"Edgar Wright"

Summary

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SmartLess: Edgar Wright

Date: October 20, 2025

Hosts: Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
Guest: Edgar Wright

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Overview

In this lively episode, celebrated British filmmaker Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Baby Driver) joins Jason, Sean, and Will to discuss his unique journey from movie-obsessed kid in rural England to one of Hollywood’s most inventive auteur directors. The conversation covers his early inspirations, inventive filmmaking methods, long-term creative partnerships, and his much-anticipated new film, "The Running Man." The chat is peppered with genuine warmth, playful teasing, and creative industry insights—including stories about DIY filmmaking, cross-cultural comedy tastes, working with friends, and the persistent drive to make movies he’d actually want to watch.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Childhood Movie Obsession & Creative Origins (07:07–10:43)

• Edgar’s Cinematic Upbringing:
  His parents, both artists and teachers, dropped him at the cinema frequently because it "was cheaper than a babysitter." From a young age, Edgar was entranced by genre films—often choosing horror and sci-fi, though with parental boundaries.

  "At 14, I was charging classmates for my homemade action films... working supermarket jobs to buy reels, staying up till 3am for late night horror." – Sean, introducing Edgar (06:30)

• Early Guerrilla Filmmaking:
  Edgar resorted to fake IDs, deeper voices, and hair gel to sneak into age-restricted movies in the UK, where ratings are strict.

  "The first 15 I ever got into was Gremlins... me and my brother went up to the cinema manager with a copy of the novelization and said, 'We've read the book, we won't be scared.'" – Edgar (09:43)

2. Halloween & Costumes (10:45–13:59)

• Cultural differences: Halloween is more of a marathon in LA than the UK.
• Best Costumes:
  • Edgar: David Naughton from American Werewolf in London (deep cut!)
  • Jason: Bobby Peru from Wild at Heart
  • Sean: Static Cling—and, shockingly, a “hooker” as a kid.
  • Will: “Jason Bateman”—with a net and fishing lures (“Bateman”).

3. Family & Sibling Rivalries (14:18–15:07)

• Edgar reflects on periods of rivalry and reconciliation with his brother, Oscar, who now works on all his movies.

4. Formative Influences & Visual Style (15:08–18:39)

• Visual Beginnings:
  Wright credits his parents’ support, a prize video camera, and ‘80s filmmakers for his multi-departmental approach.
  • Big inspirations: John Carpenter, Joe Dante, Coen Bros., Sam Raimi.

  "Evil Dead 2 and Raising Arizona—those were real mind-blowers to me... so infectious, you could sense the fun they were having." – Edgar (17:03)

5. The DIY Mindset (21:38–23:02)

• Early Animation:
  Created a claymation film about wheelchair access for Comic Relief at 16, which landed him on live TV.

  "Imagine being on live TV for the first time and they accidentally told me the night before that I'd won... when they say you've won, you have to act like you're surprised." – Edgar (22:21)

6. Breaking into TV: Spaced and Community (23:10–27:28)

• Edgar’s first major break: the sitcom Spaced, co-created with Simon Pegg and Jessica Hynes at age 24.
• Stories of comedy camaraderie: mutual connections with the hosts, especially meeting Will and fellow comedians in LA.

7. The Cornetto Trilogy: Friendship, Craft, and Ice Cream (32:18–34:14)

• Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, all made with friends.
• The “trilogy” arose as an in-joke to get free Cornetto ice cream for the cast.
• Meeting Simon Pegg through comedy circles, instantly knowing Pegg would be his future lead.

8. Casting & Luck in Early Films (27:59–30:38)

• Fistful of Fingers:
  Shoestring budget, school friends as cast, and a then-unknown James Lance (Ted Lasso).

  • “We pretended Nick Frost had credits because Channel 4 wouldn’t cast a true unknown.” – Edgar (28:19)

• Faking professionalism:
  "I didn't realize you could actually hire actors. It was just my friends." – Edgar (30:38)

9. The Role of Music in Edgar’s Films (36:39–39:50)

• Lifelong love of music (born watching the White Album spin on his parents' vinyl).

• Baby Driver:
  Inspired by Edgar’s own childhood tinnitus and a two-decade-long “music video in his head.”

  “Baby Driver was in my head for maybe 20 years… the music triggered the entire thing.” – Edgar (39:00)

• On Music Videos:

  • Budget limitations now make it rare for filmmakers to go all out on music videos, unlike the Michel Gondry golden era.

10. Collaboration, Writing, & Comedy (49:11–50:26)

• Writing comedy is best with a partner for immediate feedback.
• “Comedy’s a lonely business when you do it alone. Reading scripts aloud, bouncing off each other—that’s the joy.” – Edgar (49:11)
• Edgar and Simon Pegg look forward to teaming up for scriptwriting again.

11. The New Project: The Running Man (50:26–56:47)

• Edgar is mid–sound mix for his new film, The Running Man, a more faithful adaptation of the Stephen King/Richard Bachman novel than the 1987 Schwarzenegger movie.

• Glenn Powell: in virtually every scene; Sean Hayes appears as a game show host in a key scene.

  • Notable cast includes Josh Brolin, Michael Cera, Emilia Jones, Jamie Lawson, and more.

• On process:
  Shooting November–March, "Most intense thing is staying with one character, Glenn, for the whole movie—unusual for the genre."

12. Filmmaking Philosophy & Advice (60:57–63:18)

• Best & Worst Advice:
  • “Be patient. That’s both the best and the worst,” Edgar laughs.
  • Advice to aspiring filmmakers: "You have to make the movie you want to see as a customer. If you didn’t make this film, you should want to be its biggest fan."
• On the Joys of Directing:
  • Most celebratory moments are after one-take scenes:
    "Everyone crowds around the monitor—did we get it? That’s where the crew really bonds." – Edgar (63:04)

13. Comedy’s Place in Cinema (57:59–59:20)

• Edgar laments the decline of big-screen comedies but hopes for resurgence.
• “Things are cyclical. I think it will come back. And I’d love to do something pure comedy again.” – Edgar (57:41)
• Loves joke-dense classics: "Arrested Development, Marx Brothers, Zucker Brothers, Airplane, Top Secret, Python movies..."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On sneaking into movies in youth:

  "I’d affect a deeper voice and wear hair gel—thought that was something adults did." – Edgar (09:43)

• On his enduring working relationships:

  "Making movies with your friends—that’s the dream. I’m so thankful; can’t believe I was directing [Spaced] at 24." – Edgar (24:22)

• On the specifics of creativity:

  "So many filmmakers, you can tell when they're working in genres they don't love—when people really love what they're doing, it's infectious." – Edgar (62:00)

• On mixing and multitasking:

  "It’s very fancy to say, 'Guys, I’ve got to go do SmartLess right now.'" – Edgar (35:51)

• On advice for filmmakers:

  "You have to be the cinema. You have to make the movie that you want to see as a customer." – Edgar (60:57)

• On joke delivery:

  "Arrested Development was one of the biggest joke-delivery machines... had the speed of a Marx Brothers film." – Edgar (58:13)

• On Halloween costumes:

  "My favorite was David Naughton from American Werewolf in London—deep cut." – Edgar (12:01)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [07:07] – Edgar’s intro & childhood movie obsessions
• [09:43] – Sneaking into age-restricted films
• [13:00] – Edgar & brother Oscar’s relationship
• [15:08] – Origin of visual style & influences
• [23:10] – Breaking into TV with Spaced
• [28:15] – Nick Frost’s inauspicious start as an actor
• [32:18] – Creating the “Cornetto Trilogy”
• [36:39] – Music obsession & making Baby Driver
• [49:11] – Writing comedy: Collaboration vs. writing alone
• [50:26] – The Running Man: new adaptation and Sean’s cameo
• [60:57] – Edgar’s advice for filmmakers & the patient pursuit

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Tone & Vibe

Reflective, irreverent, and infectiously enthusiastic, the episode is packed with insider wit, deep gratitude, and warmth between friends—layered with plenty of British/American cultural banter, Halloween nostalgia, snack talk, and genuine admiration for creative craft.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode is an exuberant yet candid exploration of Edgar Wright’s moviemaking ethos: honor your own taste, work with people you love, let genre-blending and musicality shine, and always make the film you want to watch. Whether sharing stories about hacked-together homemade films, the unglamorous hustle of early career days, or making big-budget adaptations, Wright comes off as passionately sincere and down-to-earth—a “stuffed animal with blood” according to Will—a delightful, creative force whose love for his craft truly is contagious.

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Highly recommended for:

• Fans of Edgar Wright’s films
• Aspiring filmmakers
• Comedy nerds
• Those interested in creative process, collaboration, and sustaining artistic drive over decades

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“You have to make the movie you want to see as a customer. If you didn’t make this film, you should want to be its biggest fan.”
— Edgar Wright (60:57)

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Transcript

[Narrator]

The family that vacations together stays together. At least that was the plan. Except now the dastardly desk clerk is saying he can't confirm you're connecting rooms.

[Guest 1]

Wait, what?

[Hotel Desk Clerk]

That's right, ma'.

[Edgar Wright]

Am.

[Hotel Desk Clerk]

You have rooms 201 and 709.

[Guest 1]

No, we cannot be five floors away from our kids.

[Hotel Desk Clerk]

Eh, the doors have double locks. They'll be fine.

