Robert Zemeckis | Club Random with Bill Maher

Summary

Podcast Summary: Club Random with Bill Maher – Episode Featuring Robert Zemeckis

Release Date: November 10, 2024

In this engaging episode of Club Random with Bill Maher, Hollywood legend Robert Zemeckis joins host Bill Maher for an in-depth conversation that spans movie-making intricacies, personal anecdotes, cultural shifts, and reflections on technology and religion. Recorded in the exclusive, undisclosed location of Club Random, the hour-long discussion offers listeners a behind-the-scenes look into Zemeckis's illustrious career and personal philosophies.

1. Introduction and Personal Connections (01:36 – 04:38)

The episode begins with light-hearted banter as Bill Maher and Robert Zemeckis navigate personal preferences in addressing each other, highlighting the commonality of the name "Bob." Zemeckis shares his appreciation for Maher's work, mentioning a heartfelt gesture Maher made by signing his book:

Robert Zemeckis [02:20]: "I did. But you will sign one for me, please. Thank you."

Maher reflects on the uniqueness of sustaining multiple successful projects in Hollywood, contrasting it with the prevalence of one-hit wonders in the music industry. This segues into a discussion about the challenges and rewards of maintaining a consistent presence in the film business.

2. Insights into Movie Making and Collaborations (05:14 – 15:35)

Zemeckis delves into the complexities of directing, emphasizing the importance of casting and collaboration. He recounts working with Tom Hanks, highlighting their strong on-screen chemistry and mutual understanding:

Zemeckis [10:05]: "He says, I can hear in your voice when you say 'cut' that we're doing another take."

Maher praises the consistency and quality of Zemeckis's collaborations, noting how such partnerships contribute to the success of films like Forrest Gump and Cast Away. They discuss the meticulous process of editing and the significance of having a reliable team, including long-time collaborators like composer Alan Silvestri.

3. Discussing Iconic Films and Their Legacy (15:35 – 35:36)

The conversation transitions to reflections on classic films. Zemeckis shares an intriguing anecdote about Back to the Future being screened in the White House:

Zemeckis [20:43]: "Bob Gale heard this because his speech writers who put one of our lines in the State of the Union address that he said that year were big fans of the movie."

Maher and Zemeckis reminisce about the film's enduring popularity and its impact on audiences, including its reception by then-President Ronald Reagan. They touch upon the challenges of categorizing such versatile films, debating whether Back to the Future fits neatly into genres like science fiction, comedy, or adventure.

4. Zemeckis's Upcoming Project: "Here" (28:05 – 49:35)

A significant portion of the discussion centers around Zemeckis's new film, "Here," based on Richard McGuire's graphic novel. Zemeckis describes the film's innovative approach, utilizing a single camera perspective that remains stationary as the universe around it evolves:

Zemeckis [28:10]: "The new one is really interesting. The new one is again, me being on my restlessness. It's called 'Here,' and it's based on a graphic novel by Richard McGuire."

Maher expresses curiosity and excitement about the film's unique narrative style, comparing it to a "double time travel" experience. They discuss the technical and creative decisions that make "Here" stand out, with Zemeckis explaining how the camera's fixed position immerses the audience in the protagonist's perspective throughout different eras.

5. Cultural Shifts and Technology's Impact (50:00 – 72:25)

Bill Maher and Zemeckis explore the profound cultural changes over the decades, particularly the influence of technology and social media on society and the film industry. They ponder how advancements like AI and pervasive smartphone use are altering human cognition and memory:

Maher [95:26]: "Are you right about that. Exactly. That is."

Zemeckis [96:21]: "Probably, I think it is."

Zemeckis shares his thoughts on the Singularity and how AI might "colonize" human brains, intertwining these speculations with his experiences in filmmaking and storytelling. They debate the balance between technological progress and its ramifications on human interaction and memory retention.

6. Personal Backgrounds and Upbringing (73:00 – 88:57)

The conversation takes a personal turn as both hosts discuss their upbringing and the impact of Catholic schooling on their lives. Zemeckis opens up about the psychological effects of religious indoctrination:

Zemeckis [75:03]: "It was the fear and the shame. The indoctrination of the fear and the shame. Which is... blood and death."

Maher shares his own experiences with the Catholic Church, highlighting the anxiety and internal conflicts that stemmed from strict religious practices like confession and first communion. Their candid discussion sheds light on how these formative experiences influenced their worldviews and creative expressions.

7. Reflections on Acting and Directing (89:17 – 105:32)

Zemeckis and Maher delve into the dynamics of acting and directing, emphasizing the importance of actors understanding the filmmaking process. They discuss the challenges of working with actors of varying experience levels and the critical role of effective communication on set:

Zemeckis [105:08]: "And the toughest to work with is the 20-year-old actor. Of course, that's the toughest because they're just 20 years old."

They highlight the necessity of mutual respect and understanding between directors and actors to maintain a productive and harmonious work environment. Zemeckis shares anecdotes about managing set tensions and ensuring that performances align with the director's vision.

8. The Evolution of Storytelling and Genre (105:32 – End)

As the episode draws to a close, Maher and Zemeckis reflect on the evolution of storytelling in cinema. They compare classic narrative structures to contemporary trends, noting how certain genres have persisted while others have transformed:

Maher [107:18]: "It's like what we said about some shit our parents were talking about. Like certain things you had to be there."

Zemeckis discusses the adaptability of stories like Double Indemnity and how timeless themes continue to resonate across generations. They contemplate the limitations of storytelling, agreeing that while the core elements remain consistent, each generation brings its unique perspective and innovation to the art form.

Notable Quotes

• Robert Zemeckis [02:20]: "I did everything, everything, everything changes."
• Zemeckis [20:43]: "And he wanted to watch that part over again. Isn't that wild?"
• Bill Maher [27:30]: "You're a little like people like Kubrick, who made a bunch of great movies and none of them are like the other ones."
• Zemeckis [45:20]: "The mood is a critical thing."
• Maher [97:25]: "Unless AI stops and comes in and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer saves us at the last minute with his glowy nose."

Conclusions and Takeaways

Throughout the episode, Robert Zemeckis provides a wealth of knowledge and personal insight into the world of filmmaking, underscored by his extensive experience and collaborative spirit. Bill Maher complements this with his sharp observations on cultural and technological shifts, creating a dynamic and thought-provoking dialogue. Listeners gain a deeper appreciation for Zemeckis's creative process, the evolving landscape of Hollywood, and the enduring impact of storytelling in cinema.

For fans of both Maher and Zemeckis, this episode serves as a captivating exploration of the intersection between art, personal experience, and societal change, all delivered with humor and authenticity.

Transcript

[Bill Maher]

This episode is brought to you by Irestore, the clinically proven game changing hair growth device that's here to help you turn back the clock on hair loss. For a limited time only, check out their huge Black Friday sale. Our listeners get hundreds of dollars off their Irestore elite with our exclusive [e-mail] random that's hundreds off the Irestore Elite. Irestorelaser.com random hair loss is frustrating. You don't have to fight it alone. Thanks to Irestore Superbeats, Heart shoes offer a convenient, delicious plant based way to support healthy blood pressure and circulation. And because it's natural, there are no stimulants and no jittery feeling. Get a free 30 day supply of Superbeets Heart Shoes on all bundles and 15% off your first order by going to get Superbeets and using code random. That's get Super B e e t s.com code random. If you're making payments every month on your debt and your balances aren't going down, PDS has solutions for you. Everyone with $10,000 or more in eligible debt qualifies and there is no minimum credit score required. Get a free debt analysis right now@PDS debt.com random it only takes 30 seconds. That's PDS. D E B t.com random PDS debt.com random and by the way, I love your movie.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I, you know I do. You know, I love, you know I love that.

[Bill Maher]

I know because you called me.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Bill. You just stated the premise of my movie. I do everything, everything, everything changes.

[Bill Maher]

Claude Randall. Robert, There you are.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Bill. Please call me Bob. How are you?

[Bill Maher]

If I have to.

[Robert Zemeckis]

You don't have to. You can call me. If you don't want to, you can call me Robert.

[Bill Maher]

You ever see that book on the name Bob? All the Bobs in the world?

[Robert Zemeckis]

No.

[Bill Maher]

Somebody put out a oh, like Bob Newhart, Bob Dylan. There was just something they found commonality because this, it's. That's a very common name. In case you never got my book.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I did. But you will sign one for me, please. Thank you.

[Bill Maher]

Hollywood royalty for a reason.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh God, I love that. Thank you. This means a lot. Thank you. It's great. By the way. I'm glad you did.

[Bill Maher]

Thank you.

[Robert Zemeckis]

It's fantastic.

[Bill Maher]

And I certainly mean that inscription.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I appreciate that. Thank you.

[Bill Maher]

Well, it's undeniable. If you just go down the list of all the big ones. I mean, my friend and I were talking the other day. We're driving back from the Airport and songs come on the radio. And we were saying, like, how tough it must be to be a one hit wonder. Like lots of people. There's lots of one hit wonders in music. You do it once and it's like the greatest six months of your life. You got a number one hit, you're on the top of the charts, and it never happens again. That happens a lot in music, I guess, in your business too. But you don't think. But you know, to have like the number of biggies that you've had is not a lot of people in that company.

[Robert Zemeckis]

You know what the closest to this was is back in the day, the Charlie Rose Show.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, well, but that's tv. Yes, right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But. But there was you. There were. All the cameras were remote control.

[Bill Maher]

Is that right?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah. You were in that black void.

[Bill Maher]

I did it. I remember.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And there were no. There was nobody there. Those cameras were all operated on servos and you couldn't see anybody. And it was just a table.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, that's how he ran his personal life, too. You couldn't see anybody, which is why he came out in a bathrobe.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly.

[Bill Maher]

It's amazing the way the number of guys in that first MeToo wave, like around our age, who were just doing things that I just wanted to go, you know, it's not all of us. Yeah. Ugh. Like, don't you just hate yourself that this is how you get laid? I mean, everybody's got a way to get laid. Cops pull you over. I mean, everybody's got a scam.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right, right, right.

[Bill Maher]

But it's just how elegant they are.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And this was like the least elegant. I emerge from my bedroom in a robe like the 28 year old's gonna go, oh, my dream has come true.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly.

[Bill Maher]

I get to see Charlie Rose naked. Thank you, Jesus.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly. Exactly. I hear. No, I know.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, you must have seen some shit on movie sets.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I had this. Well, I've always. I've never. Actually, no. Actually, no. Actually, I'm getting nervous now. No, no, no. There was one time where nothing could happen, but it was like. It was a scene in Forrest Gump where Robin is in the dorm room with Tom. Right. I'm sure you remember that.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And my Joanna Johnson, my long time costume designer, you know, she's very English, very proper, and she kept coming up to me with showing me what I. If I approved what she was gonna be wearing as her underwear. It was all this period stuff. And I'm looking at it and I'm going This looks like, you know, something a grandmother would wear. This doesn't. I don't. You know. And she kept showing me the stuff I said. And I finally. I got upset and I said, you know what? Get a model who. Get a model who has the same dimension, same body as Robin and put the stuff on her and take a picture so I can see what it's going to look like. So a day later, I hear, you know, Joanna says. Or the ad comes and says, joanna wants to see you in your trailer. So I go in my trailer and there's this model with a robe on in my trailer. And Joanna's there, and she says, well, show them the underwear. So she opens up her robe. I said, that looks great. And then the model said, you want me to take them off?

