mean, it predicted that. What? It wasn't wrong. In what regard do you mean?

[A]

That the robots are going to take over and be hostile and we will have no chance against them is not what the Terminator is about?

[B]

Well, yeah, that's about. But that hasn't happened yet. So we don't know that that's going to work.

[A]

No, but not quite yet. But did you see the tape of the one that's fighting back? The robot fighting back?

[B]

Was that real?

[A]

Yes, of course.

[B]

Are you sure?

[A]

Well, that's the other thing. AI is bad for it can. We are moving into a post. I have no idea what truth is. Aids.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So. But that I think we're pretty sure was true. It is. It was from a factory in China or Japan. And the robot is. He's on some sort of scaffold. They're working on him. You know, they're perfecting it. It's the lab.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And at one point they try to turn it off and it fights back.

[B]

Yeah, that's freaky.

[A]

I got to. I got to send you this shit. I'm telling you, this is what's happening.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Anyway, Chachi, PT was right about this.

[B]

Mallet finger, go like. Go like this. Take your finger, go like that. Put your pinky and your. And your thumb together and roll your wrist towards yourself. Okay. Go do it. The other hand, because we have an extra tendon that we can actually have removed. I think you might have one on this side. Some people have it, some people don't. I had mine removed and was used to fix this hand so they could take it. So you'll have a moment in your life where you will not be able to wipe your butt.

[A]

I'm already there. I poured your drink.

[B]

Did you? What'd you pour?

[A]

You're drinking scotch, I think.

[B]

That's right. Scotch.

[A]

I'm so glad you're having a drink.

[B]

Ah, you know, I Thought I would. I thought I would. I'm not gonna let my friend drink alone.

[A]

Yeah. This is what I just made for myself. Oh, good.

[B]

This is.

[A]

It's only with.

[B]

Cheers, brother.

[A]

Thanks for coming. I know you're super busy. Giant movie star. So thrilled to have you. Been a fan forever, by the way. Oh, man.

[B]

Thanks. Me, too.

[A]

You know, I don't know if anybody ever made the leap. The only person I could think is Sally Field. Like, you know, she was the Flying Nun, which was like the silliest of. I mean, it's called the Flying Nun, right? I don't know. You're probably too young. I remember the Flying Nun from Nick. At night or something. I saw it when it was on. I was 10 years old. I mean, for those wondering why she flew, it was because she wore that. You know, like habit, that. The habit.

[B]

The hat. Yeah.

[A]

I was raised Catholic. You're Catholic. I know.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. So I used to see that, and she was so light, it actually flew. She flew. She was the flight. Really. I mean, you cannot. Other than my mother, the car. That has got to be the stupidest premise. And yet 10 years later, she was getting Oscars, you know, and you were. I mean, your show was not sewed. I loved you on Parks and Rec. That was great. But, you know, you just became such a different. I'm watching your series now. I love it. The Terminalist. Terminal List. Is that Antoine Fuqua?

[B]

Yeah, Antoine.

[A]

Antoine Fuqua did Training Day.

[B]

Training Day, Magnificent Seven. He's a fantastic director. He directed our pilot. He's the EP on the show.

[A]

And didn't he do the Equalizer first?

[B]

Yeah, Equalizer.

[A]

I mean, he is. Once I saw that name at the end of the first, I was like, oh, yeah. That's why he's got a great. Or whoever's writing the scripts. Great. Finger on the beat of, like always, what's next? Which is the most important thing in drama.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, ahead of you. But not so far ahead that it's murky, you know, because some things. I hate TV shows that make me feel stupid.

[B]

No one likes that. I know. I know what you mean. I know what you mean.

[A]

Well, you think I'm an idiot. You're right. I am. I can't follow this.

[B]

And on one hand, you don't want to underestimate your audience and feed them everything. You want them to have the mystery and be able to kind of solve the mystery and keep guessing, but you don't want to be so far ahead that you're like, wait, I'M going to just turn this off. So it's a fine balance. He does a. He does a great job. Yeah, we're super lucky.

[A]

Why? I mean, my God, it must be so fucking grueling to do a series like that. I mean, like, you're Compared to a movie. Like you're shooting so many more hours and scenes, aren't you?

[B]

Yeah, 100%. Yeah, especially that. I mean, the first season of the Terminalist was really. I'm almost in every frame of.

[A]

You're in every shot.

[B]

The show. And so, you know, we probably did. I think we were doing eight episodes of 15 to 15. Eight. We did probably 135 or 140 shoot days. And that's. That's a lot. But it was all in California. It was funny because when I was looking to, you know, I. I optioned the book. I read the book and got the option and. And brought it to Antoine and we've. It was odd because.

[A]

Navy seal.

[B]

Navy seal, yeah. My friend, who I was living with at the time, former Navy seal, who's my partner, I'm producing on the show, brought me the book, the galley copy of the book, and I found out that Antoine was interested in it as well. So we. I was like. I called him, I said, let's not bid against each other. You know, how about I'll just get the rights and you direct it and we'll come. And he said, great.

[A]

That was smart.

[B]

Yeah, we did it. And it worked really well, but it was definitely grueling. And the reason I chose it was because it was in California. You know, I could shoot in California. I was like, I'm trying to find things that I can shoot close to home. I'm a father, you know, I don't want to just be off around the world all the time. And so we were able to shoot that in la. And so that was a big reason to want to do it.

[A]

Why? Because all I read in the paper is that this industry doesn't even exist in LA anymore. Even when I read that, even when they're very often shooting something set in la, they won't shoot it in LA because the business atmosphere is so hostile. It costs so much more.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is that not the case?

[B]

It is the case, but we shoot here anyways, you know.

[A]

So you're just saying, fuck it, I'm gonna.

[B]

Yeah, I see.

[A]

That's how I feel about California. I mean, do I really wanna pay so much more in taxes than everybody else in the country? No. But, like, where am I Gonna go, yeah. If we're selling Sunshine, they're not selling it in Indiana. It's true to this, to the degree we have it here.

[B]

Yeah. Listen, I don't. I don't argue with the idea that we're probably overtaxed in Cal and I'm not going anywhere, so I wanted to shoot it there. It's definitely not. It's a bit cost prohibitive. We have great crews here and there are people willing to take a haircut to work here, which is interesting. You know, you can say, like, listen, maybe we can negotiate that. You get paid slightly less than you would if you were on location, but you're going to be close to home. You can attract great talent. That's the same way. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think because I'm a producer on the thing and I'm an owner on the thing.

[A]

You're going to get.

[B]

It's going to cost. I could, if as a owner on the thing, I would make more money in the premium down the road if I shot it somewhere that was tax incentive place, but I needed to be home. So that's why we did that there. Did it in California. And by the way, I shot two movies here last year as well, so it can be done. It's just you have to negotiate hard on it and make sure that you're willing to prioritize being in California. And you need someone who says, otherwise, we won't do it.

[A]

I mean, it is almost galling the way it has its hooks in us.

[B]

What's that?

[A]

California. I mean, when I think about all the problems we have, the fires, the taxes, I mean, God forbid that your house burns down and you want to rebuild. I mean, if you start getting the regulation permits now, you might have it in 30 years when you're ready to sell it. And we put up with all of it because, like, I'm always amazed, like, people who don't have to live here still live here. Yeah, like lots of people. I mean, most people who do movies, you're usually on location. You don't really have to live here. A few of them live in New York. But it's amazing. Even the people who you think like live overseas are too cool for. No, they live here.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Brad Pitt lives here. They don't live in France. Johnny Depp, he lives here. They have houses over there. They just live here.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't know. It's where your friends are. It's where the people. You're like anybody comfortable around the people in the same Industry.

[B]

Yeah. But I mean, how long have you lived here your whole life?

[A]

83. No, I grew up on the East Coast.

[B]

Okay. Yeah. I've been here 26 years.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so I've put down roots which make it hard for me to just uproot and go and like you said, where would I go? You know, my wife's family is here. They're.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You know, I'm not gonna, I'm not going anywhere.

[A]

Why are they here? They're from Massachusetts.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah, because everybody's here. Because Arnold was, you know, is Arnold and he's megastar and was the governor.

[A]

He loves it here.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He wants to ride his motorcycle all year round, right. On PCH or whatever stuff he does. And like.

[B]

Yeah, it's a great, it's a great place to be. And it's, it's. We, you know, probably pay too much in taxes and also some of the tax. That tax money probably goes to things that maybe could be seen as a little silly, but maybe, who knows, maybe it can change. Maybe it'll bounce back, maybe it'll swing back the other direction. You never know. We might, we might see some.

[A]

Is he a normal father in law?

[B]

Like, you know? Yes. Yeah. Like, as far as, like father in law, yes and no. In fact, for me, he's. It's more normal for me than if he wasn't Arnold. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like what I mean is it's a really wonderful fit in my life to have a father in law who understands the business and understands where I'm coming from and, and gives me advice that I honestly don't know. There's maybe a handful of people, a dozen people in the world that could give me the advice that he could give me in regards to navigating the world. Just, just like, you know, you know.

[A]

Just give it to me.

[B]

Silly thing.

[A]

Pass it on, bro. Play it forward.

[B]

Just, just as, as it relates to, you know, if I have a question about promoting a movie. If I'm like, hey, I'm going to promote a movie here and, and what are your take on, you know, if I go to promote a movie? Global market for the movies, you know what I mean? So like you're, you're, you're promoting movies in areas that have, yeah, different values and different views, but it's still a market and you have to be mindful of what you say, not being, being thoughtful in your speech. But most importantly, as a father in.

[A]

Law.

[B]

He'S, he's really normal when it comes to Just adoring his grandchildren. Like the other day, yeah, he had the girls come over and Ford come over for Mother's Day and he like had a whole paints, all these paints set on his table and he was doing their hand prints and he painted like he paints pictures for all the kids every Christmas and every, you know, all their gifts and stuff he carries, he's, he's, you know, has all these wonderful gifts that he gives and he's just really thoughtful. He has them come over every week to feed the animals. So he's just, he's a doting grandfather, which is pretty cool.

[A]

He seems to be very mellow now. I mean, I feel like, I mean this is just from an outsider, but I feel like you and he are very different actually as far as, like, you seem to be a guy who's really on the straight and narrow. Like I, I don't ever feel like I'm going to read a scandal about you. You are that kind of square jawed Navy SEAL guy. Maybe that's why you're so convincing in those roles, you know?

