Final Four Picks & Ryan Gosling on Project Hail Mary, Diva Puppets & Being a Liability at DB | Ep 183

Summary

Podcast Summary: New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce | Ep 183

Episode Title: Final Four Picks & Ryan Gosling on Project Hail Mary, Diva Puppets & Being a Liability at DB
Release Date: March 18, 2026
Special Guest: Ryan Gosling

---

Episode Overview

In this entertaining and wide-ranging episode, Jason and Travis Kelce kick off March Madness season with their NCAA Final Four picks before welcoming acclaimed actor Ryan Gosling to the show. The brothers riff on pop culture, Oscars highlights, brotherly competition, and their upcoming book, and then dive deep with Gosling about his new film "Project Hail Mary," memories from "Remember the Titans," the magic of movie puppetry, Hollywood legends, and what it’s like to be the unofficial face of Taco Bell inflation. Expect brotherly banter, plenty of sports and movie insights, and signature New Heights humor.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Oscars Recap & Conan’s Hosting [01:18–02:38]

• The brothers applaud Conan O’Brien's performance as Oscars host, calling him possibly "the best Oscars host of all time."
  • Travis: "He’s pretty much proven he is the best Oscars host of all time." (01:34)
• They highlight the exposure to new films, including "The Girl That Cries Pearls," an animated puppet short they admired for its artistry.

2. Brotherly Banter: TGL Competition & Their Book [03:22–05:13]

• The Kelces tease an upcoming golf competition episode and joke about their notorious lack of checking email or mail.
• Promote their upcoming book, "No Dumb Questions" (launching June 2), with a preorder bonus sticker pack.

3. St. Patrick’s Day & March Madness Build-Up [05:17–06:35]

• Light-hearted talk about St. Patrick’s Day traditions and beer preferences.
• Reminder to subscribe and catch their NCAA Bracket Challenge with Reese’s partnership.

4. March Madness Final Four Picks [06:36–17:39]

• The duo makes impromptu, research-free Final Four basketball picks, riffing on coaches, mascots, and bracket logistics.
  • Travis’ initial picks: Michigan State, Duke, Houston, St. John’s (with live corrections for bracket overlap)
  • They joke about picking based on mascots fighting: “Do you think a Wolverine or a Bison would win in a fight?” (10:27)
• Brand manager Brandon assists, reveals seedings, and helps clean up their brackets.
• A staff punishment is proposed for last place in the bracket challenge, including eating dangerously spicy hot sauce.
  • Jason (re: Mad Dog 357): “There's like, 6 million Scoville units. You just take, like, a toothpick of that and dip it on your tongue. It'll get you.” (16:14)

5. Ryan Gosling Joins: Revisiting 'Remember the Titans' & ‘Project Hail Mary’ [18:00–48:27]

A. Being a “Liability” at Cornerback [18:36–19:57]

• Gosling recalls being eternally roasted for his role in "Remember the Titans."
  • Gosling: “It doesn't matter what I accomplish in my life. There'll be someone in the comment section that says never forget he's an absolute liability at the corner.” (18:54)
  • Kelce brothers join in on the joke, comparing Gosling’s humility to fictional sports moments.

B. 'Project Hail Mary': From Book to Screen [20:01–23:00]

• Gosling describes the pressure and opportunity of adapting a beloved sci-fi novel.
  • Gosling: “We were already hitting the ground running... It's not often. I've never been a part of a film where I kind of knew people were going to like it because the book had already been stress tested...” (20:40)
• Praises author Andy Weir’s optimism about humanity and problem-solving.

C. The Magic of ‘Rocky’ the Puppet [24:27–29:14]

• Reveals the alien co-star ‘Rocky’ is an intricate puppet operated by five puppeteers, not CGI.
  • Gosling: “He’s got five puppeteers... Their dressed like ninjas. It’s not distracting at all!” (26:31)
  • He calls the improvisational dynamic the “magic” of the film.

D. Sci-fi Realism & Alien Creativity [29:55–32:24]

• Gosling discusses how the alien in “Project Hail Mary” avoids Hollywood clichés, referencing astrophages and scientific consistency.
• Gosling: “He doesn’t have big eyes. He's not cute in a traditional sense. He's got no face, five arms, made out of rock…” (29:14)
• They touch on how movies rarely imagine truly unique extraterrestrials.

E. Hollywood Moments & Legends [32:37–47:36]

• Favorite “Rocky” movies—Gosling shares his love for the original and the story of Stallone selling, then buying back his dog.
  • “I forgot Stallone had to sell his dog to get this movie made. And then when he made the money back...that's the dog in the movie.” (33:39)
• Talks about working with Harrison Ford, who once punched him on set, then stole his ice pack and Advil (39:05).
  • “He could just house half a bottle of Advil as a joke. He’s not like us.” (39:11)
• Hollywood moments: sneaking into a party’s kitchen and meeting Stallone; Will Ferrell saving a terrible talk show taping with an improvised bit (43:55).
• Humorous personal stories—including Gosling’s childhood suspension for bringing and throwing steak knives: “I didn’t throw them at kids. I might have thrown near them.” (40:08)

F. Miscellaneous Fun

• Gosling’s surprise at being the “face of Taco Bell inflation” meme (41:02)
• Taco Bell preferences: Travis likes the Cheesy Gordita Crunch.
• Gosling’s musical roots and his Elvis impersonator uncle, inspiring his creative path: “So he became Elvis...he was showing me how to, like, method act, basically.” (45:55)

6. Wrapping Up – Thanks & Callbacks [48:03–49:53]

• Jason and Travis thank Ryan for joining, praise his career, and reiterate how “Project Hail Mary” is a must-see.
• Gosling closes the circle: “The fact that you guys would have me knowing I'm a liability at the corners...it like, legitimizes that we're all about team players.” (48:03)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On ‘Remember the Titans’ Fame
  Ryan Gosling [18:54]:
  "It doesn't matter what I accomplish in my life. There'll be someone in the comment section that says never forget he's an absolute liability at the corner."

• On Andy Weir’s Optimism
  Ryan Gosling [20:59]:
  “He believes that we're capable of great things... he reminds you... all the great innovations in human history started as impossible ideas, and human beings made them possible.”

• On Puppetry Magic
  Ryan Gosling [26:31]:
  “He’s got five puppeteers, each operating one of his arms. They’re dressed like ninjas... it would have been so much easier had we gone CGI... but there would be no magic.”

• On Unique Alien Design
  [29:14]:
  “He's got no face. He’s got five arms. He’s made out of rock. He doesn’t speak... It’s so hard to connect to him...but that’s the magic trick of the movie.”

• On Hollywood Legends
  Ryan Gosling on Harrison Ford [39:11]:
  “He could just house half a bottle of Advil as a joke. He’s not like us.”

• On Family & Art
  Ryan Gosling [45:55]:
  "So he became Elvis... he was showing me how to, like, method act, basically... then my sister and I started singing at weddings... music became a thing that I was doing, just as a way to keep things from becoming normal."

