DJ Qualls

Summary

Podcast Summary: Joy, Episode Featuring DJ Qualls

Introduction

In the October 15, 2024 episode of "Joy," hosted by Craig Ferguson, listeners are treated to an engaging and heartfelt conversation between Savannah Guthrie and actor DJ Qualls. The episode delves deep into themes of personal growth, navigating the complexities of the entertainment industry, and the quest for genuine happiness in an ever-evolving world.

Reconnecting After a Decade

The episode kicks off with Savannah Guthrie reconnecting with DJ Qualls after approximately ten years [03:06]. Both express joy and nostalgia about rekindling their friendship, reminiscing about past interactions and the ways they've changed over the years.

Notable Quote:

• DJ Qualls [03:24]: "I am so happy to see you. I can tell you I'm here. This is great and very happy for me."

Navigating Hollywood and Personal Identity

Savannah opens up about her struggles within Hollywood, particularly focusing on her journey of coming out and how it affected her career and personal life [03:36]. She candidly discusses the emotional challenges of maintaining her identity in an industry that often demands conformity.

Notable Quote:

• Savannah Guthrie [04:20]: "I thought about you during this when you were like, what's the goal of this? To come and be miserable? Like a lot of people in this industry are. And I'm like, I don't."

The Changing Nature of the Entertainment Industry

Both Savannah and DJ lament the shift in Hollywood dynamics, noting a decline in creative integrity and an increase in profit-driven decisions [09:02]. They express concern over the lack of passionate executives and the prevalence of soulless productions that prioritize financial gains over artistic expression.

Notable Quote:

• DJ Qualls [09:02]: "There's a lot less of them in the mix now. And I think it shows on what work is around and what is getting made as well."

Success, Validation, and Personal Growth

The conversation delves into the complexities of achieving success and the subsequent need for external validation. Savannah reflects on how her self-worth became intertwined with industry recognition, leading to internal conflicts and a desire to distance herself from her past persona [10:12]. DJ shares his experiences of setting personal boundaries, emphasizing the importance of staying true to oneself despite external pressures.

Notable Quotes:

• Savannah Guthrie [10:12]: "I get really nostalgic and overly connected to things. And I think what I was really dragging behind me was this childhood idea of what Hollywood would be like and people loving me."
• DJ Qualls [06:02]: "I'm not going to create a power dynamic which allows you to treat me like that. It’s not going to happen."

Media Influence and Public Perception

Savannah and DJ discuss the impact of media on personal and public perceptions. Savannah shares her frustrations with how public image can be manipulated and how the rise of social media has intensified scrutiny and judgment [22:15]. DJ offers his perspective on handling negative publicity, advocating for a balanced approach that acknowledges criticism without letting it dictate personal happiness.

Notable Quotes:

• Savannah Guthrie [22:15]: "I knew that I was gay since I was 19 years old. And they're only related in the fact that when I realized that I’d been giving my life to something that couldn't love me back..."
• DJ Qualls [24:29]: "It's only dangerous if you take it seriously. If you don't take it seriously, it's not really there."

Art, Hobbies, and Therapeutic Pursuits

Shifting the focus, Savannah shares her passion for art collection as a therapeutic escape from the pressures of Hollywood [33:10]. She explains how building an art collection provides her with personal fulfillment and a sense of control outside of her professional life. DJ relates by discussing his own art collection, highlighting how art serves as a source of joy and introspection for him [41:14].

Notable Quotes:

• Savannah Guthrie [43:59]: "I love making things. I form a production company. We've finished production on our first movie and we've done it ethically."
• DJ Qualls [53:38]: "It's hard to explain, and it sounds fanciful, but it's so riveted as a thing to sit next to. I fucking love it."

Personal Stories and Emotional Release

Throughout the episode, both Savannah and DJ share personal anecdotes that illustrate their emotional journeys. Savannah recounts pivotal moments that led to her emotional release and newfound sense of self [28:27], while DJ discusses letting go of past resentments and embracing forgiveness as a path to personal freedom [30:30].

Notable Quotes:

• Savannah Guthrie [28:27]: "I feel so light I could float out of that shower and I don't feel it anymore."
• DJ Qualls [30:30]: "I don't want any revenge. I forgive you, you son of a..."

Balancing Professional and Personal Life

The conversation also touches upon balancing professional responsibilities with personal well-being. Savannah discusses her production company's ethical approach and her family’s support in her creative endeavors [43:59]. DJ emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balance between work and personal interests to sustain joy and prevent burnout [55:07].

Notable Quotes:

• Savannah Guthrie [43:59]: "We are not doing first dollar splits. Like, we want to be ethical and make things that we want to make the way that we want to make them."
• DJ Qualls [55:07]: "My wife and kids got it for me as a present. They knew I loved it..."

Conclusion and Future Directions

As the episode wraps up, both Savannah and DJ express a desire to continue nurturing their personal connections and pursuing passions that bring them genuine joy. They emphasize the importance of staying true to oneself and finding happiness outside the constraints of public and professional expectations.

Notable Quote:

• Savannah Guthrie [55:28]: "I would love that."

Notable Quotes with Timestamps

1. DJ Qualls [03:24]: "I am so happy to see you. I can tell you I'm here. This is great and very happy for me."
2. Savannah Guthrie [04:20]: "I thought about you during this when you were like, what's the goal of this? To come and be miserable? Like a lot of people in this industry are. And I'm like, I don't."
3. DJ Qualls [09:02]: "There's a lot less of them in the mix now. And I think it shows on what work is around and what is getting made as well."
4. Savannah Guthrie [10:12]: "I get really nostalgic and overly connected to things. And I think what I was really dragging behind me was this childhood idea of what Hollywood would be like and people loving me."
5. DJ Qualls [24:29]: "It's only dangerous if you take it seriously. If you don't take it seriously, it's not really there."
6. Savannah Guthrie [28:27]: "I feel so light I could float out of that shower and I don't feel it anymore."
7. DJ Qualls [30:30]: "I don't want any revenge. I forgive you, you son of a..."
8. Savannah Guthrie [43:59]: "I love making things. I form a production company. We've finished production on our first movie and we've done it ethically."
9. DJ Qualls [53:38]: "It's hard to explain, and it sounds fanciful, but it's so riveted as a thing to sit next to. I fucking love it."

Insights and Conclusions

This episode of "Joy" offers a profound exploration of the intersection between personal identity and professional life within the high-pressure environment of Hollywood. Savannah Guthrie and DJ Qualls provide valuable insights into the importance of self-awareness, the courage to set personal boundaries, and the pursuit of passions that foster genuine happiness. Their candid dialogue serves as an inspiration for listeners to seek authentic joy amidst the chaos and expectations of modern life.