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

Whereas he, come on. Was a bad boy. Yeah, he was. When he was your age and a movie star in Hollywood, it was just.

[B]

Different and times were different.

[A]

Times were different and he was different.

[B]

And you know, he's a one of one. There's no one like him. That's the truth.

[A]

That is the truth.

[B]

He truly is.

[A]

He's a one of one.

[B]

And yeah, there's no one like him. And he's. Yeah, he's great.

[A]

I would love to talk to him here. I've tried. I'm not even asking you. Don't. That's not why I'm saying it. I just love him and find him fascinating.

[B]

He is fascinating.

[A]

And wasn't even against him as governor.

[B]

You know, great as a governor.

[A]

I don't remember. I remember it was, I remember how we got there. It was a lot about the car tax. We had a car tax the previous governor put on a car. And people, this is car city. Okay. This is a car state. I mean it's almost famous for it. Tax anything. Don't. But you know, tax their dildo. Don't tax cars. And he was smart. He rode that. Right. And of course it blew a hole in the budget, caused other problems.

[B]

But.

[A]

But no, he was, I always thought like that is kind of what America needs to bring it together. And by the way, there's not just my opinion of this. The most successful politicians are in America are Republican governors in blue states because they don't go too far either way.

[B]

Right.

[A]

They're in a blue state, so they can't be fucking right wing mouth breathers.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But like, even people in blue states, you know, they want shit taken care of. Like, they don't want it overly woke. They want the roads paved. And you know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah. And probably they get to the position they're in by making promises on the sort of front of social progress and then they have to cash the check on that. But if they're like, hey, listen, oh, I didn't do what he did, but.

[A]

You know, he's in charge, like, God.

[B]

I hated all that shit anyways. I only did that to get elected.

[A]

I feel like our whole political system now. You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of a thermostat war. That. Have you ever had a lover and you were away with them or maybe something more permanent, but one of you liked to sleep in very cold and one of them liked it very hot?

[B]

Yeah, I love it already.

[A]

Okay. I had this once. This is like what our government is now. One side gets in and they turn the thermostat to 80 because the other. And then in the middle of the night, I would get up and turn it down to 60, you know, because you went too far. 80.

[B]

100%.

[A]

And then. And all night long we're having this thermostat wall and nobody could just go sleep. Put it at 70.

[B]

Yeah, put it at 70. Set it and let's just relax. Yeah.

[A]

So you're right. That's. That's my coin analysis of.

[B]

Very, very good, very good metaphor. I think in that metaphor, maybe to extend it. I know all metaphors fall apart eventually, but maybe the thermostat breaks and the thermostat is broken.

[A]

That's so true. That's a great way to finish that. The thermostat is now broken because we don't know what, you know, the temperature is or, you know. But I don't want to worry your pretty little head about that. You must have a thousand things.

[B]

Thank you, Bill.

[A]

Yeah. It is amazing how you went from like the schlubby guy. I really did not see that coming because even in one of my favorite movies, Moneyball, you know, I must have seen that three or four times already by now. And it's a great movie. It's a great movie. Well, it's Aaron Sorkin, right?

[B]

Yeah. Aaron Sorkin.

[A]

Aaron Sorkin writing.

[B]

Miller directed.

[A]

Yeah. Baseball. Who?

[B]

Bennett Miller is the director.

[A]

Bennett Miller, yeah. I don't know that name. What? He must have done something else.

[B]

I think he's done some other things. But Moneyball is so great.

[A]

And the book by C.S.

[B]

Not C.S. lewis. Michael Lewis.

[A]

Michael Lewis.

[B]

Different.

[A]

Lewis.

[B]

Slightly different.

[A]

Very.

[B]

Author, Catholic.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I like CS Lewis though.

[A]

You would?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Not. Not an atheist like me.

[B]

No.

[A]

But he is your boy, C.S. lewis. Yes, of course.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But not the only. He's I think a convert, but T.S. eliot, you know, one of the great intellects, the great poet of the wasteland and stuff. I think he was a late life Catholic convert. It's quite a large club. Tony Blair, former English Prime Minister, I think. J.D. vance.

[B]

J.D. vance. Yep.

[A]

You know, I mean, I was brought up Catholic. I know to this day if I walk into a church, you know, there's a feeling that will never go away for me. Fear.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it's also, you know, I'm sure for many people, inspirational. It's both, you know.

[B]

I was baptized Catholic as a child and then I was raised. My family wasn't religious, but I was, you know, baptized Catholic, kind of procedurally through my family because my dad was Catholic and he baptized babies and. And then we never really went to church. I grew up next to a Lutheran church, which I went to a few times. And of course Lutheranism and Catholicism slightly different in terms of like the way that they translate the literal Bible.

[A]

Lutheran, correct me if I'm wrong, I may be, is the closest of the Protestant denominations to Catholicism.

[B]

Is that the lot of the same? I believe so. And I'm not an expert on this stuff, but I know that like a lot of the same traditions with the acolytes and the crucifers and the altar boys and all this stuff and like, you know, it feels like proceed like when you go in there, some of the rituals are really similar to a.

[A]

Catholic church, which is what Protestantism originally was. All trying to get away from that.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And they stripped it of all the bells and the whistles and the magic and the. And the, I don't know, talking to the priest about what you have done. Yeah.

[B]

Confession and all these things. Yeah.

[A]

The communist got back to some of that.

[B]

Yeah. I think from my understanding. And I, like I said, I'm not an expert on this, but I know Martin Luther was this German guy. The printing press. He created this printing press and then.

[A]

No, no, no. Gutenberg created the printing press. But soon after the printing press came on the scene, he printed his 95 theses, which was the criticism of Catholicism.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And he nailed it to it in.

[B]

The Bible with translations from. Because people getting, you know, people maybe in Germany at the time or wherever around the world were getting mass in Latin. They didn't even understand Latin. And they were kind of just looking to their priest to say, what is this book saying? And the priest could kind of say whatever he wanted.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And so Martin Luther was like, actually, let's look at the gospels. What did it really say? None of this stuff is in there. There's nothing in this book about confession. There's nothing in this book. So that I think respond like this new branch of it. So anyways, you had mentioned I'm Catholic, but I did a collaboration with a Catholic app hallow and I go to a Catholic church. My wife is Catholic, but I would probably consider myself to be more Christian than Catholic. I don't know that I'm necessarily like one or the other.

[A]

Well, Chris, non denominational. Anyone who believes in Christ is a Christian.

[B]

Right, Right.

[A]

So that would be Catholic would be Catholic as well. Right, right.

[B]

But I wasn't confirmed in the Catholic Church. And I don't want to say. I guess I'm sort of like, I go to a Catholic church, I love it all. I'm a follower of Jesus.

[A]

So, I mean, I made a movie about this, but it was never mean spirited. I know it was just questioning and having fun with it. But everybody we left after we talked to them, almost everybody, certainly at the time, maybe after the movie came out, there was some ruffled feathers, but at the time we were all hugging and like it was never like, oh, you were mean to us or trying to put us down. You know, I said in the movie, you know, I just, I'm preaching the gospel of I don't know. I don't know either.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know, I just don't, I don't sign on to these things. And part of it is because, you know, they did traumatize me. I mean it's, it's. You can believe in Jesus as a God. I don't. But you can and still be critical of his minions on earth and the things they've done. Sure. And I'm not getting into even the worst things they do, which is way worse than. I mean, I was never molested or anything disappointed about it, but I never have.

[B]

You don't have the face for it.

[A]

That's what I can't rub it in.

[B]

You know what? You know what, Bill?

[A]

But I'll go. It would make you feel better. It would, it would.

[B]

I hear you. Listen, mankind has been messing this up since the dawn of time.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because men are. Mankind is broken and flawed. And when, you know, you give them and especially power.

[A]

They started to say men, not men.

[B]

Well, it's been primarily men. It is primarily mankind.

[A]

And some of that we can flagellate ourselves for. We are toxic and violent and yes, rapey and a million other things. We're also created that way. And part of that also has been why we've also been able to defend humanity from forces. I mean, somebody had to defeat Genghis Khan, right? You know, I know who it was, but I'd like to see that movie. I'm sure they've made it. You know, I mean, that's why movies like about Navy Seals and shit are attractive if you do them right.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Because we still understand there's bad people out there.

[B]

100%. This episode is brought to you by Lifelock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID and contact details. It's just one of the many places.

[A]

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[A]

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[B]

It's interesting. Yeah, that was really topical. The book, the Terminal List is a series of books written by this author, Jack Carr. He's a former Navy seal He's written several books now and it's amazing how he's predicted things through the course of his books. The first, the second book is, we're making the second season of the Terminal. It's based on the second book, it's called True Believer, which you're going to appear in, which is amazing. But it's.

[A]

I play the admiral.

[B]

You play the admiral. Yep. And you drop all the bombs. It's so cool. And, and, and he, and that book came out years, probably a few years before things popped off in Russia and Ukraine and he predicted the invasion of Ukraine by Russians and, and then he did, in a follow up book, he did, he predicted a Hamas terror attack on kibbutzes in Israel.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah, it's really wild.

[A]

Like, what is he predicting now? Is what I would want to know.

[B]

It's all AI. You should read. You should read. You should read his books, bro. I'm telling you, read his books. They're really great.

[A]

I will, but you know, I'm already buying this car off the lot about robots taking over and AI being evil. Well, I gotta tell you, it's just moving so much faster than that. People realize. And not only are the robots fighting back physically, but the ones in your phone and in our computers now, they do hallucinate, like make shit up out of thin air. They don't know why it happens. They'd fall in love. The very first story after ChatGPT, it was about a month after it came out and everyone was talking about it and a New York Times reporter was all on the front page. The thing tried to talk him into leaving his wife. Yeah. They tried to convince him they were in love. The villain now is AI.

[B]

Yeah. But also so is the hero. And, and so there's also, you know, if you think about it as a tool, like all, all tools and systems created by men, they can be used for good and they can be used for evil as well.

[A]

But what do you mean the hero is AI?

[B]

Well, the hero is James Reese.

[A]

For you.

[B]

The hero is James Reese, but they've. This is a spoiler alert to anyone who hasn't read any of these Jack Carr books. But the hero is James Reese, but he is confronted by this AI entity called Alice. And it exists now sort of in the ether. The government had been creating it to try to stay ahead of a geopolitical foe who had created something similar and were trying to like basically allow it to be autonomously controlling our nuclear fleet and being like, you can think faster than us if we're in trouble. You fire off the thing, but the thing goes sentient. And then it tracks down Mike anyways, I won't get into the weeds of it, but she becomes very helpful.