---

Major Segments & Timestamps

• Oscars Recap & Puppet Movie Talk: [01:18–02:38]
• New Heights Book Plug: [03:22–04:54]
• March Madness Challenge Setup: [06:36–17:39]
• Ryan Gosling Interview Starts: [18:00]
• ‘Remember the Titans’ Bits: [18:36–19:57]
• About ‘Project Hail Mary’: [20:01–25:38]
• On Puppetry/Filming Rocky: [26:08–29:14]
• Alien Design/Sci-Fi Discussion: [29:55–32:24]
• Rocky/Creed Movies: [32:37–34:39]
• Harrison Ford Stories: [39:05–39:40]
• Hollywood Moment Stories: [42:03–45:07]
• Music & Elvis Uncle Stories: [45:35–47:36]
• Closing/Thank you: [48:03–49:53]

---

Tone & Style

The episode seamlessly blends sports fandom, movie love, and comedic brotherly energy. The conversation with Ryan Gosling is earnest, witty, and packed with behind-the-scenes joy and thoughtful insights. Listeners get both high-level reflection and irreverent, inside-jokes—true to New Heights style.

---

For First-Time Listeners

This episode is a perfect representation of New Heights—sports insight, pop culture obsession, and authentic conversations with top-tier guests. Whether you care about March Madness, movie-making magic, or just want an hour of laughs and wisdom, this one has it all.

Transcript

[Ryan Gosling]

The fact that you guys would have me knowing I'm a liability at the corner, it means a lot to me. Honestly. It, like, legitimizes that we're all about team play.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah, we're team.

[Travis Cousins]

That was a team move.

[Ryan Gosling]

Thank you.

[Travis Cousins]

You and Charlie, Charlie Conway, the only guys that have pulled themselves out. The team would get better.

[Jason Kelce]

Welcome back to new heights. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all age, a wondery show brought to you by Reese's. And today, we've partnered exclusively with Reese's to bring you this episode with limited interruptions. That's right, shout out to Reese's. You guys can get us without as many ads. All right, we're your host. I'm Travis Cousins. My big brother, Jason kelce. Subscribe on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts and follow the show on all social media. Add new height show with 1s. This is the part of the beginning where Jason now tells you what we have coming up.

[Travis Cousins]

Well, 92%. We got another great episode. As always. We're gonna get into madness coming up here. Who doesn't love a little bit of bracketology? We also have Ryan Gosling here. What? Let's get right into it with a little bit of that new news. Shout out to friend of the show, Conan o'.

[Jason Kelce]

Brien.

[Travis Cousins]

He absolutely crushed the Oscars. Hopefully all of you out there listening, watched it did not disappoint. It's proof that it didn't disappoint by Disney saying after the Oscars, hey, you can do this. You have a free invite to host the Oscars in perpetuity of abc pretty much having the Oscars.

[Jason Kelce]

So nice.

[Travis Cousins]

He's pretty much proven he is the best Oscars host of all time.

[Jason Kelce]

All timer, man.

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah. Did you have any Oscar underdogs that won hot takes from it? Anything that you took away from it?

[Jason Kelce]

No, I just love how Conan and the team brought a full circle there at the end. And Conan went into a room like as did like Sean Penn did in one battle after another, and they offed him. I thought that was absolutely hilarious. So bravo to the entire Oscar nominees. That was. That was a fun one to kind of be a part of and, well, be a part of meaning I was, like, sitting there watching it, so.

[Travis Cousins]

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I did what I always do. I mean, first of all, I love the show and the spectacle, the Oscars and what Conan did as a host. But then I also learned about a bunch of films that I kind of didn't really know about or hadn't seen yet. And then you get to go watch these amazing films that you just are, for whatever reason weren't plugged into at the time. Now we were plugged into a lot of the big time feature films.

[Jason Kelce]

It's pretty cool to kind of be a part of some of these.

[Travis Cousins]

There was like a short film that was up for. I think it won the best animated short film. The Girl that Cries Pearls is awesome. Awesome little like puppet movie. I shouldn't say it like that. Kind of like sounds like it was shitty. It's awesome little puppet movie. It was like incredibly artistic and just so well done. So I'm going to keep catching up on all these movies that I haven't seen. And then again, Conan, he just like, he'll say the dumbest thing and I just think it's the funniest thing on the planet. We're also dropping and out of the house from our time at TGL next Monday the 23rd. Nice. They let us get on the simulator. So we had a little competition. We'll see how that goes.

[Jason Kelce]

That was such. I'm calling right now.

[Travis Cousins]

I mean, listen, it happened. That's all I know.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah, yeah, you did fucking. I blame all you guys. Nobody fucking said we were doing a New Heights one. I'm blaming Brandon. I'm blaming everybody.

[Travis Cousins]

We discussed it, Travis. It was. It was an email. You didn't get the email?

[Jason Kelce]

The email?

[Travis Cousins]

You didn't open the New Heights email?

[Jason Kelce]

No, no, I'm not. Not a big email guy. You know that. Haven't check that in years.

[Travis Cousins]

Well, it is the first time I've ever been competitive with my brother in golf.

[Jason Kelce]

I was not. I wasn't competitive.

[Travis Cousins]

We're not going to try and ruin what happened in the the episode. You guys are going to want to tune in. It is fun.

[Jason Kelce]

Let's see if anyone can guess how many beers I actually had before I went in that competition. But yeah, make sure you subscribe on the YouTube channel so you don't miss that. And our, our book is finally coming out. No dumb questions drops June 2, 92%. Pre order from anywhere now and get an exclusive sticker pack. Oh, who doesn't love.

[Travis Cousins]

Who doesn't love stickers?

[Jason Kelce]

Come on now. Pre order a copy of no Dumb Questions from any retailer and you'll score this awesome sticker pack. Jason, you want to hold that up because I do not have it.

[Travis Cousins]

I do not have the sticker pack. There it is.

[Jason Kelce]

Brandon, right on time.

[Travis Cousins]

I do have this.

[Jason Kelce]

Check my mail sticker.

[Travis Cousins]

The sticker pack is up there. Exclusive Big exclusive, big thing about the Kelsey's. Whether it's email or. Or Gmail or regular mail, we're not checking it. It's pretty much text message at the right time and, and those maybe always. Yeah.

[Brandon]

It's a miracle this show happens ever.

[Travis Cousins]

Dope sticker pack, though. Love the neon. Very St. Patrick's Day friendly, by the way. Which it is, of course, today.

[Jason Kelce]

Hey, happy St. Patty's Day. You're gonna have some. Some Bruslowskis, some Guinnesses. You're gonna have some.

[Travis Cousins]

I feel like I have to. I mean, listen, I, I, it's not like I used to do with the Aaron Express here in Philadelphia or drinking a bottle of Jameson at practice when we were in college. I have moved on to a different phase. But, yeah, I'm gonna probably try and have a Guinness at some point today.

[Jason Kelce]

I see you rocking your green already.

[Travis Cousins]

Maybe a garage lime. The green beer.

[Jason Kelce]

I should have wore my green today.

[Travis Cousins]

It's not. The day isn't over, Trav.

[Jason Kelce]

St. Patty's Day is just celebrating the Irish culture, right?

[Travis Cousins]

Technically, it's celebrating St Patrick, the patron saint who eradicated snakes from Ireland, among other things of which I'm not entirely sure. Should we do like a little brief St Patrick's Day like Wikipedia?

[Jason Kelce]

No, probably not. All right, you can pre order [e-mail], shout out to the clubhouse or wherever you get your books, wherever you buy books, you can go and pre order it there. We'll put instructions to claim your stickers in the episode description below. All right, and that does it for new news. And before we get to our incredible guest, March Madness starts this week, and we're running back.

[Travis Cousins]

It does.

