"Ambition" (w/ Reese Witherspoon)

Summary

Las Culturistas – "Ambition" (w/ Reese Witherspoon)

Date: September 17, 2025
Hosts: Matt Rogers & Bowen Yang
Guest: Reese Witherspoon

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Episode Overview

This lively episode of Las Culturistas examines the multilayered topic of ambition, both personal and cultural, through the lens of Oscar- and Emmy-winning actor, producer, and cultural icon Reese Witherspoon. Matt and Bowen dive into Reese’s career from her formative film roles to her powerful pivot to producing, the influence of ambition on her life and characters, and the evolution of culture through her eyes. The episode is packed with candid reflections, humor, iconic quotes, and stories about working in Hollywood, handling anxiety, and maintaining creative vision.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reese Witherspoon’s Early Hollywood Ambition

• Iconic Roles and Crafting Characters

  • Reese recalls the seriousness she brought to comedic roles, especially Elle Woods in Legally Blonde.
  • She describes studying Goldie Hawn’s performance in Private Benjamin and watching SNL religiously as research.
  • Quote: “I took comedy really seriously… I studied comedy like you would try and cure a rare disease.” (08:16)
  • She was intent on playing Elle uniquely, avoiding stereotypes: “There were a hundred ways to play Elle Woods that I was like, seen it, done it. Not doing that.” (10:09)

• Ambition as a Driving Force

  • Reese’s characters (like Elle or Tracy Flick) are often underestimated yet fiercely ambitious.
  • Quote: “Ambition threads through all my characters because, I don’t know, I just wasn’t here to do average.” (11:01)
  • She talks about modeling Tracy on a girl from her high school and the importance of humanity under comedic or satirical surfaces.

2. Shifting to Producing & Entering a New Career Phase

• Founding Hello Sunshine

  • The decline of mid-budget and women-focused films spurred her to create opportunities not just for herself, but friends and new female storytellers.
  • Quote: “If I don’t take this moment to start developing for myself and for my friends who are incredible—shame on me, first of all…” (21:43)
  • She discusses the challenges of being seen as “too ambitious” and coming to accept her drive.

• First Producing Wins: Gone Girl & Wild

  • Reese and then-partner Bruna Papandrea optioned Gone Girl and Wild early, not knowing both books would become bestsellers.
  • Reese was originally meant to star in Gone Girl: “There will be a whole chapter of a book one day about Gone Girl… David's like, you’re totally wrong for this part, and I’m not putting you in it. That was, first of all, an ego check.” (25:56)
  • She reflects on how producing is not always being in the spotlight: “Producing also means get out of the way when you’re supposed to.” (27:31)
  • She wasn’t taken seriously as a producer until Big Little Lies.

3. Ambition & Anxiety – Personal Reflections

• Harnessing and Accepting Ambition

  • Reese describes learning not to be embarrassed by ambition, and how aiming to bring others along became central: “How can I use that to harness more people and rope them into things I think will be beneficial for them?” (23:23)

• Managing Anxiety

  • She candidly discusses experiencing panic attacks, trying medication, and ultimately finding help via neuro-linguistic programming and hypnosis.
  • Quote: “Anxiety manifests itself… depression looks like anxiety sometimes too, so it can be really highly performance-based… I used to have panic attacks, bad panic attacks.” (73:04)
  • Witherspoon’s advice: “You’re gonna perform at the same level whether you’re stressed about it or not stressed about it—so decide to take the stress out.” (75:32)

4. Cultural Impact: Shifting the Story for Women

• On Big Little Lies & The Morning Show

  • The cast’s friendships and the show’s willingness to tackle serious issues (e.g., domestic violence, workplace harassment) within a compelling, entertaining format.
  • “You think it’s this Frothy thing, but it’s actually something very, very real that happens to one in three women.” (33:06)

• Depersonalizing Fame & Learning the Business

  • Early in her career, marketing teams discussed her like a product. “Why do they not like me in Japan?” (50:28)
  • This inspired her approach for Hello Sunshine’s book club and adaptation deals—empowering authors, working fast, and not optioning for the sake of optioning.

5. Culture & Formative Moments

• What Made Reese Realize "Culture Was For Me"

  • Several touchstones: MTV’s rise, Jon Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ on a Prayer,” Gwen Stefani’s feminist anthems, and the movie First Wives Club.
  • Quote: “I remember being…with a group of friends to the movies and seeing First Wives Club...their unhappiness is joy, and they express it through song and dance.” (60:22)

• The Importance of Female Friendship & Representation

  • Big Little Lies and other projects show how supportive female relationships and ambition intertwine.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I took comedy really seriously… I studied comedy like you would try and cure a rare disease." – Reese Witherspoon (08:16)
• “Ambition threads through all my characters because…I just wasn’t here to do average.” – Reese Witherspoon (11:01)
• “[On Gone Girl] David’s like, you’re totally wrong for this part, and I’m not putting you in it. That was, first of all, an ego check for me.” – Reese Witherspoon (25:56)
• “Producing also means get out of the way when you’re supposed to, you know, do your job to promote, continue to pull people together…so the ultimate result is the best work” – Reese Witherspoon (27:31)
• “You’re gonna perform at the same level whether you’re stressed or not – so decide to take the stress out.” – Reese Witherspoon (75:32)
• “You can tell. It’s clear. It’s so clear…we love that you do your job.” – Matt Rogers (52:58)
• [On Big Little Lies] “It was just the inner workings of female relationships… the really beautiful thing about the show is it’s actually an entire show about domestic violence.” – Reese Witherspoon (33:06)
• “I hope that in season three, she tears.” (80:32, Bowen on Madeline in Big Little Lies)
• [On standing in line for food] “No one ever wanted to stand in line ever, for anything ever. And especially not a baked good. Like, no.” – Reese Witherspoon (96:53)

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Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment | |---|---| | 02:24 | Introduction of Reese Witherspoon | | 08:03 | On seriousness of comedy—research for Elle Woods | | 09:59 | Witherspoon on her goal: "be original, not basic" | | 11:01 | Ambition & its thread through her career | | 13:00 | Discussing Election's sequel novel and themes | | 21:29 | Reese on intentionally planning her early career | | 21:43 | Genesis of Hello Sunshine—filling a gap for women’s stories | | 25:56 | Story of producing Gone Girl & learning to step aside as a producer | | 28:51 | Vulnerability and personal transformation while making Wild | | 33:06 | Reflecting on Big Little Lies as a mirror for real domestic violence & friendship | | 41:11 | On Karen Pittman and female representation on The Morning Show | | 73:04 | Discussion of anxiety, panic attacks, and finding healthy coping mechanisms | | 75:32 | Letting go of stress for high performance | | 59:00 | Reese's "culture was for me" moment: First Wives Club | | 96:20 | Reese's "I Don't Think So, Honey": standing in line for cinnamon rolls |

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Fun, Lighthearted & Culturally Relevant Moments

• The hosts and Reese trade rapid-fire pop culture references (e.g., Bruiser’s mail in Legally Blonde, iconic line reads: “Bruiser, what’s this?” at 03:24).
• Bowen reflects on the “Titanic Oscar” as his own early “culture” moment (65:49).
• Deep dive into Reese and Laura Dern’s BFF-hood, with much gushing over Big Little Lies (30:09–33:39).
• A playful round of “I Don’t Think So, Honey” rants about the word “y’all” (88:36), the correct pronunciation of ammonium thioglycolate in Legally Blonde (91:10), and waiting in line for cinnamon rolls (96:20).

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Takeaways for Listeners

• The Shape of Ambition: Reese Witherspoon exemplifies intentional, evolving ambition—with both artistic integrity and business acumen—paving the way for new stories and female-driven narratives in Hollywood.
• Dealing with Vulnerability: Open discussion on anxiety and mental health normalizes the complex emotional toll of creative work and ambition.
• The Power of Friendship and Representation: Reese’s throughline is that female friendships and ambition aren’t mutually exclusive. They power each other—and can be genuinely world-changing.
• Culture as Living History: Reese’s pop-culture influences show how early exposure to diverse media (MTV, First Wives Club, Gwen Stefani) shaped her worldview—and inspired her to become an influencer herself.

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In the Las Culturistas Spirit

This episode captures the buoyant, raucous energy and razor-sharp insight that Matt and Bowen bring, now joined by a guest who epitomizes the intersection of culture, creativity, and ambition. Reese Witherspoon is consistently warm, vulnerable, and hilarious—whether breaking down iconic roles, musing about frenetic LA lines for baked goods, or describing her journey with anxiety and growth.

This is a must-listen for anyone curious about pop culture, women’s empowerment, ambition, and the changing face of Hollywood.

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END

Transcript

[Reese Witherspoon]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Bowen Yang]

You can't spell culturistas without R I.

[Matt Rogers]

That's right. Rhode island is the perfect place not just for the culturistas of the world, but all the other Easters too.

[Bowen Yang]

We're talking about the food Easters, the theater Easters, the nature eastas the luxuriestas whatever you're in Easter for. You'll find it in the Ocean State.

[Matt Rogers]

So start packing those bags and be the best Easter you can be.

[Bowen Yang]

Rhode island, all that.

[Matt Rogers]

Plan your trip@Visit Rhode Island.com that's Visit Rhode Island.com the all new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid is more than just another suv. It's still the Palisade, but with so much more.

[Bowen Yang]

We got class leading interior space with purposeful tech, available class exclusive dash camera feature and 2.5 T hybrid engine with up to 600 plus miles of range.

[Matt Rogers]

Seating configurations for seven to eight passengers with available third row power seats that.

[Bowen Yang]

Recline the this is the SUV that mom and dad can feel good about buying for themselves with more features that inspire them to make the most of every journey.

[Matt Rogers]

Learn more about the Hyundai [e-mail] Call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

[Bowen Yang]

There's my at home voice and my podcast voice. My podcast voice is like a leveled up version of me. Kind of like the new Digiorno wood fired style crass pizza with a leveled up crispy yet perfectly airy crust. Now that Digiorno has new wood fired style crust pizzas, I might start doing the show from home. Digiorno is dropping a new crust and four topping varieties. Premium Pepperoni Supreme Speciale Italian Meat Trio and four cheese. I'll have all four. You've never had pizza like this at home. It's restaurant quality pizza without all the other restaurant stuff. The new Digiorno Wood fired style crust pizza. It's not delivery, it's Digiorno. Do you know what the perfect addition is to any party?

[Matt Rogers]

What?

[Bowen Yang]

A Casamigos margarita.

[Matt Rogers]

Everyone loves a Casamigos margarita. She really is that girl.

[Bowen Yang]

It's true. Everyone can get behind her.

[Matt Rogers]

She's a little tangy, a little sweet. She's good.

[Bowen Yang]

Any which way anything goes with my Casamigos.

[Matt Rogers]

And that's rule of culture number 87. Because anything goes with my Casamigos.

[Bowen Yang]

Please drink responsibly. Imported by Casamigo Spirits Company, White Plains, New York. Casamigos Tequila 40 alcohol by volume. Look man, there. Oh I see my eye. Oh my Bowen. Look over there. Wow.

[Matt Rogers]

Is that Culture.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

Goodness.

[Bowen Yang]

Wow. Las culturistas. Ding dong. Las culturistas calling. I don't know that I've been more excited.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And this is the thing.

[Matt Rogers]

We're already getting along, I'd say gangbusters with our guests.

[Bowen Yang]

Love.

[Matt Rogers]

I can't believe she's here either. It's like staring at the sun. I can't. It's hello, sunshine. I can't look at the guest.

[Bowen Yang]

I want to say, hello, Sunshine is their front runner for Tidal event. But we can't do that.

[Matt Rogers]

No, no.

[Bowen Yang]

We're going to find it. Do you remember yesterday when we were talking about iconic line reads of our guest? Yes, but that's every day on most days. So on the red carpet at the Culture Awards, someone asked us, like, what's an iconic line from cinema history that, like, jumps out right now? Who is it? Was it Mark Malkin that asked that?

[Matt Rogers]

No, it was Vulture.

[Bowen Yang]

It was Vulture. And I go, what? Like, it's hard, but.

[Matt Rogers]

And yesterday I said to you, this is what pings and pongs in my brain. Anytime I open mail. Anytime I open mail, this is what? Are you ready? This is it. Bruiser, what's this?

[Bowen Yang]

Bruiser, what's this? Bruiser, what's this?

[Matt Rogers]

But anytime I open an envelope, I'm.

[Bowen Yang]

Telling you, the reason I bring it up is because I actually know what it is.

[Matt Rogers]

Okay?

[Bowen Yang]

This was maybe the culture that made me say culture was for me, which is a big statement on this podcast, that being the central question. Pleasantville. Oh, here we go. Guest's first scene. She's on the phone talking to her friend, and she's talking about what outfit she's gonna wear for a date, and she's discussing wearing one particular thing, and she goes, it's not slutty. And she looks in the mirror and she goes, it's fun. And I saw myself.

[Matt Rogers]

You just channeled. You just channeled the muse.

[Bowen Yang]

I channel constantly. I'm always channeling our guests constantly.

[Matt Rogers]

It's true.

[Bowen Yang]

Our favorite show is back.

[Matt Rogers]

My favorite show is back. Thank the Lord we got the screeners. We watched episode one, and then Matt Rogers steps away and goes, how many?

[Bowen Yang]

How many did they send? I just ask.

[Matt Rogers]

Offhand, I said, the whole season. I've never seen you happier. I think I did a backflip.

[Bowen Yang]

I think I did a Tom Daly.

[Matt Rogers]

Off a surfboard, gymnastically moved the furniture in the hotel room that we were staying in.

[Bowen Yang]

That is a thing I do when I get nervous. I move furniture.