[Narrator]

When you want connecting rooms confirmed before you arrive, it matters where you stay.

[Guest 1]

Welcome to Hilton. I see your connecting rooms are already confirmed.

[Narrator]

Hilton for the stay.

[Sean Hayes]

Today's episode of Smartless is brought to you by State Farm. It's great to have friends who support your interest, isn't it? From eclectic music tastes to indie films like them, State Farm is there to help you choose the coverage you need. So you can check insurance off your list and spend more time enjoying life with friends. Go [e-mail] or use the award winning app to get help from one of their local agents. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. This is a podcast and we're talking with people about talking. We're talking about stuff. We're talking about life. We're talking about stuff that people like. Like life. Life, life, life. Like, like, like.

[Jason Bateman]

Smart. Smart.

[Sean Hayes]

I watched episode five last night of Black Rabbit.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, Sean, you know what? You're such a good friend.

[Sean Hayes]

Six, seven, eight.

[Will Arnett]

Sorry, hang on one second.

[Edgar Wright]

Will.

[Will Arnett]

When you. I finished it last night, okay?

[Edgar Wright]

You did.

[Jason Bateman]

I watched them all.

[Will Arnett]

No, you did start with those.

[Jason Bateman]

No, sorry. I did it. I did it exactly. Ozark. I am so close to watching Ozark. I know, I know, dude, I'm so excited. I. First of all, you know what I'm close to?

[Will Arnett]

I'm close to seeing your movie for the third time.

[Sean Hayes]

But listen, why, by the way, I haven't seen it.

[Will Arnett]

No, no, but. But you're an incredibly supportive friend, so no doubt you will.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh yeah, I'll see it.

[Jason Bateman]

Of course it will. You know what? I actually did. I actually.

[Will Arnett]

No, no, sorry, I was talking to Sean.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh yeah.

[Will Arnett]

If that wasn't already clear listener. Just give us a second. Go ahead, Chewy. What were you gonna say?

[Sean Hayes]

Chewy?

[Will Arnett]

I gotta. I got a lot of issues with Will Arnett this morning. Oh, no, not really. I love Will Arnett. Well, our next favorite.

[Jason Bateman]

I was just saying I'm flying to New York next week and I'm. And I'm downloading all the episodes and I was going to watch it last night, but Black Rabbit is very intense. From everybody that I've heard, it's very intense and I Don't like watching. I don't watch intense stuff before bed.

[Sean Hayes]

Is that true?

[Will Arnett]

Well, you're going to have to watch it.

[Jason Bateman]

You quite literally don't.

[Will Arnett]

You're going to have to watch it at night because I like low lighting on set. Yeah, it's really cool. But. Sorry, your plan was to watch it on a laptop there. On a computer there. On a plane?

[Jason Bateman]

No, on my iPad.

[Edgar Wright]

So.

[Will Arnett]

So the third time I see your film, I'll see it in another movie theater like I did the first two times. And really, is it, is it a.

[Jason Bateman]

Feature film or is it, is it a limited series?

[Will Arnett]

It's a limited series.

[Jason Bateman]

Okay. Thank you so much, caller.

[Will Arnett]

So I thought maybe the least you could do is watch it on a television at your house.

[Jason Bateman]

We got a Sig alert over on the four of.

[Sean Hayes]

It's really good.

[Jason Bateman]

Can I come and watch it in your theater?

[Will Arnett]

You sure can.

[Jason Bateman]

That would be fun.

[Sean Hayes]

I'm going to watch the last two.

[Jason Bateman]

Wait, Sean, you watched it at a theater?

[Will Arnett]

He watched the first two in the theater. He's going to watch the last two in the theater too. Yeah, but you watch it there on your. What do you got? A 13 inch laptop with a couple of earpods.

[Jason Bateman]

Let me just see. You might not have my number. Let me just see.

[Will Arnett]

It was while you were out of town and you know.

[Jason Bateman]

Wednesday, Lakeside open invite.

[Will Arnett]

If you could, if you could somehow get through the first six episodes on your 13 inch laptop, you're welcome to come over for seven and eight with Sean.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, let's do that.

[Jason Bateman]

You think I'm on a 13 inch laptop? That's the worst thing you've ever said to me.

[Sean Hayes]

What is it, like a 50 inch laptop?

[Jason Bateman]

That's the thing. I get offended. Pop it open.

[Sean Hayes]

How is everybody doing?

[Will Arnett]

I'm doing really well.

[Jason Bateman]

Sean, you're adjusting back to being in. In Southern California?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, finally. Just like the last two days.

[Will Arnett]

Are you off your jet lag yet?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, just like literally the last two days. Finally. Finally waking back up at like four in the morning. Like my regular schedule.

[Jason Bateman]

It's been a week. Over a week.

[Sean Hayes]

I know.

[Will Arnett]

How many pounds have come back onto your body?

[Sean Hayes]

This is a good question. Just yesterday I was like, wow, I gained 4 pounds already in a week.

[Will Arnett]

No.

[Sean Hayes]

Well, I mean, I don't know if it's just I'm full of whatever, but.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, spaghetti.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah. I mean, I just had another.

[Will Arnett]

He's got colon back.

[Jason Bateman]

Well, you just had a what?

[Sean Hayes]

I just had a piece of cake. Pumpkin cake. With. Well, because I lost so much Weight. I could just eat couple things.

[Will Arnett]

Well, but you. What. What was happening as you were losing weight was you were approaching your proper weight, but you said, no, no, don't get too close. Let's get back.

[Jason Bateman]

Sorry. Sean, are you drinking cake right now?

[Sean Hayes]

Remember the cake shake from Portillo's? Remember?

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, yes.

[Sean Hayes]

Isn't that a great idea? He grinded up a cake and put it in a milkshake. So it's a cake shake.

[Jason Bateman]

It was so great. I heard they got that from an anonymous tiff from Glen Ellen, Illinois. You know what you ought to do?

[Sean Hayes]

Put the cake in the shake. Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Shawnee, did you say you had a piece of pumpkin cake already this morning? It's not yet, no. It's just past 9:30.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

A pumpkin cake. Huge piece of pumpkin cake. With my tea. My tea with milk and sugar.

[Will Arnett]

Pumpkin cake. I want some pumpkin.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, pumpkin cake with cream. Cream cheese frosting. It's so good, it tastes like fall.

[Will Arnett]

How'd you get that? Did you make that?

[Sean Hayes]

No, I bought it from Trader Joe's.

[Will Arnett]

Remember when you were making yummy stuff for a little while last year?

[Jason Bateman]

I'll do it.

[Sean Hayes]

You want me to do it again?

[Jason Bateman]

When were you making a cheesecake?

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, I was sending you recipes from the New York Times and I made them.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, God.

[Will Arnett]

Okay, I'm gonna start sending them.

[Sean Hayes]

All right, well, you know, it's a.

[Will Arnett]

The fact that I'm speaking of sweet treats. Go ahead.

[Edgar Wright]

Good.

[Sean Hayes]

Nice, nice. And tea.

[Will Arnett]

And T is a British guest.

[Edgar Wright]

Yes.

[Will Arnett]

Is it a British guest?

[Sean Hayes]

Yes. He's a very good friend and I love him. And you guys love him.

[Will Arnett]

Daniel Day Lewis.

[Sean Hayes]

And you guys are friends with him too. My guest today has been obsessed with movies since he was a kid. His parents dropped him at the cinema. At the cinema. Because it was cheaper than a babysitter. At 14, he was charging classmates for his homemade action films. Working supermarket jobs to buy reels, staying up till 3am for late night horror. When he finally got his first Danny Boyle, when he finally got his first vcr, he was watching six movies a day. Since then, he's made zombies lovable, turned small town cops into action heroes, turned a pub crawl into the end of the world. Please welcome my brilliant honor to call a friend Edgar. Right.

[Jason Bateman]

Very early. I knew it.

[Edgar Wright]

Will got it out straight away.

[Jason Bateman]

I knew it, Edgar. I knew it. God, it's so funny. I was talking about you yesterday with my son. We were talking about Shaun of the Dead and then they were like, have you ever seen Hot Fuzz? I was like, Guys, I am decades ahead of you. Have I seen Hot Fuzz before they were born? Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

Well, I don't know whether I should be flattered or it's just predictable that like Sean Basie said he likes movies and Will said egg. Right? Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

I know, right? I know. How did you get.

[Edgar Wright]

I'm that easy to pinpoint.

[Will Arnett]

Either you Quentin or James Gray.

[Jason Bateman]

No, you know what, Edgar? You know, it's funny. One of the reason I was talking about you with My son, my 15 year old, is we were talking about films and stuff that he liked. And we showed them Shaun of the Dead and Hot. Well, not Hot, but Shaun of the Dead when they were quite young. Cause I was like, this is my idea of a perfect movie. Because as you know, and I love you and I love that film and it's so, it's still so. Oh, you know what? We were talking about how brilliantly you had people panicking in the background. And Sean and those guys had no idea. And I would use. I was like, it's such brilliant filmmaking. So that's, that's how it came up.

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, thank you. I think it's. It's important to have. I mean, I'm not a parent, not yet, but like to have horror films that you can show to kids. Yeah. Because I think my parents would allow me and my brother to watch things that were like sci fi related, but something like Halloween or Friday the 13th would be off the table. But Alien and the Thing were okay because they had a sort of fantasy sci fi element.

