Adam Scott

Summary

---

Podcast Summary: Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky

Episode: Adam Scott
Date: December 2, 2025
Host: Monica Lewinsky
Guest: Adam Scott

---

Episode Overview

This episode of “Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky” features a deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation with actor Adam Scott. Monica and Adam delve into themes of reclaiming identity, creative perseverance, the bittersweet realities of parenting, and the resonance of grief—both in life and through art. The two connect over formative high school drama experiences, the evolving cultural significance of movies, navigating career valleys, and the emotional impact of Scott’s role in Severance. The conversation is candid, often funny, and at times poignant, with both host and guest reflecting on moments of self-doubt, loss, and growth.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Formative Experiences and Discovering Acting

• Career Trajectory and Early Doubts
  • Adam describes the 15-year journey it took for his acting career to “amass into something I can actually call a career,” acknowledging intense periods of self-doubt and financial struggle.

    “I realized I was like walking on dental floss over the Grand Canyon. I just didn’t realize it.” (02:21)

  • Monica and Adam bond over their shared birth year and high school drama geek status, sharing stories of their first R-rated movies and memories of feeling like outsiders with a passion for performance.

    “What I really miss is being part of that [ensemble]. … My anxiety dreams all take place still on my high school stage.” – Adam (11:13)

2. Family & Upbringing

• Growing Up in Changing Times
  • Adam discusses his “idyllic” childhood in Santa Cruz and his parents’ amicable divorce during an era when divorce was becoming less taboo.
  • They recall how cultural representations of divorce, like "Kramer vs. Kramer" and "Mrs. Doubtfire," shaped their early understanding of family transitions.

3. The Shifting Role of Movies & Cultural Consumption

• Changing Habits, COVID’s Impact, and Nostalgia
  • Both reflect on the importance movies once held (“a huge part of our culture”) and how streaming, social changes, and the pandemic altered communal viewing habits for their children.

    “…Movies don’t account for as much in culture as they used to. I still place all this importance on movies…and it’s just one of millions of other pieces of our culture.” – Adam (19:02)

  • They reminisce about the “heyday of movies,” vivid orange juice memories from Friends, and Friday night VHS rentals.

4. Persistence, Friendship, and Community in the Arts

• Surviving the Valley Years
  • Adam opens up about the emotional toll of struggling years, what kept him going, and the importance of supportive friendships in the acting community (notably with Paul Rudd, John Hamm, and his wife, Naomi).

    “There were some valleys where I was like, no one is going to hire me to do any of this.” (24:32)
    “Even though you have a sheen of success, you still have…insecurities and doubts.” (28:06)

5. Defining “Everyman” Roles & Performance Philosophy

• On Relatability, Tom Hanks, & Audience Connection
  • Monica asks Adam about being seen as the “relatable every guy,” particularly through Ben Wyatt in Parks and Rec.
  • Adam gives a thoughtful breakdown of how “leaving room on the seat for the audience to take the ride with him”—as Tom Hanks does—creates trust and connection.

    “Tom Hanks is so relaxed and so at ease…you feel like you’re a passenger with him on the ride. That’s a really hard thing to do.” (34:03)

6. Chemistry, Collaboration, and Comedy

• Amy Poehler & Ben Wyatt Dynamic
  • Monica inquires about Adam's onscreen chemistry with Amy Poehler. Adam credits Amy’s generosity and openness, describing how their dynamic developed naturally and immediately without rehearsal.

    “Amy is so available, which is why she’s the perfect star of a TV show…” (39:46)

7. Grief, Severance, and Processing Through Art

• Personal Loss and Professional Resonance
  • Adam candidly discusses the passing of his mother from ALS just before Severance began filming, and how he navigated deep personal grief while assuming a role that also centers on loss.
  • He reflects on the impact of COVID restrictions on set, and how isolation mirrored the emotional split between his character’s innie/outie personas.

    “When you lose a parent…it’s so big…the sky changes. … I realized I had a whole lot of processing in front of me. … I needed to put it somewhere, and so the show was there for me...” (47:17–52:45)

8. Cultural Phenomenon of Severance and Audience Connection

• Why Severance Hit a Nerve
  • Adam expresses surprise and gratitude at the show's growing audience—even after a long gap between seasons. He attributes this to the richness of the show's central idea (a “great Twilight Zone idea”) and the audience’s hunger for puzzle-like, emotionally resonant stories.
  • Monica and Adam discuss fan creativity and theories (e.g., “my brother-in-law is a goat” theory!), and how certain terms (“innie” and “outie”) have shifted meaning in pop culture.

    “[It’s] not just the skill…but the fact that it’s inspiring them to do it in the first place is really flattering.” (56:25-56:53)

9. Partnership, Parenting, and Reclaiming Identity

• Working With Naomi and Navigating Parental Guilt
  • Adam talks about co-founding “Great Scott” production company with his wife, Naomi; the strengths their partnership brings; and his ongoing struggle with parental guilt as his children grow independent.

    “I can’t imagine doing any of it without her.” (65:01)

  • In response to Monica’s signature question about reclaiming, Adam shares his effort to reclaim release from guilt over time missed with his kids, particularly as his son goes to college:

    “I guess the thing I would reclaim is…my guilt about being gone for chunks of time and not being the dad who was always home…” (75:13)

10. Therapy, Healing, and Letting Go

• On Trust & Trauma Recovery
  • Monica resonates with Adam’s feeling that “whatever the feeling was when you started out, you’re sort of always there a bit,” and she references her therapist’s wisdom:

    “It takes a long time of things being different consistently for the psyche to feel safe.” (69:52)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the precariousness of breakthrough:

  “I realized I was like walking on dental floss over the Grand Canyon. I just didn’t realize it.”
  — Adam Scott (02:21)

• On ensemble and the power of drama:

  “What I really miss is being part of that [high school drama ensemble]...My anxiety dreams all take place still on my high school stage.”
  — Adam Scott (11:13)

• On cultural change & movies:

  “Movies don’t account for as much in culture as they used to... Now, it’s just one of millions of other pieces…”
  — Adam Scott (19:02)

• On the everyman archetype:

  “He leaves room on the seat for the audience to take the ride with him…”
  — Adam Scott, on Tom Hanks (33:27)

• On processing grief through art:

  “I had a whole lot of processing in front of me. But there were no…real faces in front of me, except between action and cut. … The show was sort of there for me, and it was a place to put it.”
  — Adam Scott (52:00–52:45)

• On reclaiming as a parent:

  “I guess the thing I would reclaim is my guilt about being gone for chunks of time and not being the dad who was always home…”
  — Adam Scott (75:13)

• Monica on healing & perseverance:

  “It takes a long time of things being different consistently for the psyche to feel safe.”
  — Monica Lewinsky’s therapist, quoted (69:52)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------|-----------------| | Adam describes his 15-year hustle to a real career | 00:21–02:21 | | Monica & Adam bond over R-rated movie memories | 02:43–07:36 | | Adam on his parents’ amicable divorce | 07:48–09:52 | | The shifting place of movies in culture | 15:00–19:31 | | Adam on surviving career valleys, friendships | 20:19–28:09 | | The “everyman” role & performance philosophy | 31:31–36:46 | | Chemistry with Amy Poehler & Parks and Rec | 39:27–40:56 | | Processing grief during Severance | 47:01–52:45 | | Why Severance resonated with viewers | 43:40–45:37 | | On parental guilt and reclaiming self | 74:12–76:38 | | Monica’s closing reflection on imperfection | 77:46–78:10 |

---

Tone & Conversational Highlights

• The conversation is candid, self-deprecating, and often sprinkled with humor, even in discussions about anxiety, grief, or professional insecurity (“I should go back into therapy after saying that?” Adam quips at 67:34).
• Monica’s warmth and vulnerability create space for Adam to share in detail—whether about personal loss or the uncertainty of an actor’s life.
• Tangents about movie-going, orange juice on Friends, and bad high school musical performances lend lightness and relatability.
• The pain and hope of parenthood—particularly “flashing through like a slideshow” as a child leaves for college (74:46)—is a poignant endnote.

---

Summary

This episode is a nuanced, generous, and often funny exploration of the “messy” process of reclaiming—and sometimes simply surviving—the parts of self that get lost, hidden, or transformed across family, friendship, career, grief, and public scrutiny. Adam Scott’s thoughtful reflections, comedic timing, and vulnerability shine, making this not just a celebrity interview but a genuine conversation about what it means to keep moving forward, even across the Grand Canyon on dental floss.