[Matt Rogers]

Move furniture.

[Bowen Yang]

I was interior designing the hotel.

[Matt Rogers]

The hotel Morning Show Season 4 is now out. Now that this episode is out September 17th, the same day as the new incredible season of the morning show.

[Bowen Yang]

It's giving everything you've wanted it to give. And I have so many questions for our guests about the rip from the headlines nature of it because they can't possibly have guessed some one thing that happened in season three that then happened in life. But suffice it to say that our guest today is an Oscar winning actress, an Emmy winning producer, a bonafide pop culture icon on the list of the iconic 400, twice as herself and as a character.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

Which that doesn't really happen.

[Matt Rogers]

No.

[Bowen Yang]

This is such a great moment in lost culture history because our guest is Reese Witherspoon. Oh my God, we love you.

[Matt Rogers]

Blushing.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That was so nice. I'm so excited to be here.

[Matt Rogers]

We're so happy to be here. Oh, wait, no, this is so. This was the moment where the wheels started turning about this moment happening.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

This was it two Emmys ago or one Emmy ago.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I think that I like beelined for you at an award show and I was like, bowen, when am I on your podcast? Like, how did you even do it without me?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, exactly.

[Matt Rogers]

So rude the way you approached me. Do you remember what your initial line was? Uh, it was the most Reese thing.

[Reese Witherspoon]

What?

[Matt Rogers]

And I immediately texted this one afterwards.

[Bowen Yang]

I can't believe it.

[Matt Rogers]

We go in for a hug, you whisper in my ear, well, hello, Ms. Culturista.

[Bowen Yang]

I died. Cause that was too much. That was the moment I knew the podcast had gotten out of hand.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Fell in love.

[Bowen Yang]

That's when we fell in love. He did. I think you FaceTime me. You were like, here the hand, the phone is shaking. I'm like, who is it? I was like, don't tell me it was Reese.

[Reese Witherspoon]

No, like, it was like you had a party and you didn't invite me.

[Bowen Yang]

You're so rude.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It was so rude. I'm so happy. It only took like 14 publicists later and we're here.

[Bowen Yang]

True.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Two short years. Two short years later and 1800 emails.

[Bowen Yang]

That does. It really does feel like they really.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Slow the wheels of progress. Well.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, I know, because you did. Because the biggest gag was you were like, DM me. And I was like, I guess you could just DM her.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You can.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, you can, but you can't.

[Bowen Yang]

Not everyone.

[Matt Rogers]

Not everyone.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah, but then you were with DJ.

[Matt Rogers]

At that MoMA show, at that MoMA event at Deacon, and he was so sweet.

[Reese Witherspoon]

My son is the cutest. I told him I was coming on your podcast. He goes, mom, come on. That's gonna be so fun. He goes, tell me what the building looks like and what the studio looks like.

[Bowen Yang]

Really?

[Matt Rogers]

Is he into buildings and studios and studios?

[Reese Witherspoon]

No, he's into you guys, like pop culture. And he loves the way that you set License. They're tastemakers. Of course you love them.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, my gosh.

[Bowen Yang]

That is too.

[Matt Rogers]

I mean, very sweet.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean. Well, just to talk about that, I will say, you know, in thinking about, like, this episode with you, I really can go back to one of the, I think first really formative memories I have of going to the movies with my mom and my sister. We sat down, I remember where we sat in the theater. It was like on Patchogue, like on Long Island. And we went to go see Legally Blonde. And it was one of those things where I'm sure you have this. Like, you see the movie once and you know every line. Like, it's just one of those things.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Those kind of movies just are sticky.

[Matt Rogers]

Sticky.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. Did you. You're playing Elle Woods. Like you're, you're, you're doing this character. You're on set. You know that everyone there is great. But are you thinking, like, what are you thinking doing it? Is this.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay, well, let me get my time machine. Cause it was 25 years ago, and.

[Bowen Yang]

That also has to be kind of surreal.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It was so surreal. Well, I was a new mom. I had a little baby, my daughter on set. And I just remember I took comedy really seriously. Like, it was not a joke. I had studied Goldie Hawn like my life depended on it for that role. And I studied her in Private Benjamin.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And then I studied comedy like you would try and cure a rare disease for sure.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It was so important to me. I watched SNL religiously. So for me, creating a character, like I had just done it the year before with maybe two years before with Tracy Flick, it was really important to me that she had a very particular way she talked, a very particular way she walked. My early career was a lot about building characters who didn't have a lot of self awareness. They just were like a bullet through the world, you know, determined to make their mark and determined to reach that goal. So that's what it was like. And we had our, I think, 20th year reunion of Legally Blonde and all the lovely cast members were there and we all got on a zoom from Jennifer Coolidge to Luke Wilson and Selma Blair. And they were all like. It was like, kind of fun, but.

[Bowen Yang]

It'S hard to remember because it Was like, a job at the time.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You were all doing it really serious. I was a very, very, very serious young person.

[Matt Rogers]

You have to be. I mean. I mean, it all translates to the final product. But, like, this is why, like, people come to SNL as, you know, and, like, you expect it to be, like, riffing and, like, everyone's just improvising and just the chemistry is off the charts. We're there to, like, turn the page and read the script and, like, hit our marks. It's technical.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And also, in your brain, aren't you thinking, I gotta think of something that no one else is thinking of?

[Matt Rogers]

Totally.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So my thing was always, how can I be contrary? How can I play this? How no one else would play this.

[Matt Rogers]

Totally.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Because that's what I'm here to be original, not be basic. And there were a hundred ways to play Elle woods that I was like, seen it, done it, not doing that.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes, of course.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So if you thought she was gonna be bitchy or spoiled rotten. No, she had a really soft center.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, very soft.

[Reese Witherspoon]

If you thought she was gonna be dumb or say the wrong thing, she was gonna say it laser sharp in really crisp words and say it with daggers in her eyes. So I was always trying to startle people with the switch.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Matt Rogers]

You know, but it's interesting that you bring up Tracy in the context of Tracy and El and that early stuff. Like, I would say there's a common thread there where it's, like, underestimation. People underestimate them. And, like, what is that relationship to ambition? Like, does one breed the other? Do you need the other thing for it to happen?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, I think ambition threads through all my characters because, I don't know, I just wasn't here to do average. And I. I feel like a lot of people can relate to that. I wanted to be. It's not like I wanted to be the best, but I wanted to be original. I wanted to be wholly original in this world. I wanted to make them laugh harder, I wanted them cry. I wanted them to think they understood the smartest girl in school. She was actually a little broken inside. It's beautiful. You know, I actually modeled Tracy on a girl I went to high school with. And I didn't know a lot about her personal life, but it was really important to me. As Alexander Payne and I were building that character, I was like, she needs to have a moment with her mother where you realize her mom's a single mom and she curls her hair every day and she's living out her mother's broken dreams.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And there's one scene, but it cracks the whole thing for you. You're like, I can't make fun of this person.

[Bowen Yang]

Sure, you're right.

[Matt Rogers]

But you and Alex built that together. Like that scene.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yes, yes. He.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I mean, he's incredible about understanding the day to day lives. The satire of living in middle America but also having big dreams. But maybe your dreams are just to go to Northwestern, right? You know, or like run for city council.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It's so fun.

[Bowen Yang]

I have read the sequel.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You have?

[Bowen Yang]

Yes. So because I'm a huge Election fan, like, in fact, we ran into Matthew broderick actually at SNL 50 and we ended up seeing him twice. And both times I said, I just watched Election, he was like, you told me. I was like, it's true. I did. Because I frequently returned to it and I watched it again after I read the novel. Is that in play right now? Is there, Is that. Is that something that's like, where is that on the list in terms of. Well, well, you don't wanna say too.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Much, but there is a follow up novel and we're thinking about making a.

[Bowen Yang]

Movie because it goes in a really interesting direction, I think for people that care about that character. And it ends dark. And I'm really interested to see how it keeps going because it's also a comment on the fact that when you're someone that's super ambitious, one of the things that can happen is you don't meet that ambition and you then that is a really sad thing. And I think one of the toughest.

[Reese Witherspoon]

The smallest thing can derail you.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And she gets derailed by something.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But you can't stop the internal monster derail.

[Bowen Yang]

No, she couldn't help. She can't help herself. And so basically one of the things I think is the most heartbreaking about the first film, I'm already talking about it as if it's two. I guess I'm manifesting it first. But in Election, which is the. The sudden after she's lost the cut to just how heartbroken and devastated that she is. And I think that's when you realize like how much work you've done. And it's interesting to look back that she's sort of an antagonist of the movie because she's antagonizing Matthew Broderick. But when you look at it now, when you think back and you look at how heartbroken she was and what she went through going up to that, it feels really ripe for revisiting, I think so too.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah. There was a whole. The New York Times, I think it was A.O. scott or something about 10 years ago. Went back and watched it again and said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Yeah. There's like a high school girl. Yeah. Groomed and manipulated by her science teacher.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That's not what I remember that movie being.

[Bowen Yang]

And then his peer got mad at her.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah. Yeah. And Matthew Broderick's character, Mr. McAllister, was actually complicit.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. What a way.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Is that his friend then groomed a teenager?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, sorta, kinda.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And he was mad at her and just decided to destroy her.

[Bowen Yang]

And then she got a smoothie thrown at her at the end. God damn it. Hate dc. Hate dc.

[Matt Rogers]

That first shot of Tracy there shooting up her hand is like iconic cinema.

[Bowen Yang]

It's lasting.

[Matt Rogers]

It's lasting. That's a good shot. Do you know what I mean?

[Reese Witherspoon]

No, I don't know what shot you're talking about.

[Matt Rogers]

When you first see Trace, when she shoots up.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh.

[Matt Rogers]

And they scream on your face being a little distorted. It's like it's meant to humiliate this child.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And do you know what the question is? Who knows the difference between ethics and morals?

[Bowen Yang]

Love it.

[Matt Rogers]

Wow.

[Reese Witherspoon]

The irony. The irony.

[Bowen Yang]

I love it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

The irony.

[Bowen Yang]

No, it's an amazing script. It's incredible. And you're a part of so many of those. Picture this. You're in the city, you've got a free night, and you're craving a night out at the theater. You want something exciting, something fresh, but you don't want to spend hours in line or pay an arm and a leg for tickets. So what do you do?

[Matt Rogers]

You pull out your phone and open the Today Tix app. And just like that, you're booking tickets to a Broadway show or an off Broadway gem. No stress, no hassle, just instant access to the best live theater in town.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, man, there's so many amazing shows that you can see on Today Tix. We are both raving about Death becomes her. We loved that show. I mean, the list goes on and on. Oh, Mary, gotta get your tickets.

[Matt Rogers]

Ta da.

[Bowen Yang]

Ta da. Josh Sharps. Ta da. That's the magic of Today. Tics you guys with exclusive deals and a super easy to use app. Getting your hands on tickets has never been easier.

[Matt Rogers]

And whether you're planning ahead or making a spontaneous decision to catch a show tonight, Today Ticks has you covered. You can grab tickets for all kinds of performances, from the hottest Broadway hits to the hidden gems you might not have discovered yet.

[Bowen Yang]

One time I went to a Broadway show because I bought tickets on Today Tix and I saw a dancer that I thought was so amazing that I had to send them a dm, telling them I was so impressed with their performance and they received the DM and they said thank you so much. I would never have gone to see that show and that performer would never have received that compliment and gained the strength to keep going in a very tough climate that is Broadway. It's not easy to book jobs. It's not easy for dancers. Go to todaytix.com dingdong and use promo code Ding Dong to get $20 off your first Today Tix purchase.

[Matt Rogers]

That's promo code Dingdong. No [e-mail] Ding Dong today tix.com Ding Dong support dancers. You know what doesn't belong in your epic summer plans? Getting burned by your old wireless bill. While you're planning beach trips, BBQs and three day weekends, your wireless bill should be the last thing holding you back.

[Bowen Yang]

With Mint, you can get the coverage and speed you're used to, but for way less money. And for a limited time, Mint mobile is offering three months of unlimited premium wireless service for 15 bucks a month. So while your friends are sweating over data overages and surprise charges, you'll be chilling. Literally and financially.

[Matt Rogers]

Say bye bye to your overpriced wireless plan's jaw dropping monthly bills and unexpected overages. Mint Mobile is here to rescue you.

[Bowen Yang]

All plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network.

[Matt Rogers]

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[Bowen Yang]

Ditch overpriced wireless and get three months of unlimited service from Mint Mobile for 15 bucks a month.

[Matt Rogers]

This year, skip breaking a sweat and breaking the bank. Get this new customer offer and your three month unlimited wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com coldturistas that's mintmobile.com coldturistas upfront payment of $45.

[Bowen Yang]

Required equivalent to $15 a month limited time new customer offer for first three months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.

[Matt Rogers]

You know, a good wedding is like an amazing symphony. From the food to the music to the fashion, honey to the style.

[Bowen Yang]

When it all comes together, all these things, you can expect love to grow. And that's good because the wedding should all be about that. Creating an atmosphere and an environment where love can. What's the word? Flourish.

[Matt Rogers]

Flourish you know, a wedding is all about achieving the vision and with Zola you can plan your entire wedding in one convenient place. From the day you get engaged and search for the venue the day you send out your save the dates, make your registry, and even taste your cake. Zola has literally everything you need to make the whole process super easy.

[Bowen Yang]

The first and only stop you need to make on your wedding planning journey is Zola. They've thought of everything you'll need and have built every tool to get you to I do.

[Matt Rogers]

Zola will give you expert guidance and unparalleled support. Their wedding pros are on call to walk couples from question to answer anytime.