Transcript

[Craig Ferguson]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan Partisan. It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe Margarita?

[DJ Qualls]

I'm thirsty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch.

[Craig Ferguson]

I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow.

[DJ Qualls]

Beginning to feel more seasonal in here already.

[Craig Ferguson]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[DJ Qualls]

Tis the season to be jollier. Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartesian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay. It's better over here. Now. AT T Mobile get four 5G phones on us and four lines for $25 a line per month when you switch with eligible trade ins. All on America's largest 5G network.

[Savannah Guthrie]

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[DJ Qualls]

Credits for well qualified customers.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Contact us before canceling entire account to continue bill credits or credit stop and B required finance agreement due bill credits end if you pay off devices early. CT mobile.com hi everyone, it's Savannah Guthrie and Hoda caught me from the Today show. Nobody does the holidays like today. From festive performances and great gift ideas to tips for the perfect holiday feast, join us every morning on NBC and make today your home for the holidays.

[DJ Qualls]

The Craig Ferguson Pants on Fire Tour is on sale now. It's a new show, it's new material, but I'm afraid it's still only me, Craig Ferguson on my own, standing on a stage telling comedy words. Come and see me. Buy tickets, bring your loved ones or don't come and see me. Don't buy tickets and don't bring your loved ones. I'm not your dad. You come or don't come, but you should at least know it's happening. And it is. The tour kicks off late September and goes through the end of the year and beyond. Tickets are available at the Craig Ferguson Show.com Tour. They're available at the craigfergusonshow.com Tour or at your local outlet in your region. My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of this podcast is Joy. I talk to interesting people about what brings them happiness. When I was doing late night television, one of my favorite guests was a gentleman. He was a kid at the time. His name was DJ Qualls. His name is still DJ Qualls. He's not a kid anymore. He's grown up to be one of the most important, impressive, lovely man I've talked to in a while. Please enjoy this.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Hello.

[DJ Qualls]

Hello.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Hey, dude, how are you?

[DJ Qualls]

I am so happy to see you. I can tell you I'm here. This is great. It's very happy for me. I haven't talked, you know, I was just trying to figure out. I haven't talked to you properly, I think, in about 10 years.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's been 10 years since I saw you. Oh my God, you were lovely. When I came out in 2000, 2020 messaged me and we chatted, but I haven't seen you in forever.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, I remember that. It was funny. I remember because you were like, you were taking a little hate for becoming for coming out. I'm like, what is this, 1960s or something? That's great.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That's the thing. The thing is, it's not surprising though, because I, you know, I'm from the South. I understand, I understand the world. But it also was a point in my life where none of that felt like anything. It just, after a while, you're like, it doesn't matter to me. None of this really matters. And a lot of that spilled over into how I feel about my career, my relationship to Hollywood. Like, it really was this time in my life. And I'm like, I think a lot of this is the source of my unhappiness and I don't want to do this anymore.

[DJ Qualls]

I did that same thing. Same for me. Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I thought about you during this when you were like, what's the goal of this? To come and be miserable? Like a lot of people in this industry are. And I'm like, I don't. But the thing is, I'm not good with transitions. Like, change is hard for me. Like, I still have a Hotmail account. And so it's very hard for me. Like, I now have. I replaced my 22 year old car this last week because it was dying and, but. And now I have a car that I'm afraid of. Like, it's. There are no buttons on it. It's all computer screen, but it's really. It's not. It's the change of things. Like, I get really nostalgic and overly connected to things. And I think what I was really dragging behind me was this childhood idea of what Hollywood would be like and people loving me. And you get addicted to that. Until one day I realized I was like, the people making these choices, whether or not to validate me or fulfill my dreams or really provide me with what I was attaching my self worth to was were NBAs from Harvard. Like, these people think they're creatives. And then I really started seeing these. And here's the thing. It's not that I'm never going to do this again. I'm still doing it, but I don't have the same emotional connection to it. I show up every day like it's my opus and I'm still doing it. But I don't care if you don't want me to do your project. And I'm not going to jump through a thousand hoops for you because I've proven myself right.

[DJ Qualls]

I go, I was talking to Tom Lennon about this really recently because I got asked to do a chemistry read on some kind of thing that Hulu were making. And I'm like, no. What do you mean, no? He said, it's not a chemistry read. You want to audition me? It's a power play. I'm not doing it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That's right.

[DJ Qualls]

And they said, well, if you don't. If you don't do the chemistry read, they're not going to offer you the part. And I'm like, okay, that's. You don't have to offer me the part. I'll be all right. You'll be all right. Your show will be great. I'm just not. I'm not going to do that for you. I'm not going to create a power dynamic which allows you to treat me like that. It's. No, it's not going to happen. No. And I get that sometimes you have to do that. And there's a lot of people who would do a chemistry read, but Tom, in fact.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And that'd be good for them.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, fine. But you have to do what's right for you. I really do. I mean, I feel that as well. I remember talking to you back in the day, and we would talk backstage a little bit, too, and we didn't talk anything about you coming out. I don't remember having any conversations about you worrying about coming out. But we talked about unhappiness and about squirming in Hollywood and not quite knowing how to make it. Because, look, I don't come from show business people either. I don't come from that world. And I had an idea about it too. The. When you see behind the curtain, it's a little different.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It is. And then you realize that there. There are aspects. Here's the thing. It's given me so much. Like, I've been all over the world, and being famous is fucking awesome. I love it because people are happy that you're there. What a great gift to you. And so, so many beautiful things. But the thing is, after you play it for a while, the person who doesn't get absorbed by it or into it for me, knows when to get the hell out. And not doing this anymore and getting myself worth caught up in it. And that was a big thing to me. And so by the time I worked around the coming out, like, I worked so easily for almost 20 years. And then it got hard. All of a sudden. Things that I would be offered, I was asking to read for. And I'm like, well, I'm not doing that because I've already done that. But then it.