[Sean Hayes]

What about the Exorcist? I can't believe I was allowed to see that.

[Edgar Wright]

No.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

What about, what about. Have you seen Weapons? Weapons is about kids that disappear. I love that movie. Would you let kids go see that?

[Edgar Wright]

I mean, I would. I mean, you have different in the uk, as you probably know, the ratings are different. So you can't do the thing that you do in the States where a parent or guardian could take you into a PG 13 or an R. Right. Like a 15 is a 15 and an 80s and 18. So when I was there used to be a cinema around the corner of my house where I grew up. And probably from the age of like 12 to like 15, 12 to 13, I was trying to get into 15 rated films and doing that thing where you would be so dumb. Like, I mean, I mean, I remember the films I got into and I remember the films I didn't get into. Like I couldn't get into Aliens. I couldn't get into the Fly.

[Sean Hayes]

And then I Read that. You changed your voice to act.

[Edgar Wright]

Yes, yes. You know the two things I would do to pretend to be older than I was? Affect a deeper voice and also wear hair gel, wear product in my hair. I thought that was something adults did, but it didn't. Sometimes it didn't work. One time, though, I tell you, the first 15 I ever got into was Gremlins was rated 15 in the UK.

[Sean Hayes]

Wow.

[Edgar Wright]

Because in the US it was one of the first PG13s. Right? And me and my brother, I was 10 and my brother was 12, we went up to the cinema manager with a copy of the novelization of Gremlins and said to the manager, hey, we've already read the book, so we know what happens, so we're not going to be scared, so you should let us in. And it was a matinee and it was pretty quiet and the manager looked around and said, get in there. And it was honestly the most exciting screening of my life. Because you, any moment you thought somebody's going to come in and say, you shouldn't be in here, you're not 15.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, my God, that's great.

[Sean Hayes]

I love that.

[Will Arnett]

You know, hey, it's. Before I forget, because it's such a great question and my brain doesn't work good. Do you guys celebrate Halloween over there?

[Edgar Wright]

It's not as big as it is in la, but then if I have one bugbear about Halloween is that in Los Angeles? It seems to go on for three fucking months.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know.

[Edgar Wright]

I mean, Halloween starts at the end of August. It's ridiculous.

[Will Arnett]

But it struck me that you would probably be a great costume maker, thinker. What was your best Halloween costume you've ever put together? And did you go to the prosthetics department there?

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

To get some appliances put on, Apply it.

[Edgar Wright]

You know, I've done. I. You know what? When I was, when I've been living in la, sometimes I used to resent the fact that you'd need to get more than one costume. Yeah, Halloween would be like a four day weekend. And it's like, I'm gonna do one costume. I think my favorite one I ever did. And this will appeal to you guys because this is also. This, this was in the way that you showed Shaun of the Dead to your kids. This was a film that was dear to me when I was too young to see it, is I went to a Halloween party in LA as David Norton from American Werewolf in London.

[Hotel Desk Clerk]

Oh, God, really?

[Jason Bateman]

What?

[Edgar Wright]

Like, it's a real deep cut costume.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, it Is what that?

[Jason Bateman]

Jb, what was your best costume ever?

[Edgar Wright]

No, we've done Wolf 2. Right.

[Jason Bateman]

Teen Wolf 2.

[Will Arnett]

Close. I went as Team Wolf.

[Jason Bateman]

Also close.

[Will Arnett]

I went as Jason Bateman.

[Jason Bateman]

Which. You did it.

[Will Arnett]

I did. Which meant that I wore the. I. A hockey goalie mask for Jason and a net over my body with a bunch of hooks and lures on it for Bateman. And I thought I was a genius. I was so disgustingly proud of it.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, my God. Wait a second.

[Will Arnett]

And I was just like. Yeah, I was, like, 19. I just, like, tapped everyone on the shoulder saying, hey, man, guess who I am. I was just. It was a total embarrassment.

[Jason Bateman]

Shawnee. Shawnee.

[Sean Hayes]

I mean, I told you one that I think I already sold you when I went as Static CLING one year. But then I went as. And then when I was a kid. Yeah, when I was a kid, my mom let me go as a hooker. I went as a. I dressed up as a hooker.

[Jason Bateman]

Wow. Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

And what'd that look like?

[Edgar Wright]

And did you work?

[Sean Hayes]

No. I mean, she got me in lemonade.

[Jason Bateman]

How much she make?

[Will Arnett]

Was it successful?

[Sean Hayes]

She got me, like, a boa and, like, a jacket. Like, no Questions Asked. I'm like, lady, you're not gonna ask any questions.

[Jason Bateman]

My first year in New York, 1990, and I didn't really celebrate it that much before, and I agree with you, Edgar, it's too. I'm a bit of a baham bug when it comes. When it's for Halloween, a little bit, I love it. But. But I went as Bobby Peru from Wild at Heart.

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, wow. Did you tell Willem Dafoe that when he was on.

[Jason Bateman]

I. I don't think I did.

[Will Arnett]

I tell him Bobby Peru.

[Jason Bateman]

I took Dracula teeth. That you just buy it, like, at the. At a Halloween store. And then I melted them down so they were straight across.

[Sean Hayes]

And I wore.

[Jason Bateman]

I wore a bolo tie. And.

[Sean Hayes]

Wait, who's Bobby Peru?

[Jason Bateman]

What was that from? Willem Dafoe's character.

[Edgar Wright]

Willem Dafoe's character from Wild at Heart. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Terrifying, Terrifying teeth. Did you. Yeah, the teeth are horrific.

[Jason Bateman]

The teeth are terrifying. Yeah. The problem was I had to explain it to everybody.

[Will Arnett]

It's just such a boozy holiday, isn't it?

[Jason Bateman]

It is a boozy holiday.

[Will Arnett]

I mean, my God, you really got to drink into it.

[Sean Hayes]

Wait, I want to know. Edgar, I had the pleasure of meeting Oscar, your older brother, on the set of the Running man, which we'll get to later.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes, that is.

[Will Arnett]

This is a preemption.

[Jason Bateman]

This is a film. I want to See in the blind.

[Will Arnett]

APPLAUSE yeah, no, I mean, it's just.

[Sean Hayes]

I watched it the other day. We'll get to it later. But it's fucking incredible. It's incredible. I'm sure, Yeah, I was blown away. But wait, I wanna talk about Oscar. Were you guys close when you were young and did he have the same love that you had for movies and stuff?

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, very much. I mean, my brother, he's two years older. I think we went through that difficult period as teenagers where I think from the ages of like 14 to 17, we hated each other's guts.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

And then we, and then we got thick as thieves again immediately afterwards. And he's worked on all of my movies as well, so he's so great. Amazing. So it's really great to have that relationship. But there was a period where we hated each other.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

As teenagers do.

[Sean Hayes]

Of course. Of course.

[Will Arnett]

Edgar, where did, where did your, your, your, your love of. And then I assume shortly thereafter, the skill at creating such exciting visuals in films, along with your ability to tell story and have performances and all that other stuff.

[Sean Hayes]

And music.

[Will Arnett]

And the music. Yeah, but, yeah, so you're, do you, can you attribute it to one particular film that you saw and you're like, that's the kind of style I want to learn about because you're just so incredible at using every department. You know, often directors specialize in one, but on all of them you're just. You seem to have so much fun making movies.

[Edgar Wright]

I think it was. My parents were both artists and art teachers and I think they got me and my brother interested in cinema early on and they were very supportive parents. Cause I'm not from like a rich background or anything and I had no connections within the industry, but my mom and dad would just kind of encourage us to sort of go for it, even though there was no clear path to being in film. So I think that the thing was of starting with a Super 8 camera and just making like amateur films and so just fucking around like. But I think this. And, and so it was that thing of like, knowing I wanted to be in film but not knowing exactly how to do it. And the only way you could really like force yourself into doing it was just making films with your friends and, and watching things and trying to figure out how they did it and doing the zero budget version of it.

[Will Arnett]

So then was that mostly it, the fact that you had a little camera when you were a little kid and you're really too young to kind of grind about performance and like that you're really, like, looking to, like, make whip. Whip pans and. And. And strong pushes and all that stuff. Like, because you had a little camera and you didn't have dolly track or anything, you just, like, on your shoulder. And it just. It's a much more visual effort. Right. As a little kid.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, I mean, I. I remember making. I. I won. I won a video camera on the BBC when I was 16. I'd entered this competition that was part of Comet Relief. And I won and I won a video camera which I previously wouldn't have been able to afford. But as soon as I had that, it was kind of like my, you know, kind of, you know, like school. School sort of went out the window a little bit. And I was just this, like, amateur filmmaker, like, making sort of films in free periods and. But I would make things, like, I would make camp. I would make like a. I didn't have a Steadicam, so I would make like a fake sort of cradle with like, a ceiling tile and string and, like, run around with it doing no way. So to answer your question, though, Jason, I tell you a lot of filmmakers that were really big to me beyond, like, you know, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. But there was a particular time of, like, when I was sort of growing up in the 80s of people that meant a lot to me were like, John Carpenter, Joe Dante, John Landis. And then when I was like, in my. Maybe at 15, I think there was the year that I saw Raising Arizona by the Coen brothers and Evil Dead 2 by Sam Raimi in quick succession. And those were real, like, mind blowers to me in terms of like, oh, my God, look how much fun these guys are having in film. It was so infectious, both of those movies, one of which is a comedy, one of which is a comedy, horror. But they have a lot in common. And those guys were friends as well, and colleagues. But, like, just what they did with the camera and how they got, like, just magic and infectious enthusiasm out of every frame, those were like, I gotta.