[Bill Maher]

Really?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. I'm looking at Joanna, I'm saying, no, that's okay.

[Bill Maher]

I didn't. I wasn't even asking about you. I just meant that you're in show business. If you're in show business, I'm in it, too. You're going to be around some sleazy people at some point. I mean, especially in the music industry. Not always.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I always found that the. I always found that the ones that were the most talented were not the sleaziest. I mean, obviously there were, but in my. In my.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, in my. Michael Jackson was very talented and he was fucking little boys.

[Robert Zemeckis]

That's true. That's true.

[Bill Maher]

No, no, it's true. It's tr. Hard to. I know what you mean. Like, the bigger they are, the nicer they are. That's often true. It takes all kinds. I mean, I've never thought you could, like, pigeonhole show business people. It's a spectrum. Are they smart? Some are brilliant and many are not. Same as humanity. Are they good? Some are, yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

You're right.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. I mean, I don't think we'd want it any other way. We want to recruit from the full panoply of the human race. Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I think you're probably right. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And everybody's flawed and everybody.

[Bill Maher]

I don't know what your casting process is, but I'm sure you know, they once asked John Huston what's his secret to directing. Do you remember that? He said, I do most of my directing in the casting process. Which means, you know.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, I don't know what that means.

[Bill Maher]

I know what it means.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I know what it means, but. I know what he. But, yeah, but you could look at it. I guess you could think of it two ways, because you Know, it's like, you know, it's the old. It's the old adage, what makes a good movie, you know, good writing and good casting. You know, that, you know, so we might be alluding to that, you know.

[Bill Maher]

Well, I think he. Look, I mean, I don't know. I'm not a movie maker like you are. But just as a fan, I know there's so many things that can go wrong in a movie. I mean, there's so many elements. You can have good writing and good casting, and it could get fucked up by half a dozen other things.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Editing and, you know, timing and lots of stuff. But I think what he meant by that was, you know, if Humphrey Bogard is on my team and I write his name in the lineup card, we got a good chance to win this game.

[Robert Zemeckis]

That's exactly right.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

That's it. Yeah. He's getting guys up there who, you know, who are going to. You know, who are going to show up.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, you use, obviously some of the same people, because you, as most directors do, you work with somebody, you have a good time, they fulfill your vision, and you're like, you just solved my biggest problem in this next project. Can I. Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And it's like a shorthand. I mean, I made a bunch of movies with Tom Hanks, right? And he'll. And he says. He says, I can hear in your voice when you say cut that we're doing another take. So it's kind of like that shorthand has gotten to that. He knows exactly what I'm thinking.

[Bill Maher]

He knows when you're not quite satisfied.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, Just from the way he hears me say the word cut. That's what he claims, anyway. But that's the great thing. I mean, I've worked for. I've made over 20 movies with Alan Silvestri, my composer. And it's just great having a shorthand where you kind of finish each other's sentences, of course, and when people are delivering and you can have that shorthand, it's great. But I've been very fortunate. I've worked with, I mean, some of the absolute greatest actors that you know of our generation.

[Bill Maher]

Well, I would say the same about you. I mean, the people in any industry. But we know at nars, they want to, you know, you're not doing them any favors. They want to work with someone who's gonna make them successful, too, who's gonna provide the material, provide the direction. You know, I'm sure you're friends with a lot of these people, but Maybe they'll do one movie for you out of friendship, but that's it, you know? Like, they wanna work on what they wanna work on, you know?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

But, you know, you come to them with good stuff. I mean, you know, especially, like, Tom Hanks, you. Was Forrest Gump the first one you did with him.

[Robert Zemeckis]

That was the first one.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. But then Cast Away. How many years later was that?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Cast Away was like four years later. And then we did the Polar Express.

[Bill Maher]

I never get tired of that plane.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Going down in Castlewave.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, the whole movie is great, but that is. I don't feel like I'd ever seen that quite on camera. I mean, it's so. A lot of stuff that's super actiony and CGI and all that kind of stuff. It's stuff that would never really happen to me, you know? I mean, I'm not worried about some monster shooting rays out of the end of his fingers at me.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

Of course.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

But a plane crash. I mean, it's very gripping because you could be exactly in that scenario.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And I guess that's what it would look like. Yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And I think the trick, and I think the thing that makes it the most terrifying and it was a decision that I made early on was you only see any of it from Tom's point of view. So we never cut to what the pilots are seeing. We never cut to outside the plane. God's point of view. The whole plane crash happens just from his. His.

[Bill Maher]

Well, until it hits the water. Then we see. Well, we saw the plane. All the shit in the water. When the plane hits the water, no he's there.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, you see. You know, you see it only from him. So it's like he comes up on that raft and then you see the big tail of the plane coming at him.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

It's all. But then at the very end, when he starts floating away, then the camera pulls back up, you know, like, way up into the sky as you just see him in that black ocean.

[Bill Maher]

So how do you make these decisions, like, what to do? You. I mean, like, you're a little like people like Kubrick, who made a bunch of great movies and none of them are like the other ones, you know? I mean, there's no, like, Scorsese, you would say. Well, it's mostly a certain style. Obviously, he's done other movies that aren't mob movies, but he'll always be first thing in his obituary, you know, master of mob movies, you know? But you seem to be all. I mean, Back to the Future Is not really anything like Cast Away.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, I just.

[Bill Maher]

What, you.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I've been very fortunate. I've actually. I'm too restless or maybe it's a madness. I don't know what it is, but I just.

[Bill Maher]

It's an artist.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I just didn't want to do the same movie again. It would be boring.

[Bill Maher]

I feel like that's the key to art, is that the person doesn't want to be bored.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly. I just have no interest in doing. I just would. I mean, a teen time travel movie. I just would have absolutely no interest in doing that.

[Bill Maher]

You already did it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I did it. Right, Exactly. Exactly.

[Bill Maher]

By the way, it so holds up. And of course, like any movie from the past, there's things in it you absolutely couldn't do today, or they would just jump on you.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, Biff is a rapist. I mean, it's flat out rape. Which even if he's the bad guy, they would go nuts. Yeah, right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, I know, I know.

[Bill Maher]

And it's just like. Yeah. The bad guy in town, he rapes. That's his thing that he, you know, he rapes. Yeah, but.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, but I mean. Well, people don't approve. But people don't approve it. And it doesn't really. It doesn't really. Well, but you know what the intention is, obviously. Yes.

[Bill Maher]

No, no. He's in that car.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And her feet are in the air. He's plainly raping.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Both of them. And Tom and Leah are so great doing that scene. And it was. It was. Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

It gets pretty scary, by the way. We have a sort of weird tangential connection, which you'll never guess this, but in 19, were you making the movie in 85?

[Robert Zemeckis]

I know what you're gonna say.

[Bill Maher]

Gary Goldberg, you're right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Now, you know. How come I know you're gonna say that? This is. This is crazy. Cause I was having dinner with Michael. Michael J. On Monday night.

[Bill Maher]

Really?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. He was in town and I was having dinner with him and we were talking about. Because I think he's thinking of doing a memoir about his life when he was. I mean, literally doing the movie at night and the show during the day and getting two hours of sleep for.

[Bill Maher]

So what is my connection to this, do you think?

[Robert Zemeckis]

I was asking him this. I was saying, so what, you know, was Gary, like. Was he, like, concerned about if you were getting enough rest or anything? He was. No, no, no. Cause he was. He was too busy doing another show. He was doing another show with Bill Maher called Sarah.

[Bill Maher]

Correct. Geena Davis.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Was Sarah Geena Davis, right.

[Bill Maher]

Alfre Woodard and Bronson Pinchot. We were four lawyers in San Francisco. I was the office prick and Bronson was gay and Alfrey was black and Sarah was the lead. And that's who we were. And that was. Yeah, Gary Goldberg, the producer writer, he had Family Ties with Michael J. Fox, which was the hugest hit. So we were thrilled to be on a show with TV's biggest producer and we had a pretty good time slot. You know, it was NBC when they were kind of like the king of the hill. So I don't think we followed directly Family Ties, but we were doing fine. I think we were against Dynasty, which was not easy, but you know, come on, it's 1985. But I do remember Gary Goldberg talking a lot about how Michael J. Fox was. He had to or he did loan him to you to do this movie while he was still filming Family Time, which is crazy.

[Robert Zemeckis]

It's crazy. And it was crazy. And it was.

[Bill Maher]

So he couldn't have been there, you know, until he finished like blocking and whatever the sitcom shit that he was doing, Right?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, yeah. So I think if you. Well, I think the way, the way the heavy days in the sitcom were always the Thursday and then the taping on the Friday. Right. Those were the heavy days and those were the days where he had to work absolutely the most. There was no wiggle room. But on Monday, I think he. I think. I think they kind of wrote the. Wrote him a little lighter in the show and he didn't have to sit through too many read throughs and things like that to get a little bit more sleep.

[Bill Maher]

Well, he was so good. I mean, he was such a natural. That and sitcoms, you know, I did three or four of them. It's gentleman's work, Right. You know, it's not heavy lifting. And if you're smart and a real pro like him, I'm sure he could. You know, Jackie Gleason used to do it with zero rehearsal live.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

He'd have the stand in do it with the other cast members and they hadn't even seen him do. And he memorized it, like sitting in the chair drunk before the show, like memorized the whole script and then just went. That's like baller. Like I can't even tell you.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Bill Maher]

So. But yeah, it really holds up. It's the Calvin Klein joke is one of the all time classics.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yep.

[Bill Maher]

That she thinks his name is.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And the line that Michael wrote and he's is he came up to me and we're in. And he goes, you know, he gets up and he's like, where are my pants? And the script said, over there. She, you know, Leah says, over there. And he says, you know what she should say? They're on my hope chest. I said, that's great. That's going in the movie right now. I got those great gems from Michael. Just kept doing that. The other thing he taught me so many things about just comedy timing. He would come up to me and say, you know what, I should take three steps and say this line, stuff like that. And I go, okay, that makes. Oh, that's great. That's better. Let's change the marks. So it was great having someone who just understood the. I'll call it, I guess, the mechanics of comedy.

[Bill Maher]

It's funny to watch a movie about time travel when you are now 40 years past when the movie was made. How about that? So the jokes that are funny in 1985, about when they go back to 1955, you know. Oh, if you know everything about the future, who's president in 1985? Ronald Reagan. You know, it's all right. And I'll bet Jerry Lewis is vice president, you know, made sense in 1980. Now looking from 2024, it's funny in a different way. It's like a double time travel.

[Robert Zemeckis]

You know, the story of when Reagan watched the movie in the White House. And, well, so we heard this. Bob Gale heard this because his speech writers who put one of our lines in the State of the Union address that he said that year were big fans of the movie. And they were there on the night that he ran it at the White House. And the story they told was that when that scene came on where, you know, Chris Lloyd says Ronald Reagan, the actor, Reagan said, stop, stop. Back it up, back it up. I got to see it again. They shut the movie down, rewound the reel.

[Bill Maher]

Wow.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And he wanted to watch that part over again. Isn't that wild?

[Bill Maher]

I guess they had it reel to reel then.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, it was a film.

[Bill Maher]

It was film, right?