[Bowen Yang]

Every Zola wedding is as unique as the couple planning it.

[Matt Rogers]

Start [e-mail] that's z o l a.com what is it that makes the all new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid an incredible suv?

[Bowen Yang]

Is it the spacious interior that's comfy for the whole crew or the capability to go off road?

[Matt Rogers]

It could be. Or maybe it's up to 600 plus miles of range. What if it's all that and more?

[Bowen Yang]

The Hyundai Palisade defies everything you thought you knew an SUV to be with more style and capability. It's something new entirely.

[Matt Rogers]

It has class leading interior space with purposeful tech, available front row and side second row relaxation seats available class exclusive.

[Bowen Yang]

Blind spot view monitor, available class exclusive.

[Matt Rogers]

Dash camera feature, 2.5T hybrid engine with up to 600 plus miles of range and seating configurations for seven to eight passengers with available third row power seats that recline.

[Bowen Yang]

Also available H track all wheel drive so you can be ready to go anywhere in style. It also includes standard 100 watt USB C ports available Bose 14 speaker audio and standard passenger talk driver intercom.

[Matt Rogers]

The all new Hyundai Palisade H Hybrid is more than just another suv. It's still the Palisade but with so much more.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn more about the Hyundai Palisade@Hyundai USA.com Call 562-314-4603 for complete details. The impact that you had, not the beginning of your career but after it had been going for five, six years, it felt like you had like these not even just like successes in pop culture but also like critical hits. So it's like there's Pleasantville, which I think is so many people's favorite movie, it's one of mine. And there's obviously Legally Blonde, there's Cruel Intentions. So I would imagine that like as you're going forward in your career does your team like at that point are they Just like, let's just keep you busy. Or are you at. When you look back at that point, are you. Were you always someone who was like trying to pick and choose what the next move was?

[Reese Witherspoon]

It was always very strategic and it was me and my manager, Evelyn o', Neal, and that was, that was it. It was just her and I.

[Bowen Yang]

And then what was the planning?

[Matt Rogers]

Like, what was the initial conversation behind let's do this hello Sunshine thing? Let's actually make the taste.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay. That was a different iteration of my life. So Evelyn and I, that was my early career. And then I decided to kind of go my own way when I was 34 and the business had shifted a lot, so I don't want to get into the nitty gritty. But the DVD business left. And so all the development of films about women were kind of the mid range budget and that's where it just went away. They weren't developing things for women. So I thought, okay, if I don't take this moment to start developing for myself and for my friends who are incredible, shame on me, first of all, for being so successful and then not doing something about the lack of storytelling for women. So it was a moment where I had to meet the moment. And I was really scared because also, truthfully, that ambition thing is not always appealing to everybody, you know.

[Matt Rogers]

Of course not.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, that's why a lot of, I think the characters are. People blanch at them at first and then they learn to love them because they learn to understand them. But you're right, it is.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, and it's like for all our ambitious listeners out there, sometimes you rub people the wrong way.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And people know that. Every ambitious friend of yours knows it's irritating to feel that, like, come on, let's do more, let's do this and we can do it. And let's throw the homecoming all together, you know, and then let's do the class project. I'll take over everything. It's an annoying character trait.

[Matt Rogers]

But then what's the way out? Like, not that there's a way out.

[Reese Witherspoon]

What's the way out for me? And it was learning to not be embarrassed of it, making peace with it and going, I know I work harder is just how I'm made up and it's not my fault.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And how can I use that to harness more people and rope them into things that I think will be beneficial for them instead of just serving my own agenda, which was making my own career? I thought when hello Sunshine began, I was like, oh my God, this is my opportunity to widen the net, bring people into a family of storytellers. And that's when my whole life changed.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. I mean, truly, I think that there was, like. It did feel like there was this, like, incredible second phase for you, which started with producing Gone Girl and then being in Wild. And I've always wanted to ask you about Gone Girl because that was the. Was that the first big title that you had produced or.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah, that was the first book I ever optioned as producer.

[Bowen Yang]

What jackpot. That is.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It was crazy. We read it in galleys. We read Wild. I read Wild and Gone Girl in galleys. My producing partner was Bruna Papandrea, and we were both like, these books are amazing.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I had no idea they were gonna be. Within six months. They were number one sitting next to each other on the New York Times for months and months and months. And I was like, the books.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Shit, I can't mess this up.

[Matt Rogers]

No, I think that was the perfect one two punch for you. For one to not be a vanity project and for one to be a vehicle for you. Does that make sense?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah, like that.

[Matt Rogers]

Because that is what I think you innovated and established, John. It's like, I'm gonna be a woman actor, actress, whatever, and I'm going to start my own production company. And it will be holistic in that way. I think it could have gone. It might not have been sticky, if we're gonna use that word. Like, it just would not have stuck if it had been one thing.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I agree. And they were both substantive, Right? They were about what we perceive women as, how they subvert that. Gone Girl is the ultimate mind, and Fincher just killed it. And Rosalie pike is so diabolical. And Ben Affleck is sort of the rube on the other side of it receiving it.

[Bowen Yang]

A supporting cast, too.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

Carrie Coon.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I mean, Carrie.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. No, don't forget. And also our friend Casey Wilson. Like, so good. That was one of those Neil Patrick Harris. Oh, again, against type.

[Matt Rogers]

Against type.

[Bowen Yang]

Playing. Playing with a lot of. Against type stuff. And I did want to ask you about that particular role, though, because I had read, I think a lot of people that, you know, follow this stuff that you had been attached to do Gone Girl. And then after a conversation with David, you guys decided that maybe the audience would have had a gauge on you already or, like, what was that conversation? How did you feel about it at the time?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, yes, I had optioned it to star in it, and I was supposed to star in it. There'll be a whole chapter of a book one day about Gone Girl. Cause that started my producing career. But it also told me, hey, nobody's happy for you to have this producing career. Nobody wants you here.

[Bowen Yang]

Wow.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And David sat me down. And this is not on David. But David's like, you're totally wrong for this part, and I'm not putting you in it. So that was at first, how.

[Bowen Yang]

And you're probably like, hold on a second. Well.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Cause I'd had all these conversations with the writer Gillian Flynn, and she was like, no, I'd really like you to do it. But he was like, you're wrong. And that was, first of all, an ego check for me and was like, no, you're not right for everything.

[Bowen Yang]

Wow.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And he was right. He was totally right.

[Matt Rogers]

But why was he right? How did he rationalize that to you.

[Reese Witherspoon]

In a way he didn't have to? He's David Fincher.

[Bowen Yang]

He's like, oh, yeah, okay.

[Reese Witherspoon]

He literally says it this. He's like, you're wrong for this part, and I'm not putting you in it.

[Matt Rogers]

But I'm asking, like, was he like, did you get an inkling of, like, oh. Cause people will project onto me all of their preconceived notions about me as an actor.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I think that was probably for him. Yes. I brought an audience with me.

[Matt Rogers]

Sure.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That likes me and wants me to win. Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

I remember thinking, we've talked about this topic.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I'm not sinister. Diabolical.

[Matt Rogers]

Sure, sure. Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

But isn't that the thing that would have been the surprise. Exactly, though. Like, not to go back in history and fight with David Fincher in my own head. Because the movie is perfect.

[Reese Witherspoon]

No. And Rosamund is perfect.

[Bowen Yang]

She's great. And, I mean, it also started. Really started a whole other type of career for her, too, which is, like, a testament to the producing of that movie.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah. And I think it's important. Producing also means get out of the way when you're supposed to, you know, get out of the way. Do your job to promote, continue to pull people together, continue to build creative groups so that the ultimate result is the best work that it could possibly be. So that was a lesson to me. But behind the scenes, a lot of stuff happened that was not cool in terms of my credits and Da, Da Da, which is so boring. But it took me until Big Little Lies. So Big Little Lies was like, a year later, and Nicole and I produced that together till people started taking me seriously as a producer because honestly, could not get traction even as a producer. Even with those hits, with those three Oscar nominations, it was really hard.

[Bowen Yang]

That's wild. Wild. No pun intended. But especially because I feel like Wild in particular, the whole story, the whole narrative was like, this was a film that she produced alongside Gone Girl. But that performance, that performance is just like. It is a 360. And it was so different from what you had done. I would imagine that felt incredibly vulnerable. And alongside the statement of I'm producing this, was that the moment, if you look back, that are one of the moments where you felt like this is a watershed thing. Like, that had to be a high anxiety moment.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah. Oh, my God. So much anxiety. But doing Wild was a reset for my whole life, my whole career, which was great for me. I had to work physically. I couldn't talk. You know, my superpower is talking really fast.

[Bowen Yang]

It was mostly backpack.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah, it was backpack into the monster. It was all contemplating the earth. And, yeah, that's hard.

[Matt Rogers]

But the realism of that movie is kind of the sort of corollary to, like, everything you had done up to that point. Also, you let out one of the great screams.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, the foot. I'll never forget the foot.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And I threw my shoes.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, Bone shoes.

[Matt Rogers]

That was one of the best opening scenes in movies.

[Bowen Yang]

So good. Did you end up watching it on the plane last night? Okay.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I'm so glad to come down and watch it. You're the one.

[Bowen Yang]

It's not a hardship to watch your movies.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, twist my. I gotta watch Freestyle.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That one's intense, though.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, that is an intense. It's an intense one. And of course, there's that. God, the heartbreaking scene where you discover that your mother has passed and that you weren't there. And that great Laura Dernfield.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Can we just talk about Laura Dern?

[Bowen Yang]

For us, that actually was kind of where I was going. So was that the start? Were you friends with Laura before that or.

[Reese Witherspoon]

No, we met on that movie.

[Bowen Yang]

Great, so you met on that movie. Because it does kind of feel like.

[Reese Witherspoon]

She'S doing her death scene.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, that was day one.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Day one, she's dead. I walk in, I'm like. She was like, I'm going through a divorce. I was like, just been through one.

[Bowen Yang]

Let's get into it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Let's go, let's go.

[Bowen Yang]

So then there begins life, friendship. And it does feel like you guys are like sisters.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Oh, my gosh. We are so connected. And we laugh all morning. All night. I would just FaceTimed her this morning I was like, I'm going on lots of culturistas.

[Bowen Yang]

She's like, no.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Oh my God.

[Matt Rogers]

She's like, what's that?

[Reese Witherspoon]

No.

[Bowen Yang]

I just met her actually on Prom Royale. So it was like, it was a two second thing. But I was just like, I didn't get time with her, but I was like, God, she really similar to you. It's like she will always have that other place in your mind where it's like I once saw you on a screen and you changed my life. And here you are walking around and really producing the show that I was. The Palme Royale show. Like really there on her day off, there in the nuts and bolts. And it's really amazing to see because you guys bring perspective that is not usually there.

[Reese Witherspoon]

She's just so encyclopedic about her understanding of film, television, performance, how movies come together. She's a savant and she's also lovely and kind and humble. But she can eviscerate you in a scene and you're like, oh, this is so good. Some of them are like favorite stuff I've ever done my whole life was scenes between Madeline and Monada on Big Little Eyes.

[Bowen Yang]

I'll never forget you guys sitting at the fire pit, letting it rip at each other.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You better not cancel my daughter's. And I was like, I'm going to Disney on Ice.

[Matt Rogers]

Instead we've got an Avenue Q being like these tentpole plot points totally in that show.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, I will also say like that show.

[Matt Rogers]

Yes, perfection.

[Bowen Yang]

No, it really. And talk about again, like yet again, like just watching everything about it. I mean like in like just the shots of the crashing waves, et cetera. White Lotus. We see you. We know where you got that from.

[Matt Rogers]

We know where you got that from.

[Bowen Yang]

Listen. But that, listen, you have to feel like that probably opens so much up in TV then.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It was such. That was a watershed, I think.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Not just for you, but for television.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah, I think. Cause a group of that esteemed level actresses doing a TV show was unheard of. Also just like Nicole, myself and Lara and Zoe Kravitz and Shailene Wyndley, like all in our friendship, you heard more about our friendships than you heard about our work or what's going on with our kids. Like, who cares? We were best friends. It was so angry at each other.

[Bowen Yang]

Through the screen though.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But it was, you know, it was just the inner workings of female relationships. And I think the really beautiful thing about Big Little Lies is it's actually an entire show about domestic violence. And it had this again, this emotional resonance where you think it's this Frothy thing. Right. But it's actually something very, very real that happens to one in three women. And so you could laugh about it. Right. It's funny. I tend to my grudges. Like little pets.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Like yes, yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And scenes with me and Lara. Amazing.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

We're in a totally different show than Nicole Kidman.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And Alexander Skarsgard.

[Matt Rogers]

Absolutely.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And it all comes together at the very end. You're like, holy shit.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, I think one of the really powerful things was the dichotomy of like there are these women arguing about this play and literally blocks over. There is this thing happening. And so yes, there are different shows. He doesn't tell us, but it is in one reality. And it is also the reality which is that these things are happening and the shock with which you guys receive that information. But the immediate way, you know, to protect and act I think was so powerful. And certainly all my female friends that all our female friends that we talked to were just like so empowered and emboldened by the fact like we will have each other's backs and that that's what that show was about.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And we'll also have joy and we'll also have laughter and we'll also be petty and then we'll make up for.

[Bowen Yang]

It and we'll still get into it afterwards.

[Reese Witherspoon]

We're still going to do it and we're going to have this great life together. But truly, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

What is it that makes the all new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid an incredible suv?

[Bowen Yang]

Is it the spacious interior that's comfy for the whole crew or the capability to go off road?

[Matt Rogers]

It could be. Or maybe it's up to 600 plus miles of range. What if it's all that and more?