---

Transcript

[Monica Lewinsky]

Wondery subscribers can listen to Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky early and ad free right now. Join Wondery plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts, or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts.

[Adam Scott]

It took me about 15 years till I had a palpable career. Like, something that I could. When I could finally say, like, oh, this is actually happening, and it's kind of amassed into something I can actually call a career. Up until that point, I thought I was doing fine, but then when it actually started to coalesce, I realized I was like walking on dental floss over the Grand Canyon. I just didn't realize it. But along that journey up in those 15 years, there were times where I wondered if I needed to reassess and come up with something else. I just didn't have anything else that I knew how to do. So if I did, I probably would have done it because there were some. There were some valleys where I was like, no one is going to hire me to do any of this. At Raising Cane's, we're hyper focused on being the best at what we do and getting it right every time. Cook to order chicken fingers, cane sauce, crinkle cut fries, coleslaw, Texas toast, iced tea and lemonade. It's our one love. But is the hype real? Yeah, it's real good. Raising Cane's chicken fingers, one love. Next time, order with our app or online.

[Carrie]

Hey, pod listeners, have we got a fun new game for you.

[Unknown Female Advertiser]

It's called Quick, Quick, Quick. A game that has outrageous questions that will keep you playing and laughing for hours. Like this. Quick, Quick, Quick. List three gifts you'd never give a cowboy.

[Carrie]

And you can say anything. There's no wrong answers.

[Unknown Female Advertiser]

So go get it. Quick, quick, quickly. Available now at Target and Amazon.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Thank you to our presenting sponsor, Walden University. For over 50 years, Walden has helped working adults knowledge and skills to build the future you want and make a difference where it matters most. If you've been waiting for the right moment, well, this is it. Head to Waldenu. Edu and take that first step. I'm so excited to welcome you to Reclaiming Adam.

[Adam Scott]

I'm so happy to be here.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Thank you for having me.

[Adam Scott]

My pleasure.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Thank you. And congratulations, like, on everything that's happening with severance and all the things. Funny story about how you first came on my radar 2008. I think it was with stepbrothers.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

And I mean, first of all, you were just so memorable in that, like, it was one of those performances where you just go There is not another person who could have played that part and done. I was in Portland, Oregon at the time and I took my friend's three kids to see it. Having the last two films of Will Ferrells having been PG 13 with Talladega Nights, the. The ice skating One Step Brothers is.

[Adam Scott]

Like hard R. No shit.

[Monica Lewinsky]

So I did not know that. And I. I'm like Maybe Nathan was 13 and the two girls were maybe 10 and 11 or. I mean it was just. And so I'm sitting there and they call me Bob. That's my nickname with. With those kids. And I was like, oh man, what do I do? Do I. Do we stay? You know. And the beginning, even in the beginning it was like. I think it was pretty all there. So I decided I did not want to lose my status as being Cool Bob. Yeah, so we stayed.

[Adam Scott]

That. That's like a big like that's a major cool move for. Particularly for the 13 year old boy. I would imagine he was really happy. But then the girls I'm sure were.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I think Madeline, who was the youngest, I think it sort of all went over her head and it was just kind of like, oh, Will Ferrell, you know, so the.

[Adam Scott]

Well, even me, we showed our kids way too early today. Kind of forgetting exactly how hard R it is and, and even the parts that went over our kids, I mean there's a bunch of stuff, but just those guys are so funny and they're acting like little kids the whole time. It's. It's. There's something for everyone.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. Yeah. Sort of like I think those really good animated films. Yeah, right. You have such a good voice. Have you thought of doing. Have you done animated?

[Adam Scott]

You know, a little bit lately I kind of started doing it. I actually have a Netflix show coming up called Strip Law that I'm. That I'm in and I'm started doing a little voiceover, but I've always kind of wanted to and just never really had the chance to and so kind of started doing that. And it's a whole different skill set that I don't necessarily have. It really is like if you listen to like Will Arnett or somebody like that that's. He's kind of perfected it to a T. It is a. Another. I think it's another skill set that I'm not great at yet, but I do like doing it.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, he does have a. He has one of those. Right. You could just like, could you just narrate everything and like even the news might be better if will Arnett were.

[Adam Scott]

100%, it would make the news go down a lot easier.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Exactly, exactly. It's funny because thinking about that story with the kids, I was remembering how I was 8 or 9 when I saw my first R rated movie. And my cool aunt had taken me, my aunt Debb, because we'd gone with my uncle to see Tron, and it was so fucking boring for the two of us. And she was like, come on, let's just go next door. And we, like, run into the theater next door and it was the best little whorehouse in Texas.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, yeah, right. And so Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, exactly. And so that was sort of that. I think she had one of those moments where. But she was. She's always been my cool. Like she bought me Doc Martens in high school.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, that's cool.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, it was the good.

[Adam Scott]

I think my first R was either the Blues Brothers or. Or Fast Times. I think Fast Times, it was probably Blues Brothers, but Fast Times was the first time I remember seeing something and like, being, you know, kind of like brand new feelings were happening.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I think there's also the nudity in that.

[Adam Scott]

Right?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

I think that I was being confronted with something new and interesting and also juxtaposed with the huge laughs from Sean. It was. It was a. It was a formative experience. But also, I think Blues Brothers was rated R. And that was like the coolest movie ever because of all the cursing and violence.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, well, I curse a lot on this show.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, good, good. Yes.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay, so you were. And do you remember roughly how old you were?

[Adam Scott]

Do you think that was like, I'm 52 now.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Ditto.

[Adam Scott]

Okay, so we're the same. 1973.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, me too.

[Monica Lewinsky]

What month?

[Adam Scott]

April.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Oh, July. You're older than you are.

[Adam Scott]

I'm older than you are, yeah. Well, speaking as you're elder, I. Yeah. So I must have been like 8 or something when those movies came out. Something like that, yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

And you. So you were raised in Santa Cruz, Right. But back to you and Santa Cruz and growing up. So you. Now, you were mainly raised by your mom, right? Is that. Or was it.

[Adam Scott]

My parents were both in Santa Cruz and I would go back and forth. I know that it was pretty evenly split most of the time, and it was a very kind of really nice, idyllic childhood in a beautiful small town. Yeah, I was really, really lucky.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. No, it's especially. What's interesting, too, is not that you said that it was an amicable divorce, but sounds like you're Sort of saying that. And I think in that time period, because I think that that wasn't always the case. Like people, you know, conscious uncoupling and.

[Adam Scott]

That's. Right.

[Monica Lewinsky]

What do they call it now? Nesting or something where the kids don't. The kids don't leave. The parents shuttle in and out. Right.

[Adam Scott]

Which is a great idea, I think.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Totally.

[Adam Scott]

You can do it. I think that when my parents split up, divorce was, from what I remember as a kid, it was sort of this hot topic, like on the COVID of Time magazine, Like divorce. Because it was happening a lot, I think, because our parents generation were sort of discovering divorce. As, you know, the taboo was lifted a bit. Kramer versus Kramer was a huge. I remember going to see. I remember going to see that movie, and that was about the age of the kid in that movie. My hair was. I had, like, the same haircut, even. And I remember seeing that movie probably a little early.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

And probably I was. I think we were. I was like, living through it and not realizing I was living through it and seeing that movie and it being a kind of a. Hitting me deeply and not knowing exactly why. So it was that era of divorcing, that being this. This cultural shift or being part of a cultural shift. And my parents really protected us kids from the ramifications of the divorce and from any bitterness. We never saw them argue. There was never any. They really protected us, which is great.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. Yeah. It's so interesting you're saying Kramer versus Kramer, because I remember, I think it might have been maybe the first or second Thanksgiving after my parents divorced and my brother and I were with my dad and we were up in San Francisco with our relatives on that side, and we'd all gone to see Mrs. Doubtfire. And so, like, that's the divorce movie. I connect. But I wonder if that. I mean, how old were you? I was 14.

[Adam Scott]

Okay.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, I was 14. My brother was 10.

[Adam Scott]

So that must have been hard at that age.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It was. Yeah, it was. It was. You know, you just. I think there's that period between that. That high school. I don't. I don't know what. You know, what was high school like for you, but it was pretty awkward for me.

[Adam Scott]

Sure.

[Monica Lewinsky]

So I was a drama geek.