[Robert Zemeckis]

It was projectors. Yeah. There was no video. Yeah. You had to like. You had to like, rewind the movie. Rewind the reel. Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Something about Canadian. This episode is brought to you by Irestore, the clinically proven game changing hair growth device that's here to help you turn back the clock on hair loss. I love Irestore because I watched it help my friend Bob so much I changed his name to not give up his hair growth secret. IRestore's FDA cleared laser and LED system is a scientifically advanced approach to hair restoration that you can use right at home. The Irestore Elite is engineered with 500 lasers and LEDs designed to provide maximum scalp coverage and deliver the energy necessary to revive dormant hair follicles. The Irestore Elite uses Low level Light Therapy, a treatment that has been clinically proven to stimulate cellular activity within your hair follicles. Does it work on your dick? I'm thinking to myself in just a few months you'll start to notice see noticeable improvements as your hair regains its vitality without the need for painful drugs, procedures or expensive surgeries. It's the most non invasive, pain free and drug free way to bring your hair back to life. Back by real science. Whether you're just starting to see that hairline retreating or you never take that hat off, Irestora can change your life. For a limited time only, our listeners get $600 off their order when you use code [e-mail] that's $600 off your order at irestorelaser.com with promo code Random. Are you ready to get medical grade red light treatment at home to regrow your hair for a limited time only, check out their huge Black Friday sale. Our listeners get hundreds of dollars off their Irestore Elite with our exclusive [e-mail] random that's hundreds off the Irestore Elite irestorelaser.com random Please support our show and tell them we send you Hair loss is frustrating. You don't have to fight it alone. Thanks to Irestore. Well, if you know me at all, you know that I care about my health. Mainly my heart health and well I mean everywhere. But yes, that's very big and getting heart healthy energy is super important. Superbeets Heart Chews offer a convenient, delicious plant based way to support healthy blood pressure and circulation and because it's natural, there are no stimulants and no jittery feeling paired with a healthy lifestyle. The unique anti toxidant antioxidant compound in Super Beats is clinically shown to be nearly two times more effective at promoting normal blood pressure than a healthy lifestyle style alone. I always feel great about doing something healthy for myself and you should too. So much better than waking up going why did I eat that deep fried pizza finger dipped in ranch dressing? Jesus. Double your potential with Super Beats Heart Chews. Get a free 30 day supply of super Beats Heart shoes on all bundles and 15% off your first order by going to getsuperbeats.com and using code random. That's getsuperbeets.com code random. When you think about businesses that are selling through the roof like Alo or Allbirds or Skims, sure you think about a great product, a cool brand and brilliant marketing. But an often overlooked secret is actually the business's behind the business. Making selling and buying simple for millions of businesses. That business is Shopify. And we use Shopify ourselves at our own merch store. And it's fantastic. Nobody does selling better than Shopify. Shop in the name people. Home of the number one checkout on the planet. And the not so secret secret with shop pay that boosts conversions up to 50%. So if you're into growing your business, your commerce platform better be ready to sell whatever your customers are scrolling or strolling on the web in your store, in their feed and everywhere in between. Businesses that sell more sell on Shopify. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout that Skims uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com/all lowercase. Go to shopify.com/random to upgrade your selling today. Shopify.com/random comedians. You know, like Michael is a comedian.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Dan Aykroyd, Matthew Perry.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

You know, there's something about them that like they get, they get us, they're part of us, but not completely, you know.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And they. I don't know.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I don't know. I don't know what it is. But you're. I think. Yeah, there's something about being able to look at it with a little bit of. A little bit of distance.

[Bill Maher]

So what's the new one about?

[Robert Zemeckis]

The new one? Well, the new one is really interesting. The new one is again, me being on my restlessness. It's called here, and it's based on a graphic novel by Richard McGuire. And the camera is only positioned in one view of the universe. And the camera never moves, ever. And then. But the universe moves around the camera or the view, I don't want to say the view the audience is seeing, which is obviously a camera recording it. And then it. And it goes through many, many centuries. And it's not like a time lapse movie or anything like that. But at some point very early on, a house is built and a room is built around the camera. And it's a living room in New Jersey. And across the street is a colonial mansion which used to be the mansion that Benjamin Franklin's illegitimate son lived in. This is all in the graphic novel and it's in the movie. And our family now inhabits this room. And we watched them. We watched their lives through two generations. So we see Tom and Robin from 18 to 80 in the movie. How's that sound?

[Bill Maher]

Tom and Robin. Robin Wright and Tom Hanks are back together in this.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And they're back together. Yeah, Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and the other. The other reunion is. Eric Roth wrote the script with me. He wrote Forrest Gump.

[Bill Maher]

So why do. I mean. But you said the camera sees the universe.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, I say universe. I mean, not. Well, whatever. I mean the world.

[Bill Maher]

The world. What part of the world is it focused on? What are we seeing? We're just seeing this house.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, you're seeing the earth before the house is built.

[Bill Maher]

The earth?

[Robert Zemeckis]

The world.

[Bill Maher]

The whole earth.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, just what you could see just like if you were. If you were looking. Okay, so if you were looking out that if you were looking at that wall and then your view of that wall never changed, but time changed around you.

[Bill Maher]

But what is the camera trained on that the people who are watching the movie see exactly what's there?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Whatever is there. So to give you an example, the camera is looking at the mansion, the colonial mansion before the house is built. Right. And the colonial mansion is always in one place after it's built, but the trees around it are now disappeared because they were cut down. And then walls are constructed in frame, and then suddenly a room is constructed, and then a window is there, but you can still see the mansion.

[Bill Maher]

Do the actors age?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yes.

[Bill Maher]

And you see them age?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And so you de. Age them.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yes.

[Bill Maher]

I hear that technology's gotten better since the Irishman.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, this is. This is in this movie.

[Bill Maher]

It's what?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Perfect.

[Bill Maher]

So you can make them any age you want. Is this a union issue? I feel like.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, no, it is. No, but it's. No, but it's like makeup. I call it digital makeup.

[Bill Maher]

Right. Which I would assume would upset the makeup union. Well, I mean, whenever. Yeah, whenever things change, somebody usually gets hurt, and then that person is going to cry and moan. Sometimes justifiably, sometimes not. My view is that you can't bitch and moan too much about when things change, because they just are going to. So what the fuck is the use of crying? You know, 20 years ago, Barry Sanders was like the highest paid player in football, or close to it. Now, no. Running back is even in the top 100.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right. But it's.

[Bill Maher]

Why? Because things change. Why did it change and become a passing game? It just did. So why Fucking obsessive? That's Just the reality. Music became a producer's industry. They get all the money. Songwriters are dying. They don't get paid anymore. Making a hit record, you don't get paid because of fucking Spotify. Streaming is basically where serious movies went. People are not gonna go to the theater. Look at what happened to Megalopolis. I mean, I don't know if it's good or bad, but in the old days, there'd be more curiosity just to see it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. Bill, you just stated the premise of my movie. I know everything, everything changes.

[Bill Maher]

I'm gonna pretend I meant to do that, but. No, but it's a great theme.

[Robert Zemeckis]

It is. That's what fascinated me about it because it just. It's a meditation on. I hate to use that word because the movie is wildly entertaining and. But, you know, so I don't want it to sound like it's like.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But it's about the fact that everything changes. Nothing stays the same. And that's.

[Bill Maher]

And, well, let's hope that some reviewer says wildly entertaining because then you can put that in the ad. And that always gets to me because when I watch anything, I want to be wildly entertained.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, that's it. So you were talking about Back to the Future, and I was having this, you know, so back in Santa Barbara over the summer, they have an old beautiful theater called the. Called the Granada. And it's having its 100 year anniversary. And they want to remind people that, you know, movies are all. Back in the, you know, 20s and 30s. They used to run movies here. So they did a movie program, but they only wanted to use movies from people who. Filmmakers who lived in Santa Barbara. So they ran my movies and people who I knew who aren't in the movie business, who are, you know, in their 30s and 40s, they would come. They came up to me and said, oh my God, we took the kids to the Granada and we watched Back to the Future. And they said, and you know what? People were laughing and people were cheering and they would burst into applause at certain moments in the movie. And I was sitting there thinking, yep, that's why we use. That's what movies. That's what we did when we. That's what the reason we're going to the movie is.

[Bill Maher]

There's something about a communal experience that makes it better or not always, but it can. It definitely has that. I mean, concerts, I mean. Yeah, they're just things that people. There's some sort of like that we get from. Oh, I'm among all these other people who feel the same way about this as I do. Maybe it makes you feel not so alone in the world. Church is the same thing. We all think Jesus Christ is God. We all think that. It's just something comforting about that. I'm not in that group, but.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, I'm not in that group either. And by the way, I love your movie. You know I do.

[Bill Maher]

You know, I love.

[Robert Zemeckis]

You know, I love that movie.

[Bill Maher]

I know because you called me and I always appreciate it. I'm so glad you reminded me of that. Yes. When Religilist came out in 2008, you tracked me down and called me and it meant the world to me. I'm director of your stature.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, I'm so glad. I just love that you made that movie.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. Oh, I loved it too.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. And that's. And that's. But it's. It's about so much. But it's so entertaining, you know, that's.

[Bill Maher]

It's wildly entertaining. It's wildly entertaining. And I. You know, half the. The credit goes to Larry Charles, who directed it and did such a great job put it together. But, I mean, it was a labor of love. Even though I. Labor. I mean. Drapesing around the Middle East.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Of course, I wouldn't do it again.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, but you had to get all that. You had to get all that great stuff. But here's the thing, though. I mean, the art form, though, was designed. It was always supposed to be this communal thing, I think, because the idea of seeing. Well, you know what? Maybe I'm wrong.

[Bill Maher]

No flickers.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, those things.

[Bill Maher]

Those flickers were individuals started with those little machines. Absolutely. You.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Where you watch something.

[Bill Maher]

So.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, that was. You watched it in isolation. You were completely Right.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

So it just. Everything changes.

[Bill Maher]

But that didn't mean it was better. People then liked it better. Of course. Obviously, then we could sit down and watch it. And then. Silent Days. Wasn't there a guy in the theater playing the piano?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yep. During the Silent Days, that was a soundtrack. And then this thing started to happen, I guess, which is sound. Well, sound. And then, of course, then people were getting. I just remember. I just remember the first time that I was emotionally moved in a movie. And that was the moment when I said, I gotta do this.

[Bill Maher]

What was that moment?

[Robert Zemeckis]

It was Bonnie and Clyde.

[Bill Maher]

Bonnie and Clyde, Yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Okay, so there's a great scene in there where Gene Hackman was shot in the head and he's in this field and he's dying.

[Bill Maher]

I remember. Yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And I remember being a kid in. I guess I was freshman in high school. Or something. I don't know what I thinking. I feel real bad. Really bad. I feel so sad for this. And I went and I just. I remember having this clear thought thinking this is some strange power.