[Bowen Yang]

The Hyundai Palace Aid defies everything you thought you knew an SUV to be. With more style and capability. It's something new entirely.

[Matt Rogers]

It has class leading interior space with purposeful tech. Available front row and second row relaxation seats.

[Bowen Yang]

Available class exclusive blind spot view monitor. Available class exclusive dash camera feature, 2.5T.

[Matt Rogers]

Hybrid engine with up to 600 plus miles of range and seating configurations for seven to eight passengers with available third row power seats that recline.

[Bowen Yang]

Also available H track all wheel drive so you can be ready to go anywhere in style. It also includes standard 100 watt USB C ports, available Bose 14 speaker audio and standard passenger talk driver intercom.

[Matt Rogers]

The all new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid is more than just another suv. It's still the Palisade, but with so much more.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn more about the Hyundai [e-mail] Call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

[Matt Rogers]

What if your WI fi was more than just WI Fi? What if your WI Fi made everything in your whole house just work together better?

[Bowen Yang]

Well, Xfinity WI fi pretty much does exactly that. Now, how does it do that? Great question. It's powered by their best, most elite, high performing tech. This WI Fi is like, I see you and I got you before you even know what you need.

[Matt Rogers]

Allow us to paint a very realistic, relatable, real life, not made up. Example. Everyone in your house, everyone is on their devices at the exact same time. Gaming, working, swiping. Right? Because of course they are. And the finale of your favorite show of all time of the week is on at the exact same moment. Well, you can boost the WI fi to your device with Xfinity.

[Bowen Yang]

And have you ever asked yourself, what if my WI fi could keep watch over my kids for me? Well, probably not, because that's a weird thing to ask yourself. But Xfinity WI fi is actually so smart that it has parenting skills, even if you sometimes forget yours. Xfinity's like, don't worry, I'll monitor the WI Fi. It protects the kids while they're online. And it does it all without judging little Billy, who definitely would never click that weird link because he's a good boy.

[Matt Rogers]

Obviously, Billy, don't click that link because.

[Bowen Yang]

If you did, it would mean you were bad.

[Matt Rogers]

And what if your WI Fi could make sure your kids actually do their homework instead of playing video games? Or can make sure that there's no phones at the dinner table? Well, with Xfinity, you can pause the kids WI Fi so they can stay focused on what matters.

[Bowen Yang]

And what if your network could fix all the problems that you didn't even know you had?

[Matt Rogers]

Well, that's exactly what Xfinity WI Fi does.

[Bowen Yang]

It's connected.

[Matt Rogers]

Completely proactive, fixing issues before they even happen.

[Bowen Yang]

Bottom line, Xfinity WI Fi isn't just smart, it's brilliant. And you, you deserve that kind of brilliance in your life.

[Matt Rogers]

Xfinity. Imagine that cooler temps are rolling in. And as always, Quince is where I'm turning to for fall staples that actually last. From cashmere to denim to boots, the quality holds up. And the price still blows me away.

[Bowen Yang]

Quint has the kind of fall staples you'll wear non stop. Like super soft, 100% Mongolian cashmere sweaters starting at just $60.

[Matt Rogers]

Their denim is durable and fits right. And their real leather jackets bring that clean, classic edge without the elevated price.

[Bowen Yang]

Tag, what makes quints different? They partner directly with ethical factories and skip the middlemen. So you get top tier fabrics and craftsmanship at half the price of similar brands.

[Matt Rogers]

You know, beyond the fall staples in my wardrobe, I have been loving the quince candles. Yes, cand. Very, very reasonably priced candles that smell. Elevated cookware, bedding, towels and my new Dopp kit.

[Bowen Yang]

Sometimes I just whip out my Mongolian cashmere sweater from Quince and I sit by my quince candle and I won't tell you what happens next but it's very spiritual. Keep it classic and cool this fall with long lasting staples from quince. Go to quince.com culturistas for free shipping on your order and 365 day return.

[Matt Rogers]

That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com culturistas free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.com culturistas fine.

[Bowen Yang]

I'll tell you, it's prayer.

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[Matt Rogers]

I feel like that combination of the frothiness with the weight of something is to transition into morning show is the thing that we love about morning show. We've made a lot of light about the campiness of it. Obviously we write it so good. But especially watching this season, I go, you need the campiness, the ridiculous. You need Bradley Jackson going to space. I know in order to talk about these things that even TV now doesn't want to tackle, like the pandemic, like the fucking insurrection, like all of these really fucked up things about the world. You know, Like, I think was that like the vision for the show the whole time? Because it also mimics the dichotomy between morning news shows, which we've had experience on now, where it's like, okay, we're gonna talk about a war going on in some place at any given time.

[Bowen Yang]

And we're also gonna do, how do you fold a handkerchief? We're gonna find out the best ways to use a plunger. It's like, it's so good.

[Matt Rogers]

That's iconic.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You're like, but that's life now. So I think you're right. And you call it campy and soapy, but for me it's like, where's the human experience?

[Bowen Yang]

Right?

[Reese Witherspoon]

So if you're talking about really earnest subject matter, you have to lighten it up 100%. You have to be having the news producer and the on air athlete talking about, like, why were you late at work today?

[Matt Rogers]

Loved that scene, by the way, between. Oh, my God.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Between Karen Pittman and Kamal Bahari.

[Bowen Yang]

Karen is, I mean, like, she's. She's so special.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I know.

[Bowen Yang]

Like, we are Karen Pittman, super stance. And she's also one of the most stunning individuals on planet Earth. And like Helen of Troy. You say Helen of Troy, y'.

[Reese Witherspoon]

All, we both grew up in Nashville. Really throw a rock. She went to the one girl's school, I went to the other girl's school. And same age, Exact same age. Coming up together. And we finally met on the first season of morning show. So we're natural girls.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, I love that.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It's just great. I so celebrate all her wins. And she was on and just like that too. She's just killing it.

[Bowen Yang]

She definitely is. I feel like the thing too about the morning show that I was referencing earlier was when you did go to space and then matter of 10, 11 months later, we see the blue origin.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yes.

[Bowen Yang]

What did that feel like?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Because they're just forecasters, these writers.

[Matt Rogers]

It's Simpsons level. They predict it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It's odd. Yeah, it's odd because at the end of season one, in the very last scene, Alex Levy has a meltdown on camera and she's like, screw this bullshit. And there's. And I'm talking about right before she says it, I'm like, and there's a mysterious illness on a cruise ship off the coast of China.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And then literally within six months, it was Covid.

[Matt Rogers]

That episode aired before COVID I know. Crazy.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I don't know. There's some weird woo woo stuff happening.

[Matt Rogers]

On the cruise ship.

[Bowen Yang]

See, that's why I'm like.

[Matt Rogers]

So they.

[Bowen Yang]

That's the whole season of the show of the new season. And we freaked. But now I'm like, oh, gosh, what's it gonna portend at the end of the season that's gonna befall us?

[Reese Witherspoon]

I don't know.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, you do know, actually, you do.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I do know.

[Bowen Yang]

But I just love the love.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I hope that true though.

[Bowen Yang]

I love the tone of the show. Like, it's just. It's so fun. It's so enriching. Every character is Like Rich now in the fourth season. And even the new entrances, like, Marion Cotiar is just so perfect in this. And when I heard that she was cast, I'm like, what is that gonna feel like? And she comes in and she just brings all her Marion ness to it. And it does feel. She feels impenetrable and untouchable and very, you know, imperfect.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, and her family owns the entire network now, along with a lot of other assets. And some are sort of maybe a little dubious, unsavory. That comes around. Yeah. That she's sort of the queen of this empire's family empire. And that they've. They're doing some shady stuff.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And she's doing shady stuff all over the. Don't get me started about episode eight.

[Bowen Yang]

Episode.

[Matt Rogers]

Episode eight.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Maybe it's nine.

[Bowen Yang]

Maybe it's nine. See, a penultimate episode.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Just wait.

[Bowen Yang]

That's where the real shit goes down.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You'll be mad.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Celine will be mad.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It's Celine.

[Bowen Yang]

It's Celine. And I said that her name was Celine. I was like, this is perfect.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Of course it is.

[Bowen Yang]

Did you name Bradley Jackson? Who named Bradley Jackson?

[Reese Witherspoon]

No, our original writer, Carrie Aaron.

[Bowen Yang]

Bradley Jackson.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Bradley Jackson.

[Bowen Yang]

Unforgettable.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That's very newscaster.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, totally. But newscast out of like a rural network who is then spotlit on national television goes back. It's like. It works both ways.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah. You know, it's true. And ambitious.

[Matt Rogers]

And ambitious.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Do we sense a threat?

[Bowen Yang]

We clearly do. Are you a news junkie or did you feel. Have you always been. Are you now?

[Reese Witherspoon]

No, but I like to read very specific things about technology. I'm really interested in technology. Biomedical innovation is really interesting to me. And marketing is really interesting to me. How do consume. Figuring out what consumers like. Love it.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And why?

[Matt Rogers]

And why?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Culture.

[Matt Rogers]

Culture.

[Bowen Yang]

What do you think?

[Reese Witherspoon]

How does it move markets? Like Taylor Swift moving markets in cities when her production comes there and economies grow. Let's talk about that.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That's interesting to me. Why do people like certain people and really can't stand others?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Is it better for people to. For you to be controversial or no one cares about you?

[Bowen Yang]

Is the Q rating? Yeah, it is.

[Matt Rogers]

Is the what?

[Bowen Yang]

Right? The Q rating. When they run diagnostics, we can run.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It on you guys.

[Bowen Yang]

I'd be scared. I will run the Q rating. No.

[Reese Witherspoon]

On the Q rating. I guess.

[Bowen Yang]

Or maybe do.

[Matt Rogers]

Maybe do.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Wait, you might want it.

[Bowen Yang]

Okay.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You might want that data.

[Bowen Yang]

No, his is 150. No way.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Do you guys like data? Do you like knowing that?

[Bowen Yang]

Kind of stuff, girl. But the right.

[Matt Rogers]

I mean, there are some little flames that I don't want to touch. You know what I mean?

[Bowen Yang]

I find it really fascinating.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Like, I don't want an aura ring. Like, who am I gonna do with that crap?

[Bowen Yang]

So you're not. Woo woo.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Let's talk.

[Bowen Yang]

What's it giving today?

[Matt Rogers]

My resiliency score is down to adequate because we were on a red eye.

[Bowen Yang]

My resiliency, where's your grit?

[Matt Rogers]

My grit? I gotta get my grit score up. I mean, my sleep score. Listen. She tracks the naps with eerie precision.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But what are you doing with this information? Like, does it make you feel better?

[Bowen Yang]

How would you become more resilient? How I.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, it gives me knowledge that I've trended downward. Right. So I really gotta. Okay, let me be more intentional about my sleep. Let me be more intentional about my, like, working out in the morning. Let me be more intentional about time to read, which I wanna ask you about. It does give some shape to the outlook of the day.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay.

[Matt Rogers]

It gives you a readiness score based on your sleep based on your activity the day before. Okay.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But if something woke you up in the morning and said, you're so tired, you look really tired. Are you tired? You didn't sleep. God, why are you tired, dude?

[Bowen Yang]

Well, ChatGPT is gonna stop.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That's why I have data about it.

[Matt Rogers]

How tired you are.

[Reese Witherspoon]

100 tired. And how are you gonna feel for the rest of the day?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, probably not good.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So susceptible. It will tell me how to feel.

[Matt Rogers]

I'll be like, oh, totally.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I didn't sleep. I don't have a crown. I think I don't have a crown.

[Matt Rogers]

No, they give you a crown on the score if you do.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, I don't even know that.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That is just like Human Behavior 101. They're trying to, like, you know, like, engineer, stimulate, yo. And you're letting them.

[Matt Rogers]

But the tone is actually quite gentle. Like, should I read the readiness for today?

[Reese Witherspoon]

It's actually quite.

[Matt Rogers]

It doesn't.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And then I'd like to know your saltiness, your sassiness.

[Bowen Yang]

There's a metric saltiness.

[Matt Rogers]

There should be.

[Reese Witherspoon]

How much crap can you handle today?

[Matt Rogers]

So this is. It's like if you did, like, go on a bender the night before and you only got like, whatever, three hours of sleep, it goes. Maybe think about taking it easy. It's very gentle.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay. So it's nice.

[Bowen Yang]

You need sobriety.

[Matt Rogers]

You need sobriety. No, no, no kidding.

[Bowen Yang]

Say, no, I wasn't reading that.

[Matt Rogers]

It's loading it up right Now. But, like, that's what I. It's never been, like, finger waggy. Uh, you're not doing so good while this loads up.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I think it's also how you hear it. Yeah, it's true how you take criticism. I just window into me. Don't take it well.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, I was gonna ask you that, like, as someone who's like, a metrics person, like, and. But also a sensitive person as a result of, like, what you do. I've always been, like, interested in this. People that are very producerial and people that are real. You know, you're a business person, and so. But you're also an actor. And so you maintain a lot of, like, openness, vulnerability, sensitivity in order to do what you do. How do you balance those two things? As someone who's, like, out there publicly as a product in a way that we all are, but also someone who markets that product? Like, how do. Like, how do you walk that line and maintain a sanity?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay, well, that's a good question. It has different levels to it too. Because when I'm in work mode, it's a full different personality. And that's where I've kind of been for a while now. The acting. I have to switch on. I have to kind of tune out what's happening in the business and the. But I knew if I didn't tune in to the business and kind of level up, I wasn't gonna make change.