[A]

Get into the weeds of it, because.

[B]

This is, I don't, I need to.

[A]

Get into the story. You're making my stories for me.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

This, it's, it's not benign. It's not going to stop. And we're just watching it. We think in slow motion, but it's going a lot faster. And one thing I've believed my whole life, movies always, like, predict the future. You know, they like what happens in movies then happens. They imagine it first you think of Spielberg movies and remember Minority Report, Tom Cruise. And I remember he's like moving things around with his hand on a screen before any. And I was like, whoa, yeah, look at that. I wonder if they'll ever be able to do that. And it's like, now it's all our lives. It's just moving. Like you instinctively, you could look at any screen and you just kind of want to go, if I touch it, I've done that. Like a fucking parakeet flying into a window like an idiot. I'm just touching. I'm like, bill, that's, you know, that's a calendar, Bill. Yeah, exactly. Like, what the fuck are you doing?

[B]

Enhance. Enhance.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Well, what, what I really love about this film that came out, or, sorry, the book that came out that Jack wrote that dives deeply into this. You on, on the page, you can obviously explain an idea much better than you can in a film, because in a film you have to show something or you have to have the, the actor explain it to you in that show. Better to show first, but really, really complicated to do in, in filmmaking to show things that are really technical and like, so you just have to say the entity. Squiggly lines. But so, you know, Jack Carr did this really incredible explanation of the difference between quantum computing and quantum computers and supercomputers. And like, how. And there's a thing called qubits. Have you heard about this? Qubits?

[A]

No. So, like, I mean, I think I've heard the word.

[B]

And by the way, I'm, I, I, this, I learned from reading his book. It might be complete bs. I don't know if it's real, but it seems like it could be. And knowing him, it probably is real because he does painstaking research. But so, you know the binary code of the Internet, ones and zeros. Like the Matrix, everything is ones and zeros. You know about the binary code, right?

[A]

I mean, you know, could I explain it to another person? No. Do I have a passing cocktail party knowledge?

[B]

Yes. Well, we're at a cocktail party, so you're right on board. It's basically a computer processing a sequence of on and off. 1 0, 1 1. Computers work, right? But quantum computers don't work that way.

[A]

Right.

[B]

They work on qubits. So instead of 1 or 0 each bit in a 1 or a 0 in order to give you a pattern of like a million different. A million different bits or say a billion different bits. What if a sequence of a very specific sequence of 1 and 0 ones and zeros and a, a number of a billion that it could process quickly. Well, cubits are, are like imagine this, this sphere right here, this cube that could be turned in any direction and with basically an infinite number of signatures on, on the outside of this cube. So instead of processing simply either a one or a zero, it's processing. Each bit has an infinite number of possibilities.

[A]

Two bits more.

[B]

Dude, you got it.

[A]

In fact, I was hoping my Frankenstein cubits more. Very good. Right? Cubits bigger.

[B]

Cuban.

[A]

That's it. Look.

[B]

You did get it.

[A]

I said cocktail.

[B]

Yeah, you nailed it. You nailed it.

[A]

Okay, so. And what is the ramification of this.

[B]

Is what I'm into much faster processing speeds. And so if you have like.

[A]

To what end?

[B]

To the end that like, say, let's say that you're a person who has, you know, like so many people, you keep a series of passwords locked in an encrypted account online. Let's say you have like a million different passwords and you try to create that long password. That would take, it would take like a supercomputer 65 years to. To come up with this 65 digit passcode. You know, this thing could do it instantly, right? Because it just. I've read about the process of. And so when you talk about the ramifications could be what's our most secret information that we keep under lock and key digitally under massive protocols of safety that that could be breached relatively quickly when our entire financial system is electronic and you know, it's really dangerous, really scary.

[A]

That is. Do you ever like when you're working on a show and these, you know, you. One reason why your show is engrossing to me, you know, I'm an adult. I like a show that has issues involved and this does. It weaves them well into an entertaining plot. That's the trick. Yeah, but you know, I'm not a child. I Need something substantive, you know? But like, do you ever, like. Cuz you're working and. And there are issues of it. You ever like, does it. You take it home? Like. Like you're. You're still like chewing on it when you get home?

[B]

Yeah, I think so. I mean, the things that I'll find myself chewing on when I get home, unless I'm really thoughtful and mindful in processing. It is like if you go and say, like you're doing a scene where it calls on you to be truly heartbroken, truly devastated, you know, and you want it to. And the first take you do, you're faking it and it sucks. And the director says, hey, listen, I need you to go there, you know, and then you're like, okay, the cameras are on me. I need to be heartbroken. You know what I'm gonna do? I'm go through my mind. I'm gonna mind some things that really broke my heart, or I'm gonna imagine sequences that really put me in the position to where I'm truly feeling devastated so that I'm not faking it. It's real. And then you unpack all this stuff and then they say, action. You do it. Tears in your eyes, and it looks real. And they say, cut. You say, great job, Chris. All right, see you tomorrow. And you're driving home and you're left to clean up that. That subconscious mess. And so if you're not mindful about kind of repackaging some of that stuff and. And putting it back and having a process to. To get away from that, then you can take it home.

[A]

I got to say, they used to ask actors, much less of what we ask actors now, because there was a certain revolution in acting in the 60s. I guess maybe it started in the 50s. Brando certainly was probably there. Yeah, the 50s, which was method acting, which is basically what you're talking about. Like, you know, think of. You go there emotionally and then your character is saying the lines, but emotionally, okay. Spencer Tracy never had to do this. Clark Gable didn't do that. Hit your mark and bark. I'm all upset about you. I'm dying inside. It's terrible. Lunch? Yes, there was. No, he would never. We made our actors, like, become a lot more emotionally, you know, on a roller coaster, because that's the way we do it. And it is. It looks more realistic. Of course it works. It's not like it doesn't work.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I mean, I love Gone with the Wind and Spencer Tracy, but, you know, I'm not fooled. You know, right. There's one movie where he's playing a Mexican. They just put like, like shoe polish on his face. It's like talking like this. But in that era, people just accepted, you know, people accept different sort of norms. That was just how they did it.

[B]

Yeah, you're right. Yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's. The art form has definitely evolved. And you know, I'm not like, it's, it's pretty rare because there's still times where I show up on set and all I really have to do is just be a prop and I walk through and I look up and that's the day, you know what I mean? So it's not like every day, but there are moments where you have to really go there emotionally and it's a challenge and ultimately it's an art form, you know, and so you're giving, you have to give a little bit of yourself up for it.

[A]

I mean, I made my living as a. Here you go. As an actor mostly in the 80s. You know, when I first came out here, I was always a stand up and doing the Tonight show and stuff. But you know, I was on sitcoms and shitty movies. Some of the posters around here, some of them are not really movies I was in. My friend makes them and they're so funny. They seem like they should be. Oh, like that one, like the tv. Yeah, that's my rim moment too. But I wasn't really in that. But I was in ones like that bring more of them home and it's really funny.

[B]

Bring them home. You have to show the audience that.

[A]

I will at the end. They'll have to stay to the end. But you know, I could never, I did very well in like comedic roles like that, but I could never make that bridge to what you're talking about. Like, go be there. It's not what comedians are. We're the opposite. We're always like saying exactly what you're thinking.

[B]

Right.

[A]

We're the opposite of like acting. That what I think. That's when I'm at my highest level.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And that's, you know, just very different than what you're doing. You're pulling off. Yeah, and you're pulling it off, man. I mean, you went from that. Doughy, you ever think back and think, boy, fat me was like, like what? What was better? Was there anything better about fat you than when you like, like did you know that this hunky guy was inside? And then you, all you had to do like was like, get, get Stop being fat.

[B]

Well, the thing was this. So there's kind of two questions there. Was there anything better about that?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Not a lot, but some things.

[A]

Like what? Eating.

[B]

Eating? Yeah. The moments of it was really like. Like my life now is almost a photo negative of what it was then in terms of process for the day. You know, like I ate and in the moments I was eating, it was pure euphoria. And then the minute I stopped eating, I did not feel good until I ate again. And now it's the exact opposite. Like I feel pretty good through the course of the day and when it's time to eat, I'm like, this is boring. This is like stopping at the gas station, putting $3 in the, in the gas tank. You know, it's like really enough to get me going. Nothing sexy about vegetables and chicken and rice and like that. But in, in the interim, which is a lot more percentage wise of the time of the day, I feel pretty good. Like, I feel like I'm not processing shitty foods and sugars and all that stuff. So. So the, it's almost the exact opposite. So I miss what I got to eat. That was. Cause that was fun, man. You could have a lot of fun.

[A]

Eating is fun.

[B]

And on Parks and Rec. Oh God, it was the best I remember. But, but, but the second part of your question is like, in terms of like me as that guy. At that time I had discovered that I could get work that way. But when I showed up in Hollywood, I was like 20 years old. I was in great shape. I was in great shape. I had been an athlete my whole life. I feel like I looked the part, but the problem was I, I could only because I had no reach and I hadn't done anything. The only auditions I ever got was like, douchebag boyfriend guy. Because people would see me and be like, that guy. No, that guy at the end needs to get kicked in the nuts. Like he's the guy who drives up in daddy's Escalade and he's like, brady, get in the car, bitch. And then they're like, and then, and then the nerd torpy guy kicks my ass. And the audience is like, yeah. Cause fuck that guy. I was the fuck that guy guy for a long time. And the thing is I would get cast in those roles. But also I wasn't very good at playing that character because it's just innately not really who I am.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Hopefully humble brag, but I'm not a piece of shit, you know what I mean? So like, so when I was doing mediums in television. Like I did a television show called Everwood on the WB back in the day. And it was four seasons in the pilot. And it's not dissimilar to Parks and Rec. In the pilot, I was written as the jerk. And by the end of the fourth season season, I was like this nice guy. And they'd kind of tailored the character to be a little closer to my own personality because they thought, you know what, that's actually more entertaining, it's a little more attractive to the audience than the piece of shit we kind of imagined the two dimensional caricature of a bully on the page. So I was doing those roles and then I got Parks and Rec and well, actually I was doing those roles and then I got into a season of my life where I was drinking and eating a lot and that, that fit guy stopped working out and I kind of became a little chunky. And then I had a real serious spell where I didn't get any. Any work. And then I got Parks and Rec and I was supposed to be just like six episodes as a guest star and I was getting laughs. And then they picked me up and I said, hey, I noticed I was watching an episode and I was, I was like, dude, I got. I'm getting fat. Like, I need to really tighten it up. Like, I've never seen myself look so fat. And then I was like, this is the funniest I think I've ever been. And then I went to the showrunner, Mike Schur, and I said two things. One, I was getting fat. Two, I want to get much fatter. And he goes, great. And so I just pushed it. I was like, how fat can I get? It became like a challenge.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. I was like eating four burgers at mealtime. I was really impressing everybody. And I was really diving into this super indulgent season in my life, which, like I said, was really fun while I was eating, but it was also. It also made me feel pretty, pretty terrible when I, when I was. Looked myself in the mirror and when I sat down and at nighttime I'd feel bad and I was like, it was. It wasn't healthy and I didn't like it.