[Bill Maher]

The marketing gurus from Radioactive Media are back and bringing you another episode of Club Random. Thanks gurus. Just because the election is over and we've been promised that desks will be made of chocolate and gold will flow in the streets, that may not happen. So as a business owner, you need to kick some ass on your own and you can do that with Radioactive Media. Why not tap into the power of podcast and radio? My friends at Radioactive Media know the recipe to launch. Optimize and scale performance by building compelling audio campaigns at work. For advertisers who want to reach the right audience. Text them. Just text random to 511511. Start planning for 2025 now. Go to RadioactiveMedia.com or text the word random to 511511. Discover how audio marketing can surpass your current strategies with new and innovative ways that sound better. Go to RadioactiveMedia.com or text random to 511511 text random to 511-511 today message and data rates may apply. One of the greatest character builders that is things that suck is struggling with money. Sheesh. No one wants to think about debt. But the cold hard truth of it is many people will get deeper in debt during the holidays because they buy stupid shit. Last year, half of American consumers took on debt to pay for the holidays. That is stupid. This year it could be you. It's never too early to start planning to get out. And the people at PDS debt can help with a personalized solution just for you. If you're making payments every month on your debt and your balances aren't going down, PDS has solutions for you. Everyone with $10,000 or more in eligible debt qualifies. And there is no minimum credit score required. Bad and fair credit accepted. Save more while paying off your debt in a fraction of the time. Debt sucks. I remember. I do. So start planning today. Get a free debt analysis right now@pds debt.com random it only takes 30 seconds. That's pdsdbt.com random pds debt.com random I think this is.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I gotta, I gotta figure out. And that's when I started to learn that, oh wait, there's a director and then there's a writer and then there's. And this is. And it's not just, you know, cause I only went to movies to see special Effects.

[Bill Maher]

But, Bob, you know that the Clyde Barrow gang were not really good people, don't you?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, God, of course I do.

[Bill Maher]

Just fucking.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Of course you. I know you are. But, I mean, that was the experience of the movie. I mean, absolutely. No, they. I fell in love with these people. Cause they were just so.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, how could you not?

[Robert Zemeckis]

First of all, how could you not?

[Bill Maher]

Faye Dunaway was so cockerific in that movie.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Absolutely.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, she was super hot. When she. When they're in that diner and she's in this hot chick in a small town waiting for someone like him to show up. And she just wants to get out of there so bad. And she's got this curlicue of her hair by her ear that comes down a little sideburn, a little woman's sideburn. I thought it was kind of sexy, but he goes, change that.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And she immediately, like, puts down her hamburger and wipes off the grease off her hands with a napkin and does something with it. And it was just. I'm sure people will say, well, that's you, Bill Maher. You like to see women dominated.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, it wasn't.

[Bill Maher]

That was just hot.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And it was a great moment. It was a great moment.

[Bill Maher]

And sexy is not politically correct. And it never will be.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No.

[Bill Maher]

They are at loggerheads. You know, William Hurt throwing that chair through the window in Body Heat.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

By the way, that plot. I just saw this movie. I watched movies that I never heard of very often, like, scroll through the list to when I'm in the kitchen, you know, making food and things. I don't really have to pay attention that closely to, but I like, see everything. This one came on. I think the title, I could be wrong, was be careful what you wish for. I'd never heard of it. It's with the Jonas.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

One of the Jonas Nick, I guess.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

Who's fine.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

You know, again, proving my point. I've made many times acting, not that difficult. Lots of people could do it. Wrestlers, bodybuilders, Dogs do it. Children do it. I did it. It's just not. I said this to Sidney Pollock once. I interviewed him. And he was like, you have no idea how right you are. And he proved it because he was a fine actor.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. I worked with him. Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

On what he does.

[Robert Zemeckis]

What he does in Death Becomes Her. He plays the doctor that examines Meryl and realizes she's a zombie. And he is spectacular in it.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. Tootsie, Eyes Wide Shut. He just stepped in the Woody Allen movie.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Husbands and Wives, you know. And he looks, he just looks like he's doing it effortlessly. Like he. As the director for so long, he knows what the deal is. He's like, you know, don't over fucking think this. Just fucking hit your. Hit your mark and bark. You know, it's. It's not rocket science here. I mean, it is for some roles. Yeah. You know, if you're playing Sophie's Choice. Yes, it's a level of acting, but most of it is just. It's a version of you in a situation.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right. And knowing. I think the thing that I appreciate the most about the really great actors I've had a chance to work with is they understand the medium. They know how movies are made.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And that is critical.

[Bill Maher]

Where the camera is.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And when you talk about an actor like Tom Hanks and he's so generous as an actor because he knows this isn't my scene, you know, this is, this is. I'm. I'm here to just say this one line, Right. And that's what I'm supposed to do here and completely get it. And it's not like sometimes, sometimes you.

[Bill Maher]

Hit a sacrifice fly.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Absolutely.

[Bill Maher]

And it brings in the rug.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And you did your job, right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Absolutely.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, I'm sure a lot of who you choose to work with, especially as you get older and you have the esteemed. To be able to demand it is, you know, just the life is too short list. Life is too short to work with people who are assholes, who try your patience, who just a lot of lateral motion when we could be moving forward on something because of your issues or whatever. You know, the older you get. Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Life is too short. No, we all have that. Obviously I'm not going to mention anybody, but we all have the life is too short list. And, and it's that way in. It's that way in the whole, in the whole, the whole thing. It's like life is too short to work at this studio. Life is too short to work. It's like life is too short all the way down the line. You know, it's like you get to the point where you say no.

[Bill Maher]

And yet in that book I gave you in the chapter on show business, there's a good one about how. I mean, the point of it is, if people in Hollywood can work together when they absolutely despise each other, which has happened in a zillion movies, why can't government. Couldn't government be as efficient as the movie Chinatown where Roman Polanski and Faye Dunaway hated each other so much? That she once peed in a bottle and threw it in his face.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, I heard that story, but. No, no, no, but you're right, and you're right, and I don't know why that is.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, that never happened to Ted Cruz.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, maybe. Maybe the difference is that there's not a finished product. See, one of the things I love about movies is they end. See, I think. I mean. I mean.

[Bill Maher]

Well, good ones do.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. But I mean, my process ends, and we are. At some point, it's going to be a wrap and we're all going to go home.

[Bill Maher]

I've said this to many people, perhaps here before. Like, everyone has a great idea for a movie, and some of them are. Very few have the ending. The ending is the key. If you don't stick the landing, don't start down the road. And it looks like so many people. My mother used to say it. Like, she'd. How was that movie? She's like, yeah, it was okay, but he didn't know how to get out of it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, well, that's. Well, that's true.

[Bill Maher]

You have to know how to get out of it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, 100%, right? I mean, that's my mantra whenever I'm working with. Working with writers and kicking around ideas and things. It's like, Well, I. I'll say to. I'll say to writers that I'm. I'm working with. I said I can't write. I can't start writing this until I know what it. What. What the ending is. I don't even know if I don't know where the ending is.

[Bill Maher]

And the tone.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, the tone is a critical thing.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, the tone is, but you have to decide. But you also see people who, like, never really made a decision about the tone because it's more than one tone. Where. It's like, the tone of Back to the Future is one level. It's very different from, like I said, Castaway or even Forrest Gump. I mean, it just. There's a different tone. Like, are we taking this super seriously? No, we're not taking a DeLorean that time travels seriously. It's like, it's one of the. They used to say in comedy, buy the premise, buy the bit. Absolutely. And it's okay, you know, that's. We're on Here for the ride. We're not gonna. Anyone who picks it apart, like, picks the sides apart. It's like, you're just an asshole. Okay. No one really thinks this could. We're. It's. We bought the premise. No, you Bought your ticket. Go on the ride. Right. You know, it's a roller coaster. No, it's not real. If it was, you'd die.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And. And. And. And I guess that's one of the hard things about doing what I love. You know, audiences seem to have a hard time with black comedy. And I mean, dark comedy. Oh, no, no. You know what I mean. You know what I mean? Not, you know what I mean.

[Bill Maher]

You are canceled. I don't even know.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I'm on dark.

[Bill Maher]

No, no. You know what? We don't have to apologize for saying something that other people who are ignorant don't know what that means. Has nothing to do with race. Black comedy.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, no.

[Bill Maher]

Great black comedy is great social justice warriors out there. Black comedy means, like, Apocalypse now is a black comedy.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Dr. Strangelove.

[Bill Maher]

Yes. It's about a subject that is very dark and very serious, but we're still doing comedy about it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right. But it's always been a difficult tonal thing I found because I, you know, because I made a few movies that Death becomes her, by the way, which is, you know, wonderfully, is having a. It's caught up to its time in an interesting way where, you know, the tone that. That comedy tone with a dark theme like that is just hard. It's hard for audiences to. To tap in, you know, connect with.

[Bill Maher]

American audiences probably having a resurgence because there is a starvation for it now because they don't make those anymore because they don't trust the audience enough, partly because the audience is dumber, probably. But there's still a sizable number of people that keep proving it. Look at Oppenheimer. I mean, would you ever think a movie like that would have pulled in that kind of money at the box office? I wouldn't.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I wouldn't. No, I didn't.

[Bill Maher]

It's very encouraging.

[Robert Zemeckis]

It is. It really is that.

[Bill Maher]

It's very encouraging that the people are out there and if you just, you know, service them. But.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But, but. Well, yeah, there's whole. There's a whole shift going on.

[Bill Maher]

The Fablemans do.

[Robert Zemeckis]

What's that?

[Bill Maher]

The Fabelmans. How did that do?

[Robert Zemeckis]

I. I don't think it. I don't think it. I don't think it was as successful as every. As. As you would expect.

[Bill Maher]

But for, like, for him, like, not as successful is still, like. I mean, Lincoln was a sweet success.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, Lincoln was more successful.

[Bill Maher]

Very successful.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

You know, it's another one like Oppenheimer, like, if you really give it to them and make it wildly entertaining, they will eat the dog food.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I Completely agree. You know, I think we're in this strange world now of. Well, we'll see. I mean, I made this movie which flies in the face of everything that's going on. I mean, it's completely original, both in its style and its premise. And it's not a pre sold title, it's not a sequel.

[Bill Maher]

When is it out?

[Robert Zemeckis]

November 1st.

[Bill Maher]

Well, I want to see it. Not just because it's your name on it and there's a lot of credibility there. But I'm just so curious now. The way you describe it, it's like it kind of has to be seen.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, it has to be seen and it's going to be.

[Bill Maher]

Because I can't get well.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And it's going to be difficult. It's going to be difficult even after you see the movie. It's going to be difficult to describe what the actual story is. But that can be okay. That can be ok. You know what's interesting about Back to the Future, this is from back in the day. You remember Blockbuster? Of course you did.

[Bill Maher]

I lived across the street in West Hollywood.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Here's the. They never knew what shelf to put Back to the Future on.

[Bill Maher]

Really?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. They didn't know if it was science fiction shelf. Should it be a comedy shelf? Is it an adventure shelf? They didn't know where. They didn't know where to put Back to the Future.

[Bill Maher]

It's a comedy.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Isn't that interesting?

[Bill Maher]

It is, it's a comedy, but it's, you know, it uses as its fodder futuristic stuff. But again, it's not really in that category again because we don't really take seriously, you know, the science in it. Whereas in Contact, that is taken seriously. That's the whole point of it, is that it's serious. It's not that hard to. It's not that hard to stock the shelves at Blockbuster.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, and I got my greatest compliment from Carl Sagan when I was working on. He said Back to the Future is the best time travel. Best time travel, I guess he said. Scientific theory that I've ever seen in a movie and you know, I didn't tell him. Well, I, you know, I took it from H.G. wells, but. Yeah, right.

[Bill Maher]

But that's like this. If I was putting together a little film festival and Back to the Future was one night, I would feel like a great couple of companion movies would be Groundhog Day, which is also great and also fucks with time. Right. And did you ever see Pleasantville?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

So good.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon. And. Yeah, but it'd be a good.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, well, that'd be a good. That'd be a good, like, little movie retrospective thing to do.