[Will Arnett]

See Evil Dead too. Is it significantly better than Evil Dead one?

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, it's just have. You know, you haven't seen the second one.

[Will Arnett]

Don't know it. Yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, it's fun. It's a blast. It's kind of like they just decided, let's remake the first film and put more Three Stooges in it.

[Sean Hayes]

We'll be right back.

[Jason Bateman]

Today's episode is sponsored by Ashley. They don't just sell incredible furniture. They're also making an impact in vulnerable communities. Here's a tough. Over 7 million kids are affected by the welfare System and over 368,000 are currently in foster care. So together with Ashley and Sirius xm, we made a donation to four others, an organization working to end the child welfare crisis in America. You know, partnering with Ashley in our live show. First of all, they just made our set look really good. They made us really comfortable and they kind of made us look legit because otherwise it would have been, you know, milk crates and, you know, cardboard boxes. And Ashley made it look like a real, kind of looked like a living room. Made it really comfortable, made our guest, John Mayer really comfortable. And then he thought that maybe we're professional. We're not just a bunch of clowns. To be honest, there was a point where I got so comfortable, I forgot that I was in front of an audience. I was sitting back on that nice Ashley couch and I was just hanging out with my buds in my living room. Anyway, Ashley offers timeless, well crafted furniture with white glove delivery right to your door. Visit your local Ashley store or head to Ashley.com to find your style.

[Will Arnett]

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[Narrator]

The family that vacations together stays together. At least that was the plan. Except now the dastardly desk clerk is saying he can't confirm your connecting rooms.

[Guest 1]

Wait, what?

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That's right, ma'.

[Guest 1]

Am.

[Hotel Desk Clerk]

You have rooms 201 and 709.

[Guest 1]

No, we cannot be five floors away from our kids.

[Hotel Desk Clerk]

The doors have double locks. They'll be fine.

[Narrator]

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[Guest 1]

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[Narrator]

Confirmed, Hilton for this day.

[Will Arnett]

And now back to the show.

[Sean Hayes]

Edgar, I love that in my notes it says you made a clay animation when you got that camera about wheelchair Claymation.

[Jason Bateman]

They usually just put it together, combine the two.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, they bundle it.

[Jason Bateman]

They bundle it. Amy Poehler taught us to bundle.

[Sean Hayes]

Right?

[Will Arnett]

Bundle.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, I gotta take that into consideration. You made a claymation about wheelchair access. Is that what it was?

[Edgar Wright]

That was the thing for comet relief.

[Sean Hayes]

That's so funny. I mean, what Was that. What about wheelchair access? I mean, why that?

[Edgar Wright]

I think I had seen something. There was a film program in the UK. I guess it was probably film 91 at the time, but they had a thing about the lack of wheelchair ramps in the cinema. So I did an animation about it for Comet Relief.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, that's great.

[Edgar Wright]

So that was when I was on TV when I was like 16 years old. And one of the things, it's a funny thing about that. And actually you can find the clip on YouTube. One of the weird things, imagine being on live TV for the first time and they accidentally told me the night before that I'd won. And then somebody researched it. Oh, he's not supposed to know that. So then imagine, imagine having this pressure being on TV as a 16 year old. Then they say tomorrow when you're on the show, pretend like you haven't won. So when they say that you've won, you have to act like you're really surprised. That's a lot of pressure on that. If you watch that clip, if you see that clip, acting of like, who me?

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, I love that. That's great.

[Jason Bateman]

If anybody wants tips on how to act like you never won, just ask me. Hey, listen, Edgar.

[Sean Hayes]

Well, that's gonna change. That's gonna change after this movie.

[Jason Bateman]

You know, we, we, Edgar, we got to know each other back kind of around shot of the dead days. And then. And you introduced us to our dear friend who are also friends with Pete Serafinowich was through you and through and Simon everybody. I know all these great dudes and it was in that time that you recommended that I really wanted to watch a show that I've told so many people about. That to me is just such a example of a really great show. Great writing, great directing, great acting, which is spaced and is not as heralded as it should be. And I urge anybody who wants to watch a show that's really and really funny to go and watch Space with that you directed with the great Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, and Jessica Hines and Jessica Heinz.

[Jason Bateman]

I mean, incredible. How did that come about?

[Edgar Wright]

Well, I was. Yeah, I had basically, I got in my break into the industry. I had made a film when I was 20. I went to art college for two years and then I made a really low budget film called A Fistful of Fingers that was shot on 16 mil which cost like 30. 30 grand total.

[Sean Hayes]

Full of fingers.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, it did get. It got released at the cinema in the UK and like I say, cinemas. It released in a cinema on screen. But I. But through that I got into tv. It was first through, like, Matt Lucas and David Walliams, they were doing a cable show. And I was directing that when I was 21. And then a couple of years later, I worked with Simon Peg and Jessica Hines for the first time. And then spaced. I was 24 when I did Spaced, which seems crazy. That's amazing. It seems. I realize now, I knew it at the time that it was really special, but now I really just. I feel so thankful that, like, I can't believe I was directing like, a show that was on network TV when I was 24. And actually I remember. Well, I gotta say, actually, I wanna say thanks to all of you, Will. I remember when I first came to la, you and Amy, when you. You were both so generous to me and just would sort of take me. And the first time I met both of you actually was at a dinner that Will brought me to. But I just. I wanna reference Space because I remember something that you did because I came and visited the set of Arrested Development. It must have been a season three episode. I don't remember which one it was, but I remember Bob Einstein was in it. And I went on set. But I remember, Will, you did this prank that when I came to. So Space was this sitcom that I did on Channel four, which is one of the main channels in the uk, and it was out on dvd, but you couldn't get it in the States yet. So kind of like comedy nerds like yourself would. Would get kind of copies of it and have to have a region free player. And I came to the Arrested Development set and I went to Will's trailer. And Will, you had. Inside of your trailer, you had the DVD cover of Space photocopied and plastered absolutely everywhere. And then he turned around and he said. And he said, oh, I didn't know you were coming.

[Sean Hayes]

That's great.

[Edgar Wright]

Which was a very, very.

[Sean Hayes]

Which was.

[Edgar Wright]

Says everything about you is extremely silly thing to do. And I really appreciate it.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, I remember we all met at a restaurant in Venice or something. And that's when Will said, you gotta watch this movie, Shaun of the Dead. And I watched it right away. And yeah, that's when we first met. It was so long ago.

[Edgar Wright]

God, yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Twenty years ago it was. Through all that. And then look around you and you really opened my eyes, actually. You kind of. In addition to Space, so many of the other things, you were really my entree to stuff. Because we didn't, as you said, we didn't get a lot of those shows. And you recommended so many things that really opened my eyes to a lot of the great stuff that they do in the uk, and I've never looked back.

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, thank you.

[Jason Bateman]

I've been an Anglophile ever since.

[Edgar Wright]

I want to say one thing, that this has never been mentioned on this podcast before. I don't think so. But Jason, in the UK, in the sort of mid-80s, they actually showed. And I was a fan of it's yous Move. Yeah, it's true. And I remember specifically, and I've mentioned this to you before, the episode that I remember, and this would be a real deep Halloween costume. There's an episode where you have to pretend like a rock band is coming to school. The dregs of humanity, and then you have fake skeletons.

[Jason Bateman]

He remembers that.

[Edgar Wright]

That.

[Sean Hayes]

He remembers that.

[Jason Bateman]

It's insane.

[Edgar Wright]

Well, I'd like to pitch that next Halloween, the four of us should go as the dregs of humanity to a party and have to explain it to every single person there. So we're doing a bit from it's yous Move.

[Sean Hayes]

Come on. It's your move.

[Jason Bateman]

Don't you remember? I loved. I loved it's yous Move too. I watched it.

[Sean Hayes]

I watched it.

[Jason Bateman]

I did, too.

[Sean Hayes]

I watched it.

[Jason Bateman]

Me, too. I was like, this kid. He's such a bad kid. He's so sort of, you know, just doing shit. It was cool. It was cool.

[Sean Hayes]

So then after. Wait, I did want to. I wanted you to tell me this one thing about Fistful of.

[Jason Bateman]

Well, I wanted. I want to ask about space or just while we're on space. I remember you told me one time, Edgar, and tell me if I'm wrong. That. That you. When you and Simon were putting it together, and Jessica and you didn't know, and Nick had never acted before. Is that true? Nick Frost.

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, that's right. Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

And how. And how that came about.

[Edgar Wright]

Nick had never acted before, and there was a. What's the version of SAG in the UK is like the spotlight, which is like the kind of actors union. And there was another actor called Nick Frost in the union, because the Channel 4 weren't really gonna take a chance on somebody who had no credits. So we said, oh, yeah, no, he's been in all these other shows. We pretended he was the other Nick. So apologies to the other Nick Frost. Another thing. It's true.

[Sean Hayes]

No way. And he could keep his name.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, I think. I'm not sure. Maybe the other Nick Frost changed his name.

