Jeffrey Dean Morgan: Is A Real MF (Re-Release)

Summary

Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa

Episode: Jeffrey Dean Morgan: Is A Real MF (Re-Release)

Original Release Date: April 8, 2026
Host: Kelly Ripa
Guest: Jeffrey Dean Morgan (JDM)
Additional Contributors: Mark Consuelos, Albert Bianchini, Jan Chalet

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Episode Overview

In this re-release, Kelly Ripa invites her longtime friend and actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan (best known for The Walking Dead, Grey’s Anatomy, Supernatural) for an extended, candid conversation. The episode radiates warmth, humor, and genuine admiration as the group discusses everything from wild family traditions to pivotal career moments, to behind-the-scenes Hollywood stories. With tons of laughter and a generous “Ask Jeffrey” segment, the conversation gives listeners insight not just into Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s career, but into his personal life, philosophy, and deep friendships.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The “Sausage Fest” Tradition and Friendship Dynamics

[06:12–09:01]

• Sausage Fest is an annual Memorial Day gathering on Long Island, featuring gourmet sausages from Peconic Prime Meats and an eclectic guest list, described as “the Met Gala of Long Island” (Albert/Mark/Kelly).
• Costume themes, memorable outfits (Mark’s skin-tight black T-shirt and white jeans), and guest banter establish the group’s playful dynamic.
• The group jokes about inviting JDM and his wife Hilarie to Sausage Fest, which would (jokingly) “up the cool factor by 2 million percent” (Mark Consuelos, 06:00).
• Running man crush jokes between Mark and JDM, with Jeffrey playfully responding, “The sausage party. I think it's all going down there.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 08:32)

2. Hall Passes & Celebrity Crushes

[09:01–10:46]

• JDM is asked about “hall passes” in relationships, leading to a light but candid discussion:
  • Mark jokes that his hall pass is Liz Cho, WABC’s evening news anchor.
  • Jeffrey admits, “I don't think people that say they really have a hall pass… I don't buy it.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 09:01)
  • Mark attempts to justify it: “She likes that BDE – Big Disney Energy” (referring to Bob Iger as a hall pass, 09:45).
• JDM reacts to learning Taylor Swift once said he was her celebrity crush: “I'm flattered. I think when she said it, she was 14 years old though.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 10:04) He’s never met her but has seen the video.

3. Early Life & Tough Decisions: From Basketball Captain to Hollywood

[12:06–18:39]

• Jeffrey discusses high school in Seattle, contemplates his popularity, and the importance of not being clique-ish, contrasting with his son Gus's generation.
• He recounts a dramatic, life-changing turning point:
  • After going to college on a basketball scholarship, Jeffrey suffers a knee injury and is then stabbed during an unprovoked attack. His recounting is vivid and raw:

    “...they just beat the crap out of me. And I got stabbed in my side...I remember I got the knife and I stabbed it through a guy's forearm. And then they left.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 13:27)

• This trauma pushes him to quit college and ultimately choose another path, a decision that would lead to Hollywood.
  • “My relationship with my parents is so much different than, than what Gus's is with, you know, Hilarie and I...it's just a different generation.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 15:10)
  • “...a little stabbing and you're done with college?” (Mark Consuelos imitating JDM’s parents, 16:20)
  • JDM and Mark discuss generational differences with their children. Both reflect on their unlikely paths to showbiz, without backup plans or parental support.

4. Seattle Days, Early Hustles & The Start of An Acting Career

[19:05–22:33]

• Post-college, JDM describes odd jobs in Seattle: working at a hat store, selling shoes, starting a graphic arts company, being involved in the creative, music-rich Pike Place Market community.
• Prompted by a friend’s move, he follows to LA, gets his first role as a “killer pimp in a Roger Corman movie” — then faces years of struggle before finding success:
  • “I'd been in LA for like a month… I got the lead of a killer pimp in a Roger Corman movie...I'm never not going to work again. I'm a movie star. And then it took me, you know, 20 years to really have any kind of career.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 21:25)
• His earliest Hollywood break: passing on (and bombing) a screen test for All My Children, with Kelly and Mark reminiscing about their own early career anxieties.
  • “It was the first time anyone had ever told me and Mark said it. It was the Golden Handcuffs.” (JDM, 26:18; concept: soap operas are secure but creatively limiting.)

5. “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Supernatural,” and Becoming a Career Actor

[27:10–28:35]

• JDM credits Grey’s Anatomy (and Supernatural, which he did simultaneously) as the projects that changed his career trajectory:
  • “I think since Grey's Anatomy, I've had to go in and audition one time in my whole life. It just flipped.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 27:53)
• He reflects on typecasting as a villain, noting his joy in humanizing the “worst people”:
  • “The goal for me is always to take the worst person in the world and humanize that person somehow ... usually villains are written very one dimensional… it changed with Heath Ledger’s Joker.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 28:35)

6. Love at First Sight – Meeting Hilarie Burton & The Fast Track to Family

[30:01–34:56]

• JDM tells the full story of meeting Hilarie Burton through Jensen Ackles (his Supernatural co-star) on a blind date.
  • Hilarie was about to leave for Paris but after meeting, diverted to see Jeffrey in Albuquerque instead, where their whirlwind romance began.
  • “We were pregnant with Gus, oh God, within like, three weeks...but there was never a doubt. Ever, ever, ever. We just knew.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 34:44)
• The couple’s instant connection and rapid path to family are recounted with affection, humor, and a bit of self-deprecation about moving too quickly.

7. Family, Parenthood, and Changing Dynamics

[35:22–36:13]

• Mark and Kelly (and Jeffrey and Hilarie) compare stories about their “fast” courtships and elopements.
• They discuss the transformations that come with parenthood — including seeing their own parents become much softer grandparents.
  • “...these aren't the people that we knew...there's times I look at my dad, I'm like, who are you trying to fucking kid here?” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 18:53)

8. Entrepreneurship: MF Libations & Mischief Farm

[36:35–39:51]

• JDM shares how Hilarie’s energy and local pandemic activism led to the couple partnering with a Hudson Valley distillery to create MF Libations (gin and whiskey made with farm-grown blackberries):
  • “If you throw around an idea with Hilarie, it becomes a reality...the next thing you know, I've got 10 meetings that I have to have...” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 37:32)
• Mark feigns jealousy at Hilary's drive and the popularity of Mischief Farm merch.
• The farm is also a home for rescued animals — their stories reveal both chaos and joy.

9. Animal Rescue & Shearing Day on the Farm

[40:03–41:07]

• JDM describes the comedy and chaos of Shearing Day with rescued alpacas: “To do it, you got to lay them down. And alpaca love to spit, but they make a sound that's like the worst sound you've ever heard.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 40:21)
• Despite the challenge, the event is a highlight — with animals “prancing” afterward.