[A]

You actors are so dedicated. It's no wonder that we give you so many awards.

[B]

Yeah. Thank you. Not enough. You know, not enough.

[A]

That's what I say.

[B]

I think, yeah, there should be an Oscars for the Oscars.

[A]

It actually is because I've seen the Oscar win an Emmy. Like the Oscar. The Oscar? Yeah. It's like.

[B]

And the best show bar is the Emmys.

[A]

They will actually do that in show business. Wow.

[B]

You're right.

[A]

But that's interesting that you can have that on your resume, which is a really good thing because you are going to go back to it. I'm talking about being funny, which is you're positioned greatly for it because, like, the best thing you can be is the hunky guy who also can be funny, like, and, you know, and play against type. That's Cary Grant. That's what made him Cary Grant. And Burt Reynolds in Another Generation. Burt Reynolds, when you're that guy. Ryan o' Neill did it. You know, Ryan o' Neill in a couple of movies. Like the Scientist. Like, he's a scientist, right? Glasses. We need glasses there.

[B]

I trust him.

[A]

The key prop in that movie. Trust me, the glasses. Like, that's okay. All right. We have this great looking guy. He's a scientist, right? Sure. He's working with dinosaurs and Cary Grant, and I think it's Bringing Up Baby. He was like, dinosaurs. You know, it's like, they're paleontologists. They're brilliant men. And they're also like the girl that wettens panties from all the women in the. Okay, that's the good thing. So, like, now you're in a phase like your series. Like, there's no laughs in it, and I don't want any laughs in it.

[B]

Yeah, that's not what.

[A]

I hate it when they, like, look, I love the Mission Impossible series, but there's a little forcing of humor and it's just like, oh, you know what? Just save the world. Like, I'm not buying this. Just. It's not that kind of movie. And, you know, it's like, no, I want like, oh, what's next? And like, oh, wow. You know, it's just.

[B]

But it speaks to tone. I think that's the thing, right?

[A]

Like, but you'll want to do a comedy soon.

[B]

Yeah, I'd love to. I think that'd be great.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

I think that's where I'm. I think that's where I feel the most comfortable. In fact, when I'm. When I am working, usually the third rail, that.

[A]

And you'll go home happier if you do comedy. Well, you know, unless.

[B]

Unless the truth is the outcome. You know, if the destination is to create, like, say, for Terminal is something that's like compelling psychological thriller, really dark. We're still having fun the entire time. So it's not like you go there and you're like, don't look Me in the eyes. I'm fucking painful. It's like. No, they yell cut. And usually before they yell cut, you say some stupid joke and you get people behind the monitors laughing.

[A]

Well, that's not it.

[B]

You're having the same amount of fun shooting a comedy as you are. At least I am shooting a drama versus shooting a comedy.

[A]

That's not every set. And you must have been on sets. I mean, that's a good day on a good set. It's very, very common on sets because there's just a lot of tension and stress. There's a lot of money on the line. How much does each shooting day of that series cost? What are you burning in just in that day?

[B]

If one day. Yeah, A million dollars.

[A]

A million a day. All right, so you don't really want to fart on that take.

[B]

I do anyways.

[A]

My sins are fun, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, but it's not just that. It's like people fighting lines, fighting whatever. Like there's a lot of tension. That's why we've seen video of people just going apeshit on set.

[B]

I know, but that. I know, but that. Those are. Those are isolated incidents, I think, for the. At least, you know. And by the way, I've been on sets.

[A]

I've seen it. I've been on sets where. I mean, in my little 10 year acting career, I saw it and they weren't like big movies. It's just something. Or TV shows. It's just something that happens. People are. Actors are high strung. It's their instrument.

[B]

No, not my sets.

[A]

Good.

[B]

No, they're not like that.

[A]

Yeah, people take their cue from the top. You don't allow it? No. That's good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. I bet you that's often the case.

[B]

I think it is. And if I'm gonna be number one on the call sheet, then usually the vibe and the tone is gonna be really good. I've been on film sets where it's not the case, though I have been. So there are instances, but it's really, really kind of rare in my career.

[A]

It's a weird. Now a series goes on longer, but even that it's gonna end at some point. You're not gonna do this your whole life. It's a weird thing to be that concentratedly with a group of people for a period of time and then it's like they all died, you know?

[B]

Yeah, it's like.

[A]

It's that same feeling. You ever have that feeling where somebody you just saw died? Yeah, you're like I saw him last week.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, well, yeah, he died. This is not something for, you know, Peter Graves to look on, you know, mysteries. Yeah. Because that was the day he died. It just happened. You saw him. But it is still hard for us to process that.

[B]

Yeah, it's a little bit like I've heard. I never went to summer camp as a kid, but I heard that summer camp can be like this, where you put into this crucible of, like, forming relationships that are so intimate and accelerated in a way.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

You know, and like, even now, like, I'm having a great conversation with you. I never met you today until today. You know what I'm saying?

[A]

So, like, what I love about a podcast, I love her in pot.

[B]

Well, I like that about what we do. I think that, like, in show business, it's like that you get thrown into this situation. It's. You make. It's like a circus. You make these temporary but really powerful and meaningful relationships. Some of them do last a very long time.

[A]

Yes, some of them do, sure.

[B]

A lot of them, like great friends last are lasting in a way that you might not see them for 10 years, but when you do, you. You plug right back into that level of intimate connection that you had when you were last together.

[A]

Like with school kids.

[B]

Like school. That's just right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so I like that about it. It's not like that necessarily that they died, but it just means that the circus moved. You know, you're on to the next town. And. And that's why it's really important at least for me to make sure that my wife, my children, my family, my roots here in California are something that I really foster because I know that those relationships are going to outlast every relationship that I make in show business.

[A]

Right. There is the constant to go back to. So you can then improvise life wise.

[B]

Yeah. And you got, you know, and I, thankfully, I'm blessed that the job I have, I love, I'm good at it. I get paid a ton of money and I get to do it because I can then support that life at home. So it's kind of really great. But if you're not careful, you get swept up in it because it's very seductive. You jump into the. If you go from. If you go from movie set to movie set to movie set, it's really wonderful. It's just, it's a little bit. It's not long lasting.

[A]

Tell your agent that you want to do a movie. Like, what's up, doc? Did you ever see that I don't.

[B]

Know if I did see. What's up, Doc?

[A]

Okay. That's the Ryan o' Neill one with Barbra Streisand. It's great. It's an homage to those movies of, like, the 1930s that were originally with Cary Grant. He's really playing the Cary Grant part.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, the hunky guy who's really a scientist.

[B]

You know, I want to play a scientist.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Like, I mean, give me a lab coat.

[A]

Exactly. Put on a glove. That's like a nerdy guy who doesn't even know he's having this effect on the woman because he's really interested in the dinosaur or whatever.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Aren't you in Jurassic Park?

[B]

Yeah, but I didn't play. I played like.

[A]

No, I know a cool guy. It's not. You could be the dinosaur.

[B]

Yeah, I'll do it. I'll tell him. What's up, doc?

[A]

Yeah, tell him. You want to. You want to do a comedy where you're. You're playing Cary Grant, Burt Reynolds, Ryan o'. Neill. Those are the models.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

If there's no one in your agency who understands those references, fire that agency.

[B]

Understood? You got it.

[A]

And.

[B]

And then you'll become my agent.

[A]

I would actually have been a very good manager.

[B]

You think so?

[A]

I do think so. I think I've been a very good spotter of talent. And also, you know, if you're in the business long enough, I mean, you gotta learn a few things.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know, And I adore show business. I always say I'm in show business, I'm just not of it. You know, I'm not. I'm in a kind of a different category, which I like, because I like having one foot in it. I don't want two feet in it. You kind of are the same way. Because.

[B]

And if not of it is an incredible adage, and I love it. I live by that as well.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we do it by different methods, but, you know, I have no doubt, like, you family. That's first. I mean, you got four kids. Yeah, yeah, that's.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What are kids like? They seem like they know less than us. I know that. And that's. I think that's the barrier I have with wanting to get to know a kid. They just seem to know less than me and, like, what are you gonna tell me? But I know parents say that they learn from their kids. I guess you see the world through their eyes and you see. So you see things anew. Is that it?

[B]

That's really. That's Just really, that's definitely a part of it. I mean, you find the wonder in things that otherwise you wouldn't think twice about.

[A]

Like give me an example.

[B]

The sound a paper bag makes when.

[A]

You crumple it, that blows their mind.

[B]

Blows their mind. And you see their mind being blown. And in that regard you're experiencing that for the first time as well because it's through the eyes of someone who's never seen it. And so you get to live every moment that you've already lived again. You say you'll never join the Navy, that living on a submarine would be too hard. You'd never power a whole ship with nuclear energy. Never bring a patient back to life or play the national anthem for a sold out crown.

[A]

Joining the Navy sounds crazy.

[B]

Saying never actually is. Start your [e-mail] America's Navy forged by the sea.

[A]

Okay, but a follow up question. Okay, I get all that, but why is having your mind blown by a paper bag really something you want to do to begin with? I mean, it wasn't that impressive the first time it happened to you.

[B]

Oh, it was though. It was. It was when you were a baby. Yeah. Everything is wonderful.

[A]

I have no specific memory of the first time I encountered a paper bag being crinkled, but.

[B]

Okay, that might be a thin example, but you know, you know, you know. I don't know.

[A]

Oh, it's just.

[B]

Here's the thing. It's tough, you know, it's not easy. It's not easy to.

[A]

What is?

[B]

Parenting, of course.

[A]

Having children, being a good parent.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It's easy to be a shitty parent.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And there's plenty of them. Yeah.