[Jason Bateman]

And Simon. Maybe you and. Or Simon told me Simon worked with him. At a restaurant, maybe. And he said he was his funny friend. And he was like. He was funnier than everybody else I knew.

[Edgar Wright]

He worked at a Mexican restaurant, which is not really a thing in the uk, as you probably know, called Chiquitos. I remember he wasn't. He'd never acted before, and he would do this thing and he kept doing this on Shaun of the Dead, that I would sometimes give him a direction. And Nick Frost would walk up to me and whisper in my ear, say, please remember, I am not an actor.

[Sean Hayes]

That's great.

[Edgar Wright]

And that continues to this day.

[Sean Hayes]

I love that.

[Jason Bateman]

So funny.

[Sean Hayes]

So wait, so the Fistful of Fingers. You got it? Somebody gave you $11,000 to make that?

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, I mean, it was. I owe it all to a newspaper editor in my hometown, Mike Matthias, who had some. I think he had just come into inheritance, so he had some tax loss money. So we made the whole thing on 11 grand and then we raised another. Another. Like maybe it was the cost. The whole thing cost 20, 22 grand, actually. Wow. Yeah, it was like, sort of shot it over, like 20 days on 16 miles. It was all starring, like, my school friends and my college friends. It didn't actually occur to me that there might be actors around. In fact, the only actor that's in it who's from Ted Lasso, James Lance, is in the movie. And the only reason that he's in the movie is that he. His mom heard that in the local paper that some kids are making a movie. And he said, oh, I'm an actor. And I said, oh, sure, you could be in it. That was how the casting worked.

[Sean Hayes]

That's great.

[Edgar Wright]

It was very. It was like 78 minutes long with credits. Here's a good story. I had to pad it out. The movie, as you all know, having made, directed, and, you know, and written, is that you usually have the assemble edit. For Tracy, the assemble edit is when all of the takes of the movie are put together. So, like, usually in assemble it, it might be hours and hours long, but the assemble edit of Fistful of Fingers, the whole thing with every single shot was like 75 minutes long. And it meant that I couldn't really cut it down, which was. There were some bits I wanted to cut out.

[Will Arnett]

All the shitty parts need to stay in.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah. So here's what I did. I needed. There was at least one bit I really wanted to cut out. I mean, now I would probably cut another 25 minutes out. But at the time, to cut some bits out, I basically created a scene in the dark in the middle of the movie, there's a scene where it's a western, so they're cowboys around a campfire and they blow out the fire. And so I thought, oh, I could just put a whole scene in black here to pad it out for two minutes. So I just put like, just black film and just like they just talked for two minutes in the dark. And that was my way of padding it out.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, wow, That's a good idea.

[Edgar Wright]

Long end credits. Long omni credits. So smart.

[Sean Hayes]

That's great. So from there, after Spaced, you did what's known as the Cornetto trilogy now, which is Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the World's End with your friends. I mean, it's a dream for everybody to just kind of work with their friends. And you did it three times in these incredible movies, like one after another.

[Will Arnett]

Is that working title on all three of them?

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, yeah. Eric Foner, Tim Bevan, Nyra park, who you well know. Jason as well, did all of the.

[Will Arnett]

Movies, I mean, and Liza Chasen.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah. And it was straight after, I say, after the second series of Spaced, we started writing Shaun. I mean, it was funny. It was never meant to. It's funny. It's called the Cornetto Trilogy because a Cornetto for the American listeners is a brand of ice cream in the UK and Europe. In fact, in most of the world, except the States.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Is it three lover, three layers?

[Edgar Wright]

It's just. No, it's. No, it's not. It's like a package.

[Jason Bateman]

It's like a prepackaged ice cream cone, isn't it?

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

It's like a drumstick.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes.

[Edgar Wright]

The only reason it came up as a trilogy is when we did Shaun of the Dead, which mentions Cornetto once. We got free ice cream at the premiere. And I said to Simon when we were running hot fuzz, hey, we should write Cornettos into the second one so we get free ice cream again.

[Sean Hayes]

That's great. I love that.

[Jason Bateman]

How did you and Simon meet? Cause that was when you guys. That was. It's been a sort of a lifelong collaboration, you guys.

[Edgar Wright]

He says, we met at the Battersea Art center. And I know the truth is we met at the Riverside Studios. We met at a. He was friends with. There was in the. Like around that time when I first moved to London, like, you know, 30 years ago, and there were a lot of people on the scene who all now become huge, like the Mighty Bouche guys. And. Yeah, you know, Simon and Matt Lukes and David Walliams and the League of gentlemen guys. They were all sort of coming up around the same time. And I met Simon backstage at a comedy gig. And I'd seen him doing stand up on tv and he's from the same area as me. We're only like. We grew up like 50 miles away from each other. So we're both from the west country. And I'd seen him on TV doing a standup set about regional tv. So I went up to him and said, hey, I'm from the west country too. So I think he remembered me as. Who's that weird kid who came up? Who's that weird kid with a beard?

[Jason Bateman]

And then you guys. And then what happened?

[Edgar Wright]

The lights are turning off in my room. I did get the motion sensors on in here.

[Jason Bateman]

Look at that.

[Sean Hayes]

Sos.

[Edgar Wright]

That's okay. I'm in the dock now.

[Will Arnett]

You're definitely not in the US Are you holding cell?

[Sean Hayes]

No, we're shooting the campfire scene. We're shooting the Wait.

[Edgar Wright]

So you guys, we can pad this out for two minutes.

[Jason Bateman]

So you guys meet and you say, hey, let's do a TV series.

[Edgar Wright]

No, we. Oh, somebody's coming in. Hey, here we go. Somebody's switching the lights on for me. Thank you. There's motion sensors. I'm in a conference room. I'm actually mixing the Running man right now. It is not finished. It's out on November 14th and it will be finished by then. But Simon, yeah, he was. I started doing TV and I did this TV show on like the. I guess the British version of Comedy Central, the Paramount Comedy Channel at the time. And there was a show called Asylum and I got asked to direct it. And Simon Pegg was in and he brought Jessica Hines, who co wrote Spaced and co created Space, onto that. So I was working with them for the first time. So I'd already met him. And I knew then it's funny when you meet somebody that you think, I'm gonna. I thought even then, this is eight years before we made the movie. I was thinking, I'm gonna make a movie and he's gonna be in it. I knew then that Simon was like a great comedy leading man. And it was just about then finding the idea of what that was.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, it's so great.

[Will Arnett]

I'm so. I'm so. I'm so. I can't believe you're at a mix right now. If you already given your notes, they're implementing your notes and you're doing this podcast.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, it's very fancy to say, guys, I've got to go and do Smart list right now.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, it's very fancy.

[Jason Bateman]

You're doing a. They're like what? They're like. What? What are you talking about? Yeah, with the whole thing.

[Will Arnett]

That mix is enormous, right?

[Edgar Wright]

I mean, it's. Well, Sean has seen the movie.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, it's a.

[Edgar Wright]

It's a. It's a complicated. It's a complicated beast.

[Sean Hayes]

Massive, I'm sure. Yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's so incredible. Well, before we get to them, we're going to get to it. The last thing I wanted to say before we get to that is Baby Driver, because Baby Driver is one of my favorite movies of all time and seen it so many times and. Yes. Bravo, bravo, bravo. And I did not know this until I.

[Jason Bateman]

It's baby Drive. This crazy movie, the baby driving a bambino drive.

[Edgar Wright]

I was hoping you were gonna say bambino.

[Jason Bateman]

Of course I did. He did.

[Sean Hayes]

As you're at it, I didn't know that you had or still have tinnitus. Is that true?

[Edgar Wright]

No, I had it when I was.

[Sean Hayes]

Young, which is when you hear high pitched things in your ears and. Yeah, yeah, pitch noises.

[Edgar Wright]

But it was something that actually, you know, tinnitus sufferers or tinnitus as we call it in the uk, it's one.

[Sean Hayes]

Of those words like aluminum. Aluminum.

[Edgar Wright]

Aluminum. Aluminum.

[Jason Bateman]

Aluminium.

[Edgar Wright]

Risotto. Risotto. No, I had it when I was young and, and, but I didn't, you know, like the, the thing that the character does in the film to sort of like tune out the tinnitus with music was not something obviously that I could figure out when I was. It was. Happened when I was probably like eight or nine. But it was, it was. Yeah, I did used to have that. So it was something when that kind of idea came back around and knowing people, obviously a lot of people in the music industry have tinnitus. Yeah. So it was, it was. I had had experience of it, but not. Not anymore. Not.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, good.

[Edgar Wright]

I mean, hopefully not again.

[Sean Hayes]

And when did you become. And I'll. I'll say the word, obsessed with music? Because you sent me or you still send me your yearly kind of.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes. End of year playlist.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah. And I listen to it and it's. So it covers all mediums, all kind of genres of music. When did you first listen to an album or a song and be like, you just. You love it?

[Edgar Wright]

Well, I think probably just, you know, my parents. Vinyl, like in the days before, like we were all old enough to remember the days before, like computers and you know, when there's nothing on tv. I mean, I used to kind of like. And I'm sure, like, a lot of people, like, put the White Album on and just watch it go around. Yeah. And watch the vinyl go around, so. I've always been a huge music fan. I think it's probably one. I don't play an instrument, and I think it's one of. One of. If I have a regret, it's that I don't. I mean, I guess I could still start.