10. Upcoming Projects: “The Boys” Season 4 & Returning Shows

[41:17–42:44]

• JDM confirms he’s joining The Boys Season 4, working with showrunner Eric Kripke (who also created Supernatural).
  • “We shot all my stuff when I was available. The directors came back into town and so they were going backwards for me, which was awesome.” (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, 42:19)
• Audience is encouraged to catch up on The Boys for his arrival.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On “Sausage Fest” and man crushes:
  “No, no, I’m in for both sausages.” — Jeffrey Dean Morgan (07:01)
  “The sausage party. I think it's all going down there.” — JDM (08:32)
• On being typecast as a villain:
  “Somehow it’s kind of turned into a thing now of being a villain, which, by the way, I do love. …The goal is always to take the worst person in the world and humanize that person somehow.” — JDM (28:35)
• On meeting Hilarie:
  “I got off that motorcycle and I saw her, and that was it. I mean, it was just that love at first sight…We haven’t left each other’s side since then.” — JDM (31:48, 34:44)
• On pandemic-inspired entrepreneurship:
  “If you throw around an idea with Hilarie, it becomes a reality...” — JDM (37:32)
  “She figured out how to make [masks]—four layers…and delivered them to hospitals.” — JDM (38:04)
• On “do-overs” and philosophy:
  “I think that the life that I’ve led up to this moment needed to be exactly what it was for me to be where I am. So I don’t live with regrets.” — JDM (53:20)

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Fan Q&A Segment

[46:37–53:41]

• Favorite roles: Negan (The Walking Dead), Denny (Grey's Anatomy) — “That was lightning in a bottle for a lot of different reasons, but that was incredibly special.” (JDM, 46:43)
• On Hilarie letting her gray hair show: “No, there wasn’t (a conversation). I thought she just became better looking and sexier.” (JDM, 47:15)
• Returning Walking Dead characters in Dead City? — “There’ll be one character that you’ll recognize.” (JDM, 49:06)
• Dream role: “Those independent films that are super character driven…We’re not seeing anymore. …If there’s a genre I love, it’s a good Western.” (JDM, 51:52)
• Would he do anything over? — “I don’t do those. I think the life I’ve led needed to be exactly what it was…So I don’t live with regrets.” (JDM, 53:20)
• Cast drama? — “Every show is like that. There’s always a couple people that you really get along with and then there’s some people that you don’t and you’re not going to get along with everyone.” (JDM, 51:06)

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Important Timestamps

• 06:12 – JDM joins, invited to Sausage Fest
• 13:27 – JDM’s college stabbing story
• 21:25 – First Hollywood movie role
• 27:10 – Grey’s Anatomy/Supernatural success
• 30:01 – Meeting Hilarie Burton
• 36:35 – Launching MF Libations
• 41:17 – Confirmed for The Boys Season 4
• 46:37 – Q&A: Best roles, personal reflections
• 53:20 – JDM’s philosophy: “No regrets”

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Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is bursting with warmth, quick banter, and loving jabs among friends. JDM comes across as deeply genuine, unpretentious, and grateful—happy to talk about hard times, lucky breaks, and domestic joys. There’s an undercurrent of camaraderie and mutual respect, peppered with Hollywood wisdom and family anecdotes.

Kelly and Mark’s admiration for JDM is sincere and unfiltered, and the entire group’s camaraderie makes the listener feel like part of an inner circle.

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Summary

This “off-camera” chat with Jeffrey Dean Morgan is equal parts entertaining and heartfelt. It covers the arc from challenging youth to career-defining roles, through to hard-won love, family, and new ventures. JDM’s humor and humility shine throughout, offering fans another side of the man known mostly for playing outlaws and villains—with plenty of laughter, love, and even a little advice for living with no regrets.

A must-listen for JDM fans and anyone who loves behind-the-scenes stories, creative friendship, and real-life Hollywood journeys.

Transcript

[Kelly Ripa]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Mark Consuelos]

Hey, everyone, check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, no.

[Kelly Ripa]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.

[Kelly Ripa]

Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty.

[Mark Consuelos]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. We gather here tonight to bring women

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

back to their rightful place.

[Mark Consuelos]

The Testaments, a new Hulu original series from the executive producers of the Handmaid's Tale. It's easier to accept a story than believe that the people around you are monsters. The battle isn't over. There comes a time when you have to take action, when you have to choose your own destiny. Never quite as it seems. Watch the new Hulu original series, the Testaments, streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers. Terms apply. Today I'm bringing you back an interview with one of my favorites. This guy defines effortless cool. He played characters who are terrifying, charming, and always captivating and often all at once. You guessed it. I'm talking about my friend Jeffrey Dean Morgan. His show, the Walking Dead, Dead City is coming back for season three and we just can't wait. We discussed our first meeting at All My Children, how he wooed his gorgeous wife, Hilarie Burton. And he even answers listeners questions in a special Ask Jeffrey. Take a listen.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

And I remember my dad and mom being real upset that I was gonna drop out of school. Like what, a little stabbing and you're done with college? Yeah, I.

[Mark Consuelos]

Am somebody gonna cue me or do I cue myself? Cue yourself. Okay. Hey, everybody, guess what? We're back with another episode of let's Talk off Camera. So let's get talking. Today we're gonna be joined by talented actor, friend of the family, and farmer Jeffrey Dean Morgan. And in a shocking twist, we have swapped our Ask Kelly questions for Jeffrey questions at the end of the show. So listen for your question to be answered. You are very vocal, very verbose, and we aim to please here at let's Talk off Camera. So I always go back to JDM co hosting with me so many times. Such a righteous, amazing person. He seems so cool. He is the kindest, loveliest, most sincere. We keep talking about maybe having a family vacation.

[Albert Bianchini]

You guys get along in a way, like a very unique way.

[Mark Consuelos]

I feel like they are like the hot, cool version of us. The tall, hot, cool version of us.

[Albert Bianchini]

Plus, I want you to go see the. The. The land that he's on.

[Mark Consuelos]

I do. I want to see the farm.

[Albert Bianchini]

Everything.

[Mark Consuelos]

I think we. I think he's going to be zooming in from the farm. So we'll see. I think so. Oh, my gosh.

[Albert Bianchini]

Tractor.

[Mark Consuelos]

Maybe Albert's being all happy and nice right now, but he came in hot and heavy this morning. I'm just being honest with you. Wait, tell me why.

[Albert Bianchini]

Quickly gets hot and heavy.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, tell me why. What?