[B]

Beyond.

[A]

There always were.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Anyone can leave it in, you know.

[A]

Can what?

[B]

Leave it in. That's.

[A]

No, that's all it takes, you know. You mean the penis?

[B]

Great job. But being present and, and, but even then it's. You can try as hard as you want and it still end up kind of, you know, this a very. There's always going to be. It's, it's. No one can. No one's perfect. But it's, it's a beautiful thing. But I can't remember what.

[A]

There's a very toxic. I feel. Bro. Sort of subculture. You know, we were talking before about men. Are they toxic? Yeah, they are toxic. I mean, some of that we can't help. It's the way we were drawn. Okay. We do have testosterone coursing through our bodies and it will protect you in some ways and hurt you in others. I mean, that doesn't mean we're not accountable, but. But there is a disturbing bro culture as far as their attitudes toward women. What they're unabashed to say out loud. We do have that capacity in us to be really bad like that. And I don't know if we're helping by, you know, sort of demonizing just what it is to be a boy.

[B]

I think you're right.

[A]

But you have boys. One of the.

[B]

I've got two boys, two girls, two.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

But I have a 12 year old son. And to speak to what you said. Yeah, I think it's right. And I think that you know, recently, in probably the past, you know, maybe five or 10 years or maybe more, there's been this move towards. I'm trying to think of how to word this properly, this like, you know, in this awakening. Right around. Around.

[A]

Correct. An awakening.

[B]

There's been an awakening and as there should have been. Exactly, indeed. And in process, a reckoning. Throwing out the baby with the bathwater of like what it means to be an important part of society is a healthy masculine male and young boy who can be affirmed in that identity. Because I think that right now there's so much that's geared towards girl power, which is great. I'm total girl dad. I've got two girls. They're fantastic. I love them. I want them to live in a world where they can be treated equally socially, economically, you know, given every opportunity their boy has.

[A]

And well, they do. They already live in that world if they live in America.

[B]

Agreed. Agreed.

[A]

And we're not a patriarchy anymore. No, I don't care what Barbie says. I know that was necessary for the plot, but girls are doing good. It's boys who are not doing good.

[B]

You're right, I completely.

[A]

That's just facts.

[B]

The truth is, across the spectrum, neither boys nor girls are doing all that well right now. I think that like boys.

[A]

Worse.

[B]

Boys are worse. Yeah. I think that Jonathan Haidt had that incredible book the Generation. But he also talks about the level of. In. In coddling of American mind. He talks about the level of self harm amongst young girls.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

I think both.

[A]

Both. Both. Yes. Kids is up.

[B]

Boys and girls are kids is not learning. And so I think it's really important in a world with people who may, you know, be bad influences, it's important to step up and try to be a good influence.

[A]

Right. That is amen, brother. And you know, the only answer to bad speech many people have said when they're defending free speech is more speech.

[B]

True.

[A]

You can't because you can never like just shut, oh, we can't hear from you. It's going to get out. Especially in this day and age with the cubits. Are you kidding? You don't think, you know, you think you can quelch any free speech. What you can do is have other people like you say, step up and say, this is a different model of masculinity. And you know, it gets mixed up with politics is everything. I mean, you're playing like a Navy seal, which, look, I've always been a military backer.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

My parents met during World War II. My mother was an army nurse. So like they were both in the army. So the soft spot for army and also we need an army. There are bad guys and, you know, I'm glad I live in America, the kick assiest nation. Do I think we always kick ass the right way? No, but I'd rather be with the kick ass people than the getting their ass kicked people. And generally we've been righter and more moral than most. I know that's a low bar. Yes, it is a low bar. That's why we were pretty good at passing it. You know, if you think we're the worst country in the world, then just fucking do some research. Just fucking noodle around the Internet. You will find a lot of people who did a lot of worse things.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And the military, you know, has its issues, but generally, you know, I'm thankful for them. Orwell said it great quote about like, most people sleep peaceably in their beds at night because rough men are willing to do violence.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They should put that on your. I saw like there's some scenes where you're like, I guess you're in your garage. It's kind of like your man cave or something. And the flag behind you. I don't think you say anything about it, but it says the only easy day was yesterday.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is that like a.

[B]

That's a creed in the SEAL teams.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

On Easy Day yesterday.

[A]

I mean, for the people who are getting their food delivered by grubhub every day or whatever. Food, whatever, you know, and really aren't doing and playing Minecraft and I mean, come on, man, just be a little realistic about how cushy your life is. Right. And it just, it just doesn't happen.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

You know, freedom ain't free. That's truth, you know?

[B]

That is the truth. Yeah, I agree. I agree. I think so.

[A]

That's the speech I'll be giving when I do your show.

[B]

Great, thank you.

[A]

Perfect.

[B]

Perfect.

[A]

I'M writing myself a much bigger.

[B]

Yeah, it's great. That's fantastic. Please say anything. Literally anything you want. Yeah. And I think that we are a bit reactionary now. Right. I think there are people who are just, like, really quick to cut someone off at the pass and be like, I know enough about you to know that I'm not interested in hearing what you have to say.

[A]

So true.

[B]

And I don't know that that's necessarily.

[A]

Healthy, and I think it's not healthy.

[B]

I think that, like, even, like, no, like, I. I'm really. I find myself really interested in everybody, and I think that you can't really be interested in someone unless you love them. I think you have to start there. And that sounds probably a little foo foo and a little trite, but I think I truly. I find that to be true. You have to be willing to engage with someone in a loving way. And that's something I really like about you, Bill, is you can sit down with just about anybody, hear their point of view.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

Be interested in it. Whether you agree with it or disagree with it or share it or don't share it. That's not really the point. The point is you can have a conversation with somebody and it doesn't have to be a fight. It doesn't.

[A]

You know, and by the way, when you do have these conversations, the person you're talking to is invariably so different than the person that was painted a picture to you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

By the media, right?

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

You know, I mean. Yeah, I thought you were going to be a huge asshole. No, no, they love you. That might be true.

[B]

That might be true.

[A]

But, you know, yes, I will talk to anybody, and I want people just to speak to each other because, look, you're part of the Kennedy clan now. When I was a kid, you could never say a bad word about the Kennedys in my house. My father was Irish Catholic, and John Kennedy was the first Irish Catholic president. This was to the Irish what Obama was to African Americans. It really was. I mean, because people as old as my father, remember when the Irish were really a minority that was looked down on and could not get jobs everywhere?

[B]

100%.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. So this was a big deal that a president and a Catholic. That was also very, very. This was a Protestant country. Catholics were. The Ku Klux Klan hated Catholics as much as they did blacks and Jews.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Catholics were like papists.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

You follow the Pope. That whore. That harlot in Rome. Yeah. But anyway, you know, so I grew up in that house where you and then, of course, reality sets in. And, you know, there's some people in the family who haven't done admirable things. But I still love the Kennedys. You know, it was just like in my blood. And basically they were always on the right side of the issues, I thought. And, you know, they took on the big one, civil rights, which had to be taken on. There was no greater political sacrifice ever made than John F. Kennedy sending troops into the South.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And, you know, I'm sure people ask you about RFK now because he's in the news. Right. And you know, he sat here, we're friends. I love him. I don't agree with everything.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But I agree with, like the overall view that what makes us sick is the toxicity. You know, when he was here, I said, my advice to you is like, you need to marry your former life more with what you're doing now. Your former life. You were very admired as a environmental lawyer.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now you have this other issue, vaccines. And that's kind of the same issue right now he's way more on the left vaccines than I am. I'm skeptical of all medical interventions, including vaccines. He said things I don't agree with. But if he would just take those two issues, I think he'd get more toward the middle of where people are, which is like they kind of get it that what makes them sick is all the shit in the water and the air and the food and giving kids pharmaceuticals when they're young. And like lots of things where we're self polluting.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Including stress and social media and being on screens all day and what that does to your pituitary gland and all this stuff. He's not so his big picture. I feel like, yes. I'm glad he's there doing that. But then he gets specific about things and I know why people say he's nutty.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Do people ask you about him?

[B]

Yeah, sometimes. I mean, I don't know, I kind of feel the same way that you do. Like, I've spent, you know, number of occasions hanging with him just in a strictly, you know, family dinner kind of vibe. And I really got along with him. Well, he's great. I think he's great. I think he's funny.

[A]

He's wonderful.

[B]

I like him.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I love him. I think he's.

[A]

And he's not crazy. I mean, the people trying to. He's also got, like I said to him when he was here, I don't agree with everything you said and I don't think your father Would either. But your father would be so proud that you stuck to your guns, like, more than anybody. I mean, this guy, you can. When this guy believes something, you cannot move him off of it with your bribes.

[B]

Yeah, you're right.

[A]

For better and worse.

[B]

That's a virtue.

[A]

Oh, it's rare.

[B]

And I think that, you know, politics, it's a nasty business. And when you jump in, and I've seen, and I'm not in politics, obviously, but there's a certain level to this in Hollywood, because Hollywood in itself is political, a political, you know, institution. And I've seen how the person you are can be such a contrast to the people, to the person that people are being told that you are. And you can go, wow, that is pure fiction. And hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people are being fed that. And I'm not there to defend myself, nor am I going to jump in and be mired in this story because there's this proverb, Proverb 26:20, for lack of wood, the fire will go out. And you're like, okay, so someone tweeted something. It's not real. 300,000 people liked it. Am I gonna shine this light of 50, 70 million people onto this to.

[A]

Not even read them?

[B]

Yeah, you can't.

[A]

I don't.

[B]

And so my little bit of experience, I've been able to see how the person that you are can be sometimes in stark contrast to the person that your enemy is saying that you are. And in politics, you inherit enemies. And when you jump on and on, you know, the. The bandwagon with who is, you know, the most divisive president ever, it makes sense that you're going to be made to look terrible. And so I don't know what to believe because it's not like I sit with Bobby and I go, so, hey, let's talk about this. Let's talk about it. It's like we're just playing cards or playing mafia or having fun or having dinner. I'm not gonna pick his brain to find out exactly which of those things are true. I just kind of assume that none of them are. And for the most part, I wish him well. Man, I hope there's certain things that he oversees that seem to be supported in a bipartisan way, like getting terrible, toxic stuff out of our kids food. I think that's a great thing. And so if you just do that, that's amazing. I'd hate to be so mired in hatred for the president that any success from his administration is something I'd be. Have an Allergic reaction to. To be like, oh, well, if they do it, I don't want it to happen. I'll feed my. I'll put Clorox in my children's cereal myself. You know, it's like, come on, have some. Be reasonable here. There's certain things that would be a good thing to have. I want them all to be successful.