[Jason Kelce]

The new heights times Reese's bracket challenge brackets came out Sunday, so it's time for some picks. Are we ready to reveal our final Fours?

[Travis Cousins]

Come on, Trav. Let's go. Who's in it

[Jason Kelce]

right now? No, no, don't even look. Don't even look. Don't. No research.

[Travis Cousins]

Don't look.

[Jason Kelce]

All right, top four teams off the

[Travis Cousins]

dome haven't watched or heard a single thing about college basketball this year.

[Jason Kelce]

This is so much better than any other way to do this. This is so great. Where are you going? Where are you going?

[Travis Cousins]

I'm going to go with obvious well known teams everybody knows are going to be within those top four. Man, some of these guys that I used to be able to go to just. They're not there.

[Ryan Gosling]

Anyway.

[Travis Cousins]

I'm going to go Michigan State. I always like Coach Izzo. Gonna go Michigan State.

[Jason Kelce]

Pretty sure they're in it. They should be in it.

[Travis Cousins]

Okay. I am wearing green, though. That might have played a factor into it. I will go. I'm gonna go. I'm gonna go Duke. I'm gonna go Duke. I know they lost Cooper flag last year, but, I mean, they're kind of always good.

[Jason Kelce]

I'll go do the boozer twins. As much as I hate brothers, I

[Travis Cousins]

like the Houston coach. I like the way they usually play hard. Have no idea if they're any good this year, but I'm gonna go Houston.

[Jason Kelce]

Okay. They're in it.

[Travis Cousins]

I'm going strictly with, like, coaches that I know are dogs. And I'm trying to think of, like, one other. That's the only reason I went. Izzo and the guy from Breaking Bad down there in Houston.

[Jason Kelce]

You're missing one other conference, one other top tier conference.

[Travis Cousins]

I'm not going by conferences. I'm going by coaches.

[Jason Kelce]

I'm just letting you know where you're at right now.

[Travis Cousins]

Rick Patino is who I want to go with. I don't even know the name of the school that he's at, but I know that they play fucking hard, so I'm in those. That's my Final Four.

[Jason Kelce]

That was fun.

[Brandon]

The only issue with your Final Four is that Michigan State and Duke, I believe, meet in the Elite Eight.

[Travis Cousins]

Okay. So I need. I need somebody else in a different side of the bracket.

[Brandon]

Yeah.

[Travis Cousins]

What are my rankings of the teams that I just picked?

[Brandon]

You got a Duke's a 1, Michigan State's a 3, Houston's a 2, and St. Joe's St. John's I'm trying to find St. John. Sorry.

[Travis Cousins]

St. John's is also in the East. So three of your picks are in the same region.

[Brandon]

Oh, yeah, you're right. There's St. John's

[Travis Cousins]

minor detail, minor detail. There are five.

[Brandon]

Yeah.

[Travis Cousins]

Duke.

[Jason Kelce]

St. John's a five.

[Brandon]

Yeah, they play this.

[Travis Cousins]

Basically, I'm gonna. I'm gonna put Duke. Well, I gotta see the bracket, guys. I haven't looked at this. This is our bracket. This is going very smoothly. There are five, so that means they're in the south side of the bracket. Yeah. And what's Michigan State? Michigan State's a two.

[Brandon]

Michigan State's a three. I pulled it up.

[Travis Cousins]

Three.

[Brandon]

Yeah.

[Travis Cousins]

Oh, here we go.

[Brandon]

So you need somebody out of the west and the Midwest.

[Ryan Gosling]

What?

[Jason Kelce]

No, he needs the East, South, West, Midway. He needs.

[Brandon]

No, he's got Houston.

[Jason Kelce]

All right. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Travis Cousins]

All right.

[Jason Kelce]

He's got Houston.

[Travis Cousins]

My bad.

[Brandon]

We're tracking we're tracking. All right. Who are you feeling. Who are you feeling out of the West?

[Travis Cousins]

Okay. Arizona. I mean, come on, throw a dart. Having. I know.

[Brandon]

I'm looking right there, brother.

[Travis Cousins]

I'm not picking Texas. Come on.

[Brandon]

I'd pick Cincinnati for you, but that's all right.

[Travis Cousins]

I can't say Purdue. I mean, I love the fact that they're a two seed. I just.

[Brandon]

Every year, though, right? Every year.

[Travis Cousins]

All right.

[Brandon]

I know.

[Travis Cousins]

Let's just. Let's go up. I'm tempted to go with the fives. I just always love picking Wisconsin in the brackets. I don't know why. I mean, I'm going to go Arizona. I'm not a. Nobody else is really standing out. I'm going Arizona.

[Brandon]

Put Arizona in that Final Four.

[Travis Cousins]

By the way, I've watched none of these teams play anybody from winning their bracket challenge.

[Jason Kelce]

High point. Back in it, baby. Let's go. High point.

[Brandon]

Okay, now we need somebody out of the Midwest.

[Travis Cousins]

What's up?

[Brandon]

Have her pick.

[Travis Cousins]

What's up? Do you want to pick a team?

[Ryan Gosling]

Huh?

[Travis Cousins]

You want to pick a bracket for. For dad? Yeah. All right. Okay. Who do you think would win in a fight? This is how dad usually does it.

[Ryan Gosling]

Do you.

[Travis Cousins]

Do you think a Wolverine or a. I don't even know what Howard's mascot is. What's Howard's mascot?

[Jason Kelce]

Is it a Blue Devil? What is it?

[Brandon]

Bison.

[Travis Cousins]

A bison or a Wolverine would win in a fight?

[Brandon]

Bison.

[Travis Cousins]

Bison. Okay. It's gonna be a loser, but we're gonna pick it. It's a good choice, girly. All righty. Do we think a bulldog or a. A. A man of the cloth would win in a fight? Yeah, you're right. Bulldog. Good. We'll go Georgia. Alrighty. Do we think that a cowboy or a bunny would win in a fight? What? Do you need something?

[Brandon]

Akron's kangaroos. Right?

[Jason Kelce]

The ruse.

[Travis Cousins]

Okay. She needs. She needs help immediately. Okay. I. I don't know that I can do that.

[Brandon]

We'll just. Let's just throw a dart at the board here.

[Travis Cousins]

All right. I have to go. I have to go assist. We're having some issues here.

[Brandon]

Sure.

[Travis Cousins]

I know. I'm coming. I'm coming.

[Brandon]

Say Iowa State,

[Jason Kelce]

do you think?

[Brandon]

Yeah.

[Travis Cousins]

At this point?

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah. We can finish this later. We're not going anywhere.

[Brandon]

Okay. We're going to take a small intermission. We're going to put an ad right here.

[Travis Cousins]

All righty. Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Reese's Reese's.

[Jason Kelce]

Reese's has put a whole new spin on March Madness this year. Bracket busted. They aren't just happening, they're happening for a Reese's.

[Travis Cousins]

Nice finding out your bracket is busted after round one. Could actually score you some free Reese's. How about that? It's not all terrible or it even a chance to enjoy those Reese's at the men's or women's Final Four and championship games.

[Jason Kelce]

Wait, what? Is it too late to tank my bracket completely and just get as many fucking free Reese's as I could possibly take? We're always waiting for our brackets to go sideways, but now it feels like a win because it could score us more Reese's.

[Travis Cousins]

Instead of wondering why me? It's like, why not for a Reese's.