[Bowen Yang]

Or you may get lost.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I would get lost. But I also just think not enough of it. Like, I wasn't an executive, but I had to become an executive over the past nine years. And I don't enjoy it, per se, but it's important if I wanna affect change and actually create a company that has enterprise value in a market and see where the ball is going in terms of media. So I have to pay attention to all that.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, even be so outside of those things. It's like, I think with hello Sunshine, you've created the trend of actor starts production company. Great. But what you've always avoided, which is what's common, is that an actor starts a production company as a way to be a boom to the changing tides of showbiz. I don't think that's ever been true for you. Maybe in the beginning when you were having to, like, prove yourself, quote, unquote. But now I feel like with the pipeline of the book club, you have this way to create taste. You are a taste maker more than we are, to be sure. So, like, what is the difference between how do you like changing that dial? Has to be a very intentional, very difficult thing.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, I think taking some of the intense spotlight I had as a very young person and I learned a lot about marketing through sitting about meetings, people talking about me like I was a product. And they were like, well, it plays well in Russia and Brazil, but it doesn't play well in Japan. And I was like, you're talking about me.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Why do they not. Okay. So I had to learn to depersonalize it.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. Why do they not like me in Japan?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Right. I don't know. Yeah. And then I don't know. Cause they haven't met me.

[Bowen Yang]

Cause they haven't met you.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I'm just kidding.

[Bowen Yang]

That is kind of what you said. Well, I should go. Oh, yeah, I'm gonna do a meet.

[Matt Rogers]

I'll do a meet greet.

[Bowen Yang]

Book the flights, let's go on the vacay.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Don't let me upset. But no, I started to learn about how aud receive information, what things trend this way and that way. So as I started thinking about a book club as a business enterprise. Right. What were the advantages? First of all, being first to market on having read something ahead of time and then going to those authors and saying, first you did the hard work, you broke the back of the story. These characters are indelible. Can I help you promote it? With this spotlight that I have, that's all on me. But can I shine a little bit on you and help you out with some marketing stuff online? And then also, if you feel inclined to give me the first right of the option, let me know. But there was never like, you have to give me an option on your book. So I wanted to clarify that because that was A lot of people say, oh, she got the first right of refusal. I didn't. But people were so appreciative of the marketing. And then I also said, if you give me the rights, I'm not going to stick it in development. Hell no. I'm going to work my ass off on it for two years and if I can't get it made, I'm gonna give it back to you. And we had a great success rate. From little fires everywhere to big little lies to morning show to last thing he ever told me. And now we have a new one coming out with Anya Taylor. Joy called Lucky and it's been great. Where the crawdads thing?

[Bowen Yang]

Yes. Is it that you're looking at projects and you think, oh, this is something I really wanna do with Carrie. This would be fun to do with her. We always joke. This podcast started out as a way for us to have a playdate once a week. And you're looking, you see these things, and you're like, this is my playdate with Kerry Washington, Pharrell.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yes. And I get to play with my favorite people. And, you know, what a gift.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, totally.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And also empower them. We all get to make something together and. And have a blast while we're doing it. So it isn't. I don't mean to diminish it and say it's easy because it's really hard work and long hours, but, geez, it's like reaping the rewards of 30 years of hard work.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, totally.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I love my job. I love it.

[Bowen Yang]

You can tell. It's clear.

[Matt Rogers]

It's so clear.

[Bowen Yang]

We love that you do your job.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I love authors. I'm just such a nerd. I read constantly.

[Matt Rogers]

Well, I was gonna ask, between reading about technology and biomedical stuff, it's like.

[Reese Witherspoon]

An hour a day. I'll read that, like, while I drink.

[Matt Rogers]

Coffee, sum total of the day, how much of it is reading? Because this is what I want to kind of engineer in my own life. I'm like, I gotta fucking read books instead of scrolling on this.

[Bowen Yang]

I know, I know.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And I do think people are kind of getting off the phone and saying, like, touch grass, read a book, hold paper. I read an hour at night. I read an hour in the morning and an hour at night. And then I'm on a plane. The whole plane ride.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So I can get through a lot on plane.

[Bowen Yang]

And how much are. Can you ever stop yourself and just be like, rhys, I'm just gonna enjoy this book and stop thinking about the fact that I'm gonna, like. You know what I mean?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Like, who should play this female lead?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, exactly.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And you know who'd be amazing in this? Bradley Cooper.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Matt Rogers]

As a female lead.

[Bowen Yang]

Definitely kidding.

[Reese Witherspoon]

No, but there's no I think in cinematic terms. So I'm always casting the movie in my mind. Mind.

[Matt Rogers]

Nothing wrong.

[Bowen Yang]

It is so fun.

[Matt Rogers]

Nothing wrong with that. What is it that makes the allnew Hyundai Palisade hybrid an incredible suv?

[Bowen Yang]

Is it the spacious interior that's comfy for the whole crew or the capability to go off road?

[Matt Rogers]

It could be. Or maybe it's up to 600 plus miles of range. What if it's all that and more?

[Bowen Yang]

The Hyundai Palisade defies everything you thought you knew. An suv, to me be. With more style and capability. It's something new entirely.

[Matt Rogers]

It has class, leading interior space with purposeful tech available Front row and second row relaxation seats available class exclusive blind.

[Bowen Yang]

Spot view monitor available class exclusive dash.

[Matt Rogers]

Camera feature 2.5T hybrid engine with up to 600 plus miles of range and seating configurations for 7 to 8 passengers with available 3rd row power seats that recline.

[Bowen Yang]

Also available hTrack all wheel drive so you can be ready to go anywhere in style. It also includes standard 100 watt USB C ports available Bose 14 speaker audio and standard passenger talk driver intercom the.

[Matt Rogers]

All new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid is more than just another suv. It's still the Palisade, but with so much more.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn more about the Hyundai [e-mail] Call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

[Matt Rogers]

What if your WI fi was more than just WI fi? What if your WI fi made everything in your whole house just work together better?

[Bowen Yang]

Well, Xfinity WI Fi Pre much does exactly that. Now how does it do that? Great question. It's powered by their best, most elite, high performing tech. This WI fi is like I see you and I got you before you even know what you need.

[Matt Rogers]

Allow us to paint a very realistic, relatable real life not made up example. Everyone in your house, everyone is on their devices at the exact same time. Gaming, working, swiping, right? Because of course they are. And the finale of your favorite show of all time of the week is on at the exact, exact same moment. Well, you can boost the WI fi to your device with Xfinity.

[Bowen Yang]

And have you ever asked yourself, what if my WI fi could keep watch over my kids for me? Well, probably not, because that's a weird thing to ask yourself. But Xfinity WI fi is actually so smart that it has parenting skills, even if you sometimes forget yours. Xfinity's like, don't worry, I'll monitor the WI fi. It protects the kids while they're online. And it does it all without judging little Bill Billy, who definitely would never click that weird link because he's a good boy.

[Matt Rogers]

Obviously, Billy, don't click that link because.

[Bowen Yang]

If you did, it would mean you were bad.

[Matt Rogers]

And what if your WI fi could make sure your kids actually do their homework instead of playing video games? Or could make sure that there's no phones at the dinner table? Well, with Xfinity you can pause the kids WI fi so they can stay focused on what matters.

[Bowen Yang]

And what if your network could fix all the problems that you didn't even know you had?

[Matt Rogers]

Well, that's exactly what Xfinity WI fi does. Does it's completely proactive, fixing issues before they even happen.

[Bowen Yang]

Bottom line Xfinity WI Fi isn't just smart, it's brilliant. And you, you deserve that kind of brilliance in your life.

[Matt Rogers]

Xfinity Imagine that JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds are for those who are the first to try something unique.

[Bowen Yang]

The first earbuds on the market with a touchscreen case which allows you to control your audio without reaching for your phone. They also have a touchscreen smart charging case for one touch control.

[Matt Rogers]

I love being able to touch my buds and control the volume. It feels amazing on the skin.

[Bowen Yang]

With a built in wireless transmitter that lets you plug and play with any device you want, the JBL Tour 3 connects you to all your favorite music, movies and games.

[Matt Rogers]

The wireless transmitter also allows for JBL superior spatial sound that takes any audio and turns it into a 360 immersive experience.

[Bowen Yang]

They've got a next gen smart charging case for a seamless listening experience. Leave your phone in your pocket. The smart charging case has all the features you need to fully control and customize your listening experience and the earbud settings in multiple languages right from the case.

[Matt Rogers]

Use the bigger, clear 1.57-inch touchscreen to see what song is playing or who's calling you or personalize the tactile screen with your favorite photo.

[Bowen Yang]

Check the dynamic lock screen to get info on battery life, status, time, messages, etc.

[Matt Rogers]

First doesn't follow. Grab a [e-mail] Ford was built on.

[Ford Commercial Voice]

The belief that the world doesn't get to decide what you're capable of. You do. So ask yourself, can you or can't you? Can you load up a Ford F150 and build your dream with sweat and steel? Can you chase thrills and conquer curves in a Mustang? Can you take a Bronco to where the map ends and adventure begins? Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.

[Bowen Yang]

Ready?

[Ford Commercial Voice]

Set. Ford.

[Bowen Yang]

Speaking of the mind, let's take an odyssey into it. We're going to ask you the question that we ask everyone on our show, which is, what was the culture that made you say culture was? For me?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Reese Brothers Twin it's just like so many things came into my mind when we were talking.

[Bowen Yang]

I know. I bet.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I mean, when I thought about it, you know, when you first asked me, I was like, was it this? I mean, I remember when MTV started, that was a big deal in my childhood. And Jon Bon Jovi, or JBJ as I call him, came out with this music video called Living on a prayer.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, come on.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And he wore these thigh high red leather boots. And you would think Reese Wishman's not like, into guys, but with thigh high red leather. Oh, yes, I was.

[Bowen Yang]

You were.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It was a moment. It was a moment. And I had a lot. There was a lot of kind of feelings about that. And that to me was like, MTV Movie Awards and video awards were huge in my childhood because I grew up in a little town in Tennessee. And I was seeing people, like, talk about, you know, gender fluidity. Whether they were talking about it or they were just exhibiting it, that was cool. They were edgy. Or like, when Gwen Stefani came out with I'm Just a Girl and she had this ska song about how women are always sublimated and ignored and underestimated, I was like, that's my anthem.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But as you're sitting here, I was like, oh, my God. I know what culture was for me. I remember being going with a group of friends to the movies and seeing First Wives Club.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, here we go.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And seeing Diane Keaton, Bette Miller and Goldie Hawn do that dance at the end. Well, yeah. And I was like, I think I was the only 11 year old watching it. Like, that's revenge. You know, their unhappiness is Joy bench. And they express it through song and dance and on a huge screen and they sing. You don't know me. Yeah, you know, I was like, this is it. That's it.

[Bowen Yang]

I used to rent that from Blockbuster all the time. Like, I can't believe my mom just wasn't like, oh, my son's gay.

[Matt Rogers]

Like.

[Bowen Yang]

Cause it was like, I was like, I was renting it from Blockbuster all the time and watching it, and I don't remember the rest of it from that time.

[Matt Rogers]

But that scene, that scene.

[Reese Witherspoon]

By the way, your Blockbuster strategy was culture on Friday nights 1000%. Were you the basics that ran for the new hits or were you like, I think I'm gonna go rent Blue Velvet. It's by David Lance. What I would do the Winona Ryder Film Festival that I was always having.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, my God, I'll never forget walking down the aisle and I saw Batman Forever and Nicole Kidman, Veronica Lake, hair. And I said, I know something about myself as a result of the way I'm reacting to this picture. And I took that movie. And one day when she sits in this seat, I will tell her that that Dr. Chase meridian curtain of hair.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Her hair is seared into my consciousness.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It's a core memory for me.

[Bowen Yang]

Her like, it's like a noirish scene.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Where, like, Jessica Rabbit.

[Bowen Yang]

Jessica Rabbit, she gathers up her. Her, like, linens, and she goes over to, like, you know, the curtain's blowing, and then Batman comes, and they're having this scene, and I'm like, that might have been a little bit of an awakening for me, to be honest with you. That was my Blockbuster blog.

[Matt Rogers]

It's like, it's all coming back to me now. It's like women at a window with linens. You know what I mean?

[Bowen Yang]

White linens and a blowing in the breeze. Yeah, that was my intro to Nicole.

[Matt Rogers]

But your Blockbuster strategy is your culture. Because it would be like, are you gonna go to the wall with the new releases where it's like 10, 20 copies of one thing, or you gonna slowly peruse the aisles? And I'm like 9 years old. I'm going, what's the Deer Hunter like?

[Bowen Yang]

Not, like, neither of the criteria.

[Matt Rogers]

Not the criteria.

[Bowen Yang]

The Deer Hunter.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, and I was a Goldie Hawking completist, so it was either overboard or Wildcats when I had to go down overboard. And then I could always get a group of kids to kind of watch what I wanted to watch. Yeah, I was considered, like, persuasive.

[Bowen Yang]

You were producing them.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I was like, you guys just don't follow me.

[Matt Rogers]

Come on, come with me.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So golden.

[Bowen Yang]

Han was huge. Huge.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah, she was huge. And Winona Ryder was huge. And I felt like I knew her Overboard.

[Bowen Yang]

I almost had to wait. That movie is everything.

[Matt Rogers]

It's seared into me, but this is everything. But the end of First Wives Club is like this light that's refracted into three different beams among those women. And you had. You could choose all three of them to model yourself after. Like, even for us, it's like, I wanna be all of them.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, and your life wasn't a result of what the bad relationships that had happened to you. It was what your friendships that were gonna help you rise above and overcome.

[Bowen Yang]

And how interesting that that came back around for you.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I know. Who knew that was not.

[Bowen Yang]

I do believe that we.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Until we just talked about it.