[Bill Maher]

You know, I was just on. I was very proud to be on tcm, you know, the.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, I know, but.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, isn't that a tcm?

[Robert Zemeckis]

I think so, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

I'm.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, wait, the channel. The Movie Channel.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, it's part of Time Warner.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

And you know, they do these little interviews before the show. Maureen Dow just did Three Days of the Condor. I watched that.

[Robert Zemeckis]

That's a great movie.

[Bill Maher]

That's a great movie. And she did a great interview about it. And I did Reds with Ben Mankiewicz, who sat here. And that's one of my all time.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, I really like that movie. Yeah, that's good.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, I was able to recite word for word Jack Nicholson scene. And I thought they would use it, and they didn't. Where he's. Where he's. He goes to Diane Keaton, you know, and because she was this, you know, feminist from 1920, and he. He's like, jack leaves you alone a lot, doesn't he? It must hurt. Remember that? And she's like, he's got his things and I've got mine. And he goes, what are they? What are what? These things of yours. What are they? And then you go, well, he has my work and I know my work and I do my thing. And he's like, are you making this up as you go along? And I did the whole thing, but then I didn't. But it was still really good. And it is a great movie. And who knows? You're like. When you want advice from your peers, do you, like, show them stuff? I know some directors do that they will show, like, who's your kitchen cabinet that you say, am I on the right track here or don't you care?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, well, I have my, you know, I have Bob Gale, who wrote Back to the Future with me, and he's my long. And he'll tell me. I mean, he doesn't, you know, he doesn't blow any smoke. I mean, he'll say, yeah, you're in trouble with this movie. Yeah. So. Yeah. And it's. But, yeah. And then Alan, my composer, he's generally, generally when we do a rough cut, I do a rough cut. My editor. And it's not really a rough cut because I don't believe in rough cuts where I make the movie five hours long. So I never do anything like that.

[Bill Maher]

Good.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I've always. I always kind. I can't stand watching it. So I always, you know, cut it down to where I was. I want it. I do the best that I can. And that's what I call my rough cut. My very first cut. And I always bring Alan in, and I can just. I can just tell from his vibe what scenes are working, what scenes aren't. And it's just like. Just, you know, him and my editor, they're the ones that I'll feel first, but no other.

[Bill Maher]

Like directors. I know. You're close with Spielberg, aren't you?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, I know. I haven't. I haven't. I haven't brought Stephen in. I haven't brought Stephen in a rough cut in the rough cut thing. Not for any reason other than it's. It. It's. It's never been something where I think I've ever said, I really need somebody to tell me what to do here. Like, if I was in any. In any trouble. It's kind of like. It's sort of like when the movie is finished or in the rough. In the finish stage, it'll be like, okay, is this working? You know, and if there's anything you can suggest to do that I can help, you know, that can help it.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, I just remembered what I was talking about. The Jonas Brothers movie. I mean, the Jonas Brothers movie. It's. If it's not a direct remake, I guess it's just a ripoff. Like, they do it Double Indemnity, you remember from.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, I remember Double Indemnity. What movie is the Jonas part of this movie? Which one are you telling?

[Bill Maher]

I'm telling you. Oh, okay.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Okay.

[Bill Maher]

It's also Body Heat.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Okay.

[Bill Maher]

And it's. Now they've redone it again. Either they real. I guess they just take the plot and it's fine. And the plot is great. When Fred McMurray did it with. Who was in. Who was that? With Barbara Stanwyck. But it's a hot chick who's unhappily married, usually to some older guy who's mean to her, and she wants to fucking kill him. And she picks as an instrument of her vengeance, some young guy. And because she's hot, she gets him to either kill the husband because she loves him so much, and they're gonna go away together, and then after he does the deed, she's like, see? You wouldn't want to be. And she actually frames him because that's what you.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, for crime. Right.

[Bill Maher]

So I think that's so interesting that they've done that now through all these different generations. I Mean, that was exactly what Body Heat was. That was Double Indemnity. And somebody from the new generation saw those movies, and they're different. Oh, okay.

[Robert Zemeckis]

We can do that.

[Bill Maher]

We can do that. And why not? Because there's only so many stories.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. I mean, there aren't. Yeah. Somebody said that. I don't remember who said that. Somebody said there's only like, seven stories or something. I remember hearing that back in the day. I forget who said who said that, but. Yeah. And then Bob Galen. I always thought that every story, every movie story has always been in an episode of Leave it to Beaver.

[Bill Maher]

Really?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. I mean, really.

[Bill Maher]

Like what?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, like, you know, just, you know, whatever. Beaver's character arc has to be the lesson that he has to learn. The moral of the story. It's all there. You'll find an episode where it's there where his father has to do something or Gus the Fireman has to give him words of wisdom. And you'll find these little gems in there that are always sort of like premises that you'll find in most movie stories.

[Bill Maher]

I think that's actually more apropos for Andy Griffith show and that too, probably. Yeah, that. That was more. I mean, maybe I don't remember Beaver too well, but I do remember Andy Griffith when I was homesick as a kid. And they would. The reruns would be on, and there was always, like, a good lesson there. Like, one time Opie killed a bird with a slingshot and. And the baby birds were crying and crying, and Opie said, can you do something about that? And Andy was like, no, I'm going to let you listen to them cry for their mother. So, you know what you did? We could use a little more of that today.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly. And there was one episode where in the Beaver where the beaver got swindled by sending in a coupon from a box of cereal or something and had to learn the lesson of, you know, of understanding false advertising, all this great stuff.

[Bill Maher]

It blows my mind, the difference in life, just life in America. I don't know about other countries. I only lived in this one just from when I was alive, which is I was not really aware of life, but mid-50s. I was born in 1956. You were born in the 50s. I mean, that's where you go back to. And back to the future. 1955. Okay, so that world now from 1985, when you go back 30 years, it was recognizable but weird. But from 2024, kids today, who. That's like the Civil War era to them, right? Or if they even knew what that is. Or the revolutionary or cavemen times. It's just like it's alien and yet we spam the whole time.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right. I always have. I have a theory about why World War II movies have such longevity. Because this. It was a time. It was a time when obviously the whole world was at war and we knew who the good guys were and the bad guys were. And there was this incredible conflict going on. But the world was familiar. In other words, it wasn't like the Civil War or the Revolutionary War. The world was familiar. You know, you had telephones, you had cars, you had, you know, you had newspapers, you had movies, radios. So there was enough that was still going on where the modern audience can relate to the life that the people were in. And they could then say, oh, yeah, and they're in this tremendous conflict. I think that that's why there's so many of them keep getting made and why it's so powerful. That's my own theory.

[Bill Maher]

It's also because Nazi uniforms were sharp.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But the whole Nazi thing was so diabolical. It was so fantastic. It was dramatic.

[Bill Maher]

Of course, that's true too. But the uniforms. Oh, they were just awesome. Yeah, I mean, the cut. I mean, am I wrong? Can we have nuance in life? I mean, they were diabolic and evil, but yeah, the wardrobe was fantastic. Especially like the generals. I mean, those, those full length leather coats that. The lapels, the. And then the, the generals had the red stripe on the leg. I mean, it was all just very well thought out. Hugo Boss, I believe.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, I don't. Yeah, there's a. Yeah, I think I've heard that. But I don't know if it was him or his company or what the real.

[Bill Maher]

Well, there was.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I don't know what the real truth about that is. I've heard that though.

[Bill Maher]

Well, a number of companies that we still have today started out supplying the Mitsubishi, I believe in Japan. Made a few planes that flew into the decks of aircraft carriers. Certainly the Volkswagen.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yep. Baer Chemical.

[Bill Maher]

What? Bayer Chemical. What's that?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, the. Well, the Baer Chemical, the bare Chemical company.

[Bill Maher]

Bayer.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Bayer. What did I say? Bayer. Bayer Chemical. They built Bayer Aspirin. Yeah, they built the.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

The Bergen Belsen.

[Bill Maher]

And you know, they probably also. I'm just guessing here, so don't sue me, Nazis. I'm just guessing, but they may have made the speed that they gave to the German troops.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh yeah. Oh yeah, there's a book about that.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, yeah, that would be a great movie. Not that I Need to give you any ideas, but there's a book. You could take the book and make the book into a movie. And it's about how the Wehrmacht were. The soldiers were given speed, speed to go into battle. And like, how did they get to Paris in three days? That's how exactly it was like Paris, they would have been in the Atlantic Ocean if they didn't stop them. They just jacked them up. And that's. You could do an interesting thing through history because it's. There are. We gave our officers like before there was a push coffee. I don't think we gave them speed, but the Nazis were efficient like that. There are certainly tribes and more primitive peoples who would chew on certain plants that would give them cocaine, the coca plant or in Africa, something called ghat. I think it's K H A T. It's like their cocaine that you just chew on it. But Germany does.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I don't want to get in any trouble, but I think maybe. I think maybe we gave our guys certainly maybe some of our bomber crew maybe, you know, some amphetamines.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Doing those bombings.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, maybe. Right, right. There was amphetamines back then. I mean, certainly the Beatles took them in Hamburg.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right. Well, I allude. I allude to that in a scene I did in Allied where you said, you know, you were saying, take this before the mission, that after the mission. So I don't know it was true or not.

[Bill Maher]

Did you watch that series on. I think it was on Apple. I think it was. It was Hanks. Yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

The one about the masters of the sky.

[Bill Maher]

Masters of the Sky.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I thought it was. You know what I loved about that?

[Bill Maher]

So great.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I loved. There was so many little moments. I loved all the little minutia they put in there. Like the little things, like just when they're coming back from the mission, they're standing there with a tray of whiskey for everybody. I just thought that was like, great.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, they did Band of Brothers also, same tone. I mean, it's just like nobody does World War II. Like Spielberg.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No. And yeah. And that's one of his greatest movies.

[Bill Maher]

Private Ryan, my favorite movie of all time. And that's partly because it's personal. Because, I mean, the guy who plays Ryan, the movie opened with him as an older man, was exactly my father, who was in World War II, practically in that campaign. So when I saw it in the theater, I mean to say I was like a puddle. Was sure. You know, it was only about four years after my father died, and it was like, you know, I've never had that experience in a movie theater or. But, you know, he looked. Spielberg put him in, like, the exact sort of shirt my father would have worn in 19, whatever, when that movie was, you know, goes back in time, and then we see him as a kid, and. But, you know, that generation just is. I'm sure the kids are tired of hearing that they're the greatest generation, but they kind of were.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, fighting what Hitler and Tojo represented and how close they were to achieving it was not something people today can relate to. We're just not in that kind of dire situation where, yeah, they could have won for a while. They looked like they were winning.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, we were on the ropes.

[Robert Zemeckis]

There were some close calls. You read that. Read the history of that thing. There were some. There were some.

[Bill Maher]

Well, if Hitler hadn't been nuts, they would have done it, because, like, there's no people in the world as efficient as the Germans. And when you put efficiency in league with evil, it's not a good combination. They were very efficient at everything they did. But the guy at the top. This is their Achilles. The guy at the top was insane. So he thought he was invincible. If he had just not turned against Russia. I mean, they took Europe and North Africa all in a year.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And if he had invaded England instead of go to Moscow, it would have been.

[Bill Maher]

Instead of trying to do both at the same time, which was never going to work. We dodged the bullet with that one. But we were not really ready to fight a war. I mean, for four years, this country made no cars.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I know.