[Albert Bianchini]

Well, you know, I've been watching Live with Kelly and Mark the last few mornings, and just.

[Mark Consuelos]

The last few mornings, you just discovered

[Albert Bianchini]

the show, specifically the last few mornings, and there's been this one of the co hosts who has a very chiseled face.

[Mark Consuelos]

Okay.

[Albert Bianchini]

Who's been.

[Mark Consuelos]

Still not narrowing it down. Go ahead.

[Albert Bianchini]

Kind of making some commentary on Sausage Fest. That I thought was a very interesting thing to note as a viewer who is unable to speak back.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yes, well, that's the. That's who we like to focus on. People who can't speak back.

[Albert Bianchini]

And then it dawned on me this morning, after the second time around, that I might be in front of a hot mic today.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, that's a great idea.

[Albert Bianchini]

Yes.

[Mark Consuelos]

What is your rebuttal to?

[Albert Bianchini]

I think my rebuttal is that if someone is unhappy or feeling dissatisfied with the meat that they're served, I have a very easy answer. And that is, stay the fuck home.

[Mark Consuelos]

He would never stay the fuck home. And here's why. It would give him nothing to complain about. And so you realize that Sausage Fest has become his favorite, slash, least favorite holiday. And yes, we call it a holiday. We don't call it Memorial Day weekend. We call it Sausage Fest weekend.

[Albert Bianchini]

I have gotten a lot of text messages from people saying that Kelly's a genius for calling it the Met Gala of Long Island.

[Mark Consuelos]

Wait, wait. So a lot of our listeners don't

[Albert Bianchini]

know what Sausage Fest, Kelly, I think, coined it. It was years ago. We serve these sausages from Peconic Prime Meats every Memorial Day weekend. And it started out, what, 10 of us?

[Mark Consuelos]

I'm going to specify it. It was 10 gay guys and me and my children at this gathering at Albert's house in the freezing cold, icy chilly rain of Memorial Day weekend of Long island. And we ate sausages. Albert, on this particular day, serves nothing but foods. I don't eat. It is a plethora of foods.

[Albert Bianchini]

No, The Clarice coleslaw from Kromer's.

[Mark Consuelos]

You love that I declares Coleslaw, if there's any left. Did you just uninvite Mark?

[Albert Bianchini]

Oh, 100%.

[Mark Consuelos]

So Mark is disinvited.

[Albert Bianchini]

I think he seems very dissatisfied. I hate to see him so troubled. I might go on. Since you've both pointed out that you have separate paperless post invites.

[Mark Consuelos]

We do have.

[Albert Bianchini]

I think I might retract his.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, okay. You can do that?

[Albert Bianchini]

Yes, I can.

[Mark Consuelos]

You can do that, and I encourage you to. He'll show up anyway.

[Albert Bianchini]

He'll climb the fence.

[Mark Consuelos]

Is Jeffrey Dean Morgan invited to. Is he on?

[Albert Bianchini]

Are you kidding?

[Mark Consuelos]

Wait, should we invite him to Sausage Fest? We should. Absolutely. Does he like sausage? Is the question. Well, we're gonna find out. We're gonna find out if Jeffrey Dean Morgan likes sausage. Because if JDM and Hillary came to Sausage Fest, it would up the cool factor of sausage fest by 2 million percent.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I don't know what. I don't know what we're talking about or what a sausage fest is.

[Mark Consuelos]

We're talking about the Met Gala of Long Island, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, ladies and gentlemen. Let's.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Without further ado, let's just introduce him into the Sausage Fest.

[Mark Consuelos]

We are. We are. Because here's what my producing partner, love of my life, my brother from another mother, Albert Bianchini. There he is. So Albert has this event out on Long island every Memorial Day weekend.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, fantastic.

[Mark Consuelos]

It started out small, but all he serves are different sausages from Peconic prime meats. So if we could get you and Hillary to come, there would be another straight couple for us to.

[Albert Bianchini]

But there are actual sausages, Jeffrey. Like really good ones.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

No, no, I'm in for both sausages.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's right. This is why you are so beloved, Jeffre. You know what? You are a man of the people.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I am a man of the people. Now, this sausage party, is there a theme dress code kind of thing?

[Albert Bianchini]

Kelly's created it.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yes. So we created a dress code years ago when Michael, who is now 25, I guess he was what, like 14 or 15 at the time. He came dressed as a hot dog. He wore a hot dog costume to Sausage Festival.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

All right, see, now that's where I was going.

[Mark Consuelos]

So now it's turned into sort of

[Albert Bianchini]

like a costume optional.

[Mark Consuelos]

Costume optional. You see a lot of caftans, a lot of sequins.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I think my question would be, what does Mark wear? I think that's what I need to know.

[Mark Consuelos]

Mark, as usual, wears a skin tight black T shirt. He's shirtless, skin tight black T shirt, skin tight white jeans. And then he wanders around bitching that the sausage is undercooked the entire time.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

God bless him. You know, if I could wear a skin tight white pair of pants, I'd do it too.

[Mark Consuelos]

You know what? A little birdie told me you could and you should. And some of those little birdies are right here at this table. You know, last time we. Last time we spoke, you revealed that you had a man crush on Mark. And Mark revealed that he had a man crush on you. Will we ever take this man crush to the next level?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

The sausage party. I think it's all going down there.

[Mark Consuelos]

It is the perfect place. You may meet guys you like better. Jeffrey, if I'm being honest, I don't know, really.

[Albert Bianchini]

Hillary and I are ordained. We could help officiate a lot of things.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, we are both ordained ministers.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

It's a smoke show of a sausage fest.

[Mark Consuelos]

Do you and Hillary have this thing called a hall pass? Jan wants to know. Cause Jan and Glenn. Jan and Glenn have hall passes. And I'd like to know really though?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Because people that say they really have a hall pass, I don't buy.

[Mark Consuelos]

No, we do. You. You really do? Yeah. So who is your hall pass? Liz Cho. Liz Cho. Well, Liz Cho is everybody's hall pass. Yes, that is true. Do you know who Liz Cho is?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

No.

[Mark Consuelos]

She's the evening newscaster on WABC here in New York City.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

She is? Yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

Fiendishly beautiful and brilliantly smart.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I do know who you're talking about now, but. Yeah, I generally don't watch the local

[Mark Consuelos]

news, but Jan, I want to know who your hall passes. I like myself a Bob Iger. That makes sense. Bob Iger. Makes sense.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Bob Iger, I guess.

[Mark Consuelos]

I think he's super hot. Jan also wants to be financially taken care of.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I wouldn't have gone super hot, but I understand the financials.