[Bowen Yang]

We do know. It's funny. It's like someone said to me one time, like, you'll look back on your career and you'll see a through line. And so it's funny. You talk about ambition being a through line. You talk about female friendship being a through line. And to be where you're at now and know that those things have stayed consistent, but also inspired people. That has to be really, really, really, really special. Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And I feel lucky that I continue. I get to do it. I get to continue to do it at a really high level with really fun people is really awesome. But I had a friend say to me the other day, she said, you know, do you feel like you were born with a finite amount of stories to tell and you've told a lot of.

[Bowen Yang]

Why would she say that? Whoa.

[Reese Witherspoon]

She was an author and she's probably 61 or something, and she's like, I feel like I'm kind of rewrapping every story, but it's always the same theme.

[Matt Rogers]

But that's okay.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah. Maybe we're all here for a purpose. You have to find. As Oprah would say, you have to find your purpose, you know, or what? Like, do you know the themes of your storytelling lives?

[Matt Rogers]

Not. It's coming into focus. Okay. Okay. Slowly. And for you to say that. When would you say that it came into focus for you?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Not until I was 34, 35.

[Matt Rogers]

We're at that age, basically.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So it's weird that people pleasing starts to diminish and you start to go, oh, wait, what I've been doing is kind of good. I'm kindling. Right. Like, I've had one success and it's building on another. And now it's time for me to step into a leadership role and start being. And you'll start to see. I mean, you probably already seeing this. People are looking at you and going, what do you want to do? Instead of going, can you please cast me or can you please put me in X Y? And so you have to spend that good look at me, like life coaching. Your hair.

[Bowen Yang]

I know.

[Matt Rogers]

I feel something you're imparting.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, I'm totally like, you guys are super creative, and it's important that when you figure that out for yourself, your life opens up in a beautiful way and you start to go on a different path where it's like, okay, I'm only going to follow this. Those threads that serve my real purpose and let people into my life that are helping that purpose.

[Bowen Yang]

It's funny when things too, because it's like, I feel like when I was younger, growing up, and I had that moment where I was watching the Oscars and I think I was 8 years old. We always talk about that same, that Titanic Oscar, as we call it, 97, 98. That was the moment where I looked in the screen and I was like, oh, I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be with them. And then you get in the industry and you understand more about it, and you work and you get the awards thing, and you maybe even get to a point, like you, where you win the Oscar, and yet it's not like you hit the jackpot and won the game, and now the rest of your life is roses. You still had struggles after that Oscar in terms of being taken seriously as a producer. Is that. That must have been something that you really felt like, I've won an Oscar, and yet still. You know what I mean?

[Reese Witherspoon]

And you hear that over and over and over again that there's a curse that there's like, what, are they gonna open a magic, you know, vault with the great scripts that they've been waiting to give you? No, it's not. It's actually. It's an opportunity to start creating your own. But I didn't understand that, and it took me four years to figure it out.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. Cause you're thinking after you win the Oscar for Walk the Line. Yeah. You think it's gonna get easier. They're gonna. All of a sudden, I'm gonna be where so and so is. And then all of a sudden, you say, wait, who am I talking about as so and so? Because we're all here, women in Hollywood, even at this level. And it's not like there's, like, this abundance.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Right. And it's. Yeah, exactly. You nailed it. And there is an Oscar curse, I think. I think it's really.

[Bowen Yang]

It feels like there. Feels like there might be. Feels like there might be.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I mean, I think there's empirical data at this point. For data people.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, for data people.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But there are people. Not. There were people who, like, you know.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

But it's interesting.

[Bowen Yang]

It's interesting what ultimately does give you that satisfaction and purpose.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Bowen Yang]

It's like, of course, winning the Oscar probably felt incredible. Like, I would love to win one, but, you know, that it's about what you can provide to people and what you can, like, be a part of that really affects change. Probably someone coming up to you that watched Big Little Lies and said, I felt empowered to say something. Or I asked my friend if they were okay.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

You know, Or. Or I made sure that I just hang out with my female friends more as a result of watching that, that probably can give you something that an Oscar never could.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Oh, my God. Morning show. People talking about, I was harassed in my workplace and I didn't have a voice, and you illuminated the show. And now everybody at work is behaving differently.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So a lot of the way, our amazing friends who work in the corporate world have to walk through a lot of sublimation and humiliation or just. It has radically changed in the past seven years and with reporting structures. And harassment is actually like, that's not flirting. That's actually like, leave me the F of work I'm not interested in.

[Bowen Yang]

And even the jokes about like, can you believe we can't do this? Are now met with like, shut up, shut up. You know what I mean? Like, I've been. How many times, like, when you get cast on a new project, you have like the, you know, the sexual harassment training and it's the people who are like, I can't believe this. This when I was on 15 years ago, it's like, okay, dude, okay, like, listen to yourself.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I've had people roll their eyes during it. And it was usually people who were harassing people.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly. It's like, what? I can't tell you. I like your shirt. It's like, no, you can tell me you like my shirt. And you know the difference.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

And so the fact that you're stunting on this right now is inappropriate. But it's. But then that's when you remember people just want attention.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, you know, but I think morning show's great too, because we get to watch things shift. Right. So we were there during Mean two. We were talking about workplace harassment, but now we're here talking about the manoverse and the rise of the male podcaster having massive influence.

[Bowen Yang]

Perfect casting, by the way.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Wasn't he great?

[Bowen Yang]

We like it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Dwight Holbrook.

[Bowen Yang]

Holbrook, yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Amazing. And he has, you know, this ease and charm about him, but he's also kind of a good old boy.

[Matt Rogers]

It works for that character too, because. Yeah, yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And so. So I think it's great that we can talk about journalism in this way that we're not attacking anybody, but we're just sort of illuminating how disturbing it is that people are getting their news sources from people who are maybe not experts in the things they're talking about.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, that's one of the biggest problems I have with, I mean, in our podcasting community when suddenly a lifestyle podcast or a comedy podcast host thinks that they can have a politician on their show and have a real conversation with them. I just don't think it's something that we should be doing.

[Matt Rogers]

We're. We're not qualified necessarily to do that. Like.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, I think it's hard to say.

[Bowen Yang]

That, you know, during the election we were pitched Democratic politicians to come on here.

[Matt Rogers]

Presidential candidates.

[Bowen Yang]

Presidential candidates. And we had to pass because I was like, I think then I would have to. And Bowen would have to follow up with some opinions, with some topics. And, like, I don't know if you want this person on our show.

[Matt Rogers]

Right.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't know if it's best for us to do this.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It's like, good to trust your instincts. Because. Because again, what is your purpose here? Are you here to break political news?

[Matt Rogers]

No.

[Bowen Yang]

We should make people happy.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Guys. You make people happy.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, exactly.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Like having your own award show.

[Bowen Yang]

Exactly.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Which was genius.

[Bowen Yang]

You watched it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You guys, come on.

[Matt Rogers]

You're inviting me here with that.

[Bowen Yang]

We just sort of try to make each other laugh. And if we do, we just follow that.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And did you tell people, like guests that they had to come on to accept their awards, or did they just.

[Matt Rogers]

Want to so peek behind the curtain? It was our amazing, amazing, amazing team to help us.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So proud of yourself.

[Bowen Yang]

You're like, I can't believe you watched it. I can't believe you watched it. I can't believe you watched it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Repeated some clips that were very funny.

[Matt Rogers]

Thank you. You're invited any year.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, here's the thing. It's like, I literally was thinking. I was like, no, the first time we meet Rhys has to be like this. And then we're gonna open the box.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah. But anyway, it's there. But no, we just. No, we like, look, it was a lot of work. Cause it was just the two of us +2writers, which is very understaffed in terms of award shows.

[Bowen Yang]

It was hard.

[Matt Rogers]

We wrote all the presenter copy all the speeches. Cause everyone was like, we don't know what this is yet. Cause it hadn't been televised. So we had to write all the speeches. We like. We did everything.

[Reese Witherspoon]

How long did that take you guys?

[Bowen Yang]

A couple months.

[Matt Rogers]

Couple months.

[Bowen Yang]

And the really challenging part was that moment. And this is why it's great to talk to you, is because then you suddenly have to be like, oh, I'm snapping into being talent now. And now we have to learn Abracadabra by Lady Gaga.

[Matt Rogers]

We have to learn a dance.

[Bowen Yang]

The dance. And that's when I finally was like, I have an anxiety problem. And I'm getting on propranolol. Because this abracadabra dance almost took me out and, you know. Did it you.

[Matt Rogers]

I'm so proud of it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Can we talk about our relationship to anxiety and, like. Yes, can we? Because I want to hear tools that you've learned and what I've learned, and it's real.

[Bowen Yang]

You talk about this.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I. I'm a high anxiety person.

[Bowen Yang]

Okay. And so I'm actually really happy to hear you say that because sometimes I think when someone talks about themselves as ambitious and I identify with that, it's sort of what people don't say is the amount of anxiety that sometimes can be driving that ambition or accompanying that ambition. So even just to hear you label it as your ambition being a symptom or how do you think of it?

[Reese Witherspoon]

I mean, anxiety manifests itself. Depression looks like anxiety sometimes too. So it can be really highly performance based. Like you have to perform, you have to show up, which is a lot of my anxiety. So I used to have panic attacks, bad panic attacks, like crying. And I tried meditation. It's hard for me to listen. I also have like some ADD stuff, so I can't listen to stuff for very long. Honestly, this sounds so crazy, but I worked with a hypnotist who also did. I took medicine. Sometimes I'd have to take Ativan to calm down and then it would make me feel like a zombie.

[Bowen Yang]

Right.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And then I wasn't performing, I was practicing. That's depressing. And I wasn't performing at the level I wanted to. And I wasn't as funny. But by the way, P.S. if you need medicine, please take the medicine. Of course.

[Bowen Yang]

And I'm still very individual.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Don't be a hero.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And I'm not a doctor. Do I need to put that little thing. I'm not a doctor, but I started doing some work with a hypnotist. And she actually works with this thing called neuro linguistic programming, so it's called nlp. And she helped me realize that I was going to get the same result, but I could get rid of all the anxiety in the middle.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. When was that?

[Reese Witherspoon]

I was 30. 34. 34.

[Bowen Yang]

We're 35. And so this was. I think I've. Well, how long we've been now engaging with this in a real way for like, what, two years? A year each?

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, sure, sure.

[Bowen Yang]

So. So always thinking, like, what if I dull myself? Or you know what I mean? Lots of our friends with mental health stuff are like, I don't want to do that.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Sometimes I drink too much. And then I was like, why am I doing this? I don't feel good. Or I take an Ativan. And I was sleepy. So that actually changed my whole life. And I want people to know anxiety is real. And when I see girls going through it or guys going through it and they post videos and I wanna hug them, it makes me wanna cry. Cause it's very Real and you're not alone, and you can calm yourself down. There's tools to calm yourself down.

[Matt Rogers]

I mean, there is no magic single solution. I think it is just you finding on an individualized level the matrix of things that can help you through. I don't know.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But the cornerstone of that work is understanding that you're gonna perform at the same level whether you're stressed about it or not stressed about it.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So decide to take the stress out. And she does a lot of exercises where you talk to yourself after you've completed the task. You've done this show, you're walking backstage, you guys are reviewing, and you're happy. And so you kind of just tell yourself ahead of time, we're gonna get there. The way I process it is actually who I am and how I show up as a leader.

[Bowen Yang]

Sure, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

But the cognitive script that you have to undo, which is, I'm sure the work that you did is to go. But no, I mean, the way that I do it, even if I like the anxiety and the stress, is just the way through. That's the journey. At what point do you believe that to be true, that you don't need all the stuff in the middle, that you will perform at the same level?

[Reese Witherspoon]

When you can let the compliments in.

[Matt Rogers]

You hear that My big issue.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But just sit down at the end of the night, maybe even just circle certain texts or take a screenshot and give yourself a moment and let it in. Because you really are that talented and you really, really deserve where you're at. But even if it's just quiet and private to you.

[Matt Rogers]

Totally. One last thing before we move on. I don't think so, honey. And what I've always wanted to ask you.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay, yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

What I've always wanted to ask you and what we kind of maybe brought up earlier with the book club. It's like people assumed that, like, you have the. Like you have the first look at everything. Right. That must be a frustrating thing. And that is probably two things. One's the underestimation that we've talked about, which is another through line with the ambition. The other is people projecting things onto you. Reese Witherspoon, this accomplished, high functioning, beautiful.

[Bowen Yang]

Charming, decorative person, Decorated person. But to.

[Matt Rogers]

But then at what point does that work against things? At a certain point, I go, wait, no, that's not everything there is about me.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You mean that people assume things about me? I don't know what they assume about me.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm not probably book club.

[Matt Rogers]

It's like the book club Though it's like, well, she must get first. It's like they just assume that you have these things at your fingertips when you have to work hard for them.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah, I think. No, I think the joke is odd about me. That I work really hard. No, I don't know if people assume things that. What really gets my goat is people assuming things about my friends or women who are in the spotlight. Drives me up a wall. That you think you understand someone's emotional experience when you have never met them and you project things on them. Sometimes I'll get all my comments about people in my life who've had kids and people in my life who haven't had kids. And there is a massive judgment there on either side. Right. And it's just not cool.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

We need to not do that to each other. And don't assume that people don't have any consciousness about children, even if they haven't given birth to them out of their body.

[Bowen Yang]

Of course.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You know, that really bugs me.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, that's. That the. This whole conversation that's like, suddenly.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I mean, I thought I was coming in to do. I don't think so, honey. About something very light.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, no, we'll move into the lighter. Remember when you said before we got into. I don't think so, honey. I have one more thing. You fucked up because I have one more thing. Now don't think that you're gonna come on Las Culturistas, the podcast, and we're not gonna at least bring up Big Little Lies, season three.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay.