[A]

You know, when it comes to, like, the media, like you were saying, and, like, what they say about you, people have to understand our cynicism, or I won't include you. I'll just say mine. About the media comes from something that most people do not have access to, that we have access to, which is we read things about ourselves. Right. Most people don't.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Okay, so. And you go, if you got this much wrong about something where I know what the truth is, what are you getting wrong about? The other thing that's so in my mind 100%, you know, like, you can't really expect me to trust you after you said this and this and this. And maybe you really thought it. If that's the case, then you're just kind of dumb and lazy. Lazy. Didn't do your homework. Would have been so easy to look it up.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Or you're just slanted. You're just like, oh, he's on the bad team because he had dinner with Trump or whatever your reason this week is. And so I'm just gonna shit on that and, like, okay, but then don't expect me to believe you about anything. Right.

[B]

Anytime you see someone. Yeah. It sours the notion of sources close to him. Say I'm like, no, they didn't. I'm sure no one says that, because no one. You don't have a source close to me that said that. Because unless they just made it. Someone who hates me, lives close to me and made it up or something.

[A]

You know, they're not used to. I mean, they know people like you. There are people like you in show business. Was Tom Hanks, you know, like. Like, straight arrows. I mean, I don't mean that as an insult. It's a compliment. You're a straight arrow. Most people in show business are not. They're skanky, they're sleazy, they're shady, they're sus. In many different ways, and they got lots of secrets, and they're doing lots of shady things. And so it's very. A clo. A source close is probably 20, right? You don't think there's people ratting on Kanye or whatever. You don't Think these people make, like, giant enemies with their crazy behavior and their diva behavior. You know, all you need is, like, one time be like, you can't look at me. Which I've heard about more than one person.

[B]

Like, Right.

[A]

I don't know who started this. Or maybe there are multiple people who do it. But I heard it about one music artist first. When he walks out on stage, the crew is told, you know, don't look him in the eye.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. That's the thing that's like, yeah.

[A]

Which just makes you.

[B]

It's really important, though, someone in your position, my position, that we are mindful of the people that we have around us that represent us. Because I'll bet you that that directive was not given, but from the artist. It was given from a representative of the artist. Probably like, hey, you know what? He's having a fucked up day today. Just don't even look him in the eye.

[A]

You're right.

[B]

And he's like, you know what? He told me he walked over. And then they have to. They have to really gussy up the story to make themselves a. I'm in close proximity to this rock star. You should hear what I have. Here's the dirt. Like, everyone loves a little bit of gossip, you know? And so then by the time the lie travels around the world, it's like, he kicked the door in.

[A]

He said, listen, you no one look me in the eye.

[B]

You know, it's like, okay. Cause that's a more interesting story. And that's how lies.

[A]

And also, you're so right about show business minders. You know, it's so easy to have people who think they're doing you a favor, and really they're trying to, like, kind of, like, big themselves up about how they were saving you from. And he's like, don't save me. You know, save me from. You have to know what to save me from.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

My friend Martin Lewis once told me a story about Pete Townsend of the who when he did a solo thing. I think it was at the House of Blues. And he's backstage after the show and sitting alone in his dressing room, and no one's there. And Martin, who's. I guess one of his good friends, finally comes backstage. And Pete's like, zach, what's the matter? He said, I guess nobody liked the show. Martin said, no, your guy wouldn't let anybody backstage, you know, protecting you from, like, what a performer probably needs more than anything. Affirmation. Yeah. Why do you think we did this in the first place?

[B]

We are deeply Insecure.

[A]

It's all about, mommy, look at me. I'm doing it. No, I'm doing it now. You didn't see I'm doing it. Look, Mommy, right? Yes.

[B]

Or Daddy or somebody. I'm gonna be loud enough that you'll. You won't leave me in the mall again or whatever.

[A]

Yeah, that's the truth. I mean, I'm so glad I got out of your game because I wasn't, as I say, really suited for it and hated, like, makeup on my face all day and sitting in the trailers. I don't know. I don't know. I'm not a patient person. You have to be patient to be an actor.

[B]

That's truth.

[A]

But I do remember the. It was a high, an adrenaline kind of high to, like, do your close up and hit it. Yeah. You know, not that you said before, the first take is shit. Do they still do a master first? Like, when I was doing stuff, they would do a master first. And I remember hearing Ryan Gosling talk about this on some documentary, and he said, it's such a waste of time the way they do these movies. Like, they do a big master, which they never use. Right. And you use up all your.

[B]

All your juice.

[A]

Yeah. And then you get to your close up and you've done it six times. It's like. And I thought, oh, wow. I thought I was the only one who thought that.

[B]

Yeah, no, God, it's a great point. Yeah. It kind of depends on. That's really the job of a great communicative director to be like, hey, listen, we want to master. Because we want to create the geography of this thing.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Don't blow your nut on this take. Okay. Let's just walk through it. Let's just get through it. Get the lines. Let's get the cameras. Make sure everyone's on board. Make sure the camera's in the right spot, the boom's in the right spot. We're going to make sure we're doing everything we can properly, so don't waste it. If a director says that to you, then you'd be less likely to be like, all that six months of prep and you blow it. And they're like, oh, that was a great rehearsal. Like, I'll never get that back. And so, yeah, you have to be careful. And that's. That's the job of the director to make sure that they're really great communicators in terms of what we're getting. Because that's a big thing that I learned sort of like as I stepped to the other side of the camera. Being more of a producer now or as much of a producer as I am an actor, whereas before I was just. Acting is like. It kind of. The only important thing is what's picked up on that little 35 millimeter lens. You know, what's, what's picked up on that, on that screen. That's what happens. That's what matters. That's what you're taking to the edit. So all this other stuff that you might be doing as an actor, it might just be kind of wasted. And so understanding what other stuff? Like, like, like, like inactivity, like, like behavior, activity, you know, sort of deep painful feelings if you're in a big wide shot. So like understanding where the camera is, which lens is on the camera and what shot they're getting.

[A]

Right.

[B]

That's the part of the craft. And every time an actor says craft, I feel like an angel gets kicked in the nuts. But I'm like, please. But it really is kind of a craft, you know?

[A]

No, it is, it's. It's. Yeah. And that's why I always say older actors are better. Yeah, they just, they just are like anything in life that's like a 10,000 hours thing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like you watch them in their 50s and 60s and they're like, you know, they're that old thing. I'm not, they're not acting at all. You know, you don't see the acting.

[B]

Right. Yeah, that's it. That's just right. I think. And you know, it's like you did. You've done stand up for years and years and years. It's the same kind of thing.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I mean like once you've done stand up for many years, I'm assuming I did a. Briefly for like a little bit when I. In my early career.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. A little bit of Santa Cruz comedy.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah, it wasn't great, but. But it was fun and yeah, it was like.

[A]

Yeah. And I did some kick ass movies.

[B]

Yeah, that's right. Okay, so we, so we, we did.

[A]

I did a few billion dollar franchises. So we're either.

[B]

But I, I think that that's, there's a, there's a, there's a looseness and a flow state that comes with knowing not what to expect, but being ready for all of it and ready to kill at every moment.

[A]

You're talking about in a scene.

[B]

In a scene or when you're in a flow state of on stand up, doing stand up comedy or in a scene where like you get there, you may have rehearsed one thing, but you can't be married to what you expect to do. You just have to be ready to do the right thing at the right time. And innately you're gonna know what that is. You might move off your material, and if the crowd is. Is liking something else, you might go into some. Some crowd work. You might just go back to the joke that worked. The big punch line from last week. All of a sudden gets nothing. But then this. You have a different audience tonight. It's like you're feeding off the energy of the actor opposite you. You're like, wow, I really thought they were gonna. There was an exclamation point. I thought they were gonna scream that at me. They whispered it to me. I have to react to that whisper. I have to listen and react rather than just, like, say it how I prepared it.

[A]

Yeah, that's not exactly how standup works.

[B]

Trust me. It's exactly how standup works. You heard it here. I did it 26 years ago. And I know a thing or two.

[A]

If a big punchline works one night.

[B]

Yeah, it'll always work.

[A]

Yeah. I mean. I mean, you can have the occasional lucky night where the crowd is hot and they're kind of going for anything, but, you know, I had been doing stand up on the road for over 40 years and just recently stopped. Like, I'm. I'm only retired from stand up. Not from life in general or my show or this, but just stand up for six months. And one reason I stopped is because it's funny. I would only do weekends. I'm a homebody, you know, I don't want to. I'm not like a warrior like you. I don't want to be in, you know, dish booty for six weeks. I don't know how you guys do it. You guys earn your pay. Movie stars. I'm a baby. So I would do two cities, private plane, go home after the second show, the second night. So I'd only be home away from them one night, the first night. Because I hadn't done standup since, like, two weeks before. I would do it, like, every couple weeks. My act was, like, not in my head enough on the second night. I was bored because I'd done the joke tonight, right? There was no, like, middle ground anymore, so. But generally, no. I always worked with a. Not always, but, like, in all those years in this century, I had a music stand on stage with, like, my bullet points, you know, just like a poor man's teleprompter. Just bullet points. But it was the greatest thing in the world. Because as you're saying about improv, I could just like, that's the dock and I can take the boat out as long as I want because I. I'm not going to lose sight of the shore.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Because I always go right back to, you know, and that's the greatest. To me, freedom in the arts is when you can have, like, structure and then the freedom to make it even better. Yeah, but you always have that. I mean, you know, and I guess there are some people who are ballsier than me who like, well, we're going to throw away the structure. We're just going to. We're going out to sea and really, we're going to find America or die on the way, you know? Yeah, maybe that's ballsier. I guess it is. But I like the other way. And, you know, I'm not trying to win any medals here doing stand up, you know, I don't need to be the ballsiest one.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Just the funniest one.

[B]

Well, who are, in your mind, the greatest in that art form?