[Jason Kelce]

Turn your busted bracket in for a shot at Reese's and more. Post your busted bracket. Follow and tag at Reese's R E E S E s on Instagram X or TikTok and use hashtag for a Reese's sweeps.

[Travis Cousins]

And you have a chance to score free Reese's and a shot to enjoy those Reese's at a men's or women's final four and championship games. Wow.

[Jason Kelce]

No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Open to US residents 18 or older. Giveaway ends March 27, 2026. See the link in the episode description for official rules.

[Travis Cousins]

Not going to lie. Eating a Reese's at a Final Four game sounds. I don't know if there's anything that sounds better than that sounds awesome. All right, so so far, I've. I've picked three teams in one side of the bracket, unfortunately, so I have to pick. So I have Houston, though. I've. We've. Reassessed. Now it's Houston, Arizona. I have Duke or Michigan State. No.

[Brandon]

No.

[Ryan Gosling]

Okay.

[Travis Cousins]

I want Houston. Right.

[Brandon]

They're in the South.

[Travis Cousins]

Oh, so Houston was already in the town.

[Brandon]

Houston's good. Houston was your correct Final four pick.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah.

[Travis Cousins]

Duke or Michigan State? I just. I never. I know I should put Duke, but I never pick Duke because I kind of, like, feels wrong. I don't know. Yeah. I don't know what like. Like, I like Coach K and everything that they've done, but I know pick against him.

[Ryan Gosling]

It's just.

[Travis Cousins]

It's a little bit too much, like. It's just a little too preppy.

[Brandon]

Michigan State.

[Travis Cousins]

Yep.

[Brandon]

Okay. All right.

[Travis Cousins]

All right. You have Arizona for sure. Knowing nothing for knowing nothing.

[Brandon]

Arizona for sure. And then one more out of the Midwest. Some landmines in this one, though.

[Travis Cousins]

I should not have gotten rid of Michigan right from the get go. Wyatt really fucked me up by picking

[Brandon]

Howard playing The child. Blame the child. I like it, though. I like it. It's aggressive.

[Travis Cousins]

By the way, what is the mascot for Akron is. It's a zip. I know that, but is that a bunny?

[Brandon]

It's a kangaroo.

[Travis Cousins]

Kangaroo. That's what it was. Knew it was something that happened. All right. Keep going down. I guess I'll go Iowa State.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah.

[Travis Cousins]

Nice toughness there in the middle of the country.

[Brandon]

Here we go.

[Travis Cousins]

All right. There's my final four.

[Brandon]

Perfect. Travis, we got.

[Jason Kelce]

Oh, I guess I'll go Duke, Arizona, Alabama. That was the SCT team that I liked. I liked Alabama.

[Travis Cousins]

There's the one sneaking through. Okay.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah. And then. And then I'm going.

[Ryan Gosling]

Gosh.

[Jason Kelce]

I mean, it's just gonna be. It's gonna be Florida. Illinois. I'll go Illinois. I'll go Illinois. Sneaking through. Make it interesting.

[Travis Cousins]

Well, there you have it. There's our final force Trav. Should there be a punishment for the new Heights member that finishes last? Last member anybody in the staff? I kind of like this.

[Jason Kelce]

God damn it.

[Travis Cousins]

Punishment for last place.

[Jason Kelce]

What do you like?

[Travis Cousins]

If we are doing this, I'm definitely not picking Howard to beat. I like this idea. What is a sufficient last place bet? Hot sauce. All right.

[Jason Kelce]

I could do hot sauce.

[Travis Cousins]

MagDog 357. Like, platinum or something. Like, there's like, 6 million Scoville units. You just take, like, a toothpick of that and dip it on your tongue. It'll get you.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah, well, I once said the Pocky one chip challenge. That wasn't fun. I would say. I would say. Yeah, whoever. Whoever comes in dead last has to eat a whole wing dipped in that hot sauce.

[Travis Cousins]

I don't know that we want to go there. I was just going to do a toothpick on the tongue. You want a whole wing? Like, I don't do. That's.

[Jason Kelce]

I don't want to do it. No, this is. That's what happens when you come in last.

[Travis Cousins]

I mean, are we all game for this? I also own a hot sauce company called Hank Sauce. I don't know. I should be promoting another hot sauce company.

[Jason Kelce]

Let's do Hank Sauce.

[Travis Cousins]

But that's going to be enjoyable. That's not a punishment. You need to have something that punishes you. It needs to be too hot. Like, that's not what Hank Sauce is. That's what Mad Dog357 will freaking. I mean, it's designed to. Basically, you put a drop of that in chili, and it's going to, like, explode it.

[Jason Kelce]

Well, I'm not eating chili. So yeah, all right. I mean, yeah, you can, you can make the Beth then.

[Travis Cousins]

Does anybody want to weigh in on this? Is this a sufficient?

[Brandon]

I mean we have a lot of commenters I think probably couple with really fucked up stuff for somebody. I think we toss it over there.

[Travis Cousins]

Okay. We leave it up to. Okay, fair enough. We look forward to seeing what all of United percenters come up with as the. The loser's punishment.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah.

[Travis Cousins]

All right. We're going to send out the link to the men's and women's brackets one more time before they close on Thursday and Friday, obviously, because that's when the games start playing again. Shout out to our friends at Reese's.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah, baby.

[Travis Cousins]

I mean Reese's. Sorry, Reese's.

[Jason Kelce]

Let's get to our conversation with Ryan Gosling.

[Travis Cousins]

Our guest Today is a 6 foot 1 actor from London, Ontario, Canada. He's a 3 time academ award nominee.

[Ryan Gosling]

I've never been height checked.

[Travis Cousins]

A Golden Globe winner, a four time host of Saturday Night Live. You know him from the iconic rules. You remember the Titans, the Notebook, Blue Valentine, Drive the nice guys crazy Stupid Love La La Land, Blade Runner, Barbie. And now project Hail Mary. 90 percenters. He's more than just Ken. Please welcome Mr. Ryan Gosling. There we go. There we go.

[Ryan Gosling]

Oh my God. He said 6:1. That was amazing.

[Travis Cousins]

Hey, we, we, we do our research here. We do our research here.

[Ryan Gosling]

You had to call out. Remember the Titans too, man. Never forget that I'm a liability.

[Jason Kelce]

White corner.

[Ryan Gosling]

At the corner. I'm a liability.

[Travis Cousins]

That role that in particular scene in the movie is the thing that I see called out the most. How much do you get that constantly?

[Ryan Gosling]

It doesn't matter what I accomplish in my life. There'll be someone in the comment section that says never forget he's an absolute liability at the corner.

[Travis Cousins]

It doesn't matter what I do.

[Jason Kelce]

It's great.

[Travis Cousins]

The greatest actors of our generation. Three time academy award winner.

[Ryan Gosling]

He's alive by the way.

[Travis Cousins]

Can't play corner though.

[Ryan Gosling]

Get PD in there asap.

[Travis Cousins]

Dude, I'll tell you what, you're not a liability in this new movie. I'm not like, listen, we, we do a lot of these. I don't know how the hell. How the we're getting.

[Jason Kelce]

This is crazy.

[Travis Cousins]

I was like you to come on our show. This movie is awesome. It's awesome like it is. It is so great. You kill it. You're this somehow like unbelievable biologist, but also this down to earth very relatable person who's hilarious, heartfelt. I mean it Tugs on so many of the right chords. Especially with everything happening in this world right now. But you, Rocky, the whole thing, man, it's so good. Congratulations.