[Sean Hayes]

Never too late.

[Edgar Wright]

Too late. But I'll never be. I'll never be a pianist like you, Sean. Although if I would like to play the piano, that would be the instrument I'd like to play.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

Can't do it like that.

[Sean Hayes]

You can, you can, you can.

[Jason Bateman]

But your. Your films, you know, use such a great expression for your. Your. Your sort of musical affinity in film. Right. It's. And it's such a great way to use music, and you do it always so effectively in your films. Do you get really excited by that, by that process of using music in your films?

[Edgar Wright]

I think I have the kind of movie music version of synesthesia where I kind of just imagine it like Baby Driver sort of existed in my head for maybe, like, 20 years before I made it, where it was that song that opens the movie, Bell Bottoms by the John Spencer Blues Explosion. I would, like, hear the song and I would see the scene, and then. I don't know if you guys have this. As, you know, when you're writing is you can see the movie in your head, and the difficult part is writing it down. So I think Baby Driver is one of those films that I kind of saw in my head. And at some point I had to figure out what it was and how I could make it into a film. So that would have been. I do that sometimes fermenting in my brain for a long time. And the music was always. Music was always the thing that inspired the sequences. And it is something that, like, in a lot of the movies I've made is that, like, a song will sort of trigger the entire thing.

[Will Arnett]

What about directing videos? Have you done that? Cause I'd imagine that would be a super exciting thing to do in this area. Yeah, great stuff.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, I've done music videos. I mean, the sad thing is that the kind of, like, the budgets for music videos started going down, like, 25 years ago, and now, you know, like, it isn't a thing in the same way it was, which is a real shame because obviously there are some, like, music videos, like. Well, Michel Gondry. They're like works of art. They belong in a museum. They're incredible. Like, so I have done some, not as many as I'd like, but I've done ones for Beck and Pharrell Williams and I'd like to do more, but they're difficult things to make because they, you know, if you're doing strangers of budget. Yeah, yeah. It's like a lot of pulling favors and you can only do that so many times in a row. I think I did two low budget music videos in a row right after Shaun of the Dead. And I realized after the second one is like, ah, you can't ask people to work for nothing twice in a row.

[Will Arnett]

Whereas the opposite of that would be a lot of fancy directors like you will, in between projects, will do commercials because the budgets are so high and you can get all the fun gear and work with the cinematographer. Maybe you have. Do you do a lot of that at all?

[Edgar Wright]

Not as much as I'd like to. But I mean, I think also the thing with that is also if you've got a crew that you really like is to keep them working.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

You know, and so that's a nice thing is it may not even be working with new crew. Sometimes it's working with the crew that, you know, as you know it like, it can be like three years between movies or four years between movies. So if you have a team of people that you like, working with, doing commercials and music videos is a great way to all keep working together. I mean, I think that's the thing because I write as well. It's, it's. I'm always envious of directors who can kind of do a film a year because it. A minimum. It's like three years between movies for me. And usually when you finished a movie, you kind of think like, oh, we've got this great team, we should just keep going. But it never works out like that. You can't. I've never rolled straight into another movie.

[Will Arnett]

Because you're writing everything you direct. Yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

And I need a nap. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

I remember you saying that years ago, we were talking about something and you said, no, no, I only, I only. I can only direct the things that I write. It's the only way you can kind of get your brain around it. Right. You've always held to that.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, so far. I mean, I. That's not to say that wouldn't change. And you know, and I, you know, I don't write a lot. I mean, Baby Driver is Actually, the only thing I wrote on my own, everything else I've written with co writers, which, you know, like. And I love that and I like doing that, but I wouldn't, I wouldn't rule that out. You know, I think it's that thing where you. I mean, it's really difficult as well with like, something like Shaun of the Dead was a film where to just read the script without knowing how I would direct it or how Simon and Nick would perform it. I think, you know, some actors passed on it because they were just sort of baffled by it, or studios passed on it because they couldn't quite see it. And in a way, you guys. Yeah, you had to see Simon and Nick doing it and you had to see their tone of their naturalistic comedy performance because you could take exactly the same screenplay and make it really broad and silly and it would be an entirely different movie. So it was a thing with that film in particular, and it helped that we had space and we could show people space and say, hey, this is what kind of what it's going to be like. But it wasn't an easy sell for everybody.

[Jason Bateman]

You know, I'm sure, I'm sure it's a narrow target if you look at it that way. It's a comedy, it's a horror film. It's all of these things and it's. It's silly in parts in a way, but you also have to have those. I. I tell you, man, one of my favorite moments in film history, I swear to you, and I reference it all the time, is when. When everybody's surrounded and Nick gets a fucking Frost. Gets a fucking phone call and he answers it.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah. And he's like, surrounded by zombies. Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. You all right? How you doing? Yeah, he's just super talking.

[Edgar Wright]

Talking to his dealer.

[Jason Bateman]

Talking to his dealer. It's so fucking funny to be in this great heightened moment and then it's completely burst by. He gets a phone call and he takes it.

[Will Arnett]

We'll be right back.

[Sean Hayes]

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[Narrator]

The family that vacations together, stays together. At least that was the plan. Except now the dastardly desk clerk is saying he can't confirm your connecting rooms.

[Guest 1]

Wait, what?

[Hotel Desk Clerk]

That's right, ma'.

[Sean Hayes]

Am.

[Hotel Desk Clerk]

You have rooms 201 and 709.

[Guest 1]

No, we cannot be five floors away from our kids.

[Jason Bateman]

Eh?

[Hotel Desk Clerk]

The doors have double locks. They'll be fine.

[Narrator]

When you want connecting rooms confirmed before you arrive, it matters where you stay.

[Guest 1]

Welcome to Hilton. I see your connecting rooms are already.

[Narrator]

Confirmed, Hilton for this day.

[Sean Hayes]

And now back to the show.

[Will Arnett]

Is there a comedic tonal like North Star for you that I'll bet is British, that sort of established what you thought was the funniest kind of comedy when you were growing up?

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, yeah. I mean, I think they were like. There were shows, some of them before my time. And they get repeated. I mean, I feel the shows that were really like the groundbreakers. I mean, obviously Monty Python was before my time, but it was repeated a lot. So that would be something like fawlty towers. Yeah, 40 towers. I mean, the ones that were on TV when I was, you know, like things like Fawlty Towers and Are youe Being Served? Mary Python was slightly before my Are you being served? Was always on.

[Sean Hayes]

I love that show.

[Edgar Wright]

But I think the, the first one that made a really big impact on me, which is more of a culty show in the States, was the Young Ones, which was only like 12 episodes, which was so punk rock. It was.

[Jason Bateman]

It was only 12 episodes.

[Edgar Wright]

I've never seen it. Yeah, it was like one series in 1982, one series in 1984. Every episode ended with them dying. It was such a sort of.

[Sean Hayes]

I love that show.

[Edgar Wright]

It was like a total hand grenade of a show. And I remember I was too young to see it the first time at school, but all of the.

[Will Arnett]

Kind of.

[Edgar Wright]

The cool kids at school were talking about the Young Ones. So when the second series came around, I was all over it.

[Sean Hayes]

And remember, nature sows the seed. We plant the seed. Nature sows the seed. I remember that show that was so good.

[Will Arnett]

I want to see.

[Edgar Wright]

Was incredible, that show. And it really stands up. They used to have bands on every week. They figured out they could get a bigger budget as a variety show if they had a band on. So randomly in the middle of a sitcom like Motorhead would be on all.

[Jason Bateman]

Of a sudden it was such a weird. Yeah, it was so sort of the format of it was so alien to what we were accustomed to. Well, certainly, you know, I don't know about the US But Canada as well. So that when we. I remember seeing it, it was so jarring to watch the first time. Cause it was so unlike anything else.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

I think it was like that on British TV as well when it first came on. I mean, it was. It was the start of something. I mean, alternative comedy, as they called it in the 80s was like huge. And there were like shows that. That haven't traveled over to the US that, you know. I mean, I guess in that pre. Kind of like cable age where things started traveling over like 20 years ago. But prior to that there'd be things like the Day to Day and Brass Eye and Alan Partridge and those shows were like, huge for me.

[Jason Bateman]

When you. When you were. When you were writing, when you were writing comedy specifically, do you find it helpful because you mentioned you wrote, you write with other people and you've written with Simon a lot. Do you. Writing comedy, do you find it helpful to write with somebody else?

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

In terms of sort of. For sort of pace and sort of for tone and all these things and for jokes, obviously.

[Edgar Wright]

I think writing comedy on your own is a very lonely business. Yes, I think writing with a co writer and pinging things off each other or just reading it aloud, I think that's a big thing, is just reading the script aloud to each other. And, you know, you get to the point where you could almost perform it like A play, I think. You know, Baby Driver I wrote on my own, but that was more of an action film. And that was. It was. It was the most difficult script to write because you're constantly looking for, you know, affirmation from somebody. Like, please, somebody read the pages at the end of the day. But, you know, obviously with writing with Simon Pegg or Michael Bacall or Joe Cornish, you know, like, you have immediate feedback pinging off each other.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. Cause if you write something, you're like, oh, this is. Be going to. And if you're writing with somebody else and you sort of go, yeah. And then the guy, blah, blah, blah, and you're writing with goes, yeah, that's pretty good. And you're like, okay, well, yeah, that's a terrible idea. Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

No, I mean, I'd like to write something else like that. And me and Simon keep talking about writing something else together. And I think it really just comes down to just being in the room together, really. It's just like, we gotta do that and just hash it out and have fun with it, you know? Okay.