[Bowen Yang]

All right. So as you go. Okay. And look down. I just feel like we do need it. And I would like to ask in a real way about, like, how much brain space it takes up for you on the day to day. And, like, what are we thinking about? Are we talking about?

[Reese Witherspoon]

I mean, the idea of it is so exciting to me. And then this is where my anxiety and perfectionism and ambition comes in.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, for sure. And I don't want to do that to you.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Excellent.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, of course it does.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So I'm not gonna give it to you guys, but, you know, it will be crisp.

[Bowen Yang]

Can I say perfect? The. And I like, you're just one of my, like, number ones. And, like, so I will say Big Little Lies, Season 1, Episode 6 the scene with you and Katherine Newton where she's out on the hammock and you're going over to her to confront her about the fact that she's gonna, like, sell her virginity on the Internet. And when you tell her your secret about the fact that you had stepped out on Adam Scott, that, to me, was just like. That was like Rhys. That scene was like, there was so much fire, and there was spirit and there was vulnerability and that there was all this. I just think that character is the character that you were born to play after all of them. And you've brought so much to life in these different ways. But I feel like Madeline Martha Mackenzie is like. That's, like, the one. And I just hope that in season three, she tears.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Thank you.

[Bowen Yang]

That's what I'm gonna say.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I hope so.

[Bowen Yang]

That big little lies. That's Madeline's show.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, I'm gonna pick your brain for cool set pieces, too, because I think what's important, too, is, yes, you get all the wonderful inner personal dynamics, and you get all the friendships and all the great women, but we really live for our set pieces, too.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, God, yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Whether it's, you know, the trivia night where we all dress like Audrey Hepburn or we have dojo party for maddest girlfriend doll. So those are really important to me, too. And, like, it all has to cook into this beautiful, delicious meal. It has to be perfect.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, they do such an amazing job. Y' all do such an amazing job at picking those places, too. I just remember that you guys went to go get coffee at a place one time. This is when you have this scene with Meryl, and she reads you for being short. Like, I just like this outdoor coffee spot where you ordered an Americano. I was like, ugh, I want to go order an Americano at that place.

[Matt Rogers]

Like, I was influenced.

[Bowen Yang]

I love everything about that show.

[Reese Witherspoon]

The fact that the show was so yummy, that Meryl was like, yes, I.

[Bowen Yang]

Want to do it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

She was like, tracy figures. She was like, me.

[Bowen Yang]

You brought Meryl to tv.

[Matt Rogers]

Oh, well done.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Nicole did. She called Nicole, and she was like, I gotta be on your show. And that was it. And that's how the legends got.

[Bowen Yang]

So I would imagine Nicole and Meryl, you said something one time. I think it was when you were giving a tribute to Nicole, where you were talking about how Nicole calls, and she's like, you've gotta understand.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Don't understand.

[Bowen Yang]

Is an actor.

[Reese Witherspoon]

There's this director. She's amazing. We must get her. Then she does say stuff like, reese, we must go on a girls trip. I have to have a tequila. We have to.

[Matt Rogers]

We must.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Oh, she really does. Yeah, she really does.

[Bowen Yang]

She needs to have a tequila.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And she is. She's like, chris, you and I, we're the Property, girlies, we love to buy property.

[Bowen Yang]

Please.

[Reese Witherspoon]

She's totally right.

[Bowen Yang]

Two of the great Vogue 73 questions, by the way.

[Reese Witherspoon]

If you like, you get real estate questions, call us.

[Bowen Yang]

Did you really do that backflip on that trampoline in the. That was really you. Cuz for a second I was like.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Did they edit this in Vogue 73 question.

[Bowen Yang]

You did that back when?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah, I was a gymnast when I was a little. I was a diver and a gymnast.

[Bowen Yang]

You were a diver and a gymnast? You were flying through the skies.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I was taking babies. Big wrists, very small stature, very big wrist.

[Bowen Yang]

What was your event in gymnastics? Were you an uneven bars queen?

[Reese Witherspoon]

I was more floor. Beam. Beam, Beam.

[Bowen Yang]

It's so scary.

[Reese Witherspoon]

All the short queens love beam because, you know, low center of gravity.

[Bowen Yang]

My sister was too tall to be doing gymnastics and we would just be white knuckling into the seats like this girl's going down.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Like just legs and arms and legs.

[Bowen Yang]

Bars was good for her. Sorry, Chelsea.

[Matt Rogers]

He was so serious and there's, there's symbolism in that. What is it that makes the all new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid an incredible suv?

[Bowen Yang]

Is it the spacious interior that's comfy for the whole crew or the capability to go off road?

[Matt Rogers]

It could be. Or maybe it's up to 600 plus miles of range. What if it's all that and more?

[Bowen Yang]

The Hyundai Palisade defies everything you thought you knew in sight. SUV to be. With more style and capability. It's something new entirely.

[Matt Rogers]

It has class leading interior space with purposeful tech. Available front row and second row relaxation seats.

[Bowen Yang]

Available class exclusive blind spot view monitor. Available class exclusive dash camera feature, 2.5T.

[Matt Rogers]

Hybrid engine with up to 600 plus miles of range and seating configurations for 7 to 8 passengers. With available third row power seats that recline.

[Bowen Yang]

Also available htrack all wheel drive so you can be ready to go anywhere in stock. It also includes standard 100 watt USB C ports, available Bose 14 speaker audio and standard passenger talk driver intercom.

[Matt Rogers]

The all new Hyundai Palisade Hybrid is more than just another suv. It's still the Palisade, but with so much more.

[Bowen Yang]

Learn more about the Hyundai Palisade at HyundaiUSA.com, call 562-314-4603 for complete details.

[Matt Rogers]

What if your WI fi was more than just WI fi? What if your WI fi made everything in your whole house just work together back better?

[Bowen Yang]

Well, Xfinity WI fi pretty much does exactly that. Now. How does it do that? Great question. It's powered by Their best, most elite, high performing tech. This WI Fi is like, I see you and I got you before you even know what you need.

[Matt Rogers]

Allow us to paint a very realistic, relatable real life, not made up. Example. Everyone in your house, everyone is on their devices at the exact same time. Gaming, work, working, swiping. Right. Because of course they are. And the finale of your favorite show of all time of the week is on at the exact same moment. Well, you can boost the WI fi to your device with Xfinity.

[Bowen Yang]

And have you ever asked yourself, what if my wi fi could keep watch over my kids for me? Well, probably not, because that's a weird thing to ask yourself. But Xfinity WI Fi is actually so smart that it has parenting skills. Even if you sometimes forget yours. Xfinity is the like. Don't worry, I'll monitor the WI Fi. It protects the kids while they're online. And it does it all without judging little Billy, who definitely would never click that weird link because he's a good boy.

[Matt Rogers]

Obviously, Billy, don't click that link because.

[Bowen Yang]

If you did, it would mean you were bad.

[Matt Rogers]

And what if your WI Fi could make sure your kids actually do their homework instead of playing video games? Or can make sure that there's no phones at the dinner table? Well, with Xfinity, you can pause the kids WI Fi so they can stay focused on what matters.

[Bowen Yang]

And what if your network could fix all the problems that you didn't even know you had?

[Matt Rogers]

Well, that's exactly what Xfinity WiFi does. It's completely proactive. Fixing issues before they even happen.

[Bowen Yang]

Bottom line, Xfinity WiFi isn't just smart, it's brilliant. And you, you deserve that kind of brilliance in your life.

[Matt Rogers]

Xfinity. Imagine that JBL Tour Pro 3 earbuds are for those who are the first to try something unique.

[Bowen Yang]

The first earbuds on the market with a touchscreen case which allows you to control your audio without reaching. They also have a touchscreen smart charging case for one touch control.

[Matt Rogers]

I love being able to touch my buds and control the volume. Feels amazing on the skin.

[Bowen Yang]

With a built in wireless transmitter that lets you plug and play with any device you want. The JBL Tour 3 connects you to all your favorite music, movies and games.

[Matt Rogers]

The wireless transmitter also allows for JBL superior spatial sound that takes any audio and turns it into a 360 immersive experience.

[Bowen Yang]

They've got a next gen smart charging case for a seamless listening experience. Leave your phone in your pocke. The smart charging case has all the features you need to fully control and customize your listening experience and the earbud settings in multiple languages. Right from the case.

[Matt Rogers]

Use the bigger, clear, 1.57-inch touchscreen to see what song is playing or who's calling you. Or personalize the tactile screen with your favorite photo.

[Bowen Yang]

Check the dynamic lock screen to get info on battery life, status, time, messages, etc.

[Matt Rogers]

First doesn't follow. Grab a [e-mail] Ford was built on.

[Ford Commercial Voice]

The belief that the world doesn't get to decide what you're capable of. You do. So ask yourself, can you or can't you? Can you load up a Ford F150 and build your dream with sweat and steel? Can you chase thrills and conquer curves in a Mustang? Can you take a Bronco to where the map ends and adventure begins? Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right.

[Bowen Yang]

Ready?

[Ford Commercial Voice]

Set. Forward.

[Matt Rogers]

Okay, it's time for I don't think so, honey.

[Bowen Yang]

Yes, this is I don't think so honey. It's our 60 second segment where we take a minute, which really, if you crack it down, is 60 seconds to rant and really take down something in culture that's been getting us. And I was thinking earlier about, like, in how you see the threads in your work. This kind of feeds into what I'm saying.

[Matt Rogers]

Exciting.

[Bowen Yang]

Okay.

[Matt Rogers]

Okay. This is Matt Rogers. I don't think. Sony. His time starts now.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think so, honey. People telling me I can't say y'.

[Reese Witherspoon]

All.

[Bowen Yang]

I can say y' all even though I'm from Long Island, New York.

[Matt Rogers]

All right.

[Bowen Yang]

You all is a catch all. Cause I'll tell you what, I'm not doing. Doing, folks. I'm not doing folks. I can say you all. You guys. Like, of course you guys is like, you know, it lives inside me, but I can say y'.

[Reese Witherspoon]

All.

[Bowen Yang]

You know who else says y'? All? Bowen, Yang.

[Matt Rogers]

Every now and then.

[Bowen Yang]

Also, don't come for me for code switching. Okay? Like, code switching is how I survived. It is the theme in my work thus far. I'm sure it will remain. Wow. It's true. Code switching for professional survival and social survival. And y' all can relax 15 seconds because I am not gonna stop saying it probably because also Kelly Clarkson is one of my formative cultures. At the age of 12, when she was like, y', all, y', all, y'. All. I'm American Idol and I did imprint on her and Reese is here and I've made it clear how much I love her so, y'.

[Reese Witherspoon]

All.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think so, honey. And that's one minute yalls big for me.

[Reese Witherspoon]

That was so good.

[Bowen Yang]

Not bad. Thanks. But do you know what I'm saying?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah. Y' all belongs to everyone.

[Matt Rogers]

As a Nashville Queen, you as a noted.

[Bowen Yang]

Thank you, Nashville Queen.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It does.

[Bowen Yang]

All right. So you're allowing it?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yes, of course.

[Bowen Yang]

Open up the gates.

[Matt Rogers]

Open up the gates now.

[Bowen Yang]

I just remembered Sweet home Alabama. When you got to the dog's grave. You know who loved that? Roger Ebert. He did.

[Matt Rogers]

Roger Ebert.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm telling you, I'm like, I have the bibliography of you. Oh, my God.

[Reese Witherspoon]

How do you know so much?

[Bowen Yang]

I love you. Oh, my God.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You're amazing. You're making me feel.

[Bowen Yang]

I know. You're my favorite.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I think you know that. Roger Ebert loved that scene of me crying over my dead dog, Sweet Home.

[Bowen Yang]

Alabama, in his review. I remember this from when I was reading, like, the reviews, like, way back when. It was like. Roger Ebert was like. I think he gave the movie, like a two and a half star review or whatever. And then he was like. But the thing is, Rhys, when she gets down and she does that. That speech to the dog. And I was like, reading it, and I was like, mom, we have to go to the movies. We have to see Sweet Home Alabama. She's like, okay, no skin off my back. But no. Yes, of course.

[Matt Rogers]

Y' all know we're studied the Bruiserwitz. This, I'm telling you, is. That's a deep cut, obviously, Elwood. Speaking of, I've got my own things in the mouth.

[Bowen Yang]

Okay, here we go.

[Matt Rogers]

And I. And I'm swinging big. And this might not go over well, but I'm gonna do it. And you are allowed to respond however you would like. Okay.

[Bowen Yang]

He's a chemistry major from nyu. Before we get into it. Okay.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay.

[Bowen Yang]

This is Bowen Yang's. I don't think so, honey. His time starts now.

[Matt Rogers]

I don't think so, honey. Elle woods, pronouncing it ammonium thio. When the pronunciation is ammonium thioglycolate.

[Bowen Yang]

Theoglycolate. I fucked it up, too. Oh, no. You know. How dare you.

[Matt Rogers]

Unlike Elle, I was a chemistry major and I couldn't even do it. So I guess I have no fucking leg to stand on. And Elle herself, with her working knowledge. The rules of beauty are hair care, hair glimpse, cycle and finite.

[Bowen Yang]

Any Cosmo girl would have known.

[Matt Rogers]

Any Cosmo girl would have known.

[Bowen Yang]

30 seconds.

[Matt Rogers]

I think for that to be the punch that threw Chutney in jail.

[Bowen Yang]

Love You, Linda.