[Bill Maher]

They just shut down the car factories and said, no, you're making planes and tanks now. And nobody said, boo. I mean, that is just a different fucking universe. Yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And everybody did. Everybody did do their bit. Everybody just. Everybody just said, okay, we got to go. Everybody. We got to do this. Yeah, it really.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, that's. That's the spirit that Hanks and Spielberg are always after in those World War II things, and they. And that they do capture.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. That great scene in Private Ryan where Hanks goes, what's the. What's the pull on me now? What's the pull on me now? I'm a schoolteacher. All these guys just dropped their.

[Bill Maher]

You know, and the fact that he saved it for that moment.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

When he needed something to diffuse. I also loved in that movie. I mean, there was many firsts that they did. Like, they. Like the first Beat scene showing the true. What the true carnage of war looks like.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

That had not happened Before.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, I was. No, that was. Or just, you know, just thought, you know, the camera going up and down out of the water also.

[Bill Maher]

Until then, like, everything I'd ever seen about World War II. I was a huge combat fan. Remember the.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, God. I've seen every episode.

[Bill Maher]

Me too. Love them. All right. But all the movies, all the TV shows kind of presented it like, yeah, war is hell. But the thing you can count on is that when the superior officer says something, the other guys just do it. And Private Ryan said, it's not quite like that. No, it's not like that. In the field, it's a lot of, captain, we shouldn't do this. It's like, that's not how combat did it. It was like whatever Sergeant Saunders said, they just did. Exactly. And of course, under the heat of battle and, you know, and when they let the German guy go, which they didn't agree with, and then he comes back to kill the. I mean, it's just. It's the great. I always say Saving Private Ryan is simply the greatest combat episode ever. It is.

[Robert Zemeckis]

It's a combat episode. And that was what it was. It was. It was every. Every great moment in combat was in that movie. It's just fantastic. Yeah, it's really, really good.

[Bill Maher]

It's funny when. When the Cold War ended, we had World War II as the great enemies. There was all the great World War II movies, and then we had the Russians. And then in the 90s, people were just lost for an enemy. James Bond was fighting drug dealers. It just doesn't.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Come on. We didn't have anybody.

[Bill Maher]

James Bond doesn't fight drug deal. James Bond isn't the D.A. why don't you get him a fucking jacket with the letters on it? He fights crime in a text and fucks three hot chicks every movie. That's who J. By the way, in the last one, he dies.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

Talk about a generational change. James Bond dies. What? James Bond wins.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. In Back to the Future, we got a lot of pushback when we made the villains, the Libyan terrorists.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, right. You know, in a van.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Be in a van, you know, with rocket launcher.

[Bill Maher]

Yes. A grenade launcher.

[Robert Zemeckis]

A grenade launcher. But we, you know, and we would get these notes from the studio and say, we can't. Can it be the mob? I said, why would the mob want plutonium? You know, makes. It makes no sense. It's got to be a terrorist organization who wants to. Wants to build a bomb, you know, so.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

There you go. And, of course, that's almost 20 years before 9 11. So terrorism.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, it's longer than that. It was way longer.

[Bill Maher]

It was 85 to 2001. That's not 20 years. But that's 16.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah, that's 16. It's oh yeah. 16 years. You're right.

[Bill Maher]

So. But I mean, terrorism certainly was something people were aware of, but it just move to that completely different level. It was like something you put in a movie.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly, exactly.

[Bill Maher]

We're not really afraid of Libyans with rocket launchers, so we could put this in the movie. And I mean, at a certain point, they did start to bitch and moan when I say they. I mean, the usual suspects who were looking for something to bitch about whenever the terrorist was of any sort of Islam or Arab. And it's like, okay, but like, you know, then who did do 9 11? You know, we're not saying all Arabs or Muslims are terrorists. We're saying when that kind of shit happens, it has often been Iranians or Saudi Arabians. That's. There is just a battle going on.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yep, yep.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, don't get me started on the kids today in their protests.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, well, listen, I agree with you. Yeah. I say, anyone says, what do you think about any subject, Bob? I say, well, you know, just watch Bill Maher. Thank you.

[Bill Maher]

That is the right thing to say.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I agree with them about. I agree with them on all subjects, you know, but you're 100% right about that. Exactly.

[Bill Maher]

What is your ethnicity? What is your background?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Okay.

[Bill Maher]

You're not some sort of a Jew.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Okay, no, this is. I. No, no, no. I'm Lithuanian. My name is Lithuanian.

[Bill Maher]

Okay.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Okay. Now, my father's first generation Lithuanian. My mother was born in Italy.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, wow.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And the only time you're gonna get an Italian Lithuanian combo is gonna be in Chicago.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And I grew up on the far side, south side of Chicago.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, it's great. You don't have the accent.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I don't. Yeah. I don't think I have too much of one.

[Bill Maher]

You don't? Cause I always don't like it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I don't like that.

[Bill Maher]

Chicago, you mean?

[Robert Zemeckis]

I didn't say no, he's up on the roof.

[Bill Maher]

Roof is something.

[Robert Zemeckis]

He's up on the roof.

[Bill Maher]

No, it's more in dubears. You know, dubbears or. I mean, they just a certain. I'm so Chicago people. There was a certain accent that I just find grating. It's, you know, But I find the.

[Robert Zemeckis]

He's on a motorcycle.

[Bill Maher]

I can't understand a Guy Ritchie movie without subtitles. I'm like, Speak English, you fucks. Speak American, for Christ's sake. I don't know what you're talking about.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly.

[Bill Maher]

So.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, no, so I grew up in. And, and, and you know, and you know, had the. That's why I love Religio so much because I got a guy be, you know, go through the Catholic school thing.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, you. I was raised Catholic also.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And what was your experience? Loved it, I bet. Oh, isn't a joy.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I. I always think about, you know, I think that the. When I think about why do I have an image of death in every single movie I make? It's because that's what eight years of Catholic school will do to you.

[Bill Maher]

You know, come for the fear. Come for the fear, stay for the shitting in your past. I mean.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly. No, it was, it was. Yeah, it was scarring.

[Bill Maher]

Scarring is the exact word.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Not that I've been scarred for life, but I bet you I've been changed for life.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh yeah.

[Bill Maher]

How can you not when we're talking about something at such a formative age? An age where you are defenseless because you don't know anything. So you're just at the mercy of any sort of authority figure who tells you anything. So have they are scaring the shit out of you and filling your head with bullshit ideas. And that can't help but be scarring. I mean, sometimes people have accused me because I made religious and made a career of making fun of religion all the time. You know. Are you bitter? I'm like, yeah, I'm very bitter. So what?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Aren't you bitter about certain things?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, yeah, I mean I'm.

[Bill Maher]

If someone raped your mind when you were a child, wouldn't you be bitter about it? I was mind raped.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, I think it was the. I think it was the. It was the fear and the shame. The indoctrination of the fear and the shame. Which is. Which I think is the. I don't know, I guess it's the.

[Bill Maher]

Were you still a Catholic in your mind when you started masturbating?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh God, no. No, no. Well, I don't think, I'm not sure when I was ever. I don't think I was ever. Really. No, I didn't have any. I didn't have any hang ups like that. Thank God. But it was just the, you know that under that under like low grade headache thing of. You're unworthy because you exist. You know, the shame, the shame that, you know, there's nothing. There's nothing. There's nothing worse that you can do to someone than shame them, especially a kid. And that's the number one controlling thing of that cult, in my opinion, is you're a sinner because you exist.

[Bill Maher]

And you felt shamed because of specific sins you thought you were committing that you then were announcing in confession. Did you go?

[Robert Zemeckis]

No. It's a feeling of. It's just a feeling of not being. Not being. Just thinking that you're not measuring up. You're always falling short. You're always not.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah. Pleasing God.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Pleasing God or. Yeah, you're just. You're not measuring up. You're not getting across the finish line.

[Bill Maher]

So psychotic religion to like purposely create this being who you are always going to disappoint. Aren't you disappointing enough people in your real life? I mean, you've got your wife, you've got your family, you've got your kids. I mean, you're disappointing all of them all the time. Is there a need to create this one more person who you're constantly. Oh, I'm so sorry, God, I fucked up again. Please forgive me. You're the greatest. You're all merciful. Thank God. Because I'm such a shithead. And it's like. It's all in your head. Absolutely. These things that go on just in your head.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And it's just, you know, it's just completely, completely diabolical and all the rituals and I actually liked. I think I really, I was really. I really was. You know, like the drama of the violence and the, you know, the scourging of the pillar and, you know, you know, nailing on, nailing to the cross and all that stuff. I was kind of digging that, but, you know, it's just really endless, Endless, endless. You know, blood and death. Blood and death.

[Bill Maher]

You know, want to team up with Mel Gibson and make, Make a Christie movie. I mean, you know.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. I mean, there you go. I mean, that's that. I mean, that was, you know, can't.

[Bill Maher]

Deny him as a filmmaker.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, he was great. I gave him. I presented him his Academy Award.

[Bill Maher]

Good for you.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, I was there on the day when he won his role.

[Bill Maher]

Was this after he.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, no, this was for. This was after I won back in those days.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, Braveheart.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Braveheart, yeah, Back in the day.

[Bill Maher]

Well, he wasn't controversial.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No. That and, you know, but no.

[Bill Maher]

So, yeah, I think he's awesome.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I mean, Braveheart has got good stuff.

[Bill Maher]

In it, you know, like, I just have little patience with the perfect people in the world who, like. Has he said some really fucked up things? He has. But, you know. And is drinking an excuse? No, because drinking actually makes you more honest, so you can't use that as an excuse. Like, oh, I was drunk. I didn't know what I was saying. Yeah, exactly. You said what you. But, you know, I would love to just talk to him because I just don't think he's a bad guy.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I don't know him personally, but. Yeah, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And I think he could be. I think he understands where he went off. And also, he's got that super duper. Literally more Catholic than the Pope, Father. And we are all sort of like, at the mercy of who brung us into the world. That's the theme of the Godfather.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right, right. I think I was. I was.

[Bill Maher]

I really didn't want to be in the Mafia, but when my father needed me, I had to.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I had to. Yeah, I had to. I had to. I think I was lucky in that my parents weren't really, like, fanatical, you know, they weren't. But that thing about if the nuns were saying you did something and you didn't do it, the nun was right. It was that kind of thing. They held that power over the parents. Couldn't believe that the nuns would say something that wasn't something that obviously must be. They must be telling the truth.

[Bill Maher]

I remember going to confession. They started us going to confession. I remember making my first communion. That's the one you do at 7, and there's another one you do at 13, that's confirmation. I never quite got to that one. But at first communion, which was a lot of days after school, practicing for whatever. Practicing. You stood there for a minute while the priest, like, gave you, I don't know, confession. But that's when you started confession. And I had such anxiety because I was like, I'm seven. What fucking sin could I have committed? Yeah, I killed a hooker in Vegas, Your holiness.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, I always.

[Bill Maher]

Forgive me. So I would like you to make it up.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I remember, you know the difference between the mortal sin and the venial?

[Bill Maher]

Yes, of course.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Okay. The mortal sin and the venial sin. And, of course, the venial sin. If you died with a venial sin on your soul, you would go to purgatory. You have to work it off. Mortal sin, straight to hell.

[Bill Maher]

Straight down, straight to hell.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, no, no. Get out of jail, nothing. You go straight down. And I remember me. I remember this. And being in. This must have been the first grade, second grade, talking about stealing. Stealing money and how much, he says, or how much money. What's a venial sin. And what's the moral sin? And she broke it down. Anything under a dollar is a venial sin, and anything over is a mortal sin.