[Mark Consuelos]

I like the confidence. I like the whole thing. She likes that bd, Big Disney energy. So how do you feel about. About Taylor Swift saying that you were her celebrity crush?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I'm. I'm flattered. I think when she said it, she was, you know, 14 years old though.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah. But I'm pretty sure that you're still her celebrity crush, if I'm guessing.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I don't know. I remember there was once an award ceremony and she was getting an award for something and she had requested that I present her with the award. And I wasn't available, so I've never. I've never met her. I've. I've seen the little Internet clip of

[Mark Consuelos]

her saying, have your kids Seen it, Do they? Are they Swifties now?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I don't think so. I think I'm more of a Swifty than my kids.

[Mark Consuelos]

You know, like Gus is like two years away before that clip will become very important in his world.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Well, maybe. I mean, Gus is into. I mean, the first concert that he went to was Metallica, so he skews a different direction than the Swifty. Although he likes Billie Eilish, he likes her a lot. Now, George, I think will have a Taylor Swift moment.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, yeah. So, Jeffrey, we got a lot of questions from your fan base. And I was telling Jan and Albert this earlier today when we were over at the live studio that I think you followed me on Instagram and then like instantly 50,000 people also followed me. But they all have like Jeffrey Dean Morgan number one fan in the title.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

And they'll ask me questions like, what's your favorite thing about Jeffrey Dean Morgan? I'll post a picture of my mom on her birthday. And they're like, tell me your top three things about Jeffrey Dean Morgan.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, God bless him. I don't know what to say about it, but I saw that you had, had tweeted that I was going to be on the show and to ask a question, and I retweeted it, kind of knowing that you would get.

[Mark Consuelos]

No, no, no.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

It was more responses than you probably wanted to deal with. See, I won't tell them when they ask me, but they're thinking, because they know that I adore you, that if you ask, maybe I'll ask, maybe you'll answer.

[Mark Consuelos]

So that's how we're gonna play it. But I wanna, before we get to their questions, I wanna go back in time back to Seattle where you grew up.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, sure.

[Mark Consuelos]

You were the captain of the basketball team.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I was.

[Mark Consuelos]

There are certain words that I associate with. Wait for it. Being popular. Were you popular, Jeffrey Dean Morgan?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah, but it was a different thing then. I mean, it wasn't clicky at all. You had the kids that maybe were smoking cigarettes in the upper parking lot and then there was everybody else. So those kids were kind of like the dangerous ones. And then everybody else kind of hung out. Like I talked to Gus now about how school is and how the lunchroom operates and all that, the drama that goes with. With that for a 13 year old. And it's crazy. I, I don't. We didn't have that. So, I mean, people didn't hate me, I don't think. But I mean, maybe.

[Mark Consuelos]

Did you, did you, did you smoke cigarettes? Were You a smoker back in the day?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I didn't. I didn't then because I was. I was a basketball player.

[Mark Consuelos]

Right. You couldn't do both?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, my coach would have killed me.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, right.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

My coach, who I still talk to, by the way. We talk quite a bit, actually. But, yeah, I mean, I. I guess I was, okay, popular. I wasn't dating, like, the head cheerleader or anything like that.

[Mark Consuelos]

Did basketball lead you to college? Did you go, like, to college on an athletic scholarship?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I did, I did, but I blew up my knee right away. And then I got stabbed. I got. It's a. It's a crazy. I'll tell you story. I went to this little school in Northern Washington because I wanted to stay close to home. And I hated the school part. I wasn't great at the school part, but I always wore my hair slicked back, and we're talking 1985. And I wore a leather coat. I dressed like I do now. And one day I was walking home from practice, and where I was going to school was kind of country. And these guys pulled over, and in my head I'm thinking, oh, they're going to ask for directions, which is not good because I don't know where the I am. And they just beat the crap out of me. And I got stabbed in my side. And I remember I got the knife somehow and I stabbed it through a guy's forearm. And then they left. But I remember I went back and my whole team got in cars and they're driving around all over this small town looking to kick people's asses. But for me, that was it. When that happened, I was like, I am not meant for this school.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's all you needed.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

And with my knee being hurt, I knew I was going to sit out that first year. Anyway, that was it. And then I moved to downtown Seattle with some friends of mine that I'm still really good friends with. Guy named Billy Burke, who's on a show right now called Fire Country. And we lived together in Seattle and we eventually all migrated down to la.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's really true.

[Kelly Ripa]

That's really true.

[Mark Consuelos]

Traumatic, though. That's like a really scary thing. How long did it take you to feel safe again? Is that something that always sort of resides in your mind somewhere?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I was really able to kind of shake it off at the time. Yes, it was dramatic. And because of it, I did make some changes in my life, which, you know, thankfully have worked out. Otherwise, you know, I may have stayed in school. That was just kind of the straw that Broke the camel's back. Funny though, that now that I have kids, that kind of stuff is something that I do think about. If that happened to my kid, he would handle it a thousand percent differently than I certainly handled it, you know, in 1985. My relationship with my parents is so much different than, than what Gus's is with, you know, Hillary and I, I, I just don't think that he would be able to shake something like that off. And, and it's just a different generation.

[Mark Consuelos]

I agree with you. Yeah. Like my dad, if I had gotten like that in a car, my dad's primary question would have been, did you get the first shot in? You never let them, you know, why did you let them stab you first? Why didn't you stab?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

That's right.

[Mark Consuelos]

You know.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah. How did you not see that coming?

[Mark Consuelos]

And to make sure that next time you always carry the knife in your hand in case. Cause you want to stab first.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah. And you're exactly right. I mean, very similar conversation was had and I remember, you know, my dad and mom being real upset that I was going to drop out of school. Like what, a little stabbing and you're done with college? Yeah, I am. But you know, I'm glad I did because I, I don't know what I would have, I, I wonder what my life choices would have been had I stayed in school and waited for the next year to play ball again or, or whatever would have happened. I can't imagine that I'd be sitting here talking to you.

[Mark Consuelos]

But you had something in you. You had like an intestinal fortitude that gave you like a self assurance or self belief because our kids. Right, your kids, my kids, we do not have kids together. I didn't mean to imply that by saying our kid, no hall pass. Exactly. But our kids, if they said, oh, I want to drop out of college, we would like navigate them back into the path of safety. We'll get your education so that you have a backup plan and blah, blah, blah. But like, I didn't go to college, I didn't have a backup plan. I got on a Greyhound bus, I went to New York. My parents were like, you know, good luck, you're not getting a loan from us if you can't make it there. You're gonna come home and you know,

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

yeah, you're gonna have to go back to college, but you're gonna have to figure that out.