[Adam Scott]

Me, too.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

I mean. Yeah. But I was trying to balance it out because there was such a social stigma. My high school with being in the drama department was there at yours.

[Monica Lewinsky]

No, because I went to Beverly High, so it was sort of like.

[Adam Scott]

There were, like, movie stars.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Exactly. Yeah. So there was still sort Of a. I know if it was self branded identity like I wanted to be that quirky kid, you know, and, and I loved even being in tech where it was like. I, I think I've always loved being a part of a big group.

[Adam Scott]

Yes.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

That's a big part of doing that. Putting on plays in high school that's I think so fun. And what I really miss is being part of that. And I guess I still get when we're making the severancer, when we're doing parks or anything I've been a part of where it really feels like a solid crew, like a team. That's what I love about it. And it was the same thing in high school. And I guess the thing I miss about it is that it was the first time kind of discovering that and that's. I mean there's a reason that. And I know I'm not the only one that my anxiety dreams all take place still on my high school stage. Wow. Like not knowing my lines. I'm not on the set of a show or anything. I am on my. On the stage at the Harbor High School in Santa Cruz. I think because that was where I had those first nerves of walking out and having a whole two hour play in front of us or three and a half hours as high school plays sometimes end up being.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Do you remember what they were?

[Adam Scott]

Oh sure. We did All My Sons, which is Arthur Miller. We did like Crimes of the Heart, which is a terrific play that I directed and played a role in and Guys and Dolls.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It's kind of the standard now. That is my family's musical guys.

[Adam Scott]

And is it really?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, it is. I think you. I'm not even sure you could. My cousin or my brother was allowed to marry somebody who didn't really like Guys and Dolls. Exactly. I mean I might be exaggerating but kind of true.

[Adam Scott]

It's a great musical. It really is.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. Who did you.

[Adam Scott]

Who did you. I played Big Julie.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay.

[Adam Scott]

Because I, I couldn't sing and so I needed. When the musical came around.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right.

[Adam Scott]

I needed to play. I would play the like the villain or whatever the non.

[Monica Lewinsky]

That was. Right?

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. He was the like mob boss.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right, right, right. Yeah. Sit down, sit down. Not that wasn't his song. But I'm trying to remember because I. I wasn't in Guys and Dolls but in. I switched schools my last year and a half.

[Adam Scott]

From Beverly.

[Monica Lewinsky]

From Beverly, yeah. And then we had a. I don't know, I think it was a talent show or like a spring medley or whatever. And I performed Adelaide's Lament for that. So I used to sing. And so that was. Don't know if I was any good, but there we are.

[Adam Scott]

I bet you were just fine, you know, probably better than me. I can't even. I can't carry a tune and I really, really wish I could.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I feel like with that baritone voice, I've tried.

[Adam Scott]

I can't do it. And I, you know, I. I envy those who can. Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I think that that's so interesting about your dreams and the high school. You know, I still have. I still have dreams that take place at Beverly at times.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I mean, and it's like I want to get into talking about severance at some point, but that split there feels very much to me like the dream world, you know, in that way.

[Adam Scott]

Severance.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. And I think that dreams I found, like dream sequences in movies and TV shows are always tricky and you really don't. It's really hard to nail down what a dream feels like. And I feel like very often it's missed, but a couple times, like, I think Inception really works as far as.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Like, oh my gosh, that's one of my favorite movies. Yeah, I've seen. It was. It's so funny. I had. It was such a great experience seeing that movie because I remember I saw it opening weekend and Burbank and it was sold out. And I just thought, okay, this is like an awesome representation of la. The Inception is sold out. Not just, you know.

[Adam Scott]

Yes, it's an event.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yes.

[Adam Scott]

And it's. I know. Don't you miss that, like being in a sold out theater?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, I still go to the movie. I mean, I'm a little weird. Like, this is such a big bougie, obnoxious thing to say. But sometimes what I like to do is buy the ex, like two seats on the other side of the group. So just, I don't know, it just allows me to relax a little more. But I love going to the movies.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I really. It's just one of the few. I think there's something about the huge screen and the. Just everything envelops me and so there's so few things that I feel in today's world can totally capture my attention.

[Adam Scott]

You know, and, you know, ignore your. Or turn off your phone and. And everyone else is there doing the exact same thing.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right.

[Adam Scott]

Well, I think there's something. Some. Yes, I. I think there's something comforting about that, that you're all involved in the exact same thing at the exact same time. Even if it's just a few hundred people.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting. Now, do you. How old are your kids?

[Adam Scott]

19 and 17.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay. So they would have, like, did Covid mess up their whole movie loving, like, movie theater loving experience or had streaming and all that changed it?

[Adam Scott]

I feel like that was already happening. But sure, I think it knocked everyone off their sort of habits, moviegoing wise. But I think that. I think that Covid really affected their. I mean, they were both in adolescence, so it was an important time for both of them, particularly for my son. He was a freshman in high school, so that's just. Or no, sorry, this was five years ago. He was in the eighth grade. So that's just the time when you're starting to sort of go out and meet your friends out in the world and.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

And then you're shut in for a year. And my daughter as well. So I think that kind of screwed with that. But they both. It's. It's amazing just how resilient kids are. And they both figured it out and with their friends all kind of figured it out and made their way around it.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Good for them.

[Adam Scott]

I know. And. And I just think it was. It was. It was something that we didn't realize was. And I think a lot of people didn't realize was a kind of a speed bump until a little further down the road. But they both kind of absorbed it and figured it out really, really well. As far as moviegoing goes, they both do still go to the movies, but it's not like when we were, yeah. Teenagers or, you know, 19. 17. 19 years old. When we used to go like every weekend to like two movies or at least I did.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Did.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I mean, that. That was kind of all there was to do.

[Adam Scott]

Like, if you watch Friends.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Every time they go out, they talk about going. They're going to the movies, like every episode.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I never thought about that.

[Adam Scott]

And also drinking a lot of orange juice and needing to get juice from each other.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yes.

[Adam Scott]

Did you notice that?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yes. And then also. But also that the juice was all made from the concentrate, right?

[Adam Scott]

Yes, that's right. The Frozen.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Like, that was the whole thing. You know, I just remember going to video tech and renting videos. Vcr. What do they call vhs. So that was a whole thing that.

[Adam Scott]

Was like, Friday night you're going to.

[Monica Lewinsky]

The video store, and if you didn't get there in time. Right. Then all the good movies would be gone.

[Adam Scott]

All the new releases.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. My brother, like, somehow, I don't know, rented E.T. for 13 weeks.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, amazing.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. It was sort of a. He. I think he got in trouble.

[Adam Scott]

He's worth all those late fees. Late fees. I know that was a thing.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. I don't even know that they have something like that anymore. But it was a good. I think it was a good upbringing in that way of just. It was sort of the heyday of movies in a way, right before prestige TV in that sense. And so you're just really exposed to a lot of culture.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, I think.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right. And creativity and there's a lot of.

[Adam Scott]

Value placed on movies. I mean, it was a huge part of our culture were movies. And it's just sort of a sliver now, which is.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Something that I feel like we're all sort of. It took us, our generation a while to. To adjust to is that movies, at least for me, I guess I'm speaking only for myself, it's still taking me time to adjust to the fact that movies don't account for as much in culture as they used to. I still place all this importance on. On movies and what they say and what they do, and it's just one of millions of other pieces of our culture.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, yeah. You have this passion, right, for acting and kind of, if I'm not mistaken, like, you were sort of. This is what I'm going to do kind of a thing.

[Adam Scott]

Right.

[Monica Lewinsky]

No fallback career. Right, right. But there's, you know, there's a magic in having a. Having a dedication to your passion that way. Right. But you're kind of one of the actors. I think that rather than being in a childhood commercial, you know, it. It took a while. Right. So there was a period of time where I think I. I read somewhere about, you know, buying gas with quarters and.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You know, So I mean, how did you, like. What was that period like for you? How did you, like, keep coming back to the confidence in yourself, you know?

[Adam Scott]

That's a good question. I remember in, like the sixth grade, we were at sixth grade camp, and at the end of the five days, each cabin had to go up in front of the entire class and talk about their cabin and, like, summarize what they learned. That. And so each cabin had to choose a person to do it. And when it. And when it was time to choose, I. I said, oh, I'll do it because I'm going to be an actor when I grow up anyway, so. And everyone was like, what? I was like, yeah, yeah, I got it. Let me take care of it. And then when it was time to do it, I got up there to Talk. And it was really simple. It was like we talked about ferns and salamanders or whatever we were. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't talk because I started getting choked up. And I don't know why. I just had all those people staring at me. And after I had told everyone, no problem, I'm gonna be.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I'm the man.