[Ryan Gosling]

Thank you, man.

[Jason Kelce]

How are we feeling about it compared to everything that you've already done?

[Ryan Gosling]

Yeah, you know, I feel like, yeah, really lucky to have made this movie because, you know, it came at a time like, Andy, first of all, like, you're right, it is a great story and it is. These are great characters and like. And I've removed myself from that because the reality is it was an incredible book before it was a film. Right? And Andy Weir, you know, wrote this book that has become considered one of the best science fiction books of all time. Some people, you know, many people say it's like one of the best books they've ever read. So we were already hitting the ground running, you know, I mean, you don't. It's not often. I've never been a part of a film where I kind of knew people were going to like it because the book had already been stress tested. Right. Like, we already knew these are great characters. We already knew this was a great story. I mean, there's a pressure to that, for sure.

[Travis Cousins]

I was about to say, man, there's. There's great books all the time that people fuck up in movies.

[Ryan Gosling]

Well, because they change. Because they change. We were. I produced this film and I just knew that the best thing I could do as a producer was just stay close to the material. Have Andy on set as much as possible, run everything by him. He has such a cool perspective, certainly in science fiction, but I think just in general right now, because he believes in people. He believes in, like, what we're capable of. He believes that we're capable of great things. And it's not like unearned optimism. It's not just optimism for the sake of it. You know, he reminds you in his work that, like, all the great innovations in human history started as impossible ideas and human beings made them possible, you know, and that, yeah, we, we. We make the impossible possible all the time. It's kind of like our thing. And that's such a unique thing to celebrate, you know, oddly enough. Right. It's like we're so inundated with, like, apocalyptic scenarios that it feels like they're inevitable. That, that, that it's. It's so bleak, the future. And then he. He like, writes this book that says, no, maybe the future isn't something to be afraid of. Maybe it's just something to figure out. And being a dad, you know, having Two young kids, and I feel like everything is just designed to scare them. I was so grateful just as a. As a father, to. To. To get. To make a story for my kids. Maybe not to be too lofty, but, like, for their generation. That kind of reminds you of what we're capable of as human beings. It doesn't pretend that there's not going to be problems, but that we can solve them, you know? And anyway, he's a unique writer in that way. I think that's why people love this book so much. And. Yeah, so to. To get. To spend the last almost six years now being around that and. And thinking that way and surrounding myself with people like that has been a real. Yeah, just. I don't know how to say it. Just a gift, you know?

[Jason Kelce]

That's awesome.

[Travis Cousins]

I love everything you just said. I really do. And it comes through in the film. It. It really does. The optimism and the. The resilience and the persistence to figure things out and this endless. I don't know, man. It's. It's so well done. You know, a movie's good when, like, you're experiencing every emotion while you're watching it, right? Like, you're. You're laughing, you're crying. You're the height of happy. The lowest of, like, man, this sucks. Like, that's when you're really involved in it.

[Ryan Gosling]

Yeah. You even in this, I think, do the laugh cry, which is really hard, you know, like, you're crying, you're laughing, and then you go, like it. I'm just going to laugh and cry because I'll just get both out at once. But these directors are really. They're so unique in that regard. Like, I don't know if you've seen their other films, but they did like, 21 Jump street and the Lego film and Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs and the Spider Verse. It's like everything is so much better than it should be. They have this unique ability to kind of sneak up on you and make you feel all the things, and they're so funny. So for me, it was like it had to be them, you know, and this is just such a perfect marriage of material and directors, you know, like, they are just. It just had to be them.

[Jason Kelce]

When you were reading the book, did you see it as, like, there was some comedy in it? I don't know. I can't imagine the book having this much, like, fun that it seems like you were having throughout the movie, though.

[Ryan Gosling]

Yeah. Andy Weir does write. He understands that, like. Well, first of all, he's like a former engineer. He is as brilliant as this character.

[Jason Kelce]

Oh, wow.

[Ryan Gosling]

And so he. The science. The science is very important to him, that it be accurate, even like, it's funny. He said, I knew I was different when I was watching Titanic and when Jack. And when Jack is dying, I looked up at the constellations above them in the water and I said, those aren't the constellations that would be there.

[Travis Cousins]

That's different. That's different.

[Ryan Gosling]

You know, he was like that. That bothered me. And I knew no one else was thinking that. I thought, I'm different. So he. Like, it's. It's so dense, this. The. The science. It's so scientifically grounded that he understands that it has to be funny. Otherwise, you know, it's just not going to work. You know, no one's going to be able to stick with it. So he did create a lot of humor throughout it. And then we just got a lot of funny people on board. You know, Chris and Phil are so. You know, they're just. Everybody had a. Was funny, and so everyone added their funny. And so it became, I think, funnier, but it was already there, I think, in the DNA.

[Jason Kelce]

That's awesome, man. You gotta. You gotta help me figure out some of this magic that was shot. So the whole time talking to Rocky, we're not giving away too much by saying rocky, right?

[Ryan Gosling]

No, we should talk. It's funny. It's like, when we first came out with it, people were. Didn't want us to talk about Rocky, but it's like. It's like pretending ET Is about a kid whose parents got divorced. You know, it's about an alien. We. We gotta talk about it. So.

[Jason Kelce]

Okay.

[Ryan Gosling]

Please feel free.

[Jason Kelce]

All right, cool. So. So during these scenes, are you having a conversation with yourself the whole time? Like, what's the difficulty of not really being in a scene with somebody else?

[Ryan Gosling]

So this was. This was. What I think is the magic of the movie is that he was there. We went. We went puppet. Oh, we didn't go cgi. We. We went, okay, full puppet.

[Travis Cousins]

He's in the room.

[Ryan Gosling]

He's there. All right? And not only is he there, he's got five puppeteers, each operating one of his arms. They're dressed like. They're dressed like. Dress like ninjas, guys. They're dressed like ninjas. They're all black. Just their eyes. Like, that's not distracting at all, you know? His name's Rocky. They call themselves the Rocketeers. He rolls in with an entourage.

[Jason Kelce]

It's like, that is so good.

[Ryan Gosling]

And. But James Ortiz is basically the. The lead puppeteer. And it would have been so much easier had we gone cgi, you know, but there would be no magic.

[Travis Cousins]

Right.

[Ryan Gosling]

Because he's there in the room. I can talk to him, he's moving around. We end up. We can improvise. We can take the scene in different directions. It's real. I mean, there were times that I felt like I had like an alien friend, you know, because it was so like, the. The artistry in which they do what they do made it so real. So I think you feel it, you know, I think in the movie it's like it actually. It is a relationship. It's not like what you're used to seeing because everything is so, like, effects driven now.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah, no, it's awesome. I mean, it makes you feel like Rocky's all of our friends in a sense. It's. I mean, it's just.

[Travis Cousins]

How does it feel to be a. To be a supporting actor in Rocky's film?

[Ryan Gosling]

I mean, really, he stole the show. What's funny is that he's real. Like, he's. He's been like. They've been having him come to some of these junkets.

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah.

[Ryan Gosling]

So they're like. They'll tell me like, oh, Rocky's here in the hotel. He's in the. He was at the presidential suite at one of these hotels we stayed at recently with 25, four hour security.

[Jason Kelce]

I'm like, he's living like a king.