[DJ Qualls]

It's.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And then I looked around and realized that I was not in a relationship. I don't know many people because I just moved back from Canada. I'd been shooting. I was on man in the High Castle there. And LA is so transient. And this is where I live. I was like, I don't know anybody. And. And I'm like, so I've given away all of that. And yes, I've gotten so much from it, but the fundamentals, like, they're not gonna. They're not gonna be here. I'm clearly not gonna be here when I need them or. It's so easy for the system to turn its back on you. And so I was like, well, I want to build something for myself. And I started. When I started thinking like that, it. The shock of not being chosen wore off pretty quick.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But then I started seeing little insidious things. Like, I was up for a job. Guillermo del Toro did this Netflix thing, this cabinet of curiosities, and he told them to offer it to me, and they asked me to read for it, and I said no. But they did it to get me cheaper, to make me think there was a bunch of other people in the mix. That is so gross.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, but. But, you know, a lot of stuff now is difficult. Look, things change. I don't know if it's better or worse, but there was A time, I think, in Hollywood where not these executives have always been there. There's always been the soulless money people, executives, but. But smattered amongst them were executives who really cared, who really. People that loved it, really gave a shit about it and really wanted to be involved and wanted to make good stuff and really gave. They would never use the word product about what they were making. They would. And. And I think they probably still exist, but there's a lot less of them in the mix now. And I think it shows on what work is around and what. And what is getting made as well. I mean, even just as a consumer of entertainment, I'm like, we got. I got 500 channels of fuck you.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You know, I mean, people can feel it. People can really feel it because I am a fan first and foremost. Like, I love the magic of this, and I don't find a lot of magic anymore. And I don't think it's because I'm so jaded, because I work very hard to still have clear eyes about things.

[DJ Qualls]

I think I once worked with a cinematographer called John de Borman. He's a great cinematographer. And we were taking a shot on a film that we were doing, and we got this shot. It was like. It was a bit of a kind of like running into the ocean thing. And it was okay. It was an okay shot. And it. And it was getting the. Late in the day, and everyone was a bit worried about time. And I said, did we get it, John? And he said, yeah, we got it. It's okay. And I went, what do you think? And he went, it's okay. He said, but is okay? I said, will anybody notice? He said, well, we'll know. It's only we could have done better. And he felt, and I feel this, too, that if you don't do your. I mean, you can get away with it. You can make fucking Emily in Paris and everybody will be fine. But it's awful. It's awful. It's soulless. And you should find a way to. You don't have to make Pride and Prejudice again, but somebody can write something.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But what makes it worse is when you beat your brains out begging people for the right to make okay. And that's when I was like, what am I doing doing? Like, I was in Hustle and Flow. Like, I've gotten to do so many amazing things, and they came easily because I was trusted. And I was trusted by other artists. And so then I started. I mean, it was. It. This took two years. It took two years of grieving Sort of like not knowing I was grieving because my life had. Was changing. How I identified was not there anymore.

[DJ Qualls]

Did you ever think you were straight?

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, no, no, no, no, I never. That.

[DJ Qualls]

Right. So you weren't really. I mean, you knew. You knew who you were, right? I mean, it wasn't like you were.

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, here's. But here's. I knew that I was gay since I was 19 years old. And they're only related in the fact that when I realized that I'd been giving my life to something that couldn't love me back, when I really realized that in sort of tangible terms, that's when I realized, well, I've also sold this part away. This part. This part of myself away. Or. I mean, I don't think I necessarily misled anybody. But here's the thing. At my very first press junket, the executive producer, who was a massive director from the 80s, told another actor he almost didn't hire him because he thought he was a. And those. And that taught me, in the year 2000, everything I needed to know about Hollywood. And if I wanted this shut my mouth. And that is the truth. And that. That existed until a few years ago. This is new.

[DJ Qualls]

Wow. I mean, I've heard. I've heard slurs like that used around as well. But the idea that you would say I wouldn't hire someone, I mean, that's.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But it's the old school boys, Boys club, right? You're so used to being able to do whatever the hell you want. And he was such a huge guy in entertainment. But it really just taught me that if I want this. If this dream that I had since I was a child, I wanted to go after. I had to. There are certain things I just couldn't do. Like I couldn't take my boyfriend to the premiere of the new guy. Like it just wasn't going to happen. And then you get used to that. And I don't think I. I don't think that I have any sort of damage from it other than the fact that those were the choices that I made. I made them willingly. I stand behind every choice I've ever made because I made them. But the system fucked.

[DJ Qualls]

It was very odd. I made a movie in 1999. I love this movie. It totally flopped. But it was a movie called the Big Tease. And the Big Tease, it was about competitive hairdressing and it was about a hairdresser from Scotland that came to LA seeking his fame and fortune, basically. And hijinks ensue. And I'm very Proud of the movie. It's a very affectionate movie. It's a very sweet movie. And it got rated R because the lead character, I played a gay man. Now, there were no gay sex scenes in it. There were no sex scenes in it. There was no. There was no violence or there was no hard language. There was nothing. It was just that the main character was unequivocally a gay man who was in a relationship with another man. And they talked to each other and they had a sweet relationship. And it wasn't really part of the story. It was just who he was. And it was an art. If you look at this thing, it wouldn't even make PG13 today. And that's 25 years ago.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And that is not that long ago. And. And the thing is, I'm fully cognizant of, like, how things are so much easier now. But, Craig, after. Like, in. In 2021, everything I was being offered was a guy who falls apart because he left his moisturizer at home. And I'm like, I'm not doing that. I'm not going to do that. And so.

[DJ Qualls]

That's so fucking lame.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That's great. But here's the. But also, I completely, like, I also realized, like, I knew. Something told me when I first got here, like, I was in young Hollywood. Young Hollywood was very small. It was, you know, we got jobs from going out. It was one bar. One night. My friend got a Gap campaign with Joni Mitchell from going to Hide one night. That's what you did. But I saw people blowing through money and I was like, this cannot sustain itself. This won't sustain itself. So I started putting, like, during. During night. Like, after 9, 11, I spent three months chain smoking on eBay, buying gold bullion between 250 and 350 an ounce.

[DJ Qualls]

We are from a very similar place.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I don't smoke anymore, but I still have the goals. Oh, my God.

[DJ Qualls]

Honestly, I'm a survivalist. I bought an Airstream trailer on Facebook Marketplace, and it's in my house. And I'm like. Like, it's not in my house, but it's at my house and I have it and I'm ready. And I'm like, stalking it with things. My wife's like, what are we stalking this for? I'm like, you know, you never know. You never know.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think part of it also is that I don't want to be caught out. You know what I mean? And also, once you've been poor and you've been in a situation where you're no longer poor. You would think that you would feel relief, but you feel fear this is going to go away from me and be taken from me. And then I saw so many of my peers lose it all by doing crazy stuff because there's no governance, there's no mentoring. Right?

[DJ Qualls]

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[Craig Ferguson]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Partisan.