[Mark Consuelos]

You're gonna do something, you're gonna have to figure something out.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Same thing, same deal. I, I remember how disappointed everyone was for years, by the way. I think they just now are realizing, oh, he's done.

[Mark Consuelos]

Okay.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

You know, they've been waiting for the fall on my face.

[Mark Consuelos]

Once you give them grandchildren, they become forgiving people. It's really weird.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Not only forgiving how my father is with my kids. I like. I'm like, who the fuck is this? And I love it. Nothing makes me happier than seeing him with Gus and George. But I still remember what it was like when I was 13 and my dad was not like that.

[Mark Consuelos]

We were always trying to tell the kids that were like, pop, pop and no, no, were the scariest men alive. Like, we don't. We don't recognize these genteel.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

These aren't the people that we knew.

[Mark Consuelos]

These are not the people we knew.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I get a big freaking kick out of it, I'll tell you. But there's times I look at my dad, I'm like, who are you trying to fucking kid here?

[Mark Consuelos]

So take me through the pivot.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Then I leave school, I move to downtown Seattle. I have a string of jobs doing everything and anything because, you know, I'm having to pay rent. And so, you know, I live with my friend Billy. And then we ended up getting an apartment. He was a busboy. I worked at a hat store in Pike Place Market. And then I. I worked at a shoe store selling shoes. And it was me and a woman named Susan Silver who ended up marrying Chris Cornell and was the manager for every band in that period of time. So my friends were all these bands that then became the biggest bands in the world. But, you know, to me, they were just dudes like me who dropped out of college and didn't have a life. I was doing art, and I actually started a. A graphic art company at like the age of 19 or 20. And that's just because I was sick of selling shoes and hats.

[Mark Consuelos]

I like that he covered the top and the bottom.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Nothing in the middle. It'd been great for the sausage party. Just a fedora in boots, my friend. And so I was. I was doing that. And we would design logos for, you know, little local companies. And that I helped found is still in existence today in Seattle. The guy that I started with is still doing it, but my friends, my closest friends, were musicians and actors. People would try to put me in their bands because I had the look I had. You know, I crimp my hair and I wore eyeliner and a kimono. And, you know, back in those days, it was great. And they'd put me on, like, the Synthesizer. And I would play lead win. I just. I didn't have the talent. And when I had a friend of mine move to la and he'd done a couple of movies in Seattle and had an agent and all the shit waiting for him down in Los Angeles. So I drove the U Haul down and I met a casting director, this woman named Eliza Simons, who is now married to Eric Roberts and has been my friend for a jillion years. And she was like, you should try this. And I remember the first thing I read for in my whole life was General Hospital, the role of Blackie that John Stamos ended up getting.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah. Yep.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

But I got a movie right away. Like, I'd been in LA for like a month, maybe two. And I remember I got the lead of a killer pimp and a Roger Corman movie, driving down Hollywood Boulevard with a camera mounted to a convertible Cadillac that was purple and thinking, I got it. I got this wired, you know, I'm never not going to work again. You know, I'm a movie star. And, yeah, this is destiny. And then it took me, you know, 20 years to really have any kind of career. But that's kind of how I didn't have any training, nothing. And that started that life of auditioning and all that. Struggled for years and would do it just enough to kind of keep a roof over my head. And then I met you. I met you and your husband. And I know I've told you this story, but it still is one of my favorite stories. I had tested for all my children. And I remember they flew me in from la and. And I remember you and your husband both pulled me aside and said, you don't want.

[Mark Consuelos]

You gotta get out of here. This place is.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah. And I just remember. I remember, like, I just need a job, you know?

[Mark Consuelos]

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[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

And I know I've told you this story, but it still is one of my favorite stories. I had tested for all my children. And I remember they, they flew me in from LA and, and I remember you and your husband both pulled me and said, you don't want to do this.

[Mark Consuelos]

You gotta get outta here.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I mean, I sat there all day. There was like three of us. And you and Mark were so kind. I mean, you guys like took me on a tour. You didn't have to do any of that.

[Mark Consuelos]

No, we liked you because you were very, you were kind and you know, you are like how we were. We didn't know anything. Like we had no skill set. We did not have particularly parents that were supportive of us going into show business. They didn't even know what my parents assumed it would be like porn or at a peep shop or something. And they were like, please, Kelly, no nudity. And so. So I feel like when you meet your own people, you were just a good guy.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I think soap operas have always scared the hell out of me. The amount of dialogue that you have to do. I know now that I could never have done it.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, yeah, you could have. It's like a muscle memory.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Well, it was the first time anyone had ever told me and Mark said it. It was the Golden Handcuffs.

[Mark Consuelos]

Golden Handcuffs.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Cuffs, yeah, something like that. And I'd never heard that before. Anyway, I went in finally after, you know, just kind of sitting around all day and meeting you guys, and I went in and I just choked it. I just was like, I don't know that I want to be here. And I. You know, the one thing is, I wanted to move to New York, which, you know, I eventually did.

[Mark Consuelos]

I'm glad you did. I'm sorry if we thwarted your effort beforehand, but.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

No, it's still one of the. The coolest and kindest things anyone has ever done for me that didn't know me from Adam. And I never forgot it. And by the way, it still took me another seven years, I think, before I got Grey's Anatomy. And then everything kind of snowballed from there.

[Mark Consuelos]

It was Grey's Anatomy, right? That was the first big. That was the thing that put you on the map.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I did Grey's Anatomy and a show called Supernatural at the same time. Yeah, yeah. So I was doing both of those. It was. It was year two of Grey's Anatomy, but it. It's why Zack Snyder cast me in Watchmen. Now, how he could look at a character like Denny and say, oh, that should be this nihilistic, crazy superhero, I'll never know. But, you know, P.S. i love you, Watchmen. All this stuff just happened from that. I think since Grey's Anatomy, I've had to go in and audition one time in my whole life. It just flipped.

[Mark Consuelos]

Flipped. That's incredible. That's incredible. Listeners, if you know anything about show business, Jeffrey is in a rarefied world where you don't have to audition. I mean, everybody has to audition. Major movie stars have to audition. But you transcended that from that one job. And I think it's because you are so. You're super talented. I only know you as kind and loving. I'm always shocked when I see you as these diabolical monsters that you've been able to effort. But I watch it and I, like, chuckle, and I'm like, look at jdm. He's so mean. He's so scary.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah. Somehow it's kind of turned into a thing now of being a villain, which, by the way, I do love. I like finding. Yeah, it's trickier in that I think the goal for me is always to take the worst person in the world and humanize that person somehow. Because usually villains are written very kind of one dimensional. And that changed with. Well, I think. I think Nicholson had done it a few times as Shining in particular, but what Heath Ledger did with the Joker, because on paper, I know how that read, I know how that script read. And yet what he was able to do with that, it was amazing. And so I get a big kick out of taking a role that there shouldn't be anything that we like or want to even pay attention to and not make him likable, but make him someone that is relatable.

