"RE-RELEASE: Don Cheadle"

Summary

SmartLess Podcast Episode Summary: "RE-RELEASE: Don Cheadle"

Podcast Information:

• Title: SmartLess
• Hosts: Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett
• Guest: Don Cheadle
• Description: In this episode, the SmartLess trio welcomes the immensely accomplished Don Cheadle. Through a blend of thoughtful dialogue and organic hilarity, the conversation delves into Don's multifaceted career in acting, directing, and music, offering listeners a deep dive into his experiences and insights.

---

1. Welcoming Don Cheadle

[07:10] The hosts enthusiastically introduce Don Cheadle, highlighting his extensive career in television, film, theater, and his Grammy-winning musical endeavors. Will Arnett jokes about Don's impressive resume, setting a warm and humorous tone for the episode.

Will Arnett: "He's done everything. He's a new friend. Oh, okay. Okay. We met online and he is also a Capricorn..."

2. Don's Current Projects and Atlanta Life

[10:53] Don shares insights into his current project, Fight Night, and his experience working alongside notable actors like Kevin Hart and Samuel L. Jackson. He discusses the vibrant film scene in Atlanta, attributing much of his recent work to the city's growing influence in Hollywood.

Don Cheadle: "I've been here a bunch because a lot of the Marvel stuff was here... I'm looking forward to getting up to the mountains and the lakes."

3. Early Career and Acting Journey

[18:46] Don recounts his beginnings in acting, working on early projects like Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He shares a memorable behind-the-scenes story about a pilot that was ultimately canceled, illustrating the unpredictable nature of the entertainment industry.

Don Cheadle: "We shot the pilot. It's called In the House. I wrote the theme song. It was on the schedule... the next day they called saying, it's off the schedule."

4. Balancing Music and Acting

[22:36] The conversation shifts to Don's passion for music, particularly jazz. He discusses how his initial pursuit of music intersected with his acting career and how jazz continues to play a significant role in his life, even influencing his work on projects like the Miles Ahead soundtrack.

Don Cheadle: "There's no greater pleasure... than being with musicians and creating music. It's all about improvisation and connection."

5. Directing Experiences and Challenges

[35:18] Don delves into his experiences as a director, highlighting both the creative satisfaction and the immense pressure that comes with the role. He shares candid anecdotes about unexpected challenges on set, emphasizing the resilience required to succeed behind the camera.

Don Cheadle: "It's the pressure. Good actors need to be thick-skinned... I've been fortunate to have great experiences, but directing has its own set of challenges."

6. Crafting Authentic Performances

[53:11] Jason Bateman probes Don about his acting techniques, particularly his approach to accents. Don discusses the importance of authenticity and preparation, recounting his experience adopting a British accent for Ocean's Eleven and the mixed reactions it garnered.

Don Cheadle: "I sat in my trailer with a vocal coach, working on diphthongs and schwas... People were split on it. Some hated it, others appreciated the effort."

7. Overcoming Industry Hurdles

[49:18] The hosts and Don discuss the frequent rejections and setbacks actors face. Don shares his personal experiences of being "fired" from roles and how perseverance and a supportive network have been crucial to his sustained success.

Don Cheadle: "I've been fortunate. My acting has blessed career... I've never done anything else to support myself beyond acting."

8. Personal Insights and Life Philosophy

[40:35] Don reflects on the importance of a strong upbringing and close-knit relationships in shaping his positive outlook and ability to navigate the pressures of Hollywood. He emphasizes the value of surrounding oneself with supportive and genuine people.

Don Cheadle: "I was very fortunate to have solid parents... and close friends from elementary school and college who are still in my life."

9. Memorable Anecdotes and Stories

[59:27] The conversation is peppered with humorous and poignant stories from Don's theater days, including a tragic mishap during a Shakespearean play that left a lasting impression on him.

Don Cheadle: "We had an actor who forgot his lines during Cymbeline. It led to a heartbreaking moment where he said he wanted to kill himself."

10. Closing Remarks and Future Collaborations

[66:35] As the episode nears its end, the hosts express their admiration for Don's talent and kindness. Don reciprocates the sentiments, celebrating his burgeoning friendships and professional relationships within the industry.

Don Cheadle: "I'm a big Jason Bateman fan... I love everything you're doing."

---

Notable Quotes:

• Don Cheadle on Authenticity in Acting:
  "[Don] I feel like that part of it often gets overlooked that we're always in school, trying to learn new things." [59:21]

• Don on Overcoming Rejections:
  "For me, the acting thing has been... super fortunate. I've never done anything but this to support myself." [49:32]

• Sean Hayes on Personal Connections:
  "It's a measure of somebody... how many old friends they have from back in the day." [42:53]

---

Conclusion:

In this enriching episode of SmartLess, Don Cheadle offers a candid and insightful look into his diverse career and personal philosophy. From navigating the challenges of acting and directing to embracing his love for jazz, Don exemplifies resilience, passion, and authenticity. The hosts' dynamic interaction with Don provides listeners with both laughter and profound takeaways, making this episode a standout addition to the SmartLess series.