[DJ Qualls]

Partisan.

[Craig Ferguson]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for 50 off. So how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe margarita?

[DJ Qualls]

I'm thirsty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch.

[Craig Ferguson]

I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[DJ Qualls]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Craig Ferguson]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[DJ Qualls]

Tis the season to be jollier. Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartesian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay. For many of us, the holiday season means more travel, more shopping, more time online, and more of your Personal information in more places you can't control. It only takes one innocent mistake, even if it's not your mistake, to expose you to identity theft. Not to worry. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points every second and alerts you to threats you could miss by yourself. Even if you keep an eye on your bank and credit card statements. If your identity is stolen, your own US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed. The last thing you want to do this holiday season is face drained accounts, fraudulent loans or other financial losses from identity theft all alone. Gift yourself the peace of mind that comes with LifeLock and spend more time doing more of the holiday things you love. Visit lifelock.com iheartradio and save up to 40% your first year. That's 40% [e-mail] iheart LifeLock for the threats you can't control. Well, when you get given, you know, large sums of money and success and privilege when you're very young. Now that. It honestly didn't really happen to me like that. It was kind of a slow burn. And. But the. But I saw it. I saw it a lot in Hollywood. I saw it with your peers. I saw it when there would be people that would come through. When I was doing late night, there'd be people coming through and you would go, oh man, you gotta try and get better people around you. This is gonna go bad fast. Yeah, you saw it all. Yeah, and some of them did and some of them didn't, you know, and some of them made it and some of them are dead. I mean, it's crazy. It's unsupervised in any way. There's no real structure to it. But at the same time I wonder because the, you know, I look at the kind of freedom and the openness about certain areas of life now and there are other parts of it where I kind of go, is this good? Like the amount of. Bette Midler said a thing years ago that I always kind of hung onto, which was she said the saddest thing about success is finding out that not everyone is happy for you. And, and when that happens and you find out when the, and when social media came along, you found all of the people that are not happy for you are right real quick. Yeah, they're there and they're there to let you know. And I kind of, I understand that. I feel schadenfreude sometimes. I sometimes see people that I don't like, do well, and I'm like, oh.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Come on, I feel that.

[DJ Qualls]

Do you still feel It.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, occasionally. But I fight it, though, because.

[DJ Qualls]

Me too. Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Because the difference is now, like, I understand where it comes from, and I really do fight it. But of course I feel it. I said something the other day on my podcast that after I said it, I was like, that's not who you are at all. But I was caught up in this thing, and there was a little thing still in my memory from another time ago. And I was like, ah, man, it's disappointing when I do it. But also the thing is, I realize that I am. I'm not who I'm going to be, but I'm better than who I was. And so I do give myself. But also, I'm an easy apologize. It's really easy to apologize.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, I think once you start doing it, it gets easier. I got into it about during late night, I had to apologize for stuff every night. And then I was like, you know what? Okay, fine, I'm sorry. And at first I meant it, and then I didn't mean it at all.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And then I can't apologize for stuff. I don't mean I can apologize for stuff.

[DJ Qualls]

I do mean stuff. I don't mean I could run for office. I could apologize for anything. I could say, no, it wasn't me. I was. No, that's AI. That wasn't me at all. I wasn't there. But the truth is, it's kind of like that thing when I really apologize. I know, and you know, and you can tell when I mean. But saying something that's kind of awkward or weird, it's just a human thing. It's not like, of course, you know, to be judged on one thing you say is a little. It's a pretty odd standard to hold anyone to.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But late night is a scary world because you can say something. And like, I remember, like, you were the first ever late night host who didn't pre interview me. When you did it once, and we had such a good chat and we went so far off the. The scripted cards or whatever, you were like, we don't have to do this anymore. And then you go on and you feel safe and you feel like if you get into something, you'll be guided out of as opposed to this thing, you have to get back to these stories. And you're like, oh, my God, I'm so far away from where I'm supposed to be. So you're never truly yourself.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And that's what I loved. But I couldn't imagine if I was on every night the kind of stuff that would Just randomly come out of my mouth, I'd probably be held responsible for.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, I. I mean, I took a few hits, no doubt about it. But they. The truth is, though, I think the atmosphere then was a little less frantic because it wasn't about filling the space. You know, you didn't have to fill every website. You didn't have to post every 10 seconds about some kind of outrage. So, you know, if I say the wrong thing about something, in 2010, there wasn't enough of a social media appetite for someone to go looking for it. But if it's now, I mean, look, we could say this the wrong thing. You could say the wrong thing on a podcast right now and it's like, be tabloid bang. But it's also gone like that. But then it's always available to be found digitally. No one has to go through and find the microfiche from. You know, all you have to do is put your name in and then put it by date and it all comes up.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But I do feel, though, like, on social media, when people say things like, I feel lucky that we came up in a time when, when somebody said something bad about us, it was in the New York Times that really hurt. Because that was official. The New York Times once said about me, human bookmark. DJ qual.

[DJ Qualls]

You know what? When I. I go, when. When I first started, the New York Post said, when I first started late night, he said, he's awful. And it looks like he's wearing a wig. And I'm like, look, if there's one thing I know about me, the only thing I know about me, I've got great fucking hair. That's the only thing I know about me. It looks like he's wearing. It's funny, the things you go, that really got to me. I'm like, fuck you. Yeah, I think when the New York Times says something bad about you, it's like when your parents go, I'm not angry, I'm disappointed. That's why. He's like, ah, shit yet.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But really, I mean, can you, after you've been dragged through the mainstream press, when it was in print, can the Internet really hurt that. That unless they're coming for your belongings or your family or your reputation, I.

[DJ Qualls]

Always felt like Hollywood and the Internet were very. Could be treated in the same way. And late night taught me this. It demystified me, for me, the following way. It's only dangerous if you take it seriously. If you don't take it seriously, it's not really there. And it's kind of like, it's that Nietzschean thing. If you look into the void, fine. But remember, the void looks into you, but if you don't look into the void, you can avoid it. And that's kind of how I feel about it. I refuse to participate in any interaction with media beyond what I think is acceptable for me. And like you were saying, like, right at the beginning when you were talking about, no, I still do it. I still love it when I show up. I'll give you my best, but I'm not showing up unless I'm gonna do that.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Right.