[Adam Scott]

Right. It was really frightening, suddenly, and weird. And that was the only time that ever happened to me. And I still don't know why that happened, but it was this bravado I had and this. Just this knowledge that that's what I was gonna do. And I think it started in. Around the second grade when I saw Raiders of the Lost Ark and kind of thought, that looked fun. I want to do that. But also, I just knew that I would watch. I could. From as far back as I could remember, I could watch a movie or a show and know what was wrong with it and how to make it better.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Wow.

[Adam Scott]

That's just what I thought.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right.

[Adam Scott]

I don't know if I was right.

[Monica Lewinsky]

But that's really interesting, you know, I mean. I mean, at least to me, because in comparison, I think I just consume the story. Right, right. And so to actually be thinking critically about it is really interesting.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. And I could watch. I think we all did this in the VHS era. We were talking about where you would watch a movie and then just rewind it and start it again and just watch it again. Yeah. And I would do that and figure out what to do different, why it wasn't great, why it was only good or why it was terrible and what could have made it or why it was great. And there's. And, I don't know. I wouldn't know how to make it better. Like, all that stuff I was doing when I was, you know, like, 11 years old or whatever. So I always kind of felt like I had this innate instinct for how to do this, but no idea how to apply it. And I. And I. I think that once I kind of graduated high school, went to acting school, and then I was here and kind of faced with the reality of show business and how hard it is and how long it was taking to really get a foothold, that's when it was sort of tested and. And I had to sort of question this thing that I had this, like, weird confidence I had had as far back as I could remember that this was something that I was going to do and suddenly was like, maybe I've been wrong since I was, you know, 11 or whatever.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right. So, so what, like, what did that inner conflict look like for you?

[Adam Scott]

You know, it took me about 15 years till I had a palpable career. Like something that I could. When I could finally say, like, oh, this is actually happening, and it's kind of amassed into something I can actually call a career. Up until that point, I thought I was doing fine, but then when it actually started to coalesce, I realized I was like, walking on dental floss over the Grand Canyon. I just didn't realize it. But along that journey up in those 15 years, there were times where I wondered if I needed to reassess and come up with something else. I just didn't have anything else that I knew how to do. So if I did, I probably would have done it because there were some. There were some valleys where I was like, no one is going to hire me to do any of this, so I don't know what I'm doing. You know, how.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Going to acting school. Right. So you make friends there. I know you're. You're friends with an old neighbor of mine, Paul Rudd.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, yeah, Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I don't know him well, but we.

[Adam Scott]

In LA or New York.

[Monica Lewinsky]

In New York. So I had dinner with him and Julie.

[Adam Scott]

He and Julie?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, Julie had dinner with him and him. I'm bad at grammar and Julie. Yeah, but Julie's great. They're both great. So. And how do you navigate that? You know, I mean, I think about my own. I went through my own phase of, I think after the scandal and realizing how difficult it was going to be to try to move forward in any way in those periods where I was just watching my friends do, you know, like, second marriages and third children and, you know, accolades in their career and stuff, and just kind of feeling basically like a loser. But how did, like, was your friend group all actors and was. Was there a mix of success there?

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, there was. I mean, Paul really in. It was clueless, like 1995 or something. Like, pretty quickly we were just like actors, like, getting jobs here and there. Paul was always doing great, and it was clear that he was going to be huge star. I think anyone who met the guy knew that, like, this was destined to happen. And he's such a great actor and such a charming guy and all of that. So it was clear. But then Clueless happened, 1995, and suddenly, like, my friend was famous and we could, like, get into. Not that we went out to clubs or anything, but like, if a bar.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Had a line like, that was the whole thing about, like, will you Be let into the club or not. Right. So.

[Adam Scott]

But I think I remember one night, the summer Clueless came out, we wanted to go to, I think it was the Lava Lounge, which is just a bar, but there was a line outside for whatever reason. And we walked up and we're like, oh, shit, there's like a line. And the guy was like, Paul, come on. You got. And they let us in and we were like, dude, yeah, this is amazing.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right.

[Adam Scott]

I think I was really lucky with my group of friends that we were all really supportive of each other and. And like, Paul was always so incredibly generous and supportive and certainly helped me out a few times. Like, you know, I got this little part and knocked up because of Paul and Shawna Robertson, who's one of the producers. And then that led to stepbrothers. And Party down was something Paul created with our other friends Rob and Dan and John, who were friends of all of ours. So it was certainly a supportive group of friends. And John Hamm is another friend of ours. And so we were all supportive of each other. But I think we all had those moments through the years where you're just sort of sitting there and the phone is not ringing for months and months at a time. And my wife too, we've been together a long time and she's someone who always. Naomi. Yeah. Who is always incredibly supportive and is to this day too, because even though you have a sheen of success, you still have the same. It's all relative. So you still have the same insecurities and, and doubts and all of that.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like the. The adult version of us. These things happen, but it's still the same inner child.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You know.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

So for sure. Now, did Naomi sort of see in you what 10 year old Adam saw in you of like. Yeah. You have that thing to be an actor or was it. She would have been supportive if you wanted to be a painter or a football player or something. Like, it was more about just you and the connection.

[Adam Scott]

And it's such a good question. I actually don't know. I mean, we met.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Let's call her.

[Adam Scott]

Phone a friend.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Can we phone a friend?

[Adam Scott]

I mean, we met because she came to see me in a play and we met at the club closing night party afterwards in like 98. That's when we met and so. But I wasn't particularly good in this play, but we hit it off afterwards and I think she always probably thought I was fine at my job, but always, you know, was incredibly supportive. Yeah. I feel like she would have been supportive no matter what I was doing. You're probably right. I don't think I was doing any work in 1998 that was blowing the doors off of anything, let me put it that way.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. But, you know, I. I mean, I think about. I think about some of the. Because having gone to Beverly, there were a handful of actors who made it big, I'm sure. And I was never surprised. Right. Like, you just kind of go, oh, yeah, that. You know, and in fact, like, Gabe Mock, like, who was in suits. Right.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I remember he. I don't remember what it was he had done, but it was sort of the first thing that. At least for me as an adult, it was, well, post 98 that he had kind of gotten on the map. And I had said to my publicist, I was like, he will go somewhere.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, interesting.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You know, I'm like, you know. And there were a handful of others.

[Adam Scott]

Like, you could just tell.

[Carrie]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

There was just a. I think there was just. There was just a. Something about what's. Like when you go. I think when you go to the theater, Right. There's. There's just an energy that you have to be able to have to hold a theater of 200 or a thousand people or whatever. Right. There's a presence or just a kind of aura, whatever it is. Right, sure.

[Adam Scott]

And so I think that, like, charisma, that thing. Yeah, the thing, the, like, third rail that you can't quite define.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. But there's. There's something that it's. And it's interesting because I don't know that you have to have it. That you have to be able to have it on all the mediums. I saw someone who's a big movie star on the stage this past year, and I was surprised by how not able to hold the audience he was, and how I was like, oh, wow, this guy disappears on the stage. And so now maybe my seats were bad, and it was just, like, too far back. But I wasn't. I wasn't really pulled in. In that way.

[Adam Scott]

That's interesting that you went to New Beverly and you saw these people that. I'm sure there's. Gabriel Mockt. I'm sure there's a bunch of people.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Oh, yeah. Getting more into kind of the. Your career and the different roles that. That you've played. People sort of. It's interesting to me, so that people see you, you know, very much as kind of this relatable. Every guy.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right, right, right. Do you see that? Do you Understand why people feel that way. Is that curious making to you or.

[Adam Scott]

I think that it. A lot of it stems from the Ben. The Ben Wyatt.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. Right.

[Adam Scott]

And I owe my career to that role and to Mike Sher and Amy Poehler and Greg Daniels and the people who made that show. So I am thankful for that. And any sort of every man sort of thing is funny because I feel like such a weirdo all the time. I always. I. So I never kind of thought of myself that way. But it's a real privilege and it's a really lucky place to start from because if that's where you are, you can. There are a lot of roles that you can. That. That's a good kind of starting point and then either subvert it or bring it to start it out that way and go to another place. So it has a lot of possibility to it it being sort of a neutral starting point. So I'm really grateful for it, but I don't feel that way at all.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Like, in your mind, is there someone who. An actor who is that like the everyman?