[Matt Rogers]

Love you, Linda. Oh my God, we love Linda in this house. I think the impact would have been even greater. I think it has thrown industrial chemists in disarray since the year 2000 because they have not known how to pronounce this name. That it's thrown even me off. And it really was a bump in the road of my chemistry education. But I could never be mad at Elwoods. I could never be mad at Richard Reese. It's one of the best movies of all time.

[Bowen Yang]

And that's one minute.

[Matt Rogers]

I'm so sorry I fucked it up. But see, Ammonium Diglycolate lives in my head forever now. It's how it's pronounced at the risk.

[Bowen Yang]

Reactivated Ammonium diglyculate.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Was it a topic? Like, did you guys talk about it?

[Matt Rogers]

We did not talk about it. But it's like, you must understand that it did confuse the community. It's like, how do we pronounce this chemical, this molecule?

[Reese Witherspoon]

I mean, you were influenced.

[Matt Rogers]

I was correct 25 years later.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But you know, Elle woods is a fashion and merchandise major.

[Bowen Yang]

She's not.

[Reese Witherspoon]

She's not.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, I have a four point wait. But I want you to know also, did you know they show at nyu? I went to dramatic writing school at Tish. At nyu, they show the opening sequence of Legally Blonde to show how to establish tone of the letter being passed.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Really?

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, it's like.

[Reese Witherspoon]

No, I had no idea.

[Bowen Yang]

There's like a whole scene and like just of every. Of the girl riding in the bike. And it gets bruiser. What's this? And then you open it up, they show that whole thing. And we did a whole day about how like that is a person. Perfect way to establish the tone of a movie and get the audience ready for what's to come.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Oh, wow. I think that's so great. But yeah, I can't even watch the beginning of the movie because they replace somebody. My hands with somebody else's hands and I can't look at it. And that's just my little inside scoop.

[Matt Rogers]

100% understand.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I need to just. I mean, this isn't my things. I can't. I don't think so, honey. But it was like hand doubles that don't look like the human. Like, I can't. I just. I spend a lot of time picking feet doubles.

[Matt Rogers]

You gotta audition the feet and hand doubles.

[Bowen Yang]

I also.

[Reese Witherspoon]

It's really throw me.

[Bowen Yang]

How are you with adr? Whenever I see something that's even a little bit adr. No, I mean, like, you're good at It. But when I'm watching it and I can tell something is adr, I'm like, I'm out.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah, totally.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah. That's hard.

[Matt Rogers]

I think we're pretty good at it.

[Bowen Yang]

I just did some. And for Pomereal, I wasn't even supposed to say that I'm on it, but I did. Sorry, guys.

[Reese Witherspoon]

This comes out in a little. You know, people have said, like, we.

[Bowen Yang]

Want to keep it a surprise. I love it.

[Matt Rogers]

So good doing it was so.

[Bowen Yang]

I'll show you a picture of my costume. It was so. Oh, my God, they're going to be mad. But it was so, like, rich. I was like, wow. To be on a set that like.

[Matt Rogers]

Period has a budget.

[Bowen Yang]

I was like, this is crazy.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Did you know the costume designer is the same person as Big Little Eyes?

[Bowen Yang]

Okay. I was gagging for the costume designer. She didn't say that though.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, my God.

[Reese Witherspoon]

She's amazing. She's amazing. She's helped, like, Laura Jarn and she work really close together for years and years.

[Bowen Yang]

I'll tell you after, so.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And I mean, the looks. The looks for days.

[Bowen Yang]

That was one of those shows too, where it's like, they're gonna do a measurement fitting. And I was like, okay, cool. I think I'm going in for a fitting. Every.

[Matt Rogers]

Every single of your design.

[Bowen Yang]

The everything. I was like, oh, my God. And then I was wearing a fully a Speedo in the whole thing. So I was just like, okay. I don't know if we needed this. They're like, we're gonna make.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Did they get your glove size cut?

[Bowen Yang]

Everything. I just picked it up again. I was like, I need those measurements for something.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You know your glove size now.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't think I do.

[Matt Rogers]

Not off the top of the dome.

[Bowen Yang]

Not off the dome. I'm a 15 neck. All right, anyway, Rhys, we gotta get you out of here because you have to do. I don't think Sonia, this is gonna be iconic.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Do I really?

[Bowen Yang]

You have to. You'd be the first person ever to not do one.

[Matt Rogers]

And that could be iconic. You get innovation.

[Bowen Yang]

Don't put that thought on her head.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay?

[Bowen Yang]

She has something.

[Matt Rogers]

She's got something.

[Reese Witherspoon]

What? I mean, are you kidding me? All I have is topics. I'm just like, which ones do I share with you guys?

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, yeah. Well, on the mic, ready?

[Reese Witherspoon]

I'm picking what's right for today.

[Matt Rogers]

Okay.

[Bowen Yang]

Pick what's right for today.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, cuz, like, what's on my mind is when I came in, there's like, somebody that came up to me at A party and was like. Had said something terrible. My friend. I'm like, now you're going to ask me, like, question. We're going to be friends.

[Bowen Yang]

Let's go.

[Matt Rogers]

Let's go. This is.

[Reese Witherspoon]

But then, like, what I also want to talk about is, like, people who bring smelly food on, like, the trains and, like, on the airplane. And, like, oh, okay, okay.

[Bowen Yang]

And if you feel. 30 seconds.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Also, I have another thing, which is, like, standing in line for a cinnamon roll. Like, why are we doing this with our lives?

[Matt Rogers]

This, I think this. I think. Cinnamon roll.

[Bowen Yang]

Goose cinnamon roll.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Bowen Yang]

Do this and know the form is yours to break. If 30 seconds in you want to talk shit about your friend, do that. That is up to you. Okay, here we go.

[Matt Rogers]

This is Reese Witherspoons.

[Bowen Yang]

I think so.

[Matt Rogers]

Honey, her time starts now.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Okay. I don't know why people do this, but why do you stand in line for, like, a cinnamon roll? You saw on TikTok?

[Bowen Yang]

Cause it's ridiculous. Better.

[Reese Witherspoon]

What, like a special food or something? Like, you should touch grass.

[Matt Rogers]

You should touch grass.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You should read a book. Oh, you know, and I have friends who will spend all day searching TikTok as, like, a search tool for places to take a picture, places to eat special foods. And they will stand in line for hours and hours and hours and hours for sourdough bread. And I just can't.

[Matt Rogers]

Is it. They want to stand in line secretly, but they don't want to tell people.

[Reese Witherspoon]

No one ever wanted to stand in line ever, for anything ever. And especially not a baked good. Like, no. Like, sometimes I get it about, like, those beautiful drinks that have, like, the frosty meringue tops. Like, that's cute. And it's gonna look cute on your feed. Cinnamon rolls are not cute in pictures. I don't want to see it. And I really don't want to hear about five seconds. Okay. I really don't like that. I also won't stand in line for lip gloss. The ass.

[Bowen Yang]

And that's what men have. Yeah. That does feel like something that is not in my culture, because it's never had to be. But lip gloss. You have to be standing in line.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Get a grip.

[Matt Rogers]

What's worth standing in line for?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Ooh. Okay. A really amazing once in a lifetime live performance.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

You know, like somebody you are really moved by.

[Bowen Yang]

What's your favorite concert you've ever seen?

[Reese Witherspoon]

Well, the thing that's coming to mind is. Oh, my God.

[Bowen Yang]

Come on.

[Reese Witherspoon]

So many things. Well, Gwen Stefani when I was 12.

[Matt Rogers]

Yeah.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Or no, I wasn't I was like, 20 when she came. What am I talking about? In Minnesota, I was making a movie with Paul Rudd. It was called Overnight Delivery. It's a terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible movie. We had the best time. Sarah Silverman was. Had one line in the whole movie. She was hysterically focused. That's when we made friends. And it was just a time. And we were in Minnesota, and it was the beginning of ska and girl punk and just all the rising talent, and it was really fun. And I went and saw Gwen Stefani in a tiny, tiny theater.

[Matt Rogers]

Love it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And it was cool. And she was just a girl, but she really wasn't.

[Matt Rogers]

She wasn't just a girl.

[Bowen Yang]

She did Coachella last year, and it felt like. And it was no doubt. So it did feel like we were back. It was just.

[Matt Rogers]

It's a good time.

[Reese Witherspoon]

The way she was like, I'm just a girl in the world. I mean, it was every feeling I brought.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah. She was a total beast.

[Matt Rogers]

Is a total beast.

[Reese Witherspoon]

She contained multitudes.

[Bowen Yang]

Truly.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Like crop top.

[Bowen Yang]

Yeah, of course.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And a strong red lip.

[Bowen Yang]

Oh, always.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And this and that and that. And the pony. And I just can't. No.

[Bowen Yang]

Brand new. And also, what blew my mind was realizing she was having to bleach her hair all the time. And she still has it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Yeah. That's weird. That's a mystery.

[Bowen Yang]

I had a bleach blonde moment all of last year, and I don't think it would have gone.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Falls out.

[Matt Rogers]

She's burnt.

[Bowen Yang]

I don't know how she's doing it still to this day. Neutrafall, our sponsor.

[Matt Rogers]

Our sponsor.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, listen, this has been the blow. So much fun.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Oh, my gosh, you guys.

[Bowen Yang]

And I feel like I'm so glad.

[Reese Witherspoon]

We finally did this.

[Bowen Yang]

I'm so glad. And, like, trust me, when he and.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I had to chase you down. And just for the record, I chased you guys, listen.

[Bowen Yang]

No, you didn't. Not. It was.

[Matt Rogers]

It was not. You did not need to convince us. It was the easiest. Yes. I FaceTimed this one the second you parted with.

[Bowen Yang]

We just never think someone as cool and talented and busy as you is gonna come spend time with us. And so we are so happy that you did, because we have to tell you, morning show is like, it's one of those things where it's one of the only things I get, like, super excited. I wake up, I'm like, oh, there's a new one. And now that we have all them to be. Sorry, y'. All. Y'. All, don't. But. But we'll still be keeping updated, and it's just as much fun as it is every year.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And if I only came on this podcast for one reason, it was to watch you guys connect. Morning show, the new iPhone, Taylor Swift's album, and the color of orange.

[Bowen Yang]

Well, that all happened with Mike, but we did get. We did get it right. Okay, we got all. All of it.

[Reese Witherspoon]

And then you hitting it with the iconic. Whoever said orange is the new pink was seriously disturbed.

[Bowen Yang]

I mean, I saw Cameron Diaz wearing a truly heinous angora sweater.

[Reese Witherspoon]

I talked her out of buying the most truly sweater.

[Bowen Yang]

Okay, well, maybe you have to come back and we have check.

[Matt Rogers]

We're gonna jam out more. This is Reese Witherspoon Morning show season four is out now. We love you. Thank you. We end every episode with a song.

[Bowen Yang]

What's it gonna be? Should we do after 12? Make breakfast for myself. Leave the word for someone else. If you want to hear the rest of that, do yourself a favor and be like a film student and watch the first sequence and then the whole film of Legally Legally Blonde. Goodbye. This was amazing. Amazing.

[Reese Witherspoon]

Thank you so much, guys.

[Matt Rogers]

Las Vegas Culturistas is a production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and iHeartRadio.

[Bowen Yang]

Podcasts created and hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, executive produced by Anna Haznier and produced by Becca Ramos, edited.

[Matt Rogers]

And mixed by Doug Boehm.

[Bowen Yang]

And our music is by Henry Kamersky. You can't spell culturistas without R I.

[Matt Rogers]

That's right. Rhode island is the perfect place not just for the culturistas of the world, but all the other Easters too.

[Bowen Yang]

We're talking about the food Easters, the theater Easters, the nature Easters, the luxuries. Does. Whatever you're in Easter for, you'll find it in the Ocean state.

[Matt Rogers]

So start packing those bags and be the best Easter you can be.

[Bowen Yang]

Rhode island, all that.

[Matt Rogers]

Plan your trip atVisit Rhode Island.com that's Visit Rhode Island.com Ford was built on.

[Ford Commercial Voice]

The belief that the world doesn't get to decide what you're capable capable of. You do. So ask yourself, can you or can't you? Can you load up a Ford F150 and build your dream with sweat and steel? Can you chase thrills and conquer curves in a Mustang? Can you take a Bronco to where the map ends and adventure begins? Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right. Ready, set, forward.

[Bowen Yang]

Do you know what the perfect addition is to any party?

[Matt Rogers]

What?

[Bowen Yang]

A casamigos margarita.

[Matt Rogers]

Everyone loves a Casamigos margarita. She really is that girl.

[Bowen Yang]

It's true. Everyone can get behind her.

[Matt Rogers]

She's a little tangy, She's a little sweet, she's good any which way Anything.

[Bowen Yang]

Goes with my Casamigos.

[Matt Rogers]

And that's rule of culture number 87. Cause anything goes with my Casamigos.

[Bowen Yang]

Please drink responsibly. Imported by Casamigos Spirits Company, White Plains, New York. Casamigos Tequila. 40% alcohol by volume. There's my at home voice and my podcast voice. My podcast voice is like a leveled up version of me. Kind of like the new DiGiorno wood fired style crass pizza pizza with a leveled up crispy yet perfectly airy crust. Now that Digiorno has new wood fired style crust pizzas, I might start doing the show from home. Digiorno is dropping a new crust in four topping varieties, Premium Pepperoni, Supreme Speciale, Italian Meat Trio and four cheese. I'll have all four. You've never had pizza like this at home. It's restaurant quality pizza without all the other restaurant stuff. The new Digiorno wood fired style crust pizza. It's not delivery, it's Digiorno.

[Reese Witherspoon]

This is an iHeart podcast.