[DJ Qualls]

And I think it's funny now because I feel like that's part of the growing up process and, like, even talking to you now. Cause when I met you, you were a young man. You were like in your mid-20s. I was. You really were. You were a kid. And. And it's. It's like to see someone. It's appropriate for someone to go from their mid twenties to their mid forties and to change their mind. You know, I go, no, I feel differently about that now. I don't. I'm not a kid anymore. I'm not going to. And what I think happens is, especially if you get success when you're young, is that some people perhaps who are not as emotionally gifted as you or emotionally diligent as you, they get stuck. You get. You get stuck in what worked for you at that time. And you try and keep in that time. Do you know what I mean? Try and stay in the same place. But you can't. It's against the law of nature. You can't stay in the same place.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Change is coming and it's coming for you.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, all the time. Change is the law of God's mind. And the resistance to it is the source of all pain.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I love that. That's awesome. I'm going to remember that.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, I like it, too. So let me ask you this. Was there any kind of. Because I've always thought of you as someone who has quite a kind of searching personality. You're quite a seeker. You look for reasons you look for. You analyze both yourself and the situation around you. Right? I do. I think that. I mean, that's my impression of you. Was there some kind of spiritual or emotional switch that flipped when. I'm not talking necessarily about coming out, but I'm talking about the change of attitude that you. That you're talking about.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think. I think something happened to me where my. My grandfather always told me this. When you don't know what to do, don't do anything until that doesn't work for you anymore and you will know. And all of a sudden, just my heart, how I felt about things, how I felt about myself. Also during the same time I just have problems looking in the mirror and like some days I would have to, you know, brush my teeth with the medicine cabinet open. Just. I had some days where I just couldn't with myself and then it stopped happening and just there were these gradual changes and where you release the care. And I had this really pivotal moment in the shower where I know, I know where I do all my thinking in there. And so I got asked to grand marshal the Christmas parade in my little town where I was horrifically bullied. And this was not that long ago. And I had this, I played this little drama out in my head where I was like, you know what? I'll tell them to fuck off. And this, this and this. And then I was like, what are you doing? You're holding 16 year olds responsible for their behavior. You are a grown up. You've been carrying this your whole life. And I'm pretty sure it's dictated a lot of your choices and behavior. And when that happened, you, you know, every and every sort of every thought, every mistake has been made before you by other people who are older than you or on a different path. But you can never really internalize anything until it applies directly to you. And in that moment I was like, I. This is. I don't want to do this. And I released it. And I'd never released anything before. And I remember exactly how I felt. I felt so light I could float out of that shower and I don't feel it anymore. It's so crazy.

[DJ Qualls]

It's great though. It's freedom. I always think the best revenge is no longer wanting revenge. That's the best revenge. You know, they say revenge is a dish chef called. No, the best revenge is no revenge at all. It's like, I don't want any revenge. I forgive you, you son of a. Goodbye.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, but it also makes it intellectually makes no sense because I know for a fact that when you get successful, the people in your past misremember your dynamic.

[DJ Qualls]

Yes.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And so, and I know this, and I know this at the same time when I'm thinking all of these things about being put upon.

[DJ Qualls]

And that's very true.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Then it just changed for me and it was. All these things just started occurring to me like, and, and the cool thing about it was none of it was angry. None of it was like I'VE been used and whatever. Like, no, all these decisions were mine. I've done all these things and I've certainly profited and had a great life from it. But I don't want to do this anymore in this way. And that's the thing. I know that I can do what I want to do, but just in the way that I want to do it. And if I don't, if I can't, then I won't. It's really that simple.

[DJ Qualls]

It's really funny, isn't it? I had a thing happen to me in a similar nature. I. When my. Before my mom died, she was in a care home. She was very ill for a while and she was in this care home in Scotland. And when I got there, I was talking to her. She was cognitively, she was fine, but she was physically falling to pieces and needed round the clock care. And I went to visit her in the care home and she said, let's change her name. Actually, I'll edit this out. See, Mrs. Lady who was mean to me when I was a kid is in here. And the lady, the teacher who had beat me horrifically when I was a child and a lot of stuff had come out of it, was in the care home and she was suffering from Alzheimer's, and she had very bad Alzheimer's. And my mom said, you should go in and see her. I don't think so, Ma. I think whatever that was, it's gone. And I don't want to go in and lord over this poor woman who's.

[Savannah Guthrie]

What did you get from that? I mean, she wouldn't even remember it if you pushed her down the stairs.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, the very definition of it as well is, look, I'm not a doctor. I don't know a lot about Alzheimer's, but I know if I walk in there, she's gonna have no fucking clue who I am. So it's like, what the hell? But it's funny, my mom was like, no, you should go and give it a piece of your mind. I'm like, I don't think so, Ma. I think it's all right. It's an odd thing. It's that idea of holding on to resentments. I used to think it was a kind of a Pollyanna thing to try and free yourself from that. But it's not. It's mental health.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It really is.

[DJ Qualls]

It's like, no, I'm not going to hold on to make you feel more comfortable or because I was mad 10 years ago, I'm not mad now. I mean, I can get to it, but I can release it, let it go.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But we also do it from behavioral modeling, too, because it's what people that came before us do. And we're told to always get the last word in. Get your. Get your own back. We're taught that. And it takes. I think maybe if I didn't leave my community, then maybe I'm from a small town and I feel like being exposed to the rest of the world without sort of the net that reinforced that kind of behavior. Yeah, I think it. I think that helped me sort of get to where I am or where I'm going.

[DJ Qualls]

Were you ever tempted to move back?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Never. What's so great about not belonging is that you leave and you don't have to go back because there was nothing there for me. My high school farms into the casket factory and the pajamas factory and pajamas closed down. It's a country song crack.

[DJ Qualls]

So bleak. It's fantastic.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I love the truth, though.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, but it's great. It has such a gothic picture. It's. It's fabulous. I think also the freedom that comes from. It's really. It feels to me very therapeutic to laugh at stuff like that as well. It kind of. It doesn't. I think. I'm sure that's why I ended up getting into working mostly in humor, because it's such a fabulous weapon to free yourself, like, you know, it's why I'm sure, you know, whenever, like the Hitlers or the Stalins or the demagogues come along, they always go after the humorists first. It's always, you can't make jokes about that. And you go, well, why not? You know, it's. You can. You can make jokes about that. And when. When you make. If you make jokes about things, you kind of emasculate it a little bit. You make it a figure of derision, you know, a figure of fun. And you can do that. I think you can do it with your own history. When you laugh at your own history, it becomes less threatened somehow. Do you know what I mean?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I mean, that was my. I think that was my security blanket or my armor when I moved out here and started doing work as an actor. It's like, I'm going to say all the things before you say them. You don't think I know what the merchandise I'm trying to move looks like? You don't think I don't know myself? And I did it and I did it, but I did it out of defense, and now I'm able to do it. With like, yep, this is exactly what happened. This is what's going on. Like, it's different. The motives are different.