[Adam Scott]

Well, for me, what that means is, like, when I watch Castaway or Big, and I love Tom Hanks and he can play all, you know, many different kinds of roles and characters, those two movies in particular, and there are more. I can watch it and I'm immediately with him going through those experiences. He leaves room on the seat for the audience to take the ride with him. And I think it's a really hard.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Way to put it. Sorry to interrupt.

[Adam Scott]

That's a really.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I've never heard that before. And that's really interesting.

[Adam Scott]

I think that is the. The deceptively simple way in for a leading man like that is that in order to leave the room for the audience to go along with you on one right or the other, you have to so completely share yourself that the audience isn't thinking that I can't trust that person. They're putting on one veneer or another.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay.

[Adam Scott]

Tom Hanks is so relaxed and so sort of at ease with what he's doing that you feel like you're a passenger with him on the ride. And that's a really hard thing to do. That takes years to figure out how to do. I don't think it's achieved all that often. And he's sort of master at it when he chooses to do that kind of role.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, that's. So now, is that kind of a thing something you learned in acting school or is that the kind of thing you recognize, like when you were Talking about as a kid and growing up and seeing things.

[Adam Scott]

I think that in particular is something that I sort of, sort of figured out, like right now as I was talking to you, but also as I was sort of trying to figure out the. Sometimes if you are the lead of a show, whether it be Party down or. That was my first experience with it. And I think Jason Bateman was also instructive for this with Arrested Development, is that you really have to be able to take your character on the. For lack of a better word, the journey through the story or the show or whatever. But you also have to stay somewhat neutral in order to let all the other characters in the. In the show or the movie or whatever throw their bits at you. You have to react to them in a way that isn't taking anything from them, but providing the audience sort of a base, sort of launching pad for the story and for the other characters. So does that make any sense at all?

[Monica Lewinsky]

100%. I mean, it's like. I don't know why, but what comes up for me is like mathematics. It's almost like a formula that there's sort of a. Or the geometry of, you know, how present you are, but also leaving room for other people and then for the interaction.

[Adam Scott]

That's right. And the second you over crank it at all, not only does it take some of the story or the shine away from the other characters, but it makes the foundation that the audience needs to experience the story unsteady. And so they're not sure where to go and. And what reality it is that they're. That they're playing with. So you need to have a kind of. Create a level playing field, tone wise, in order for all the characters to live. And you also have to have some ground to cover for yourself. Is it making sense? It's really interesting.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It's interesting to me. So.

[Adam Scott]

And I think Tom Hanks is someone who has done that with aplomb and is sort of a master of doing that and so. And really generous to the other actors and the things he's in where he can bring the audience along and also toss to the other characters and let them shine. And he's. He's, you know.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Unknown Female Advertiser]

Okay, Carrie, you ready? Quick, quick, quick. List three gifts you'd never give. A cowboy.

[Carrie]

Lacy bobby socks. A diamond bracelet.

[Adam Scott]

Excellent.

[Carrie]

A gift certificate to Sephora.

[Unknown Female Advertiser]

Oh, my God, that's outrageous.

[Adam Scott]

Carrie.

[Unknown Female Advertiser]

Oh, wait, we're recording a commercial right now. We gotta tell them why we're doing this.

[Carrie]

Oh, yeah, sorry, POD listeners. Okay, so we're five besties who've been friends for five million years. And we love games, so of course we made our own.

[Unknown Female Advertiser]

It's called Quick, quick, Quick. You just pick a card and have your partner give three answers to an outrageous question. It's fast, fun, fantastic, and a bunch of other funny adjectives.

[Carrie]

Anyone can play. Your mom, your dad, your kitten, your kids, your Auntie Edna, and even your butcher.

[Unknown Female Advertiser]

And you know what's incredible? There are no wrong answers. Just open your brain and say, what's in it. Just quickly.

[Carrie]

And you're not going to believe this. Well, you might once you start playing. It's as much fun to watch as it is to play. Seriously.

[Unknown Female Advertiser]

So get up and go. Grab your copy now at Target and Amazon. Quick, quick, quick.

[Carrie]

It's the fastest way to have fun.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Reclaiming is brought to you by Audible. If you're a regular to Reclaiming, you've probably heard me going on about Audible. Well, let me explain why. It's totally transformed my downtime in the best way possible. Because you know those moments in your day where you can't just rest, like when you're stuck in traffic or folding laundry? Listening to Audible has made them so much more enjoyable. No joke. Since I started listening on Audible, these little chunks of my day have actually become something I look forward to. For example, the other day I was just doing my usual Sunday tidying and organizing, which usually drives me crazy, but I barely noticed the time passing because I was so hooked on this incredible audiobook. And as a member, you get access to thousands of included titles, books, podcasts, all that good stuff. So sign up for a free 30 day trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.com reclaiming that's audible.com reclaiming. With Parks and Recs. So you and Amy had such great chemistry.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, thanks.

[Monica Lewinsky]

And is that chemistry? That is sort of. This might be a dumb question, so just be prepared. Is that chemistry that is developed off screen as Adam and Amy or is it a chemistry that's developed with Ben and Leslie?

[Adam Scott]

Right, right, right. We just started doing it. We didn't know each other before I started the show. And I started the show like at the end of season two. They were going and they were doing incredibly well. So I sort of hopped on a moving train and we weren't exactly. I mean, I was on, I guess as a technically a guest star for the first two episodes just to make sure it was gonna work. And then it did immediately work. And I think it immediately worked because Amy is so available, which is why she's the perfect star of a TV show because she does provide that. She's able to score and be deadly hilarious while also providing this huge. This huge stage for everyone else to do their best on as well. But she was immediately completely open and generous with me, and we were able to find something, I think, really special right away, and it was really fun. But, yeah, we didn't know each other or rehearse anything or anything. Oh, my gosh. Started shooting.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Wow. Oh, that's really cool. You know, Ben Wyatt and Mark Scout, so different. I keep. Also in my head, I'm like, I know. I'm going to call it Mark Scott because Adam Scott. Right.

[Adam Scott]

It is close.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It is close. So you hit me on the head. If I.

[Adam Scott]

If I do that, I will not hit you up.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay. I know. It's 2025.

[Adam Scott]

Right?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay. I have a whack a doodle question to lead into the severance part of the discussion. So this is semi personal, which is, are you in therapy? And if you are like, does your therapist try to find out what's going on with severance? And do you or do you ever feel like you have to, like, oh, I want to say this thing about work, but I can't talk about it. Well, I mean, I know they're bound.

[Adam Scott]

But if I was in therapy right now, which I'm not, which I probably should be, but if I was, they would be sworn to secrecy no matter what I said. So I could say whatever I want.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yes.

[Adam Scott]

And they could be the one person who knows everything.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Exactly.

[Adam Scott]

And they wouldn't be allowed to say anything.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. I. Maybe there's, like, an episode of Shrinking where they can have the person who's.

[Adam Scott]

That's a great idea. Someone from a TV show.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Now I want to get a therapist just so I have someone to. To say all this stuff to.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Because I can't. I can't even say it to my family, but.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Oh, really?

[Adam Scott]

Well, I guess I could, but they.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Don'T want to know. Oh, they don't want to know.

[Adam Scott]

Really? Okay.

[Carrie]

That's.

[Adam Scott]

They don't want it to be spoiled for them.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right?

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay. How do you feel? How do you feel? They split this idea of the character and dad.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, that's interesting.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I hadn't even thought of that until you just said that.

[Adam Scott]

That's interesting. I think. I don't know if they see it as something that literal. I mean, I think that they're just like, oh, Dad's. I mean, they've never been interested in watching Me in anything. My kids, at least in anything. Until severance.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

So they really enjoy it. They think it's awesome. And I think it's because their friends think it's awesome, too. And so it's like, a fun thing. But that is interesting. I feel like it would be weird to watch my. One of my parents doing something so crazy and sometimes so intimate and so, you know, either like, crying or. Or being beaten up or all that stuff must be a crazy experience. But I think that since they're teenagers, they might just think it's cool or embarrassing or whatever, but I don't know. That's a really good question, though. I should ask.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. I'm curious to know. It is because severance is such a cultural phenomenon.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You know, I mean, do you. Do you have a sense of your own reasons why you think it's resonating? And it has resonated, like, for years now. I mean, for a show to have that big of a gap between season one and season two and people to be so rabid for season two, that what it is, you know, that people cotton onto it in that emotionally connected way.