[Ryan Gosling]

This dude's changed, man. This dude has changed. He doesn't text. He's not like, I'm in town. What's up? Nothing, dude.

[Travis Cousins]

I was sitting on the couch watching this, and my kids are watching, like, something else on Disney or whatever, and they're like, what are you watching, dad? I'm like, watch this movie. Like, oh, can we watch it? And all of a sudden, Rocky comes in and they are, like, glued from that moment. And I'm like, dude, this is how, you know, this is a good, like, if you're distracting from a cartoon over here that's like, pixelated and geared to get there, like retina and attention span, all that other stuff happening. They were locked in. I mean, they loved Rocky. Like, could not get enough Rocky. So it's. It. It really works for anybody. I mean, the film is. It's. It's awesome, man.

[Ryan Gosling]

It's cool. Because, you know, I think, like, Andy really put a lot of thought into what. You know, there's no. It's not trick of, like, he doesn't have big Eyes. He's not cute in a traditional sense.

[Travis Cousins]

Right.

[Ryan Gosling]

He's got no face. He's got five arms. He's made out of rock. He doesn't speak like, you know, he has his own kind of sounds that he makes. It's like, it's so hard to connect to him. I mean, I think the challenge of the movie was a bit like, will people connect to this faceless rock? You know, without any. Using any of the kind of tricks that we would normally use. But the beauty is that you end up. You. You kind of can't imagine you're going to be crying over this faceless rock at the end of a film. But that's like, the magic trick of the movie is, like, when it's over, people are like, rocky, you want to, like, die for him? Yeah, it's cool.

[Jason Kelce]

So do we believe in aliens now? Do you want to go to space?

[Travis Cousins]

There we go.

[Ryan Gosling]

I have no interest in going to space. Do you?

[Jason Kelce]

I do. I want to go.

[Ryan Gosling]

You do?

[Jason Kelce]

I want to go into.

[Travis Cousins]

As Travis does.

[Jason Kelce]

The moon, I guess, is the closest thing. Okay, yeah, I'll go there. I don't want to get too far away that I miss too much time. Just there and back. Just a quick shuttle, right?

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah.

[Ryan Gosling]

Yeah. I don't want to go. I want to pretend to go.

[Travis Cousins]

You didn't want to go in the movie either. We found that I related to a crazy shoe drop right there.

[Ryan Gosling]

But I do think it's fun to talk about, like, that we're in a period of time where we're not really saying. Like, it feels like the conversation has shifted away from are there aliens? To more like, where are they and when are we gonna see them?

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah, right. For sure. Yeah. The question growing up was definitely the. The other version of, like, are there aliens out there now? It's like, oh, no, there's definitely aliens out there. Just have they. Are they with us right now? Is the conversation right?

[Ryan Gosling]

Yeah. I don't think that they're, like, crashing.

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah.

[Ryan Gosling]

You know, that they. They're, like, coming to Earth, and then they're like, what? Like, they're losing the brakes. Like, what happens? Like, oh, no, the brakes. Like, they're not. I don't think they're crashing. That's my only. That's all I know.

[Travis Cousins]

If they're technologically advanced to get here, they're probably.

[Ryan Gosling]

They're losing on the way in or whatever the hell happens.

[Travis Cousins]

Oh, God, that's good.

[Ryan Gosling]

But I do think Andy put this, like, all this thought into this idea of, like, okay, so maybe they don't come to us. You got to go to them maybe. You know, like this, all this stuff, like, he. He exists in his own atmosphere, right? So you can't even like, really be in the same place with him. He has to make this kind of ball to be in. He wouldn't speak the same language. He wouldn't have the same kind of features that we have. Like, it's a pretty, like, credible stab at what that might be like. You know, it's done in an entertaining way, but it does feel like it's very scientifically grounded in a way that I don't. I don't. I've never really read or seen before.

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah, I do remember, I. I listened to Neil Degrasse Tyson talk about stuff a lot. And one of the things he's often said about sci fi films is the lack of creativity in outer space. And extraterrestrials, like, they're always like, bipedal and like, they just have weird eyes, but they still have hands. And it's like, no, no. This thing probably is going to be unlike anything you've ever seen. And you guys accomplished that. That perfectly. I mean, with every facet of it, right? Like the astrophysia. What are the astrophages?

[Ryan Gosling]

Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jason Kelce]

Okay.

[Travis Cousins]

Jason.

[Ryan Gosling]

Yeah, man. Dude, just casually dropping astrophys. You watch the movie.

[Jason Kelce]

Okay, let me ask you another silly one. I love asking dumb questions. If you had to show an alien one movie, which one would you show him? It could be any movie in the world.

[Ryan Gosling]

So his name was Rocky, right? And then I realized, you know, we were making this film with mgm, and I was like, wait, you guys have all the rights to all the Rockies, right? And. And the Creeds? And they were like, yeah, of course. And I was like, well, I have to show him all of those. So, yep, we watched all the Rockies. We watched all the Creeds. I think that's a good choice. I think. I think showing an alien Rocky is not a bad way to go.

[Jason Kelce]

Which rock is your favorite?

[Ryan Gosling]

The first one, just for the whole look, you know, he. I mean, you know this story, but, like, he had to sell his dog.

[Travis Cousins]

It's an interesting.

[Ryan Gosling]

Do you know that I don't even.

[Travis Cousins]

I've seen it so many times.

[Ryan Gosling]

I forgot Stallone had to sell his dog to get this movie made. And then when he made the money back from the script.

[Travis Cousins]

Oh, you're talking about in real life,

[Ryan Gosling]

he sold his dog.

[Travis Cousins]

What?

[Jason Kelce]

What?

[Travis Cousins]

You can give that much money for a dog? We gotta see what Patty's worth. No, I'm sorry.

[Ryan Gosling]

He sells his dog. Then when he sells the script, he buys his dog back and that's the dog in the movie.

[Travis Cousins]

That's sick.

[Jason Kelce]

Stop it.

[Ryan Gosling]

The levels to which what was going on for Stallone, it seems in his life and the story of what was happening for Rocky are so closely linked, you know that there's like a meta ness to the first one.

[Travis Cousins]

That's a great point.

[Ryan Gosling]

That's hard to. To beat. But I like the Dolph Lundgren one. That one's amazing. The training sequence there. Like the futuristic him with the, you know, like out in the log. With the log in the snow.

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah. Four is just like a. Guilty. Just like. So it's like you're eating the most luxurious chocolate cake of patriotism and like masculinity you can indulge in. But yeah, one is I, I do find myself.

[Ryan Gosling]

The speech he gives in Balboa to his son on the street is also. I mean, when does that not work if you need it?

[Travis Cousins]

You're right, you're right.

[Jason Kelce]

Everyone in Philadelphia still uses that speech every day of their lives.

[Travis Cousins]

I mean, I'm getting goosebumps even just thinking about that speech.

[Ryan Gosling]

What about over the top little trucker arm wrestling action?

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah, baby.

[Ryan Gosling]

Because sometimes in life you got to turn the hat around. Sometimes you just. There you go. Sometimes you just got to turn the hat around, guys.

[Travis Cousins]

So good that movie. Talk about ridiculous. But still a guilty pleasure.

[Ryan Gosling]

That'll make me cry. That whole. The way, the way he is with his son. Those pep talks he gives him.

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah, that'll get you going.

[Ryan Gosling]

He's the greatest. Like pep talk. That thing we creed where he says to him in the mirror, that's your worst. That's your worst enemy or your like greatest opponent or. I mean, he's just Stallone.