[Mark Consuelos]

I mean, we found ourselves rooting for Negan in a very. I mean, I kept saying, why? How am I rooting for Negan? Putting aside you, how am I rooting for this man? So take me into 2009 and Hillary comes into your life. Were you working together or was it. Were you set up on a blind date?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

We were set up on a blind date. I just was coming out of a pretty long relationship and it was, you know, very off and on, very dramatic. I had been living in New York, done like some back to back films and so I'd kind of been here and I just gone back to la. And the guy who played my son on Supernatural, Jensen Ackles, called me one night and he's like, hey, I got this girl that's staying at our house right now and we're going to go out tonight and have a drink. And I told her about you and I think you should come and say hi. And I was like, oh God. He told me, he told me that she was an actor. And I'm like, oh, we just did that. I can't do it. There's no way. And I remember sitting at my house and just like, oh, fuck, I should go, I should go. What am I doing? I'm just sitting here by myself. And I went and I. Soon as I walked in, he tells the story and it's hilarious, you know, slow motion and wind blowing through. But I rode my motorcycle over and.

[Mark Consuelos]

Well, first of all, that is a baller move. I mean, anytime you're pulling up on a motorcycle, a girl is going to pay attention to. To that.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

That's what, that's what they both said to. Although Hillary's not a big, you know, biker girl. I've gotten her to go on a bike maybe five times in our whole life together. But I got off that motorcycle and I saw her, and that was it. I mean, it was. It was just that love at first. It was love at first sight. And she was leaving the next morning to go back to North Carolina because I find out later that she had a D. Going back for.

[Mark Consuelos]

She was going home to break up

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

with the date, and that's what she did. But I was leaving in, like, two days to go to New Mexico to start filming a movie, and she was going to Paris. She wanted to write a book. And I just rented a flat in Paris for, like, three months.

[Mark Consuelos]

And by the way, she's a great writer. She's a. She's a fantastic writer.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah. And. And has a new book coming out in October. I haven't read it yet, but I didn't read the last one either, until it came to us in galley form. And I was like, holy. She just told the world our whole life.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, so you didn't read any of it before? Oh, wow.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

No, I didn't read any of it before and said, I'm gonna wait until you're done. And she never told me what it was going to be about. I thought she was writing, like, a fiction. And, you know, she's a bit of a storyteller.

[Mark Consuelos]

She's a great storyteller.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

And so she had gone to bed, and she had given me the galley earlier in the day, and I sat in front of my fire, and I read it in one sitting like the sun was coming up when I put the book down, and I was just in tears. And I just remember thinking, oh, God, there's no mystery left to us at all anymore. You've told that, you know, the most intimate details about some very hard stuff that we went through. That being said, I think, you know, her needing to tell the story that she told was very therapeutic for her. I think she thought I was gonna, like, be upset. And I. And I. It was the opposite. I. I couldn't have been more proud of her. And so I will see what this next one is.

[Mark Consuelos]

Wait, I have to go back. Because we left off, Hillary went to Paris.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, shit. Yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

And I derailed you by talking about what a brilliant writer she is.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Okay, so she's on her way to Paris. I am on my way to New Mexico. And I tell her that Albuquerque is so much more romantic than Paris. And she believed it.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, well, because the penis, the Penis was in Albuquerque.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

The sausage party.

[Mark Consuelos]

The sausage fest was happening in Albuquerque.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

So we'd only met that one night. And the next time I met her was at the airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She never went to Paris. We were pregnant with Gus. Oh, God. Within, like, three weeks. You know, I would not encourage anyone to have a relationship move that fast, ever. But there was never a doubt.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Ever, ever, ever. We just. We just knew. I mean, it was. That was the beginning of it all, and. And we haven't left each other's side since then. But, yeah, one hell of a blind day.

[Mark Consuelos]

I'm so glad that you two met, because I literally picture either one of you without the other person. And, you know, Gus and George and your wild animal farm and the life that you've built, and I'm just so happy for you. Mark and I are always like, how are they doing? Do you think they miss us? Because we've always talk about going on a vacation someday together.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I know we talk about you guys the same way, and just so you know, we feel the same way. But you guys and your relationship and your family and what you've built together, that's the one thing about how our relationship moved at Mach 5 speed is we never really. We never really got to woo each other. You know what I mean? There's been a. There's been a kid around since day one.

[Mark Consuelos]

We thought we moved fast, too, because, like, we got married a year after we met, and we didn't want anybody at work to know we were dating. Dating. Meanwhile, we were married. Okay.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

And didn't you get married, like, in Vegas? We did.

[Mark Consuelos]

We got married in Vegas. We did. We eloped.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

That's awesome.

[Mark Consuelos]

Our Entire wedding cost $179, including airfare.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Did you have another wedding? When you told everyone you were married, did you do something?

[Mark Consuelos]

No. Very superstitious. I was like, it took the first time. Let's not fuck it up by trying to do it twice. Yeah, we were very nervous about, like, somehow the second wedding would be tainted. But anyway, so you've got this. God, you've got so many businesses going on. You have a spirit business.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

That's my wife. This is all, you know, Hillary. She's just.

[Mark Consuelos]

She's industrious.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah. I can't slow her down. It's just like, if I'll. I'll mention. And I did, because a company had come to me when I started the Walking Dead. They're like, hey, we would like to do, like, a vodka with you. And by that, it just means that I would endorse it, and they would put like, a baseball bat or something on the vodka bottle. Who, who, who knew? But I, I knew that I wouldn't have a say in any of it. And I was like, no. But I remember I, I telling Hillary about it. I said, you know, sometime we ought to think about doing something like that. It might be kind of fun, right? We thought that we could have something potentially with, you know, the, the Mischief Farm brand and all that there was. There was ideas that we kind of threw. The thing is, if you throw around an idea with Hillary, it becomes a reality. The next thing you know, I've got 10. Yeah, I've got 10 meetings that I have to have with the distillers. And I'm like, whoa, what, what just happened? So she took that. And then during the pandemic, Hillary was sewing masks for hospitals, I remember, and I was delivering them. So I would load up all these masks that she would make, and I would deliver them to hospitals around Dutchess County. And sometimes, outside of, with George forget,

[Mark Consuelos]

there was a total mask shortage and hospital workers had no masks.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

She figured out how to make them four layers of, you know, whatever it was, that was totally legit. And anyway, so distiller here in the Hudson Valley heard that she was doing these masks, and he had turned his distillery into a thing making hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer, yeah. And they talked because he needed to know how to, to, you know, send out the sanitizer, who to send it to, blah, blah, blah. And Hillary, of course, knew all the answers. And before long, they're like, hey, would you ever, you know, consider, you know, doing a libation of some sort? There it is. So thank you, Hillary. And we went and met with this local distiller, and we came up with two liquors. One is a gin, and it's got blackberries from our farm.