[Adam Scott]

I mean, we were. Because it took so long between seasons, we were really concerned that even the people that watched season one, that they would even come back or still be interested because it was three full years, which is why Ben and I did the podcast. We just wanted to, like, remind people.

[Monica Lewinsky]

That the show was on, and that was smart.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, it was my wife's idea. And, yeah, she did a great job producing the podcast as well. So we just wanted to get those people back. We didn't even consider that the show could or would grow.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

As much as it did. And it did. It. It was way bigger in season two than season one, which we. It didn't even. Or at least me. It didn't even occur to me that that was going to happen. I thought if we got everyone back, that would be a huge win. So the fact that it became a bigger thing is. Is just. I'm still figuring it out. I mean, I think that. I think that it's. It's. At the end of the day, it's just really fun to, you know, watch and try and figure out a puzzle of sorts. And I think there's. There is a puzzle in. Inside of the show. And I love. I mean, that was my first thing when I first heard the idea of the show is that it's the. Something that I would want to watch. It's like a great Twilight Zone idea that was never Made or put together. So I think just at its core, it's. It's just a really fun, really great idea.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, it's interesting that you're saying that. Makes me think that I. I just love to see when people and networks or streamers or whatever the. They're called now, but like, are. Are brave. Because it could have been an episode of Black Mirror. Right. Like you're saying, you know, of. Of the Twilight Zone. And so that the trust. The trust in the bigness of an idea. And if I remember correctly, when Dan Erickson was writing it, he had you in mind. Is that accurate? And then when Ben Stiller read the pilot, he also thought of you. Now, did you know that when you were first given the script?

[Adam Scott]

No. No, I didn't. And when I first read it, I just thought, there's no way I'm getting this role. There's no way. It's too good. And I wasn't like, really at a place where in my career where I could read something that good and just assume I'm gonna get to do this. I just assumed I wouldn't because it was great. So I guess I'm glad I didn't know that because maybe it would have put pressure on me or something. But it's. It's great to hear now that they were thinking. Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

So I know that you had, like, going into severance. I think it was around the time of the table read that. That your mom passed away.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Is that. Was it that. The timing. Is that timing kind of close?

[Adam Scott]

Right around then? Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. And so what was that like for you to kind of. Had you had big losses before or was this your first experience with a big grief?

[Adam Scott]

I had friends who. Who had died and grandmother and stuff. But as far as I think when a parent. When you lose a parent, at least for me, it was so. It's so big that. Are both your parents with us? Oh, great. Great. For me, it was like the sky changes. Like, it's so big that there was a certain amount of it that I couldn't. I remember being. I had to go to New York to do the table read the day after she passed away, I believe, or two days after. And it was the kind of thing where Covid wasn't a thing yet, but it was just bubbling up to the point where we couldn't all go after she passed. We still need. We. We're just starting to sort of say, you know what, maybe we shouldn't get together for this or that reason. So I went to do the table read. And I remember being in the hotel room and talking to a friend about it and just being like, I was in shock because I was on this trip by myself and she had just. And I remember saying, like, this is so huge. Like, of course one of your parents passes away. It's going to be big. But it was a world shifting thing. It wasn't unexpected. She was sick. She had als.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Oh, I'm sorry. That's a really hard.

[Adam Scott]

It's brutal.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It's really hard.

[Adam Scott]

I'm sorry. Yeah. Thank you. But it's a really wicked awful thing, particularly to watch someone go through. And she. She met it with courage and grace. It was really hard for her and. And. And everyone around her. It's. It's horrible. But. So I guess what I'm trying to articulate is I was sort of in shock and like, just carrying on and went to this table read and didn't even tell anyone there what I had gone through. I think I was just not absorbing it. And we did the table read and then I went home. And then we delayed for six months because right then everything fell apart with COVID and stuff. So I had the six months of kind of lockdown to really. I was just in with my. In the house with my kids and Naomi. So that's where they kind of took care of me through that and sort of absorbed it then.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. Did you feel like it was as you were also probably metabolizing this new character that you were now going to embody, who himself was dealing with grief? Like, did that. Did that feel. Maybe this is like a fucked up thing to say. Did that feel interesting to you as an actor?

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. I mean, sorry.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. No, no, no, no, no.

[Adam Scott]

Yes. And knowing that the show is coming up and not knowing when we would start shooting, but knowing that primarily it was about grief and how to deal with grief. I knew that this happening was going to mix in with that inevitably. But it wasn't until I got to New York to shoot the show and walked in to this apartment and closed the door and I was by myself. And knowing I would be by myself for six months at that point is how long the show is going to take. That's when I was like, oh, okay, I have not grieved. I've been cushioned for six months with my family taking care of me, which is what love is for. That's what they do for you. But the second that door shut, I realized I had a whole lot of processing in front of me. But there were no, you Couldn't make contact with people. I couldn't see my friends in New York. I was sealed off from the driver who drove me to work every morning. And then at work, we had shields and masks on. So the only time I. There were other people with, like, real faces in front of me was between action and cut. Other than that, it was all, you know, it was that time.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I mean, like, what an interesting metaphor. I mean, I don't know if metaphor is the right word, but so interesting to think about the whole. Any outy and the right. And that sort of like the physical representation of totally.

[Adam Scott]

You know, we were all dealing with as actors. We were all like, this is so fucking weird.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

We wouldn't even rehearse without all that stuff on.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

So a lot of my processing and my grieving was either me alone in my apartment or me on camera. And so I needed to put it somewhere. And so the show was sort of there for me, and it was a place to put it. And I did a lot of processing through the show and through the character and through the circumstances of the show. Yeah, that's sort of how it ended.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Like that people. It's really interesting to kind of think about. Of just, you know, the. I'm now, like, now I'm curious around. I wonder what other movies or TV shows people have had to process real life stuff through their character. It's just. It's kind of fascinating.

[Adam Scott]

Well, I remember seeing really early on an interview with Martin Sheen on Bob Costas when I was in high school or something, and him talking about. And I don't remember what the movie was, but him talking about weeping on camera and it being a direct. Him just weeping about a. Or grieving through something that was happening in his life, doing it on camera to serve the circumstance of whatever he was working on. And that blowing my mind. This is before I studied Stanislavski or Bolaslavski or any of these kind of acting teachers and stuff who came up with this stuff a long time ago. And I remember seeing Martin Sheen say that and that blowing my mind. And so I think that you would be. It's probably all over movies and shows you watch that actors are sort of bringing in.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I'm like, I would. That's a documentary I would watch.

[Adam Scott]

Sure.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. That's interesting.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, it is. We've all felt stuck at different points in our lives. Have you ever had that feeling, though, when you're stuck in a career rut, thinking, there's got to be more than this? Well, this is Your sign. I want to tell you about Walden University because they've been helping working professionals like you get unstuck with for over 50 years. Here's what's so great about Walden. They get it. They understand. You're juggling work, family and life. That's why they've created something called Tempo Learning for select programs. No rigid schedules. No you must log in at exactly 7pm on Thursdays kind of thing. You set the pace that works for your life. 94% of their faculty hold doctoral degrees and bring actual real world experience to the classroom. Not just theory, but practical skills you can use right away in your career. In fact, a good friend of mine from college got her master's degree through Walden and is now an incredible shrink in Portland, Oregon. Take the first step. Visit waldenu. Edu Walden University SET a course for Change Certified to operate by Chev. I wonder, you know, I mean, you're sort of saying, and I imagine that this has been said before, but with sort of the grief of the characters in the show being sort of the bedrock, almost grief almost being a bedrock of the show. If that's. It's so smart, it's so complicated, it's so surprising. But I wonder if part of what everyone is connecting to is that is the grief, you know, is that because it feels. Feels like there's just. The world feels so heavy. It was heavy, you know, in 2020 and during COVID and it still feels heavy.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You know, in ways it's just, it's interesting. I mean, have you had like a lot of people come to you with wacko, like fan theories? Like any that. Any that sort of blew your mind that you remember?

[Adam Scott]

There's so many creative ones. I remember one was that that Rick and my brother in law on the show is a goat. That was one theory that.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay.