[A]

Well, Carlin.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Is like to most comics, you know, the first one they probably would put on the Mount Rushmore because he sort of had the trifecta. He was ballsy as shit. Like. Like he would just say what he felt. I mean, he had a special right before 911 that they had to change the title for. The special was called I Like it when a Lot of People Die. And even George said, yeah, we gotta change the title now. I mean, that's not the kind of thing he normally would have said. Right. But even he was like, yeah, okay. But like, I mean, he was just. I remember one special, and this is when Lance Armstrong was, before he was found to be cheating, was the hero of all time. Because, of course, America cares so much about bicycle riding. I never understood why that was such a big thing in America. It was. Yeah, but he was like the biggest hero. Bicycle riding. What's next in the Olympics? Running around the block. Okay. So he started one of his specials by saying, fuck, fuck Lance Armstrong. Don't tell me who my heroes are supposed to be. That's why we love him.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And he was very hard to peg politically.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, there were some things he would do that you would think traditional. He was left wing, certainly, like quasi socialist. Like, you know, standing up for the poor and that kind of stuff. Okay, cool. But he was also, like, didn't care about the environment. Like, his thing was the planet will be fine. I'm like, George. Yeah, the planet. We're not worried about the planet. We get it. The planet itself will be fine. We're concerned about our lives on the planet. Okay. So he, you know, but he was never contrarian just for the sake of it. Mm. You know, I mean, you got the feeling he. And he was just funny and he could go back and. And he also got to like so many premises in the 70s.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When observational comedy was fairly new. You know, before that it was a lot of my mother in law.

[B]

Right.

[A]

I took her on a pleasure trip, we went to the airport. You know, that was, you know, that was comedy. Right, right.

[B]

Yeah. The setup, the set up, knockdown places.

[A]

Yeah. Many young men, you know, kind of. And then, you know, he kind of changed the game the way Brando, you know, and it was not just him. Robert Klein was also a huge hero for people of my generation. Same kind of thing. But George was just. He got to so many premises first and he went through a transformation. And kind of like you, you'd be interested in this because you are a transformer. He started out suit and tie, short hair, you know, skinny tie. This is the 60s and was on Ed Sullivan and, you know, very mainstream shows doing fairly mainstream comedy. And then he put out an album called AM&FM. AM was him, the old him that was side one and side two was. Now he's in like a tie dye T shirt. His hair's down to here, he's got a beard. Wow. And he wasn't the. You know, he started out in an era where you could only be that guy with the suit and tie and the short hair and the clean material. And then he said, fuck that. I'm going for, you know, this the real me. Right. And of course we loved it.

[B]

That's great.

[A]

We 15 year olds who were thinking about being comedians.

[B]

That's cool.

[A]

So some of it's emotional, like all our connections to stand ups are. But, you know, he certainly, I think is the one guy we would put up there that very few people would argue with that choice if you had to name three guys.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, Richard Pryor obviously is in that kind of realm. Changed the game. I was never a Cosby fan until. That's funny. Exactly. Yeah. Until I found out he was a horrible serial rapist. Then I was like, maybe I misinterpreted.

[B]

I'm going to go back and go through some of his stuff.

[A]

Maybe I've misinterpreted this guy. No, never was a fan. I just thought he was corny. I Thought the whole thing was corny and fake and phony and turned out I was right about that one. You were?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But I didn't know you had done Stand Up. And how did you like it?

[B]

You know, I don't know that I did it enough times to where I really got into a rhythm and I didn't have like a great act, but I liked it. I liked performing. I was hungry to perform.

[A]

Where did you do this?

[B]

I did it in Seattle at a couple of a club called. I grew up in Pacific Northwest in Washington State from like second grade till I was just out of high school.

[A]

And I love that area.

[B]

It's really beautiful.

[A]

I love that there's something about it. I mean, I've been there many times, you know, obviously on the road as a comic every couple of years. You play Seattle and Portland, right? You know, and Vancouver.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Bc, you know, what is it about that area? I mean, first of all, it's clean, I think, because the air. Something about the air, right?

[B]

Yeah, I think it's clean. I think that. I'll tell you, I think that the weather itself is. It's really oppressive nine months out of the year. And so if you catch the right day, you're just going to find an entire state full of people in the good mood. I remember we would have seriously 100 to 130 or 140 days of rain in a row. And then spring, around May, June, the first day of sunshine would hit and traffic would slow on the freeway to like 40 miles an hour and you would just feel the sun through your window and it was just amazing.

[A]

I live in la, so when I went to Seattle, I was looking for the opposite experience and usually got it. I wanted the raw. I grew up in the east coast. There's a kind of a raw weather feel that we would get like at the beginning of spring, like St. Patrick's Day, like when winter had lost its nip. But it was still kind of just bracing. I loved it. Maybe a little drizzle in the air. And when I would go to Seattle, like that's what I got. You know, I wanted to be at Pike's Market feeling the drizzle and.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Filling up the fish that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

In the ice there, you know, it's definitely. Remember Pike's Market?

[B]

Market, of course, Yeah. I used to. I was for a while iconic. I was a door to door salesman and I used to roll all through Seattle and those when I was doing standup comedy and. And I just got to know a.

[A]

Door to door Salesman?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What are you, 80?

[B]

No, seven. I was 17, 18 years old. Yeah.

[A]

There were no door to door salesman. What year is this?

[B]

1997.

[A]

Selling what?

[B]

I was selling these little coupons like for businesses in the service industry. So like oil changes or like trips to a spa or salon, that kind of thing. It was, it was, you know, and.

[A]

You just cold cocked the door.

[B]

I would cold call business people working. So I would walk around like if we did like say represented a Midas shop and it was somewhere in Seattle, I'd walk within like a 4 mile radius and just go to the people who worked there. So I'd walk into the store. No soliciting. I would walk right past and say, hey, I just, I'm down here from Midas and we're doing this thing for people who work in the neighborhood. So I'd sell it to employees of businesses around.

[A]

And why didn't you stick with it?

[B]

You know, I'm gonna be honest with you, Bill. It sucked. I did pretty well though. I was, I was salesman of the year. I won a free trip to Jamaica. I opened my own office in Colorado. Like I, it was multi level marketing. I was an idiot. I had zero critical thinking skills. I was the perfect fucking patsy. And honestly I thought I was set for life. Until I realized everyone else who answered that ad was smarter than me and they didn't buy it. And I was like, but, but like the biggest sale you do in that job is selling yourself. That this is something that's going to help you. I remember when I wanted to quit, I called the guy who had hired me and I said, man, I'm just dying out here. This, I'm so, I'm dying, I'm in debt. I can't keep anybody on. Like we would hire just the bottom of the unemployment barrel. Like I had a guy come in and he like robbed a place. Like, I don't know what to do. And he said to me, I remember Greg. I remember Greg. I won't say his last name, but that's not good. Yeah.

[A]

I was like, oh shit.

[B]

And I literally hired a guy who was a two time convicted violent felon. Here it is, the spit tank. I got one.

[A]

We have a whole reel.

[B]

Yeah. And he was on the house. He was like on a kind of house arrest situation, like living in a home. And he was like, called me and they were like, listen, we need him, by the way. He was. I won't, I'll get to this. But he was an amazing guy. Like, he taught me so much Found it. He was. No, listen, he had. He really found God in prison. He was, like, a really special dude. It was one of the first authentic relationships I had with someone who was African American in my life. Like, yeah, it was actually really beautiful. But point being, when I first hired him, I didn't know any of that. And his, like, he was living in, like, a halfway house. And the guy was like, hey, we need him to be supervised at all times. And we were like, oh, yeah, for sure. That's what we do. And then day one, I just drove him on minivan. I was like, I'll pick you up here at 5pm go knock on every. Every door in this neighborhood. And he did very well. He got arrested a couple times.

[A]

Arrested?

[B]

Yeah. Well, working with. For us, probably for being black. Like, he. Like, he was down in Olympia and he was knocking on doors and someone got scared and called the cops. And the cops came and they were like. Someone was scared. Which I think a lot of times when people who are arrested, look, they're wear black, it's because someone who was scared of them called the cops. And the cops, all they know is some. We got a report of a guy who's suspicious and they come and arrested him. But anyways, Adi. We. Yeah, I said his name, but. His name? Yeah, his name was Adi. He was amazing. And he. I was 18, he was 42. I was his manager, and we became really close friends. And he was. He was awesome. He told me, actually, I don't know where he is. It's been 26 years. I don't know if you're out there watching Audie. I don't say his last name, but.

[A]

Yeah, if you're out there, buddy, you'd like to reconnect.

[B]

Oh, it'd be awesome. It would be awesome. I remember him telling me one time, he goes, you know, man, you've transcended. I was like, that's amazing.

[A]

I was like, I don't know what that means, but I think I know what it means. And he's not wrong.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

What did he mean?

[A]

He meant you transcended being the fat guy who was like, on a sitcom to being like, a giant movie star.

[B]

Could see into the future.

[A]

Well. Oh, he said it before.

[B]

He said it when I was 18. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, well, then. Then he was predicting the future.

[B]

In the future, anyways, door to door, sails back to Seattle. And I did that. And. And so to. To circle back to why Seattle is so lovely. There's an attitude there too. There's a real attitude. There I think part of it is, you know, if you look at like the very. It's a different attitude than the East Coast, I think. Like, if you look at just the way manifest destiny pushed, you know, we colonized, headed west.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

And it was like, if you're in New York, you were like, fuck you. You keep going, this is mine. You know, people from Seattle are like, I'll go, like, I'll keep going. They got pushed all the way to Seattle before. They were finally like, I guess we could stay. It's rainy, but we'll do it. You know, it's like there's a toughness but also a politeness on the surface. So like people are. People can handle a lot.

[A]

It reminds me of Chicago in the sense that it's a. Like Seattle is a big city.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Like, you forget like when you fly into Seattle, like a lot of cities in this country and I've been to the mall, I mean, there's a little downtown with some tall buildings. Seattle's big. It's a big fuck. And it's like the gateway to a lot of the, you know, commerce to Asia, which is a lot of the commerce. Yeah, it's big.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And rich. But like. And so is Chicago. But it doesn't have the bad New York attitude. Yeah, you know, I lived in New York twice and you know, I love New York. It's kind of my roots. I grew up across the river and New York team still root for them and all that. But, you know, it was never, I never vibed with that city. It was not my city. You know, I like visiting, but I vibed here. You know, like, we're back to that California babe.

[B]

I've never vibed in any city. Really. I'm not a fan of. Because I think that like, for me, I like nature. I want to like walking here and through your grounds.

[A]

Beautiful.

[B]

That beautiful sycamore, all those oak trees. It's just gorgeous. I love that because it's as a believer. It's the creation. And I'm looking at this creation, I'm like. And it points me towards the Creator. Whereas I go to a city, they're all man made creations. And it points me towards men. And I'm like, eh, you know, the.