[Sean Hayes]

Speaking of writing with somebody, you had a writing partner on the Running Man. I wanna talk about the Running Man. I'm so excited for everybody to see this. It's so good. I was blown away, I have to say, listeners.

[Will Arnett]

Sean P. Hayes is in this film.

[Jason Bateman]

Sean is in the Running Man.

[Sean Hayes]

I did it to hang out with Edgar, but. And it was a blast. It was so.

[Edgar Wright]

And you're in the ones. The only scene in the movie that Glenn Powell is not in.

[Sean Hayes]

I know, right?

[Edgar Wright]

I know.

[Jason Bateman]

Was that. Do you requested that, Sean? That's an odd.

[Edgar Wright]

No, Glenn.

[Sean Hayes]

Glenn requested that.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, Glenn did. Glenn specified.

[Sean Hayes]

By the way, I. I spoke to Glenn for a long time yesterday and went on and on about how incredible he is. He is so commanding. And so I said, the greatest gift compliment I could give you, and I gave it to Jason, too, on Black Rabbit is there's nothing lazy about it at all. There's nothing at all. Fully committed, fully into it. He's like a huge action star, Glen Powell. I mean, hands down, like, you buy every single thing he says. It's. He's amazing.

[Will Arnett]

This movie looks huge.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, it's huge. It's so good. And I remember, just to start off the first day, I was so embarrassed. I made some stupid joke, like, I'm gonna connect with the crew and make them, like me, not thinking they'd already been there for 14 hours when I came for rehearsal. And I said, some stupid joke and nobody Laughed. I was like, oh, God, this is gonna be fucking awful. And then I fell into the hole off the stage.

[Edgar Wright]

Nobody remembers that.

[Will Arnett]

No, they do now.

[Jason Bateman]

They do now. And.

[Sean Hayes]

And I thank God it didn't hurt, but I was like, oh, my God, I fell on. I fell on the phone.

[Jason Bateman]

What was the joke that you tried to connect with the crew?

[Sean Hayes]

I said, the reason the movie got lit greenlit is here. Oh, no.

[Edgar Wright]

I remember that now.

[Will Arnett]

The walking green light has arrived.

[Sean Hayes]

So.

[Edgar Wright]

But anyway, it was great. You were great. I have to rectify something, Jason. We have to work together. Because I've now worked with two of the three people on this call because I did a voiceover in my Grindhouse trailer. Don't.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes.

[Edgar Wright]

And Sean is in the Running man, so, Jason, I have to complete the set.

[Will Arnett]

Nothing would make me happier.

[Jason Bateman]

Okay, can I make a picture?

[Edgar Wright]

Dregs of Humanity. The movie.

[Jason Bateman]

Dregs of Humanity. Or just. Or it's your next move.

[Edgar Wright]

It's your next. What's that character doing now?

[Will Arnett]

Teen Wolf 3 and 3D. Let's do it.

[Edgar Wright]

How are you spelling three?

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, that's a great.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, there's a few e. There's a few too many E's on it.

[Sean Hayes]

Okay, so talk about the Running man, because it was incredible. You shot through November through March, right. Of last. Last November through March.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

And what drew you to it? For people who don't know, for Tracy, there was a Running man movie in the 80s with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and it's. I did not.

[Jason Bateman]

Richard Dawson.

[Sean Hayes]

Yes, And Richard Dawson. Right. And I did not know it at the time that it was a Stephen King book. I didn't know that. I thought it was an original idea.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, it was one of the books he wrote under his pseudonym, Richard Backman. He wrote like five novels before he got rumbled. Maybe four novels before he got rumbled. As Richard Backman. It was a pseudonym that he wrote for, like non horror stuff. And so the Running man was written in 1982, and the Schwarzenegger 87 version is a very loose adaptation of the books, which is one of the things that attracted me because I'd read the book as a teenager. I think, probably, like a lot of people, Stephen King was a real gateway author for me in the sense of I was reading his books in my early teens, and it was probably some of the first grown up books I ever read. And the Running man made a particular impression on me. And I'd actually read the book before I'd seen the Schwarzenegger film. Film. So I was Aware that it was drastically different. And so I was always interested in. In doing a new adaptation of it because I thought, well, this is a book that hasn't really been adapted. Yeah. So. And of course I dream to adapt a Stephen King book. And. And yeah, so it was, it was. I mean, I. It's different. It's difficult for me to talk about when I'm still making it. But I. I mean, you've seen the movie, Sean. But it's. It's been such a kind of adventure. It's also funny as well. Like, it has some. One of the things why you want to say Glenn's in every scene except the one that Shaun's in. Shaun's in a show that Glen is watching right at the start of the movie. He's a host of a different game show that's not the Running Man. Right. But Glenn is in every scene because in the book, one of the things that was really intense about the book is that you see the entire thing through Ben Richards point of view. And that was something that I thought, well, that's something that's not in other movies like this. Usually they cut away to the baddies or you go to kind of like another location or somebody else watching the show. But we stay with Glenn and his, you know, like, subjective, intense experience, his point of view. So it was. And you know, so Glenn was on set every day and he really brought it. It was amazing. But it was an amazing cast all around. Like, in fact, I was just talking to a friend of the show, Josh Brolin, who's in the movie, and he.

[Jason Bateman]

Said, hi, the other jb. The real J. Jb. We love Josh Colman.

[Edgar Wright]

Domingo, Michael Cera, Michael Ceramic, your other colleague. First time we worked together since Scott Pilgrim. Emilia Jones, Jamie Lawson. Shawn Hayes is in the movie.

[Sean Hayes]

Yes, sure, sure. And Julia Cumming, your amazing girlfriend. Who's this? She was in the scene with me and I love her and she is an incredible singer and I love her music. That's all I wanted to say about that.

[Edgar Wright]

There you go.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, that's all you wanted to say?

[Will Arnett]

When do we get to. When do we get to enjoy this film?

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, November 14th.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, just.

[Edgar Wright]

It's coming. It's coming very soon. It's. It's. I've never made a movie. I don't know if you guys ever. I've never made a movie that's been finished so close to release.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

And it's exciting and nerve wracking at the same time, but like, it's. It's Crazy that, you know, it probably will be finished in like a week's time or something like that, which is wild.

[Sean Hayes]

I can't wait to see it again. And I read that you can only get through directing drinking espresso. Are you still drinking espresso in post?

[Edgar Wright]

It's way too much. Way too much.

[Sean Hayes]

It's too much.

[Will Arnett]

No trouble sleeping?

[Edgar Wright]

Yes, lots of trouble sleeping. I have to knock myself out with melatonin and edibles.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, God. I'm with you.

[Will Arnett]

Welcome.

[Sean Hayes]

I'm with you.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

What.

[Jason Bateman]

What do you think? You know, it's funny. You. You've done lots of so many things in different areas and. And. But comedy's always kind of at the heart of what you do. So whether it's horror or action, there's always the. You know, comedy's always there. Have you. Do you want to get back into. And do you have any desire to just go pure comedy again and go into something? Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

No, I. I think. And also, you know, as. As we all know, as I'm. I'm. I'm still want to make movies for the big screen, and for some reason at the moment, comedy has kind of like, sort of, you know, like, not being made for, like, the sort of the cinema anymore, which is really strange. But I think things are cyclical. I think it will come back.

[Jason Bateman]

Well, because they always have to have the. And your films have big. A lot. A lot of your films have these big elements to it, and they're very. As Jason pointed out early on, you have a. You have a great visual style and you have a great. And so that's all part of it. It kind of sort of complements the whole thing. But I. When I go back and I think about space, even now, as I'm thinking about how simple it. And how much it was just on the. You know, the writing and the direction, the acting and just the pure comedy of all that must be attractive to you on a certain level to kind of. Oh, yeah, get back to something a little simpler in that way.

[Edgar Wright]

I think so. Or it's finding what that is that sort of like. I mean, there's. I mean, listen, you know, I'm gonna flatter you both, but, like, you know, Arrested Development was one of the biggest joke delivery machines on tv. It had the kind of speed of a Marx Brothers film. And that was the thing that I think when me and Simon, you know, like, would talk about that show all the time, you know, because also American shows at that time, when they were network shows, 22 minutes long and like, you know, with like 22 minutes and like 500 jokes. Incredible. And I love. I love those things. I mean, I'm still like a huge comedy fan. And you know, the best comedy films that just like, you know, obviously when I was growing up, things like the Zucker Brothers films. Zucker, Abraham Zucker. I shouldn't leave Jim Abrams out. But, you know, things like Airplane and Top Secret, those films are huge for me. You know, the Python movies, the Marx Brothers, like, just like. I just. I don't know how many times I've watched Monkey Business and Duck Soup.

[Sean Hayes]

Duck Soup. I watch Duck Soup every New Year's Eve.

[Edgar Wright]

Yeah, it's incredible.