[Bill Maher]

Adjusted for inflation, of course.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, it was like folding money straight to hell. Loose change. You only went to purgatory.

[Bill Maher]

Did you used to put money in the basket when they came around with.

[Robert Zemeckis]

We had a thing. Oh, yeah, well, you did. On Sunday. I had to go to mass every single morning in the craziest.

[Bill Maher]

Every morning?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Every morning. Oh, you had it worse than reason in my Irish Catholic. But we used to do a thing where you had to buy pagan babies.

[Bill Maher]

What?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. So in other words, you would buy a pagan baby.

[Bill Maher]

Buy.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yes. The money was used to save them. And the missionaries would use the money to go. And you would go buy a pagan baby, like in Africa or something, and they would. And the point was, instead of buying your candy bar after lunch, you're supposed to, like, put the money in this.

[Bill Maher]

Thing to talk about colonizers. Huh?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Man, and I'll forget that. Paying to buy some pagan babies so we could convert them.

[Bill Maher]

I don't know what the.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But you know what? It wasn't that long ago. That's what I keep thinking.

[Bill Maher]

What I keep saying is, what's so amazing is like, I think it was Bill Gates who once said, if you look back over two years in your life, it's like, Jesus, nothing ever changes. But when you look back over 10, it's like it's a whole different world. And it's like in the country, too. It's like, how did we get so different from 1985? He's got that vest on in the beginning, the funny running gag that he. In 1955, they think he's a, you know, some sort of sailor, because that's who else. Also wear that vest that we wore.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, in the script, it says that he's wearing a light preserver, right?

[Bill Maher]

Life preserver. That's what it looked like to them.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

But here, now, in 2024, it also looks weird. But here's a funny. Because in that space of time in 1985, it was what people wore. It was not what they wear now or then.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But here's a question I have for you, because I think about this a lot. I'm thinking that there's been a. I think one of the things that is stagnated is the culture. Something. I don't know if it's because of the Internet or social media or technology just being the most dominant thing, but cars look the same. I mean, you know, I mean, pretty.

[Bill Maher]

Much music is the same.

[Robert Zemeckis]

If. If somebody went. Came back. If somebody walked in. If a kid walked in here from 1994, which is 20. 20 years ago, we wouldn't look twice at him. If he came through a time warp.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, it's 30.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Why 30 years. 30 years. Excuse my math. Yeah, but he wouldn't. He. We wouldn't look twice at him. And why is that, I wonder? I don't know. It's like, because.

[Bill Maher]

Well, I mean. I mean, there were things they were doing in 1994. Some of them they brought back, like those really ugly mom jeans.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

Everything bad comes back. Yeah. Maybe there's only so many things. There were so many ways you can wear clothes. Right. But, you know, I mean, in 1994. Yeah, there was a grunge look that I don't think we're doing massively now.

[Robert Zemeckis]

If you were.

[Bill Maher]

Yes, you know.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

The same.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But if you walk. But if. But if somebody walked in, you know, in this. In here from.

[Bill Maher]

Well, you're definitely right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

That blackboard jungle. If somebody walked in from the blackboard, you know, you'd go wrong. I know where you're from.

[Bill Maher]

Right. Very different. You are from the past.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

No, it's true. And music. I mean, rap certainly was a completely different music form that is obviously preeminent now. But like.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But that one's 25, 30 years ago.

[Bill Maher]

50 years ago, rap. 50, 50, yeah. Rap celebrated its 50th anniversary. Yeah. 1979, I, like, was the first rap hit. Cypress Hill, I think, or maybe.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Sugar Hill Gang, I think so. I mean, yeah, it's been. Definitely was around in the 80s. It grew and got better. Just like I always say, 80s rap is very much like 50s rock and roll. I don't like either. Like, it needed a decade to grow up. But the music I listened to as a kid in the late 60s, if you go back 25 years, was so different from what my father was listening to in the 40s, which is not the case with 1969 plus 25 years or 50 years. Except for Rapid, which is big, but like all other kinds of pop music. And there are songs that are put out now that could have been hits in 1969 or 79 or 89. Whereas the sound my father listened to, the big band sound, that was completely different.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Completely different. And I didn't have anything to do with that when I was a kid. I didn't listen to that. I learned.

[Bill Maher]

I. Oh, no.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I learned to appreciate that when I got older, but. And my father, you know, and my Uncle David, they hated him.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, I still don't appreciate it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, it's just not my kind of. I mean, Benny Goodman, I'm sure, was great, and Glenn Miller, but I would never listen to it. I know what it sounds like exactly. Maybe. I mean, Bette Midler did Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B, which was a World War II song, and she updated it. Great. And it made it like, made like a pop rock sound. But basically it's just. First of all, it's very clarinet driven. Okay. Well, that's not, to me, as good as electric guitars. That's just me. But, you know, that's what I grew up with. I mean, we're all products of what they put in our heads when we're helpless. Religion.

[Robert Zemeckis]

My kids, my younger kids, who are in their 20, early 20s now, they.

[Bill Maher]

Listen to my stuff, being mature.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, they love the rock. And it's not because of anything. I'll be in the car with them.

[Bill Maher]

That's because it's good.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly. And I'll say, why are you listening to that? Why are you listening to that? Led Zeppelin. Like, where did that. How did. How did you find that?

[Bill Maher]

And they go, yeah, because they have not improved upon it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, they've done other great stuff. I mean, there's great artists now, but they haven't quite improved on that and that particular sound. Yeah, but I mean, there are songs that come out now that I think, oh, that could be a hit in any decade. Those are my kind of songs. And I'm certainly not a music snob. I'm the opposite. Like, I just want to be entertained. I have no music ability, so I have no dog in this fight. Except entertain me. I don't care about important music.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yep.

[Bill Maher]

What a great way to have a shitty record collection. Let me get the most important songs.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

No, no, no.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yep.

[Bill Maher]

I'm just.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And when those. And you know, and then when the. And then, you know, when the Beatles.

[Bill Maher]

Arrived, it was like, how old were you in 64?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, it's like, I have to. I was 64. I was 12. 13, something like that, I think. Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Year were you born?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Wait, 51. So what was I?

[Bill Maher]

So you were 13.

[Robert Zemeckis]

13, yeah. And it was like life changing. Life changing.

[Bill Maher]

13 is like the exact age you'd want to be when the Beatles arrived. I mean, I was eight, so I was not really into music yet. And I just knew there was a hub up going on.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, when the Beatles showed up, it was like, you know, and then, you know, when the Beatles showed up, it was like, you know, okay, wait a minute. You know, it kind of like, you know, you know, gave you that feeling that it did for me anyway, that, you know, maybe I could do something.

[Bill Maher]

No. And I'm sure the kids, if anyone listening to this are like, okay, Boomer, the Beatles.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

And it's like what we said about some shit our parents were talking about. Like certain things you had to be there. And if you weren't, it just sounds like two old farts who were like getting all gaga about something that probably wasn't that great. But it was. But it wasn't completely unique in history either. I mean, there have been other pop phenomenons. I mean, Taylor Swift obviously now is on a level that we rarely see in show business. I had Nikki Glaser here.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I listened to that. Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, thank you. I believe.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And I'll listen to it. And then I'm going to take her advice and listen to Taylor Swift album that she recommended.

[Bill Maher]

Well, she recommended the movie because I'm.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Going to see that. The one on Disney.

[Bill Maher]

Okay. I'm halfway through it and. And I must report.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yes.

[Bill Maher]

My opinion has not changed.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Okay. Wow.

[Bill Maher]

I gave it a shot though. I mean, I don't. And I, as I always say, when Taylor Swift comes up, I have the greatest admiration simply for success. I also have great admiration for the way she conducts herself. You know, she does, she never misses a show. She's not late. She, you know, she's a class act.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

But I don't get the music. I really don't. I mean, Nikki was here and saying that. I said, I said, what is the key? And she's like, well, the music is just amazing musicianship and the lyrics. And I'm like, okay, great. I'm going to, I'm going to give this a shot now. Maybe the second half of the show will blow me away. I mean, it's three hours long. I don't watch anything, hardly anything in full increments. I watch things like I read a book. I don't read the whole book at once and especially something like this, but halfway through. But again, I mean, I'm looking at the audience and it's 20 year old women. I'm almost a 70 year old man. I mean, that is just apparently a bridge too far for this particular phenomenon. Other things we do share, but yeah, I just, you know, and they are certainly into it. And it also says maybe this is a great indication of the span of time and how much things change. I mean, Ray Kurzweil talks about the Singularity. That's his great book about when we will meld almost fully with machines. We're certainly halfway there. I mean, there are people who have artificial. Lots of stuff. And, you know, Elon Musk is working on people who can move things with their mind when they don't have the use of their arms and stuff like that. But to see everyone in the audience not watching the concert, but watching through the phone. They're watching their phone, not the thing that they are purposely putting a filter between something that they know must be filmed and they could see somewhere other than their own phone. That, to me, is a difference of kind. Not just a difference of degree, a difference of kind that my generation would never want to do. To purposely put this filter. And they're all doing it throughout the show, you see, whenever they cut to the audience, it's all fine.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But are they doing that so they can, like, zoom in, or are they recording it so they can keep it?

[Bill Maher]

I think both, but I think a lot of it is recording it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Which makes no sense. First of all, you have a mind. You can remember it, and sometimes that's better. And she's recording it. You can always see it. It's like. You ever see people at the. Where the Mona Lisa is. I mean, they're all taking pictures of the Mona Lisa. It's in the gift shop. You could get a beautiful 8 by 10 of it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly. Could hang it on your wall. Exactly. No, I know. No, it's odd, but isn't it about that thing that everyone just has in their hand now that they can just. Isn't that just like this thing where everything. We have to take pictures of everything I eat. I mean, people taking, you know, pictures of their food. I mean, oh, look at this presentation. I gotta.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, they actually stopped doing that more than they used to. But the point of, like, Nikki was saying it when she was here. Like, she sometimes feels if some event in her life has passed without her recording it, that she missed an opportunity, which is a mindset I can't even get into. I mean, I understand it. And I think the people who are even younger than her because she's, you know, late 30s, the kids who are, like, you know, 18 or 15, they don't even have this quandary. They know you always record it. I remember.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I think Bill Gates did an experiment once where he had somebody walk around with a. It wasn't an. I'll use iPhone because. But it wasn't invented yet, but like a device that every minute took a picture. So where it was. So wherever this guy went, his whole life, so his whole memory was put in a. Was kept. And the reason thought the theory behind that is so we don't. So we can use our brain for other things. So we don't have to. We don't have to have wasted mental space for our memories because we can always go back into this database and see where was I on this day. Let me just scroll over here.

[Bill Maher]

And then that is what we're moving toward.

[Robert Zemeckis]

It is, isn't it? Kind of.

[Bill Maher]

Well, the cloud is kind of that.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

I don't want to be divorced from my brain.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, but I mean, but it is interesting when I've got one of those, I've got one of those digital photo things on my desk loaded with all the digital pictures from all my kids and everything. And you know, it'll thing. Some of it'll pop up and you go, oh, I remember that. I don't know, it's kind of like a thing scrolling by, you know. But I wouldn't have just remembered it.