[Adam Scott]

I think it's a good one.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay. And like the goat symbolizing something.

[Adam Scott]

I don't know, they said he's actually a goat. And that will come to be revealed as the seasons go on, which I think is a terrific idea. No, I think that the fans are unbelievably creative and not just in theories, but also in artwork and videos. They're just always making stuff that's continually kind of blowing all of our minds. Not just the skill in which they're doing it, but the fact that it's inspiring them to do it in the first place is really flattering.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Having now just executive produced my first.

[Adam Scott]

Big show, it's so good. But the Amanda Knox show, I finished it just. Last week. It is so good.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Oh, thanks.

[Adam Scott]

It really is. Thanks.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I mean, I say that like I'm the showrunner, but I'm not.

[Adam Scott]

I'm just an ep. Produce the show.

[Monica Lewinsky]

But it's. Yeah. Oh, thanks.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. She is excellent.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Grace. Right, I know. Grace Van Patten.

[Adam Scott]

Grace Van Patten. She's so good.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah, she is. She's. And she's a wonderful human being. So professional. I mean, she's young and she. She's in almost every scene and she.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, man, that's a heavy load.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It is. And she held. She, like, with her professionalism and with her. I say good nature. It sounds hokey, but I don't know, whoever she actually is, like, she set the tone, you know, on set and that and that. And it was not always an easy. This is a. This is a dark. Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

And she. Dark history brutalized through that whole thing. And we really had to. I mean, I didn't know this. I think, you know, like a lot of people, I didn't know the story and the detail that was presented there, and it's really extraordinary.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Oh, I'm so. I'm so glad you connected to it. Yeah. So, you know, I know that we had a sense from the. From now, I'm not gonna remember what it's called, but it's like the episode breakdown thing, you know, of where the. Where the show is gonna go.

[Adam Scott]

Yes.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Do you. Do you get that? Do you get that early on and so. Or are you curious about where or how Mark is gonna evolve? Like, do you know, going into the.

[Adam Scott]

First episode, like, where's the show?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right. Exactly. Or do you learn sort of as the scripts come in or.

[Adam Scott]

Well, I'm an executive producer on it as well, so. Oh, right. So you've got a. I know where it's going and everything, but, you know, it's a big, complicated show. So kind of mapping out exactly how to get to the place where we're ultimately going is a constant discussion for Dan and Ben in particular, and their both brilliant and lovely people. So it's a pleasure to be a part of it.

[Monica Lewinsky]

And do you get to give input on what happens to Mark?

[Adam Scott]

Sure. Yeah. Okay. But it's not my. It's definitely Dan and Ben's show, but if I have a feeling or I have input to give, I'll certainly give it.

[Monica Lewinsky]

And how did you personally feel about the. I mean, both finales. Right. Have been sort of these explosive moments. How did you feel about Mark's choice?

[Adam Scott]

I mean, I understood the choice completely. What Was your reaction to it?

[Monica Lewinsky]

I think, like, I. I don't know of. I was torn.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I was torn because I'm Libra rising, so I could see both sides. I could see both sides. So I think it's like. I don't. I think it was. I didn't have one of those, like, this is right or this is wrong. Just like this. And I find the whole thing fascinating in terms of. I know there's the sort of similarity conceptually to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless. My, like. And I do all this, like. I believe in dimensions and different dimensions and all my dream stuff. So I'm very, like. It's super interesting to me. I can see all the good and the bad.

[Adam Scott]

Yes.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You know, the good and the bad.

[Adam Scott]

So that's great.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay.

[Adam Scott]

I mean, the fact that people were torn and standing up and screaming at their TVs was fantastic.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Because, I mean, that was the ending of the season for a long time was this choice that Mark was gonna have to make. And at some point, for a while, the ending was going to be before the choice was made. We're just going to end the season. But then that felt too, like, gratuitously cliffhangery.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. And so we only get one of those.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. It's not nice. So then, you know, going with. With. With Helly was. Was the way we went. And, you know, I don't think we knew it was going to be as controversial or as. Because, you know what? At the time that we shot it, we had not shot episode seven yet, which is the. The episode where Gemma. You kind of get Gemma's Deechen Lockman's backstory, and we knew that episode was there, but Deechen just killed it and just did such an incredible job that it made the choice at the end all the more grueling, which was fantastic. So, yeah, I feel like Ini Mark is, for all intents and purposes, like, three years old. And the season was sort of about him going through adolescence and starting to get his own sort of autonomy and a little bit of rebellion, and he's in love with this person. Person on the other side of the door. He does not know, so what choice would you make? You know? And he walks out that door, he may cease to exist.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It's also just kind of interesting to me from a cultural perspective, that I'm not going to be able to remember it and explain it, but reminds me of something from, like. From something of graduate school, this whole, like, social representations thing of how cultures, like, how we come to have a shared meaning and understanding of something. Yeah. And I was thinking about this morning that now when people hear Innie and Audi, they're thinking of the show, not their belly button.

[Adam Scott]

That's what I originally thought of immediately.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Right. But I mean, like, that's a really. It sounds silly as we're talking about it, but that's a huge cultural shift.

[Adam Scott]

It is weird.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Like, it's. That's really powerful.

[Adam Scott]

Huh.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You know, I mean that.

[Adam Scott]

You're right.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It's a really, like, you know, that it's sort of. I'm trying to remember now the examples of sort of.

[Adam Scott]

You think that it's replaced.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yes, I think that that's if. I think if you. If we were having a conversation. Okay, well, not you, because you're in the show. Right. So if I were having the conversation with Denisha. Right. That, that and I was something in the Audi. Like, I think that that's the first place people would go is to severance rather than thinking about a belly button.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. Yeah. You know, when the first season came out and it. And it was. And people were watching it and we started hearing these terms out in culture like Innie and Audi and whatever else, that was the strangest thing because we had been working on it for a couple of years at that point, not thinking anyone would really care about any of this.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

Hoping they would, but really. But then seeing it in, you know, articles and headlines of entertainment articles or whatever it was, that was the strangest thing. But the. Yeah. Belly buttons. That's so funny that, that, that it's kind of taken the place of poor belly buttons. They need. They need their attention too. Maybe we should come up with new words for belly buttons.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Exactly. You were mentioning before about Naomi having produced the podcast, which I didn't. I didn't realize. And you guys have this production company. Yeah. What is sort of like how. How has working together that way strengthened, like, strengthened your partnership? Because I think it's so. I love that you're still together. Like, it feels as if these. A lot of Hollywood couples. Well, I mean, Paul and Julie, they're also a strong example of this. But a lot of Hollywood couples, when they get together before there's that sort of plague. Light of fame, you know, that sometimes that can impact things in a negative way. And so I love that you guys have gone through that together.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. For sure. She's been such a huge part of anything that I've been able to do and anything I've been able to kind of figure out career wise. Yeah, I can't imagine doing any of it without her. And our company, we started like 12, 13 years ago. We just, we started, we did these specials on adult swimming where we reshot opening credit sequences for 80s TV shows shot for shot. They were so stupid and super fun. And we needed a company, we need to come up with a company name because we created it together and I directed with my friend Lance and she produced them and so we came up with a name and stuff and then we were like. And then it really was fun making these little specials and we were like, should we just do this? Should we keep. So we formed this company and started making indie movies. We made four movies so far and developing a bunch of TV stuff. And it's really fun. We have an office with employees and stuff.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Oh, I can't even. I have a production. I am the sole employee.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah, sure.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You're looking at Alt Ending Productions. What's your production company?

[Adam Scott]

It's called Great Scott.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay. Ah, okay.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, that's good. It was called for years it was called Gettin Rad, which took an X. If you need to provide an explanation for the name of your company.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It's hard, but you know, Gen Xers. Get that.

[Adam Scott]

That's right.

[Monica Lewinsky]

See, it's 100%. Yeah. My sister in law's a writer and we always tease her that her production company should be called Mike, Write it down. Because she's always saying to my brother, oh, that's good, Mike, write it down. You know. So do you, do you feel now having had the, you know, this, this career trajectory that has traversed, you know, like periods of being in the desert, you know, to comedy and drama and all those things. Do you feel like you can exhale now?

[Adam Scott]

As I exhale?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah.

[Adam Scott]

No, it doesn't feel to me kind of like it doesn't really feel all that different than when I was 20 and doing background work, it's still, I think that that is kind of etched in stone. Whatever the feeling was when you started out, you're sort of always there a bit. Do you feel like I should go back into therapy after saying that?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay.