[DJ Qualls]

Right.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Because it's not born of pain.

[DJ Qualls]

Do you. Do you feel that, you know, like, the movies that you were doing early in your career, hilarious movies, funny performances, and in these, like, kind of. They're not slapstick movies, but quite broad humor movies. And people who. People who love those movies. Sometimes I think not necessarily for you, but just for anyone. If you do a joke and somebody likes it and then they find out later that you're not, like, the joke you did, they feel a little betrayed by it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It is so crazy that you're saying that, because that's what I got. As I've gone forward in my life, people meet me in public way before coming out, and people meet me and find out that I'm not that. And I try to explain to them, no, no, no, no, no. I made you think that on purpose because it's funny and it's good for the movie. But. But I was. I was the reason why you thought that was funny. But it's not who I am. And. And so many times people are like, after Hustle and Flow, everybody thought that I could make music. And it's kind of a little bit flattering that people think that I am the person that I play. But here's what I wanted to say to people. I played a virgin, like, 27 times. I've been famous, like, for, like, seven years. At this point. You don't think that one person would have sex with me. I'm on television. Use your logic.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah. It's a very odd thing, though, because I think that people do get attached to it in a way, which I always thought. Look, the example is, fairly recently was what happened to Ellen DeGeneres. It's like, oh, she's not very nice. I don't know Ellen DeGeneres at all. I was on a show once or twice, I think, but you don't know someone because you're on their show. You know this. You go on a show, yakity yak, you leave. And she was perfectly nice. And then it turns out, apparently she wasn't as nice backstage as she was on the show. And I'm like, yeah, it's because she's doing her job. Yeah, she's pretending to be nice like everybody else in Hollywood.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You have to be. Also, it's her job. You can't go on a daytime talk show and bitch or talk about things that are going wrong. People don't Want to see that. And. And the thing is, they also don't. Like. I. I knew when I did Road Trip, my first movie, Todd Phillips, you know, he went on to direct the Hangover and the Joker. It was his first movie, too. I realized that if I allowed myself to be the butt of the joke, my whole career was over. There was a kid from American Pie who was the butt of the joke and didn't work much beyond that. I knew and also knew that we lost the movie. So I was like, there's a way to do this where I'm not being shat upon, that I'm being celebrated, and I still get to do all these things that you want me to do. I was really, really aware of this. And my career came along. I started to see, like, there's a role I could take that's enough. Like that that's going to pay me this big amount of money so that I can go away and do something else. So I was, I think, part of. I think I've sort of benefited a lot from insecurity and from being sort of made fun of and all these things that were going on in my head because it allowed me to. To first of all, insulate myself from my career, but also to be a good storyteller. I'm, like, going for the joke and making fun of myself is, first of all, not good for me in the long term. But also, that's not what we're doing. We're telling. We're telling hero stories and redemption stories, and it's not that. And it's too easy to go for that. And so I think that I made some wise choices and knew when to take the money. The only time I didn't, I got offered Scary Movie 2 for $2 million. I've never made that before or since. Never been offered that. But my character had to suck his own dick. And my manager says, you're not the kind of guy that can do that and walk away from it. And he was right. I am not the vessel that can tell that story and recover from it.

[DJ Qualls]

All right, look, just as an aside, can you. Can you do that? Because.

[Savannah Guthrie]

No, but I tried. We've all tried. Every. Every man, Al. It blew my mind, the offer, though. And. But then it was explained to me. There are certain things that you have. You haven't set that up for yourself. You've not. You've set. You've gone the opposite route. And, like, not being the butt of it, and you're not the physical shell or the personality that you created that, can endure that. And he was right.

[DJ Qualls]

And so is that person still your manager?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah, he is Brian Dobbins. He's been my manager. So when I first came out here, everybody tried to like Brad Gray. I met with him when he was at Brillstein Gray. And they were like, we'll get you the Young Hollywood cover of Vanity Fair. And I'm like, how could you promise me that? And Brian, he now runs Artists First. He had a handful of clients, him and Paul Young. And he was like, I don't know, I can't get you that, but I think you're going to work. And I believed him because he wasn't lying to me. And he's been my only manager in my whole career. And so instead of the Hustle and Flow, which is a career highlight, and yeah, I'm so happy that I did that. But I couldn't see around it because the money was my redneck. Mine was blown. I didn't realize that. Agent, manager, business manager, publicist, accountant, everybody. I didn't realize, you know, the half of it I didn't think about. That didn't occur to me because the number was so huge. And. But. And then something interesting happened. As a result of that, my father found out and called me lazy. And we got into a massive fight. My father was the welder. Was a welder in that casket factory for 40 years. He was. And so he found this out.

[DJ Qualls]

But look, if you're a welder in a casket factory, your kid gets over $2 million to suck his own deck. And you know, he's tried to do it anyway. You're kind of like, why wouldn't you.

[Savannah Guthrie]

What are you doing?

[DJ Qualls]

Why would you do that?

[Savannah Guthrie]

You're crazy.

[Craig Ferguson]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the mistletoe, and paired all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses. And I plugged in the Bartesian.

[DJ Qualls]

Bartesian.

[Craig Ferguson]

It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites, too. I just got it for 50 off, so how about a Cosmopolitan or a mistletoe margarita?

[DJ Qualls]

I'm thirsty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch.

[Craig Ferguson]

I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength, and wow, it's beginning to.

[DJ Qualls]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Craig Ferguson]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[DJ Qualls]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[DJ Qualls]

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[Savannah Guthrie]

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[DJ Qualls]

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[Craig Ferguson]

Hi, I'm Cindy Crawford and I'm the.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Founder of Meaningful Beauty. Well, I don't know about you, but.

[Craig Ferguson]

Like, I never liked being told, oh, wow, you look so good for your age. Like, why even bother saying that? Why don't you just say you look great at any age, Every age.

[Savannah Guthrie]

That's what Meaningful Beauty is all about.

[Craig Ferguson]

We create products that make you feel confident in your skin at the age you are now.

[DJ Qualls]

Meaningful Beauty.

[Craig Ferguson]

Beautiful skin at every age. Learn [e-mail].