[Mark Consuelos]

Albert just started salivating, by the way. Way gin drinker.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

It's really. Oh, you. This gin. I see. I am not a big gin drinker, and I love this gin. And the other is a, a bonfire whiskey. And that's because I've got a fire burning at this farm. At least one at any given moment.

[Mark Consuelos]

And are you the whiskey drinker?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah, I like a good sipping whiskey, and this is a good sipping whiskey, and it's got a kind of a smoky aftertaste to it. And that's our, our deal. MF Libations, which is Mischief Farm, but everybody thinks it's like a sailor.

[Mark Consuelos]

I like MF Libations.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah, there it is.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, you've got. Oh, Mer.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

This is actually just our farm. This is just, you know, again, Hillary, it was like, oh, we should. You know, we've got fans and everybody wants something to do with the farm. And so we had hats and sweatshirts made years ago, and I still wear them every day.

[Mark Consuelos]

Guys, we have to do. We have to do a road trip. We'll do a remote.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Absolutely. And then you can come to the farm. You've been threatening to do that for a while.

[Mark Consuelos]

Albert wants to come to Shearing Day.

[Albert Bianchini]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Shearing Day is a frigging hoot. Oh, my God. Because all of our animals are rescues, and so they already have problems. You know, they've already.

[Mark Consuelos]

They're psychologically not right. And now you're taking their fur off and they don't like, like it.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

To do it, you got to lay them down. And alpaca love to spit, but they make a sound that's like the worst sound you've ever heard.

[Mark Consuelos]

Can you imitate it? Can you imitate it?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I. I can't because it's. It's so high pitched and screamy, but also almost a bellow. And at the same time, they're trying to spit at you. You know, there's so much. There's so much stuff going on and limbs are trying to kick you. It's a blast.

[Mark Consuelos]

We are going. We are going.

[Albert Bianchini]

You let us know.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

It cracks me up. And then. And then the minute you let them go, they prance around like, oh, I look good. Yeah. Oh, check me out. But while it's going on, they are lethal weapons. They want to kill you. It's really a funny deal.

[Mark Consuelos]

We're going to get to the viewer questions, but before we do, the Boys, season four. Are you coming onto this show?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I am.

[Mark Consuelos]

You are.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

And I am indeed.

[Mark Consuelos]

How will they make this show even? You know, it is so filthy and good and amazing and diabolical and everything. And you are a perfect addition to that.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Thank you. It's one of my favorite shows, but the showrunner who, you know, took it from comic book form to TV is the same creator that did Supernatural. And so Eric and I, the guy who runs the show, the boys, have been trying to figure out how to get me on the show for the last two or three years, and just with my Walking Dead schedule, it was.

[Mark Consuelos]

It was impossible.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

And. And so this year we were doing Dead City and the boys had started and we had been talking, and what he did was he took the episodes that I was still working on Dead City and he, he, we shot all my stuff when I was available.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's incredible.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

The directors came back into town and so they were going backwards for me, which was awesome.

[Mark Consuelos]

Well, if you are a JDM fan, you want to make sure that you watch all of the seasons of the boys leading up to the fourth season, which I'm assuming will be even filthier and more diabolical. It just gets better and better.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Yeah, there's some stuff. There's some stuff. Yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

Are you ready for your fan questions?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I don't know. We'll say that I am.

[Mark Consuelos]

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[Kelly Ripa]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Mark Consuelos]

Hey, everyone. Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, no.

[Kelly Ripa]

We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.

[Kelly Ripa]

Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty.

[Mark Consuelos]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Are you ready for your fan question? Questions? We've got a sound effect for you too, because Albert's boyfriend Kyle made you your own sound effect. Are you ready?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

What?

[Albert Bianchini]

Here we go.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Questions for Jeffrey. Bravo. Can I have that for my ringtone? Yes, you may, because it's always somebody that wants something, and I think that would be okay. It would be great.

[Mark Consuelos]

Here we go. From Sylvia. Sylvia wants to know, which character have you enjoyed playing the most?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

That's hard. Negan for sure is right up there. Denny on Grey's Anatomy, I loved playing. That was lightning in a bottle for a lot of different reasons, but that was incredibly special from Lindy.

[Mark Consuelos]

Lindy says during the pandemic, your stunningly beautiful wife let her gray hair flag fly, which gave me the courage to do the same. Did that affect or change the way you saw her? And was there a conversation about it?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

No, there wasn't. I thought she just became better looking and sexier. Oh, she'd always dyed her hair. And we met. She was, like, in her 20s, and she just always had, like. She called it her skunk stripe that she, you know, had to do over and over again. And. And I think during the pandemic, she was like, it's just you.

[Mark Consuelos]

You know, she also has the right amount of. I like to call it like, the salt and pepper effect. Like. Like, it's mostly dark with, like, shocks of gray. And what I discovered during the pandemic is that I am Mrs. Claus. So as my roots grew in, I was like, oh, there's nothing dark in there. There is nothing at all dark. It's just white on white.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

You're talking to a guy who's, you know, Santa. So I get it. I get it. Yeah, she pulls it off.

[Mark Consuelos]

She's just a sex. She's a sexy lady, and it just

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

makes her happy that she doesn't have to worry about it. You know what I mean? I think it's just has given her, like, a sense of freedom and happiness.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, it's my ongoing quest to get off camera is so that I never have to dye my hair again and I never have to wear makeup again. That is my quest.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

By the way, Hillary has the same goal, not to be on camera.

[Mark Consuelos]

This podcast is phase one, Phase one of never having to be seen.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

You and Hillary are very similar.

[Mark Consuelos]

They're very similar. I know we've had this. When I hear her talk, it's like I'm listening to myself. Okay, we've got another question from Scarface. Scarface?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I know her. Yeah.

[Mark Consuelos]

Will we see?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

She doesn't really have a scene.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, I'm sure not. Will we see any fan favorite characters from the Walking Dead, such as Princess on Dead City?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I probably am not allowed to answer that, but I'm going to say there'll be one character that you'll recognize.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's it. Scarface. So take that answer and appreciate it. From M. If you could choose an ending for Negan, what would it be?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

That he would just walk off into the sunset? You know, I. I don't know that he would have gotten married again and they had Negan get married at the end of the Walking did. But we never saw the story of how we met this person and why. Why he would have married her, which always kind of bummed me out because I think he was so in love with his wife, Lucille, and had made such a production out of the whole Lucille of it all. Having him show up with a wife without telling the story of why and how was always like a. A problem, an issue I had. But, you know, that's what happens when you're doing a show with 30 main characters. You. You're not able to service each char as well as you may want to. And I think with now with Dead City, we'll get some answers.