[Adam Scott]

So I. No, it doesn't act. An acting career is the kind I remember hearing stories about. Hearing a story about Robert Redford, RIP the incredible Robert Redford, about him making Havana or some movie which was deep into his career as he was the biggest movie star on the planet and he was still worrying about what his next job was going to be or maybe Indecent Proposal, something along the way of one of his huge Movies. I don't think it ever really goes away. So an exhale. I think if I worry if I exhaled, then it would all come crashing down and I wouldn't get another job.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. You know, I get that. I mean, maybe therapy would be. But I get that in a very different way of just having. I think, having not been able to find a way forward for such a long time, having kind of, like, been in Siberia and not having a career and earning and all the things. And so there. There is that. There is that fear of, like. And I. I feel as if I'm maybe not totally sometimes in therapy. And also on the spiritual stuff, I do all the things. I think there is that exhaustion that comes from it and this sort of. Wow. Really wanting to be able to trust. To kind of. Trust.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You know, to sort of trust. And I think that's what the exhale is sort of that exchange of. It's a trust, you know, that you're okay, that you're okay, that. That you. That your career has enough momentum.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

You know, I try to remind myself of, like, okay, well, God forbid something happens, like, this person would help me and that person would, you know, but it's. It is. It's. You know, I don't. I don't know if those years felt traumatic for you, you know, of. Of not being able to. Of believing so much in yourself and having this passionate dream.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

And it. Not materializing yet, but it's because my. Like, my therapist, who's a trauma psychiatrist, will say that, right? Yeah, yeah. She'll say it takes a long time of things being different consistently for the psyche to feel safe.

[Adam Scott]

That's true. You know, that's really true. And so have you had your therapist on the podcast?

[Monica Lewinsky]

I. I haven't.

[Adam Scott]

I. That would be. Would that be.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Well, I think I would love it. I mean, it would be great. But I think she likes being a private person. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, maybe we'll, like, blue dot her out or something.

[Adam Scott]

How long have you been with her?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Let's see. 11 years.

[Adam Scott]

11 years?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. So I'd had a therapist. I had a forensic psychiatrist during 98. That was the only thing I was, like, sort of allowed to have. As we were kind of navigating, was I gonna get indicted and go to trial, go to jail, or would I get immunity and that whole thing? And then I had another therapist for, I'd say, like, six years. And then I went through a period where I didn't. I wasn't in traditional therapy. At all. And I was just sort of exploring different, different modalities. That's when I started doing this sort of resonance work that I call my energy work, which I've been doing since 2007. Yeah. So, yeah.

[Adam Scott]

And then when you found the therapist you're currently with, would you say that there's a big shift for you?

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yes, I think that there, there are a number of things that I can point to. I, I, I'm a big believer in. That's sort of like the tapestry kind of metaphor of like you're working when you're doing tapestry stuff, and it's just all these strings that are colors and things, and then you turn it over and, oh, there's a picture there of like things coming into shape. And so I have seen, when I look back, I see how the kinds of therapy experiences I've had build on themselves. Right. So it's not any necessarily one thing.

[Adam Scott]

I remember listening to you give an interview. Did you do Marc Maron back?

[Monica Lewinsky]

I didn't.

[Adam Scott]

You didn't? I'm trying to remember what.

[Monica Lewinsky]

I know it's, I've done very. Until I launched this podcast, I had done very little in podcast world, but it was something like Marc Maron.

[Adam Scott]

It was something.

[Monica Lewinsky]

And it was, I should have done Marc Maron.

[Adam Scott]

It was when the American.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Crime story.

[Adam Scott]

Impeachment, when that was coming out. And you, you did.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Was it a podcast?

[Adam Scott]

An interview? It was a long form interview somewhere.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay. It might have been Kara Swisher, probably. Yeah. But I remember we almost got high, maybe. Yeah. No, it was like.

[Adam Scott]

Was that 2018 or 19?

[Monica Lewinsky]

It was 2020. The show came out in 2021.

[Adam Scott]

That's what. Yeah, okay.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yep.

[Adam Scott]

But I remember listening to it and being so impressed and being. Oh, just like how you were kind of reclaiming your story and the kind of intellectual power you were doing it with was really as a listener and as someone who's been around and was around for everything that you went through. You're so right when you say that not only do you have to be ready for it, but the world has to be ready for it too. Like, culture had turned to a place of being ready to receive it as well. And it was just so impressive and it was so important that you came out the other side more than intact, but a completely strong and person ready to tell the story in a really incredible way. I thought it was really important, really important moment.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Thank you.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah. And I'm so glad that you're thriving in the way you are. It's really Great to see.

[Monica Lewinsky]

With the, you know, help of people like you saying yes to coming on it.

[Adam Scott]

Oh, please.

[Monica Lewinsky]

No, no, it's great. But I will. We always end the show with this one question.

[Adam Scott]

Right? Right.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Adam Scott, are you working on reclaiming anything in particular right now? It could be a place or a thing or anything.

[Adam Scott]

That's a really good question. And I should have had something solidly in mind.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Do not worry.

[Adam Scott]

You know, something that I'm really. I've really been thinking about a lot lately because my son went off to college a couple months ago.

[Monica Lewinsky]

How you doing?

[Adam Scott]

Well, it's hard. It was. It's hard. You know, it's. It's really. It's one of those big moments, you know, and when we were dropping him off, I had a couple really hard moments, and I didn't want him to see it or know it because I wanted him to focus on this huge moment in front of him. Right. And it all kind of cycles through. You start seeing from baby up to saying goodbye at the dorm room, it really starts flashing through like a slideshow in your mind. And it happened for me as we were, like, trying to find a parking space to carry the last load up. So I think that part of that for me is as a parent, you're always thinking about the mistakes you made and the things you should. Should have done better or. But for me, it's also seeing the evidence of it and that there. That there's this great person out in the world now, both my son and my daughter, who's a junior in high school and going to be doing the same thing before we know it. And whether or not I, you know, because, you know, as a actor, you're gone for months at a time. And that's the. That's the thing I always feel the most guilty about. But either way, these people, these two ended up these great people who are. Who are going out in the world. So I guess the thing I would reclaim is me, my guilt about being gone for chunks of time and not being the dad who was always home, particularly in the last few years. So I guess that's what it would be.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Yeah. What comes up for me is I had dated a guy I don't know, decade ago now. Wow, that's crazy. We're still friends, but. And he had, he had. It had taken him like he was divorced, but it had taken him a really long time to get out of his marriage. And he would kind of go through these phases where he'd be depressed about how much time he wasted like, being unhappy in his marriage. And it always struck me as like, well, don't waste your time now. Right, Right.

[Adam Scott]

So.

[Monica Lewinsky]

So there's.

[Adam Scott]

That's exactly what you're doing right now. That's what you're worried about.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Just sort of. Right. There's. There's kind of a. You know, how do. How do you both recognize and accept and trade. Trade the time of feeling the guilt for. How do you be more present now? Right.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

So it's such a. I mean, we all go through our own versions of that.

[Adam Scott]

Yeah.

[Monica Lewinsky]

It's just so. It's such.

[Adam Scott]

I just. I always flash on Thanksgiving over FaceTime.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Okay.

[Adam Scott]

Which was one particularly tough. But it's fine. And, you know, they're awesome kids. They're awesome people.

[Monica Lewinsky]

So look, we're here on this, like, crazy experiment called Earth, you know, and I think it's. I've never met anybody who said my parents were perfect. And I have no, you know, scars from childhood. Right, Right.

[Adam Scott]

It's part of the deal, part of.

[Monica Lewinsky]

Part of being here, part of being in a body, part of part of the whole thing. So thank you so much.

[Adam Scott]

Thank you for having me. This was so fun.

[Monica Lewinsky]

This was so great. Thank you. Thank you. Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky is hosted and executive produced by me, Monica Lewinsky. Production services by WTF media studios are our theme song is by Ben Benjamin and our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez. Our story producer is Elna Baker and our senior producer is Megan Donis for Wondery. Eliza Mills is the development producer. Our managing producer is Taylor Sniffin. Nick Ryan is our senior managing producer. Senior producers are Candace Manriquez, Wren and Emily Feldbrake. And executive producers are Dave Easton, Erin o' Flaherty, and Marshall Louie.