[Jason Kelce]

He still does it in Tulsa. King too. I've been, I've been stuck on that show. I love it.

[Travis Cousins]

There we go.

[Jason Kelce]

What's the next big guy? Are we, Are we sticking in the sci fi. Are we like Star wars movies next? How do we get right. Is there another. Is there a sequel to this? Are we already thinking how we're going to do this?

[Ryan Gosling]

I'm hoping Andy has an idea because I would love that. I just finished a Star Wars. A Star wars film which will come out next year.

[Jason Kelce]

What?

[Travis Cousins]

Really?

[Ryan Gosling]

Oh, shit.

[Travis Cousins]

Hell yeah. Are you able to give us any information on that? Like what's.

[Ryan Gosling]

It's not part of the, the, the timeline of the other Star wars films. It takes place in its own timeline and it's all original characters and it's directed by Shawn Levy, who did Deadpool Wolverine most recently. But he also, you know, the Stranger, Stranger Things and just so Many Things a Night at the Museums. He's such a perfect director for this. He just completely got the tone and. Yeah, it was crazy. It was crazy to. To be working on a Star wars film. Are you guys Star wars fans?

[Travis Cousins]

I love it. I mean, I wouldn't say like we're as plugged into like the very minor like minutiae, but yeah, very big fans.

[Ryan Gosling]

Yeah, same. It's like I didn't really, like, I didn't see it until I was older, but I had Star wars sheets, you know.

[Jason Kelce]

Oh, yeah, definitely had everything. Star Wars. Yeah. Yeah.

[Ryan Gosling]

Like I. It was always around even if I hadn't seen it. Just such a. It's like the Beatles. It's like always been there, you know. Correct. And you don't realize how much a part of you it is. How it defined your idea of what's a hero, what's a villain, what's a. What's score, you know, what is font, what is. What's a sound effect, you know, on all the levels. It just is so permeated, like my sensibilities as a, as a, as a person who likes film. I didn't know until I got there just how different, how deep it went, you know. So that was, that was interesting.

[Travis Cousins]

Well, you just said good and evil. Are we a part of the Empire? Are we Jedi? Like, what are we?

[Ryan Gosling]

The problem with the reception, it's.

[Travis Cousins]

Fair enough, fair enough.

[Ryan Gosling]

There's even a lightsaber that's just going to come in and just. Yeah, said too much.

[Travis Cousins]

All right, we're gonna get to this section. We gotta ask. Okay.

[Brandon]

All right.

[Travis Cousins]

Your co. Star and Blade Runner, Harrison Ford was on Jimmy Kimmel and was asked if he has had sex while playing soundtracks from his films. And his answer was, of course I have. It's a dumb question. Ryan, we have the same question to you, I guess, is that.

[Ryan Gosling]

No, that's a hard no. That's an easy, easy no.

[Travis Cousins]

It's a surprising yes, of course, from

[Ryan Gosling]

Harrison, I guess, but of course Harrison has. I always say, I would say, like, never meet your heroes unless they're Harrison Ford. He's as cool as you want him to be.

[Travis Cousins]

That's awesome.

[Ryan Gosling]

He punched me one time in a scene and then when they brought me ice for my face, he took the ice away out of my head and he put his. He put his fist in it. And he said, I forgive you. And then when they brought me Advil, I was like, went to take two Advil and he took the whole thing and he just went like. And he housed like 15 of them. He's not like us.

[Jason Kelce]

Oh, my God, I love this dude.

[Ryan Gosling]

He could just house half a bottle of Advil as a joke.

[Travis Cousins]

Doesn't care.

[Ryan Gosling]

He's just, dude, you know, in, in, you know, I think it's Raiders. You know, when he's riding and his hat kept coming off when he's riding the horse, he stapled it to his head.

[Travis Cousins]

Just this guy's.

[Ryan Gosling]

They were trying to tape it and he said, forget it. Give me a stapler. And he stapled it to his head.

[Travis Cousins]

Is this like a well known thing about Harrison Ford that he's just a lunatic?

[Ryan Gosling]

He's not like us.

[Jason Kelce]

He's one of those aliens among us, man.

[Ryan Gosling]

He's that guy.

[Jason Kelce]

That is hilarious.

[Ryan Gosling]

That line where she says princess Leia says I love you, and he goes, I know that's him. He said, he said that. That's him. He's the real deal.

[Jason Kelce]

Oh, what a legend, man.

[Travis Cousins]

Holy cow.

[Jason Kelce]

Is it true you were suspended from first grade because you brought steak knives and started throwing them at kids on at recess?

[Ryan Gosling]

I didn't throw them at kids. I might have thrown near them. I, I, I think I might have just been doing them in the ground. But yeah, I did get them a bit of trouble for that.

[Jason Kelce]

Nice, man.

[Travis Cousins]

Well, you're, you're speaking to two other. I was expelled from a preschool for stabbing a kid with a spork.

[Ryan Gosling]

What?

[Travis Cousins]

I did. Yeah. Yeah.

[Ryan Gosling]

If you're going to do it with something, a spork is.

[Travis Cousins]

And it was also, it was a retaliatory stab.

[Ryan Gosling]

Right.

[Travis Cousins]

It wasn't like I was just like, you know, psycho in this and just stabbing random kids.

[Ryan Gosling]

And the dullness of it, it would just really. We just heard in a different way, which is like more like psychological.

[Jason Kelce]

Oh, yeah. No, it broke skin. It broke. I saw it. I saw it. It broke.

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah, it was not good. Not good. Anyways, how do you feel about being the unofficial face of Taco Bell inflation?

[Ryan Gosling]

This is the first time hearing it. What is this?

[Travis Cousins]

The beefy five layer burrito, 89 cents. And the beefy five layer burrito now $5.36.

[Ryan Gosling]

I'm not getting a D for this. I'm not even getting. I'm not even getting free burritos for this. Oh, my God. Is that real?

[Travis Cousins]

I, I would assume so. I Mean, it's real on the Internet.

[Ryan Gosling]

Oh, my God.

[Travis Cousins]

I guess it's real now.

[Ryan Gosling]

The Internet is undefeated, man.

[Jason Kelce]

Undefeated.

[Ryan Gosling]

Internet's gonna Internet. That's one thing you can count on.

[Travis Cousins]

No doubt. What is your Taco Bell favorite? I mean, I don't want to keep giving Taco Bell ad space. Yeah, but. But I don't know. I'm more of a cheesy gordita crunch guy myself. All right, what do you have? A welcome to Hollywood moment.

[Ryan Gosling]

Oh, like what? Like. Like. What do you mean?

[Travis Cousins]

It could be good or bad or like something where you're just like, oh, this is Hollywood.

[Ryan Gosling]

Right.

[Travis Cousins]

Where it just dawned on you. I mean, you were. It's hard, I guess, because you were in it so young.

[Ryan Gosling]

I had a moment at, like, a. A party where I did. I, like, was trying to sneak in and out, like, just to not, you know, whatever, whatever. I went in through the kitchen.

[Travis Cousins]

Yeah.

[Ryan Gosling]

And I saw Stallone. He was hiding in the kitchen, too. And I got to talk to him for. For, like.

[Travis Cousins]

He was hiding in the kitchen too.