[Mark Consuelos]

Okay, Bea Hansen says, spill the tea. You hinted that on some of the shows you've been involved in, the cast didn't get along. Which ones?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, all of them.

[Mark Consuelos]

Isn't it amazing how like, people. People assume that every cast has to always be enjoying each other's company all the time? And I'm like, what often office do these people work in where Everybody gets along 100 of the time?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Well, I think partly we're at fault because, you know, when we go out and do press, we're like, yeah, we're on big happy family and all that. Schnaz. I will say that the Walking Dead because we shot in this little bubble of Georgia. A lot of us were super duper close. Not to say that there weren't a couple little non peaches in the group because there were.

[Mark Consuelos]

That's always with every, every job, anywhere, anytime.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

That's right. There's always going to be some bad apples and, and you know, if we can't kill them off, then, you know, we're stuck with them. And, and we were stuck with a couple. But mostly that cast was, was a family. And I think every show is like that. There's always a couple people that you really get along with and then there's some people that you don't and you're not going to get along with everyone. So I, I'm not going to be specific with the beans, billing or the tea spilling because I don't want to get in too much.

[Mark Consuelos]

Hansen, you get what you get and you don't get upset.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

That's right.

[Mark Consuelos]

All right, we have time for two more questions from Laura Giglio. If you had a choice to play any role, what would your dream role be?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I don't know. That's hard. Those independent films that are super character driven, we're not seeing anymore. We're getting a lot of really good stuff on television. But those films that you can kind of lose yourself into a character driven piece and do a couple a year if you were really lucky and really good, they don't exist anymore. So you're doing one character now for a couple years. If you're lucky enough to get a TV show or you're a superhero. Because those are the movies that.

[Mark Consuelos]

Do you think there'll be a pendulum swing back to the really interesting independent film films?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I hope so. I mean, I really do. That's why I fell in love with, with film. You know, my favorite genre is and will always probably be a Western. I can name a film that I would like to have been in. Something like Unforgiven. You just. They don't make those anymore. Westerns for whatever reason don't make money and so they don't make them. Which is weird because I don't know one person who doesn't love a good western. Both my kids are named after characters in West. God's sake.

[Mark Consuelos]

Okay, is this the last question? J okay, this one is from. Are you ready? Jeffrey the Dog Morgan. Do you know Jeffrey the Dog Morgan?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

I, I, I, I, Yes.

[Mark Consuelos]

Lot of JDMs out there. All your fans. Yeah. If you had one do over in life, what would it be?

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

You know what? I don't I don't do those. I. I think that the life that I've led up to this moment needed to be exactly what it was for me to be where I am. So I. I don't. I don't live with regrets.

[Mark Consuelos]

You know what? We love you, jdm. Jeffrey Dean Morgan. An actual in show business. A rarity. A really, really kind, good guy with all the talent in the world and a beautiful life that you deserve. We are so happy for you.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, I love you, Kelly.

[Mark Consuelos]

We love you, too.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

You're one of the greatest.

[Mark Consuelos]

Mark and I both love you and Hillary so much.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Thank you.

[Mark Consuelos]

Thank you, jdm. The Walking Dead, Dead City on amc. Don't forget to. And we appreciate you so much for doing our little podcast.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Oh, anytime. Anything for you. And this is awesome. It's been great.

[Mark Consuelos]

Thank you.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Thank you for having me.

[Mark Consuelos]

Love you so much.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Love you too.

[Mark Consuelos]

Bye. Well, Albert and Jan, I don't know what else you want from me. I can't wait to see what character he plays on the boys because it's gonna be demented. Demented. Do you watch that show? My boys do. I haven't seen it yet. Oh, Jan. Yeah, you have to watch it. You should really know what they're getting into, your boys. What about you?

[Albert Bianchini]

I haven't watched it.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

No.

[Mark Consuelos]

Oh, my gosh.

[Albert Bianchini]

Let's watch it this weekend.

[Mark Consuelos]

You would love it. It's diabolical. It is diabolical and it is filthy. It's absolute filth. I read there was, like, a headline that said, how do you make the boys even filthier? Add Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It's incredible. It's incred. He's perfect for that show. You should do something on that show, too, Mark.

[Jeffrey Dean Morgan]

Tan men.

[Mark Consuelos]

Tan men. No, that's not enough. You need, like, a kink or a fetish. You need something wacky that you're into power washing. Yeah, but he would do it with his penis. Like, that's what. That's what these people do. Like they've got diabolical power wash things with his penis. You have no idea. I mean, it's so dirty. The show is so dirty, but it's really funny. Speaking of dirty and funny, don't forget to tell your friends to listen and follow the latest episode of let's Talk off camera with Kelly Ripa. Wherever you get your podcasts. And if they don't know how to follow, there is a tutorial of my dad teaching people on my Instagram, so check it out. You've never seen anything quite as. As simple scintillating as Joe Ripa talking tech on my Instagram page. Can't wait to talk off camera with y' all next week. Bye everybody. Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa is a production of Malo Joo Productions from Mojo. Our team is Kelly Ripa, Mark Consuelos, Albert Bianchini, Jan Chalet, Seth Bronquist, Roz Therian, Devin Schneider, Michael Halperin, Julia Desch and Team Radio Andy Lisa Mantineo, Michael white, Shakira Perez LinkedIn hiring pro can't predict the future, but it can help you feel confident about future hires. Because Hiring Pro combines real time insights and candidate Data from the LinkedIn network with the criteria you've set for your role to deliver you a list of top fit candidates. Businesses who use LinkedIn are 24% less likely to reopen a role in the next 12 months. Hire right the first time with LinkedIn hiring pro post a free job [e-mail] Pandora.

[Kelly Ripa]

And Doug, there's nowhere I wouldn't go to help someone customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual. Even if it means sitting front row at a comedy show.

[Mark Consuelos]

Hey everyone, Check out this guy and his bird. What is this, your first date?

[Kelly Ripa]

Oh no. We help people customize and save on car insurance with Liberty Mutual together. We're married. Me to a human, him to a bird.

[Mark Consuelos]

Yeah, the bird looks out of your league anyways.

[Kelly Ripa]

Only pay for what you [e-mail] Liberty Liberty.

[Mark Consuelos]

Liberty. Liberty.