[DJ Qualls]

So given that you have, I mean, very clearly, you know, matured, and I'm very, very happy for you, you seem so much more inside your own skin as when we first met. Is that what now? What are you looking for now? What, what kind of like, sales? Your boat?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I love. I love making things. I form a production company. I've. We finished production on our first movie and we've done it ethically. We've hired people that we had no business getting crew members like our production designer did La La Land. And Everybody worked for 300 a day and because they like what we're doing. And we are, we are not. We're doing first dollar splits. Like, we want to be ethical and make things that we want to make the way that we want to make them. So that feels good. The podcast. I have a podcast that's getting a footing. We've never done a dollar of advertising. Nobody. I mean, but the word of mouth. We're going 20% month over month. And it's just my space to say exactly how I feel and what I want. And. And it's not formatted. We don't have guests yet. It's just me and my Family don't.

[DJ Qualls]

Do guests guess is a terrible idea.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I know I'm fucking with your whole world right now.

[DJ Qualls]

You know what?

[Savannah Guthrie]

Soon it's not. You'll be soon.

[DJ Qualls]

Well, the thing is about guests is that it's great when you get them, but everybody. And look, I remember this from late night and everybody I've talked to that do shows about guests. It's always like you get a guest and then you have to get another guest, and you have to get another guest, and it's always like, people want to do the show, but you know, they got things to do. And I think if I was doing a podcast again and I might after this, I wouldn't have any guests.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's freeing because first of all, it's. Well, it's on our own schedule and you can have other things going on in the world and still find time to do this. But also just the therapy aspect of it, where you just get to talk about how you feel about stuff, you know, and somebody will bring up something that will remind you of the story from 20 years ago. So it's part nostalgia. It's about my life path and where I'm going and her life path and where she's going. She was. She was the co host of Jim Jeffries podcast for five years, and her and I split off and we do, and it's. It's amazing.

[DJ Qualls]

What is her name? Forgive me.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Her name is Kelly Blackheart.

[DJ Qualls]

Right.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Our podcast is called Locked and probably loaded with DJ and Kelly, and it's just fun.

[DJ Qualls]

That, that sounds great. So what were you working with Jeffries? I. I know Jim Jeffries. I've. I've talked to him before, a couple of times. He's good news. Yeah, he's good news, that guy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I was on a TV show with him called Legit for two years, and it was the best job I've ever had as an actor. I just loved it.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, he's a great guy. He's a pretty impressive standup comedian as well. He's amazing. Yeah, he's great. Did you ever think about doing that?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I did. I really did, and I have since. But I got to tell you, a part of it, I. A part of me doesn't want to make Jim mad at me. Really. I'm not joking for me, and I know he wouldn't, but it's his realm and I'm the actor and I just. Wait a minute.

[DJ Qualls]

Him. It's not as real. My work is not real. I know plenty of guys that work in that realm, like Jim Jeffries is a nice guy and a good standard, but it doesn't own it. That's like saying, oh yeah, Eric Clapton. I don't want to play the guitar because Eric Crafton plays the guitar basically. A lot of other people could play the guitar. Thank you. Love it. I think you would love doing stand up.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I've been thinking about it. It's funny that you bring that up because I've mentioned it to several people recently that I've been thinking about it for, you know, a couple of years now. And it's really.

[DJ Qualls]

I'm thinking about more. It's time. I think what you should do is you should do stand up and in the background you should have these two ladies that you've got behind you right now standing right there.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So Warhol's Craig.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, I know, they're great. Somebody did. Okay. Are you, are you a big Tammy Art collector?

[Savannah Guthrie]

I love it. So that is so. On days when I have had like not good times on sets or things aren't going right in my career, I have, I have divided my salary by the second and every minute I'm like, I just made this much toward a painting. So it's become my, my, it's the, it's the love of my life.

[DJ Qualls]

What kind of painting do you collect?

[Savannah Guthrie]

So I started out collecting French paintings from like 1870 to like 1940.

[DJ Qualls]

Okay.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So. And because before the 1870s, pigments were not able to be synthetically produced or like red was ground up, corundum, ruby and blue was ground up, you know, lapis. I mean, vice versa. And so. And all of a sudden they made these lead based paints. And that's why people like the, the early, the Impressionist and the post Impressionist, they painted like a purple tree and you know, all these things because before that pigments were so expensive. You had to paint for the church or wealthy people because you couldn't afford to do otherwise. You could just paint whatever the hell you wanted. So it was really the birth of you could do whatever.

[DJ Qualls]

Are you familiar with a painter called Jean Michel Raffaele? The Italian? He was in the first Impressionist exhibition and then they had a big fight with Monet. Monet didn't like him because he would draw or he would paint in things that weren't idyllic. You know, like he, you know the painting in the Louvre, the Absinthe Drinkers, you know, that sounds familiar to me. Yeah, it's a beautiful painting.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I'll look it up.

[DJ Qualls]

Well, Raffaele painted that. He painted imperfect images during the Impressionist fashion. And he got in a little trouble. But he patented a new form of paint as well that made all the Impressionists angry. He got in real trouble. Degas liked him and Monet didn't like him at all. But he's a fascinating character. An Italian Jewish painter who was in the first exhibition of the French Impressionists. And I think he probably ran into a bit of antisemitism as well. He's a fascinating character. I urge you to check him out. He's very interesting. I will. And I've got a couple of his paintings. He's very interesting. I like. I like very painterly paintings. I like Barbizon and La Impressionists. But then.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So I just am learning about Barbizon right now.

[DJ Qualls]

It's great stuff. Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Yeah. So that's what I do. So I use an object that I see at auction. That's. So I started learning. I would get Sotheby's, Christie's bottoms, auction catalogs, and then just start looking at. And then I could identify painters by brushstroke. And then I started, you know, so I got interested there. But then I realized that you pay a huge premium for buying through them and you can find things on. There are web. There are auction houses all over the world.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And let me tell you, I mean, I can be fooled, but I think it's harder. Artnet. I love. I love artnet. I also love invaluable.com and liveauctioneers.com but you have to know what you're looking at.

[DJ Qualls]

Facebook Marketplace for rich people. I get it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It really is.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, it's great.

[Savannah Guthrie]

But I love it. And I really. I feel like I haven't released a painting yet. Like I've never bought anything for sale. And I feel like now when I. When I go to. Like I went to a little auction, I mean, to an art gallery in Dunedin, New Zealand, and they have this beautiful, beautifully curated collection, but they don't have a Louis Vu ta. And they're going to get mine when I die. So it's cool because this will go on after me. And I'm the guardian of these things. And it just. But also, it's a sickness a little bit.