[Ryan Gosling]

Yes. And, you know, he had just been such an inspiration to me in so many ways, you know? And, like, I got to. Yeah. Talk to him in the kitchen of his party. It just felt like such, like, a pretty Hollywood moment, you know? But he didn't disappoint either. He gave me great advice, and he was like. Yeah, he was. He was just. How, like, that went down, how you would hope that it would. What's your Hollywood moment?

[Travis Cousins]

Oh, yeah, I'm still. I ain't got a Hollywood moment yet. We got NFL moments. Travis might have a Hollywood moment.

[Jason Kelce]

The closest thing to Hollywood moment for me was I was doing snl and I was already like, I have no business doing being the host snl. And as I'm doing. As I'm doing the table reads, which I can't read at all. So I am, like, already nervous as hell just to try and get through the reads, let alone having all these writers come up to me, trying to get me to really nail that punchline. I'm sitting here, like, stuttering through everything.

[Ryan Gosling]

Same. By the way, you're not alone.

[Jason Kelce]

Will Ferrell just comes kind of coasting through, and I just, like, freeze in the middle of my read. I'm like, full circle moment of, like, being at snl. I'd only, like, watched SNL because of guys like Farley and. And Will Ferrell and Sandler and those guys. So it's like to feel that man coming, come walking through and. And see me struggling Trying to read a script was like a full. It was a clusterfucking in my head. I was just like, what is life?

[Ryan Gosling]

He's the best, man.

[Jason Kelce]

Just the absolute best.

[Ryan Gosling]

Another one that I had, too, is when I went. Involving him was like, I. When I first moved to Hollywood, I went to see a. The taping of a talk show, and one of the guests was late or something, so they had us, like, sit on the floor, and then they were, like, throwing three musketeers at us, like, to feed us. It was just awful, the way they were treating. Treating everyone. And we were all like, this sucks. Like, you know, it was not the experience we wanted. And then we showed up and we sat in the audience and, you know, like, telling us when to laugh, and everything felt pretty, like, rehearsed. And it just wasn't, like, aligning with your. What you wanted it to be. And suddenly. This was before Will Ferrell was known, but he started, like, pretending he was lost on the set, so he would, like, show up behind the. The host and then, like, move along and then get lost. And we were all like, he was crashing this person's interview, and it was so funny, and it kind of. It just made the whole experience for us. You know, we were like, this sucked until he showed up, and now everything's better. Yeah, he's always like that. Like, I'm not surprised to hear you were having a hard time. And then Will Ferrell showed up, and suddenly things got better. You know, he's just like, it's so crazy.

[Jason Kelce]

Let me ask you this before we get out of here. I know we usually end on the. The. The Hollywood moment question, but you were obviously in Hollywood at a young age, and a lot of what you were doing was music. Have you ever thought about, like, kind of venturing or, like, getting back into the music side of things or having more of a career in that?

[Ryan Gosling]

I feel like it's. It's been cool to be able to do it in some films, you know, to find a way to La La Land.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah.

[Ryan Gosling]

Explore that. I mean, I kind of got in. You know, My uncle was an Elvis impersonator. And so it's how I. I came home one day when I was 8, and my uncle was bedazzling a white jumpsuit in the living room. And I was like, what are you doing? He was like, I'm gonna be Elvis for a little while. And I was like, okay.

[Travis Cousins]

It's a hell of a statement.

[Ryan Gosling]

So he became Elvis. He was, like, doing karate in the backyard and talking like and wearing the outfit in the house. And he. He was showing me how to, like, method act, basically.

[Travis Cousins]

So not even at, like, birthday parties or events. He was just doing this. He was just Elvis.

[Ryan Gosling]

He was just for a little while, full time.

[Jason Kelce]

So good.

[Ryan Gosling]

Then he put us all in the air. So he said to me, you're going to be my head of security. Yeah, I'm eight, you know,

[Jason Kelce]

this is so good.

[Ryan Gosling]

He got me like a gold lame jack that said head of security. And like, I was serious. I was like, okay, that's my job. And then he would perform at the mall and, you know, like, it just. It kind of changed everybody's life, right? Like, we all felt like we were hanging out with Elvis. We felt like we had seen Elvis. The whole town was like, came alive. People were singing and dancing and they had their talents. It was this amazing impact that he had. And then he decided not to do it anymore. And everything got real boring again. But my sister and I were like, can we do that again?

[Jason Kelce]

You know, I want to keep good on that.

[Ryan Gosling]

Yeah.

[Travis Cousins]

We kind of liked you better as Elvis.

[Ryan Gosling]

My sister and I started singing at weddings. You know, that's where the music thing kind of start. It just felt like a way to stay in that vibe, you know, to. To keep. Not go back to normal life, to just keep going with the circus, you know? So then music became a thing that I was doing, you know, just as a way to stay. To keep things from becoming normal, you know, and again. And then. Then, you know, I found acting and then I found filmmaking. And so it kind of was a thing to get me there, but.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah.

[Ryan Gosling]

Anyway, that's awesome, man.

[Jason Kelce]

Well, Ryan, appreciate the stories. Thank you for your time, dog. Everybody, Project Hail Mary in theaters Friday, March 20th make you make sure you see it on the biggest screen possible, brother. I just want to say, man, you're one of my favorites of all time. Dog from La La Land. Crazy stupid love, bro. This is so cool to just pick your brain on. On how you got here and. And happy for you, man. Project Hail Mary is a. It's a home run.

[Ryan Gosling]

The fact that you guys would have me knowing I'm a liability at the corners to say it means a lot to me. Honestly. It like, legitimizes that.

[Travis Cousins]

We're all about team players.

[Jason Kelce]

Yeah, we're team.

[Travis Cousins]

That was a team. Move you.

[Ryan Gosling]

Thank you.

[Travis Cousins]

You and Charlie. Charlie Conway, the only guys that have pulled themselves out when they knew the team would get better anyway. Anyways. You're the best, Ryan. I appreciate this.

[Ryan Gosling]

Thank you so much, guys.

[Travis Cousins]

Dude, that guy is an electric sob. He does not disappoint. I mean, how? It's funny, charming, good looking. God damn. How many things do we have going for us, Ryan?

[Jason Kelce]

What else? What? Well, I mean, we can't. We forgot to ask him about throwing the football. Throw the baseball.

[Travis Cousins]

That's a wrap, Trav.

[Jason Kelce]

How about it, man?

[Travis Cousins]

Thank you to Ryan Gosling for being here. Check out Project Hail Mary in theaters on March 20, and make sure you subscribe to the New Heights channel on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jason Kelce]

Fill out those brackets. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, once again, New Heights, a wondrous show brought to you by Reese's. Follow the show on all social media at new heights show with 1s for fun clips throughout the week. And thanks to our production team for always making us look way better than what we actually are. Man, we love you guys. And we love you 92 percenters for always tuning in. This was a fun one, man. Hope you guys enjoyed it. We'll see you next week. Peace.

[Travis Cousins]

Peace. Ryan, we're not experts at this. We're just going to have a conversation.

[Ryan Gosling]

Well, that makes three of us. What a cool gig, though, for you guys. This is amazing.

[Jason Kelce]

Still don't know how we got here, Ryan. Still don't know how we got here.

[Ryan Gosling]

You're just talking to each other about stuff, but you've turned it into, like, an amazing job. So who worked this deal for you? Can I get, like, me and my sister get in on.

[Jason Kelce]

Brandon, Carly, come back in. We need questions. Yeah,