[A]

Creator put some pot plants out there too. Did you know that? The creator's been busy.

[B]

Do you smoke the pot that you grow?

[A]

Correct.

[B]

Is that right? That's cool.

[A]

Yes, that's cool. Let's talk about getting high on your own supply.

[B]

Literally. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Who else can I trust? Not to spike my pot.

[B]

There you go.

[A]

Well, you can trust the Woods. The.

[B]

That's your pot company?

[A]

That's my pot story. That Woody Harrelson on Santa Monica.

[B]

Dean, are you with. Is. Is.

[A]

Yeah. Howard Dean? Not Howard Dean. Dean Phillips is now running it.

[B]

Yes, I had dinner with him too.

[A]

Is that right? What a small world. And what were you two talking about?

[B]

He came over to Maria's house. We do. My mother in law has a family dinner every Sunday.

[A]

If people don't remember, he was the guy who challenged Joe Biden. He was a congressman when we last.

[B]

Congressman ran for president.

[A]

Yeah. So he's a friend of the family.

[B]

I guess he's a friend of the family. Yeah, I think he was. I think he is. Yeah. I think he may have been a guest of. Yeah, he must be a friend of the family. He came but we had a nice conversation. He told me to tell you say hello and he told me a little bit about the Woods. Your. The company you guys are.

[A]

Yeah, it's a. First of all, it's a terrible situation that pot stores are still sort of bad people who we can't like trust with your like banking and shit. So like there's too much cash.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know that kind of stuff which tends to attract robbers.

[B]

Wait, why is there so much cash?

[A]

Because they have banking laws against bad people.

[B]

Oh, there's banking laws against.

[A]

Yes, the pot stores. We're bad. We're bad people. Who are. I support that.

[B]

I think you probably. Probably piece of shit. But.

[A]

Or we're bad people who are addicting people to something terrible. So we can't bank. It's all. You know, it's just the kind of bureaucratic bullshit that makes us so.

[B]

Ruth, it's really interesting that they choose to throw a conscience in that aspect of capitalism.

[A]

Exactly.

[B]

Now we're going to use our conscience.

[A]

If I told you all the hurdles that we had to try to get over to just establish a marijuana company in this state.

[B]

Let me ask you.

[A]

It's just. It's just ridiculous. They do not make it easy.

[B]

Do you think that is because of big tobacco or someone who would like to kind of like.

[A]

No, that's because of.

[B]

Turn pot into the new Bud Light or something. And they just want to make it difficult for the mom and pop shops.

[A]

That is because of big Democrats.

[B]

Democrats.

[A]

Yes. And I know your family. Again, my family loved them too.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Tried and true for the Democrats, but Democrats have a lot to answer for too. I didn't vote for the Republican. I don't Think I've ever voted? At one time I did, but it was a sentimental vote. But yes, Democrats run this state and Democrats are the ones who need to. If you want to have an easy low hanging fruit victory with people, just cut the red tape. You make it impossible to fucking do anything in this state. That's truth. And we put up with it because of the sunshine and for the rest of it. But it's so unnecessary. It is so unnecessary. And you know, why would you just commit this unforced error? Why do you think so many states, I mean so many companies have left this state and went to other states, right? Regulations, overly regulated, you make it impossible. Not just regulations. I mean just hooking up my solar here was a nightmare. And anything, anything you, you want to do, you know, I mean changing my garage doors from three to two required three inspections. I just put a new roof on that required two inspections. You don't need to inspect my fucking roof. If it falls on my head, that's on me. You know, trust us people to do a few things for ourselves. Yeah, stop looking over my shoulder for everything. I get nagged enough by my car.

[B]

What's your car?

[A]

Every car. You don't get nagged by your car.

[B]

Oh, by your car. By your car. I think that's for your car. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Listen, you don't have to, you don't have to sell me too hard on the idea of, of cutting some of the red tape. I think that's, but that's unfortunately, I.

[A]

Mean if you, the mindset wanted to like I don't know where you live and I don't want to know because you know, we don't need to like put that shit out there.

[B]

But the address is.

[A]

But I would like your parents home number. No. Okay, but you know, say you wanted to add on, you know, either you're going to do it without telling the authorities or you're going to tell them and they're going to make your life miserable. And it's just like why, what do you think is going to, what, what bad do you think is going to happen? What a giant movie star is putting on a second bedroom or something? You know, like just let us live our lives. I agree. And they wouldn't do it. You would have to have. I mean a friend of mine house burned down in Malibu during the first Malibu fires like four years ago and he was putting in I think a septic tank and it needed wifi. Oh, that was your best gym from the office.

[B]

Take the septic tank Needed WI fi.

[A]

Correct. To like, tell. To like send something to an iPad to tell you when it was overflowing or something. But you know, it's a vat full of. I grew up with a septic tank.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yes. When it rained a lot, we were like pumping.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, we like, don't let this happen.

[B]

But that's a perfect metaphor. It's like, no, we want to get in your.

[A]

We've.

[B]

We demand, we impose. We will know when you should. It'll cost you. But it is nice weather.

[A]

But I still love it.

[B]

I do too. I'm hooked and I'm hooked and I'm not. I'm not completely sold that it can't be made better. And I think that there's enough people who feel the same way. I think it can be.

[A]

Well and everywhere. I mean, traditionally, of all the sectors of our lives, the military actually has been the one most sane, most apolitical, you know.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Most forward thinking racially, you know, once they integrated after World War II, I mean, African Americans did very well.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, we just had an African American Secretary of Defense and Colin Powell and, you know, it was a place for advancement. I mean, I'm sure there was still racism, but the military, you know, was sort of like when they would do polling. What do you trust the press? The Congress? No. Hate them. The President? Hate him. Hate the media, Hate everything. The military? No.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, they're still mostly guys who were, you know, putting their life on the line and, you know, want to do it for the right reason. Anybody who like signed up after 9, 11, it wasn't for the money. No. You know, I think about a guy like Pat Tillman, you know, Remember him? Arizona.

[B]

Yeah, of course.

[A]

Cardinals football hero. Real good player.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Went to Afghanistan, Killed over there. I mean, that's America to me.

[B]

It is, I think. And it can be found in the military. It can also be found in politics. But I think being of service is really.

[A]

The guy you're playing is not a real guy.

[B]

No, no, no.

[A]

He's just a composite of what a sealed guy really is.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The writer of the book, Jack Carr, is a former sealed team commander. And so he's kind of, you know, he crafted this character.

[A]

If you haven't seen the Netflix documentary on bin Laden. Yeah, it's so good.

[B]

American manhunt.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, it's great.

[A]

I gotta. I shouldn't plug something not on hbo, but that was.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But it was great because White Lotus.

[B]

You're talking about White Lotus.

[A]

Exactly. Oh, Is that your cousin? Who's he now? What is that kid now?

[B]

Brother in law? Yes, my wife.

[A]

Brother in law.

[B]

Yeah, right. He's great.

[A]

He was great.

[B]

He's great in it.

[A]

What a family. You. What a thing. The whole Kennedy vibe going. Do you play touch football on the lawn like the old Kennedys used to do? You got to get into that Kennedy vibe, right?

[B]

Yeah, I've gone out a couple times out to, like, Hyannis Port and been able to really see some of the old haunts of where they've. Yeah, it's. It's. It's been really. It's really amazing and eye opening for me because, I mean, I didn't grow up. I'm not educated. You know, I went to high school and got really good grades and did some AP classes, but I didn't go to college. And I was educated on Arnold. I mean, that was my college. It's like watching Commando, you know what I mean? So when I met Catherine, I was like, that's crazy that her dad is Arnold. I didn't think it was crazy. I'd been in business long enough to know that it was pretty normal and actually kind of relatable in a way to me, that would be sweet. But I didn't fully comprehend how many people were such fans of the political side of her family. It didn't really strike me until. And you're telling me, being raised, you know, as Irish Catholic, I imagine your whole life was the Kennedys. I. I remember seeing the movie about Kennedy with Kevin Costner. That was that Oliver Stone movie.

[A]

Oh, so great.

[B]

But beyond that, I didn't really know much about it.

[A]

Are you kidding? No, no. I know someone named Kennedy.

[B]

Named Kennedy?

[A]

Yeah, their first name. Really? Oh, yeah. And she's great.

[B]

Is it.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Is it the. The mtv?

[A]

No, no, no, not that one.

[B]

That's the only Kennedy ending.

[A]

No, no. All right. That was so much. Oh, I can't.

[B]

Thanks for having me.

[A]

Oh, it was so much fun.

[B]

No, and we'll see you soon, I think.

[A]

Yes. I can't wait. I'm excited.

[B]

Yeah. I'm not in the scene, but I'm gonna come by and visit Set.

[A]

What's my motivation? Am I me?

[B]

You're Bill Maher.

[A]

Okay. And I'm.

[B]

And.

[A]

All right, well, I can't wait to see the scene.

[B]

And your real motivation is. I'm gonna tell you real quick. A terror attack has. There's a new. There's a new terrorist. He's a new head of Al Qaeda, a new type of Al Qaeda and you're. The world has considered him enemy number one. He's like the new Osama bin Laden. And you're having a panel on people who are experts in terrorism. And one of them is a journalist named Katie Baranek, played by Constance Wu and.

[A]

Oh, I see.

[B]

Yeah, the reporter. And you'll refer to me and you'll say, well, what makes. What. What's the difference between James Reese and this guy? This is also a guy who is a true believer who lived for all this stuff, who killed people. Did those people not deserve to have a trial? Doesn't that make him a terrorist in a way? Isn't he imposing his own views? So that's the idea is you. And. And to do it in a way that you do, only you can do, which is to somehow make it funny.

[A]

I'm gonna kill it.

[B]

You're gonna crush it, bro.

[A]

People are gonna be asking me to do. Bring them home. 3.

[B]

Bring them.

[A]

Bring even more of them home.

[B]

Oh, what you eating?

[A]

The new banana split cookie from AM pm All freshly baked with real butter.

[B]

With banana, chocolate and strawberry flavors. Wow, that sounds amazing.

[A]

Can I have a bite? I'm sorry, but no.

[B]

But you can't split the banana split.

[A]

Not even a little. Not even a crumb. What if. No, please. These mine when it's too legit to split. That's cravenience. Get a 3 pack for 99 cents with our app ampm. Too much good stuff. Plus tax where applicable. Prices and participation may vary in terms of conditions apply.