[DJ Qualls]

I understand that. I have more paintings than I care to admit. I go into it. I don't know if you ever met Megan, my wife, but she was an art dealer before we met. Still is an art dealer, and so she can get deals on stuff.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Oh, God. But I'd be bankrupt.

[DJ Qualls]

Well, you know, but here's the thing you get these amazing paintings. Like amazing. There's amazing things that I'd heard of. I come from a very similar background to you economically. I come from a very blue collar, kind of poor background. And I'd heard about some of the paintings that I now own. I'd heard of. I'd heard of the artist, I'd heard of the. I read about it in school and I was like, oh, that's a world that's beyond imagining. And now I own a couple of these paints and I kind of love it. They're not my favorites, but I like the kind of. I guess it's kind of the avaristic nature of having it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It's amazing. It's a great feeling. I fully kind of. My collection is. I have names, but like you said, my favorite things are definitely not names. There's an artist named Bernard Butte Dumonval he had when he died. Like it wasn't, I think when his heir died. And like 2016, Sotheby's had this big auction and like he was a massively famous painter, like around the turn of the century into the 40s, like portraits. But his early work were post impressionist works and nobody really wanted them. But I didn't know a lot about him. And a painting went, I think for like £10,000 and I didn't buy it. But then I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I chased it. I looked for. I sent an alert. I looked for this painting for years. Last year it came up at Dorothea in Vienna. I was willing to pay whatever the hell it cost. I would have sold things. I had to have it. And it's two guys dragging a boat up the Seine like at sundown. But it's so mind blowingly beautiful. I had to have it. And so I stayed up all night. I was ready to go. I was calling everybody bitches and hoes in my mind. You're not going to take this painting from me. I was in it. I got it for €8,000.

[DJ Qualls]

Stop it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

It was one of the best days of my life.

[DJ Qualls]

I know it's a great feeling and.

[Savannah Guthrie]

You never part with it.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, I have, I have. There's one painting I have in my life that I love above all others. And it was actually my wife and kids got it for me as a present. And they knew I loved it and they kind of. Well, you know, we used family money to get it, but they. But it's a painting, it's not by a very famous. It's a gentleman by the name of Aime Perret, and it's called at the End of the Day. And it's just a guy standing in the side of a canal bank waving to his friend on a boat who's just sailing up the road like it's the end of the day's work. But it's a fucking masterpiece. And when I look at it, I go into a world that I don't know. Where else in the world in the universe that world is, but it's in there, and I can fall into it. And then. It's hard to explain, and it sounds fanciful, but it's so riveting as a thing to sit next to. I fucking love it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And that's how I feel.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. And I'm delighted. First of all, I'm delighted to find this out about you, because I really knew I liked you. But now I really, really like you because of your appreciation of great art. And it's kind of my secret thing that I love that I don't really talk about that much, but I spend money on it and I love it.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Same people's eyes get dull when I try to tell them too much, so I'm cognizant of that.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And here's the thing. It's okay that it's just for me.

[DJ Qualls]

Yeah, yeah, it's fine. It's fine. You can sit by the paint. You don't need to talk to anyone about it. It is like, oh, that's amazing. It's great. Listen, my friend, I'm very. I really think we should try and talk to each other before another 10 years go past.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I would love that.

[DJ Qualls]

And in fact, the next time in la, or if you're going to a. Or if you're going to an art auction in Vienna, I'm in. I'll definitely come with you.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Done. Done.

[DJ Qualls]

It's just a world which fascinates me. You're such a lovely man. I'm so happy for you that you're growing up really cool. Even cooler than you were when you were a kid. And you were a pretty cool kid. I know you were tough on yourself, but you were pretty cool. And you're even cooler now, so that's great.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Thanks, Craig. I love you.

[DJ Qualls]

I love you too, man. I'm so happy to see you well and at yourself. It's great. Thanks, buddy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Thank you for having me.

[DJ Qualls]

Oh, thanks for being on. It's great to see you. Thanks.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Palm.

[Craig Ferguson]

All right, we're all set for the party. I've trimmed the tree, hung the Mistletoe and pared all those weird shaped knives and forks with the appropriate cheeses and I plugged in the Partisan Partisan. It's a home cocktail maker that makes over 60 premium cocktails, plus a whole lot of seasonal favorites too. I just got it for 50 off, so how about a Cosmopolitan or a Mistletoe Margarita?

[DJ Qualls]

I'm thirsty.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch.

[Craig Ferguson]

I just pop in a capsule, choose my strength and wow, it's beginning to.

[DJ Qualls]

Feel more seasonal in here already.

[Craig Ferguson]

If your holiday party doesn't have a bartender, then you become the bartender. Unless you've got a Bartesian, because Bartesian crafts every cocktail perfectly in as little as 30 seconds. And I just got it for $50 off.

[DJ Qualls]

Tis the season to be jollier. Add some holiday flavor to every celebration with the sleek, sophisticated home cocktail maker Bartisian. Pick up your phone and shake it to get $50 off any cocktail maker. Yes, you heard me. Shake your phone and get $50 off. Don't delay.

[Craig Ferguson]

This podcast is supported by BetterHelp, offering licensed therapists you can connect with via video phone or chat. Here's BetterHelp head of clinical Operations Hes Yu Jo discussing who can benefit from therapy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

I think a lot of people think that you're supposed to be going to therapy once you're like having panic attacks every day. But before you get to that point, I think once you start even noticing.

[Craig Ferguson]

That you feel a little bit off.

[Savannah Guthrie]

And you can't maintain this harmony that.

[Craig Ferguson]

You once had in relationships, that could be a sign that maybe you want.

[DJ Qualls]

To go talk to somebody.

[Savannah Guthrie]

There's always a benefit in talking to.

[DJ Qualls]

Someone because we can all benefit from.

[Craig Ferguson]

Improved insight about ourselves and who we are and how we behave with other people.

[Savannah Guthrie]

So if you're human, that's like a.

[DJ Qualls]

Good indicator that you could benefit from talking to somebody.

[Craig Ferguson]

Find out if therapy is right for you. Visit betterhelp.com today. That's betterhelp.com it's beginning to sound a.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Lot like the holidays. The Roku Channel, your home for free and premium TV is giving you access to holiday music and genre base stations from Iheart, all for free. Find the soundtrack of the season with channels like Iheart, Christmas and North Pole Radio. The Roku Channel is available on all Roku devices, Web, Amazon, Fire TV, Google TV, Samsung TVs and the Roku mobile app on iOS and Android devices. So stream what you love and turn up the cheer with iheartradio on the Roku Channel. Happy streaming.