[Jason Bateman]

It's so funny. For me on the Extreme is. I used to. Edgar, I suspect you've seen it and I don't. This is not a recommendation for anybody to watch it because it's very jarring and a lot of people have. But I'm a huge fan of it because it's. I've never seen anything so densely packed. More densely packed with jokes. Pure, just jokes. And again, a lot of it, people. I've had people react with tears in their eyes. Cause they feel so jarred by it. Xavier Renegade, Angel.

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, you know what? I have never seen this show, but Bill Hader talks about it all the time.

[Jason Bateman]

Hader loves it too.

[Edgar Wright]

And I didn't like, a lot of the Adult Swim shows never made it over to the uk.

[Jason Bateman]

Like the guys who did Wonder shows.

[Edgar Wright]

And. Oh yeah, I have seen that.

[Jason Bateman]

Vernon Chapman and what's in John Lee. They did it is a absolutely. You want to talk about wall to wall jokes? There's nothing else but jokes. And it's also very disturbing.

[Will Arnett]

So this is an animated show.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. I send this with a big warning. There's a big warning because people will. People. They'll end up responding to this episode with tears in their eyes. Like, man, you really fucked me up with that. Executive Renegade Angel.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, really?

[Jason Bateman]

Holy shit. Anyway, sorry, that's just Edgar.

[Sean Hayes]

What's the. What's the best. We'll leave on this. What's the best piece of advice you've gotten? And the worst?

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, God, the worst advice.

[Sean Hayes]

The best. The best and worst was from a guy who used to run a big studio. He said, be patient. Just be patient. Which is the best and the worst.

[Will Arnett]

Advice and the worst.

[Sean Hayes]

It's both. It is.

[Edgar Wright]

I wish I had a great, pithy answer for this. I remember somebody said to me like that. I mean, I say to people all the time, is that because sometimes I feel that people make movies and that they're making movies to kind of fulfill a brief. I think you. And I don't know if everybody ever says, but you have to be the cinema. You have to make the movie that you want to see as a customer. And so I'm always. And so I can't believe I'm, like, telling you advice that I've given myself or given to other people. But it is that thing, as I think that's the thing that I think about all the time, is I want to be the audience member. And I think as a film director, you're always just chasing that thrill of the film that you saw or the film that you want to see, that if you didn't make this film yourself, you would want to be the biggest fan of it. And I think that's something that's just. I haven't really answered your question, Shaun, but I think that's always. The thing that I return to, is just sort of trying to. And be sincere in the process of make. Make the movie that, you know, that you would want to see instead of.

[Will Arnett]

Trying to guess what they want.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

Because I think. I think that comes up. I think you can tell those movies where people are kind of working in genres that they don't necessarily love. I think you can tell. I think when people, like, really love what they're doing, it's. It's. It's palpable and it's infectious.

[Jason Bateman]

You know, I bet you have those moments. I'm kind of visualizing you having a moment. Like, can you remember moments, maybe on Running man where you. There was a big moment or a big shot or something happened, and when you yell cut, you were like, fuck, yes.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

Well, you never. People always say, like. I mean, even in comedies especially, they say, like, oh, you guys look like you're having such a blast. And you always say, well, you never have time, you know, on a schedule to stand around and high five each other afterwards. It's like. Even after the most famous bit in the film, like, when the film comes out, you know, on the day, it's like, okay, so now we're gonna put the camera over here. And now we're gonna get this shot. And, you know, Jason, you know this. It's just. You're always moving on to the next thing.

[Will Arnett]

But then you see it in the editing room, but it's just you and the editor, and you're like, oh, God, I wish I had them all around to watch this right now. What they've all created.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Edgar Wright]

I think the times that you have that moment actually is when you're doing a scene in one take. If it's. Because then I think what happens is you're all watching the playback through crowds around the monitor. Because, like, did we get it?

[Sean Hayes]

Did.

[Edgar Wright]

Did it work? And there are quite a few. Like, one is in the Running Man. So those are usually the times when the crew really bond over something is like Baby Driver. Like, the opening credits of the film is like a three minute take and with lots of choreography and, you know, so everybody crowds around the monitor to see whether it works and whether we got it. So I think those are the moments, I think, where usually everything else is you just shooting, shooting, shooting, and then, like, you know, it's the end of the day.

[Will Arnett]

Well, you can really tell how much you love what you do watching your stuff.

[Jason Bateman]

You're.

[Sean Hayes]

You're.

[Will Arnett]

You're one of the most exciting filmmakers that we have, Edgar. It's truly a joy watching everything that you do.

[Sean Hayes]

So great.

[Will Arnett]

Wait to see Running Man.

[Jason Bateman]

It's been awesome. And you've been. And you've been so supportive of us. You. You were one of the first people to text me when we started doing this podcast years ago, and you've always been so sweet about it, so.

[Edgar Wright]

Well, it made me miss hanging out with you guys. We'll get back to the middle of the pandemic. And I was like. And then I said, start texting us, saying, oh, I miss you. But then I hear you every week. It feels like my life and stuff.

[Will Arnett]

Finish up your post and get back.

[Jason Bateman]

I'm gonna be in London in 10 days and I'm gonna.

[Edgar Wright]

I know. You know what? I. I have tickets to see. Is this thing on?

[Will Arnett]

Oh, you do such a good movie. You'll love it.

[Edgar Wright]

Unless I'm mixing. I'll be there.

[Jason Bateman]

Great. Great. Please be there.

[Edgar Wright]

But no, I actually got tickets ahead of time. I was gonna tell you that I'll.

[Sean Hayes]

See you in London.

[Jason Bateman]

I can't wait to see you. Oh, good. I hope you come. I hope you come to be.

[Sean Hayes]

And we all. We always say, like, you know, everybody check out whatever movie or whatever somebody's promoting. But I don't have to tell people to check out the Running man because just watch the trailer. People are going to come. It's incredible.

[Jason Bateman]

I'm so excited for the Running Man.

[Sean Hayes]

It's incredible.

[Jason Bateman]

I'm so excited to see this.

[Edgar Wright]

Let me put it this way. The guy who got the film greenlit is on the call.

[Will Arnett]

Hey.

[Edgar Wright]

Bravo.

[Jason Bateman]

Bravo.

[Sean Hayes]

Wait. Really?

[Edgar Wright]

Paramount were like, well, we're not sure about the. This at this budget level. And they said, John Hayes is in. Okay, here we go.

[Sean Hayes]

Check, check, check, check, check. But we did really quick. We saw Giant a couple years ago. You're like, let's go see Giant with Rock Hudson and James Dean.

[Edgar Wright]

At the Vista.

[Sean Hayes]

At the Vista, right? And we go. And. Because I knew you had a sweet tooth, too, because you had Junior Mint sent to the set of Baby Driver. And I go to the lobby and I get a pack of Swedish fish, finish them, and I come go get another one with another packet of Swedish Fish. And you turn him and you go, wow. So it's really true.

[Edgar Wright]

Oh, the lights. The lights have gone out again. This must be.

[Sean Hayes]

Anyway, we love you. Thank you for being here, Edgar.

[Edgar Wright]

It's so nice to see your faces.

[Jason Bateman]

It's so good to see you.

[Edgar Wright]

I'll see you all soon in person.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes.

[Will Arnett]

Thanks for doing this.

[Sean Hayes]

Love you, pal.

[Jason Bateman]

So good to see you.

[Will Arnett]

Love you, pal.

[Edgar Wright]

Bye. Bye. Bye.

[Jason Bateman]

See you.

[Edgar Wright]

I'm gonna do the traditional slamming of the laptop.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, yeah, there you go. That Edgar, I mean, he's just. You know, I called you a stuffed animal with blood on my recent press tour as an attempt to say the most flattering thing I could possibly say about you. Cause you're so goddamn sweet. But he would be the stuffed animal with blood that's sitting right next to you. Yeah, he's the guy on the daybed. He's such a good.

[Sean Hayes]

Such a good person.

[Jason Bateman]

Such a good person. So sweet. Always been. He's always so warm. And then it sort of. It betrays, like, this incredible talent that he has and that one of our great filmmakers, you know, I know.

[Sean Hayes]

Love him the pieces.

[Will Arnett]

Love to watch him do his thing on set.

[Sean Hayes]

It's so fun. He's so. He's so, like, calm.

[Jason Bateman]

And he brings people together, too. I mean, he did. Right? You know, he's introduced us to so many of our friends that we became friends with over the years. Certainly to me and, you know, lifelong friends. Pete Serafinowich, obviously, we mentioned before, and all those guys in sim. He's just such a great people person and, you know, he's just such a great person.

[Will Arnett]

Yep.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. Good friend. Jason. You look like.

[Sean Hayes]

You look like you have to go.

[Will Arnett]

I was grinding on a buy right then, but I know none of them seemed really good enough.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, I know. You got it. Is there anything that you. That was sort of coming close?

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, well, usually, you know, he's a great person who brings a bunch of people together and makes it really hard to say goodbye to those people. But that's too literal.

[Sean Hayes]

You gotta commit it.

[Will Arnett]

I mean, the fact that he lives in England and also in no, don't do that one by by country.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, we haven't used that one.

[Jason Bateman]

I mean, look, it's loose. It's loose, but it'll work.

[Sean Hayes]

Talk about loose.

[Jason Bateman]

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[Jason Bateman]

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