[Bill Maher]

But I mean, I assume as AI becomes more prevalent and everyone has it on their phone and every use, everyone uses it more for more things. I assume it will slowly be doing this, just taking over different parts of our brain. I mean, isn't that what AI is ultimately is a colonizer of our brain?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Probably, I think it is.

[Bill Maher]

And we're inviting it in and we're not really interested in putting the brakes on because now it's a race not only between different countries, like us in China to have the upper hand, but also between companies to make the most money. Of course, I mean, you see, even the people who started out as. We don't want to be in the profit business with this. Wait, what did I say? What I meant was we want to be in the profit business. I mean, come on, this is America, we make profits. So yeah, I kind of agree with you.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But isn't all technology a trade off ultimately?

[Bill Maher]

Totally, absolutely.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And isn't it always feared when it first shows up?

[Bill Maher]

Always that it is feared. That doesn't mean this time couldn't be the one.

[Robert Zemeckis]

It could be the one. But this is the thing that could cure cancer.

[Bill Maher]

Exactly. I don't even give a shit if they become a robot overlords because I mean the odds are I will certainly be dead within 30 years.

[Robert Zemeckis]

That's true. We gotta think about that.

[Bill Maher]

Unless AI stops that comes in and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeers his way into my heart by saving us at the last minute with his glowy nose. Because that is definitely possible. I mean, AI in 30 years could keep people alive forever. Now the next question is, do we want to be alive forever?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, there you go. That's the big. That is.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, if I can be alive like I am now. Yes.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. But then, you know, then the thing. Of course, because I did. I made a movie about that, which was, you know, death becomes her.

[Bill Maher]

Which is.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Which is. Well, you want to sit around and watch everybody, you know, die.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I mean, or maybe. Well, but then if nobody dies, then what? That's a whole nother. You know, that could be a really interesting movie. Yeah. I mean, do we want to sit around and have conversations like this for, like, the next 100 years and never stop?

[Bill Maher]

I could sit around and do this, which is. I mean, it's one reason why I love starting this podcast. This is what I would be doing anyway, probably on a Wednesday night, taking a little break from my work week, my real job. But now I get to do it with you. Or, you know, Cheech and Chong were here last week.

[Robert Zemeckis]

That's. Oh, really?

[Bill Maher]

Yes. I mean, every. People come to see me like this. It's just. It's. How could I ask for anything more in life? I mean, to sit here and just be able to. And you haven't had even a drink.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I have some water.

[Bill Maher]

You don't drink?

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, I did back in the day, but I don't drink anymore.

[Bill Maher]

A lot.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Enough that it got to the point where I needed to stop. Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Like flight.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah. No, yeah. No, that. That, I.

[Bill Maher]

That's an awesome one. Really? That's a great one. That was a great.

[Robert Zemeckis]

That was a great performance.

[Bill Maher]

Yes. Again, John Huston.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, no, exactly.

[Bill Maher]

But it's also like. Is he the best one to do that? Probably. But, you know, it's not like no one else could have done that part. It's a great idea.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, it's a great idea. Beautiful screenplay.

[Bill Maher]

Yes. So good.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Who wrote that? You?

[Robert Zemeckis]

No, John Gatens wrote that.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, so good. I mean, again, totally stuck the landing. You know, the great end. I mean, again, you gotta have a great ending. And him at the first of all, with the hotel room door and the fucking minibar. Do you know how many minibars I've been in?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, I've been on the road my whole life. Minibar that rang true to me. Not that I've ever fished through the whole bar and gotten shit face drunk in a hotel room. But I get it. And then, you know, the switch at the end and flying the plane upside down and he just a bat. I mean, I said this to somebody who was here recently. He is my all time favorite. Like Denzel, as far as I think. I mean, I like a lot of people, but he just knocks it out of the park every time.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, he shows up with the goods. He.

[Bill Maher]

He really does.

[Robert Zemeckis]

He really does. I mean, I mean, I mean, he shows up and he's. And he's ready to. He's ready.

[Bill Maher]

Oh, you can tell.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Oh, yeah. I mean, just absolute joy to work with.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah, he looks like no nonsense, but still.

[Robert Zemeckis]

He's not warm and fuzzy. He's not warm and fuzzy. No, no, no. And he explains it to the crew.

[Bill Maher]

Yeah.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And he'll sit there and say, look, you guys have to understand something.

[Bill Maher]

Either am I, you know.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Well, yeah.

[Bill Maher]

He says you don't have to be.

[Robert Zemeckis]

He says, you guys set up the shot, right. And now you want to let your hair down and relax.

[Bill Maher]

Right?

[Robert Zemeckis]

Now it's. Now I gotta come out and I gotta like do it.

[Bill Maher]

Yes.

[Robert Zemeckis]

So I don't have time to make small talk with you.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, that's not what makes a good boss. I think I've always been a pretty good boss at my shop. And I'm not the pat everybody on the back and learn everyone's name and all the things, you know, that people do. Ask about your wife. But I'm also not mean and I don't yell and I don't, you know, I think people appreciate it when the boss just isn't in your life at all.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I think you're right about that. I mean, it's not like you have to like, know what everybody's personal life is.

[Bill Maher]

You need your little kitchen cabinet.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Who you. And then everybody else just do their job. And I'm respectful. But you know. Yeah, we. I can't be.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But I don't have a problem coming in and saying good morning to everybody. I do that. Of course not. It's like I don't want to, you know, come in and say, why is that cable over there? Right. You know, I don't, you know, try not to do that.

[Bill Maher]

Right.

[Robert Zemeckis]

No.

[Bill Maher]

I mean, you hear lots of horror stories about sets and I mean, there's hardly ever a movie set. You hear about where there wasn't some. And I've been on some. Back in the 80s when I did acting, it wasn't uncommon that there is some blow up. I Mean, there's just a lot of tension. You're mixing dangerous chemicals. People are just fucking tense.

[Robert Zemeckis]

And it's a lot of money, and you're always under the clock, and you're actually doing pretty insane things. I mean, you're always making it rain when it's sunny. You're making it night when it's day. And it's like. It's just. It's.

[Bill Maher]

And the actors are on this, you know, hairpin because their instrument is having, you know, spilke going around in their gut. That's what their fuel is, right? So they're on this kind of, like, edge anyway. So, like, one guy who crosses and gets in your eye line when you're trying to concentrate. And it's like, can everybody fucking? You know.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

That is not uncommon if people want to be in show business. No, that's going to happen a lot.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah, and it does happen. And you got to be respectful, you know, because they're under a lot of stress and they have to do it. And then, by the way, it's like now, you know, when you walk into a set situation like that and, you know, because, you know, even though no one says it and you're going, I know that they gotta get out of here in 30 minutes, you know, and you can just see it in a director's face that, you know, he's gonna like, I can't go over. I can't come back here another day. They're gonna fire me. All that stuff that goes on in your brain. And the poor actor's got to step on his mark and just do a great performance. And I got no time. You know, it's just. It's a horrible situation to be in. But we do it for whatever reason.

[Bill Maher]

No, I mean, movies. I've always said it. Movie stars, people who make movies, directors, all you guys earn. I mean, they're paid a lot and they deserve a lot. It's really grueling.

[Robert Zemeckis]

The hardest time for me is when you're doing a movie and, well, this is why I say, this is why they pay me the big bucks is when you're doing a movie and you hire a really solid actor who's a day player and he's one of the first people you cast. And then you go off for six weeks and you're in with the key cast and you're in a groove and everybody's in a rhythm and everything. And this guy's been working on his scene for six weeks all by himself. And it's kind of come On. Come on in. And action. And he's in a different movie. He's in a completely different movie, right? And then, and then 100 people turn and look at me, right? The whole crew, because the crew. And everybody goes, this isn't the movie we're making.

[Bill Maher]

It's so interesting.

[Robert Zemeckis]

This isn't the movie we're making. And the guy just was doing his best. He was doing his best, but he wasn't in with the. Wasn't with Tony. And then I've got to go and I've got to then fix it. Right? And then you gotta like, okay. And that's where. That's the toughest part.

[Bill Maher]

Is there an example of that?

[Robert Zemeckis]

I can't give, I can't get. There's a few, but I can't, I can't. But there's a few. But there's.

[Bill Maher]

But sometimes there are actors in movies who are at such different levels that they're almost in two different movies sometimes. Yeah, they're just, you know, and it's obvious. I mean, it's just like two people in a band playing different.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Yeah. And that's really rough. When I don't think I've had that.

[Bill Maher]

That doesn't happen. And no, I don't think I've had that.

[Robert Zemeckis]

But I've been. You can see it in movies. I can see it in movies and really good movies. And you sit there and you say, I think that those are really interesting choices that actresses make.

[Bill Maher]

It's an age thing.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Think so?

[Bill Maher]

I know so, like, actors just, like people generally get better, smarter, wiser. They've seen the pattern go around before. So actors who are like in their 50s, 60s, they're great. Like, they just, they just, it just. And when you're in their 20s, they're doing the best they can, but they're just not on that level. Just like you're not in life. I wasn't, you know.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Right.

[Bill Maher]

I was an idiot in my 20s. I mean, you know, just as far as maturity level. And it shows. So if there's a guy who's 25 and he's in a scene with a guy who's 60, they're kind of in a different movie.

[Robert Zemeckis]

I would say that's the toughest. The toughest to work with is the 20 year old actor. Of course that's the toughest because, you know, they're, they're just. Yeah, they're just 20 years old, you know, and there's a lot of pressure on them. There's a lot of. And even when they're And. But then again, then there was somebody I was working with, Michael J. And he was only 20, and he was just great. And that whole cast I had in that movie, they were all great, but they're the ones that are. They're the ones that are tough. I have a funny story I could tell you. Like when I was. I just remember I was listening to a Jack Warden on. I was fortunate enough to work with him on my second movie, Used Cars. And he gathered all the young actors and he was telling them, he said, you know, I was listening to this, eavesdropping on this story. He said, you know, when I was. I always thought when I was starting out that the best way to get more screen time is to slow my performance down. Right.

[Bill Maher]

Who said this? Jack Warden.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Jack Warden. He said, that's what. And I. So I was doing. And then I went to the movie that I was in and I was cut out. I wasn't in it. Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Cause you're.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Now I just say everything's so fast that they can't get the scissors in there. Isn't that funny? Because that's what you're always saying to the novice actor. Pick it up. Pick it up. Take the air out. Take the air out.

[Bill Maher]

Right. Just get on with it. Just entertain us.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Exactly.

[Bill Maher]

Well, you have entertained me so many.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Times and I am a giant fan.

[Bill Maher]

I know, I appreciate that. But you are Hollywood royalty for a reason, and it meant a lot to me. It would come by my crazy little rats has been a.

[Robert Zemeckis]

This has been a. An absolute joy. It's been great. Yeah.

[Bill Maher]

Don't be a stranger. I will keep making movies. Thank you.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Thank you so much. Thank you.

[Bill Maher]

Really appreciate it.

[Robert Zemeckis]

Thank you. It's fun. It's really fun. Like I said, I had never done one of these before, so I, you know, I've done the. I've done the, you know, junket where you just keep getting same question asked over and over and over again.

[Bill Maher]

If you're into growing your business, your commerce platform better be ready to sell whatever your customers are scrolling or strolling. Businesses that sell more sell on Shopify. Upgrade your business and get the same checkout that Skims uses. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com random. All lowercase go to shopify.com random to upgrade your selling today. Shopify. Com random.