Transcript

[Jason Bateman]

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[Will Arnett]

Perfect gifts.

[Don Cheadle]

We've got em at Nordstrom Rack stores now. Ugg, Nike, Barefoot Dreams, Kate Spade, New York and more. Find everything on their wish list all in one place.

[Jason Bateman]

Steve Madden.

[Sean Hayes]

Yes, please. It's perfect.

[Don Cheadle]

Did we just score the greatest gifts of all time?

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

Head to your Nordstrom Rack store to score great brands, great prices, the greatest.

[Will Arnett]

Gifts of all time.

[Jason Bateman]

Hi, everybody. How was your day today?

[Sean Hayes]

Are you asking us or the audience? And you were expecting an answer from the audience?

[Will Arnett]

You know, the audience is not. Mike.

[Jason Bateman]

You guys. Sorry. Well, no, I was asked. Oh, they're not.

[Sean Hayes]

Since when do you call me and jb everybody?

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, no, I call you guys the audience.

[Will Arnett]

Because you think that's the only people listening to you. It's just us too.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

You've got higher responsibilities in that. Let's with the good stuff.

[Sean Hayes]

Judging by this opening we're after, it's going to be a great smartness. Welcome to it. Smart.

[Don Cheadle]

Smart.

[Sean Hayes]

Smart.

[Will Arnett]

L. What's on your cap there? Is that a college?

[Jason Bateman]

It's isu. Illinois State University, where I have an honorary doctorate and a scholarship fund set up for people who want to go into music or the arts and, sorry, acting.

[Sean Hayes]

And are they still accredited? I mean, after that you got a diploma? I heard that after they give you a diploma that they were stripped of their power.

[Will Arnett]

That's like a real on. Is that an online university?

[Jason Bateman]

I still wear my sash to bed.

[Sean Hayes]

Once they did an assessment of your intellect, they're like, we gave this guy a diploma.

[Will Arnett]

Did you really go to isu?

[Jason Bateman]

I went to Illinois State University, yeah. It's one of the greatest colleges ever.

[Will Arnett]

Okay, well, hang on.

[Sean Hayes]

Let's quickly Google that.

[Will Arnett]

Let's see.

[Sean Hayes]

Because I don't think you're gonna like.

[Jason Bateman]

First theater for theater. By the way, you know who went there? Me. Jane Lynch. Craig Robinson and I were music majors together. I know we.

[Sean Hayes]

I know we've had them on the podcast.

[Jason Bateman]

I know. We talked about that.

[Sean Hayes]

We talked about it for like half an hour.

[Will Arnett]

Hey, Arnett, where'd you go to School.

[Sean Hayes]

I didn't. I dropped out, man.

[Jason Bateman]

No, but you did go to boarding school.

[Sean Hayes]

You know where I went? I went to Hard Knocks, dude.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, bro.

[Sean Hayes]

The streets.

[Jason Bateman]

The hard Not Life with Annie.

[Sean Hayes]

Toronto.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

The streets of Toronto.

[Will Arnett]

Did you go?

[Don Cheadle]

Do.

[Will Arnett]

You went. You went to. Excuse me, You. Excuse me. You went to an additional. Additional voluntary school.

[Sean Hayes]

I did for half. Half a year. I know. I love. You.

[Will Arnett]

Volunteer. No, actually, I should invert that. Voluntary additional school and. Yeah. Just didn't understand the concept of that, you know, like.

[Sean Hayes]

Well, yeah.

[Will Arnett]

I mean, I now have an option to not go, so taking that option.

[Sean Hayes]

Sure.

[Jason Bateman]

Kind of good joke.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, sure. Love.

[Sean Hayes]

Jump in. I. I didn't realize that you were grabbing the reins here. We were just merrily going down a path. But let's talk more about your school. Let's just go. Okay.

[Jason Bateman]

Let's talk more about your school.

[Sean Hayes]

I didn't go.

[Will Arnett]

No, let's not.

[Jason Bateman]

Here we go. Ready? The best gift I ever received was a broken drum. You can't beat it.

[Will Arnett]

Okay, that's all right. That's okay. He doesn't claim that these to be great jokes.

[Jason Bateman]

I got a couple laughs in the background there.

[Will Arnett]

You should say, do you want to hear a dad joke? If you say, no, I don't like.

[Sean Hayes]

I don't.

[Will Arnett]

People are ready for something good. Dad joke means it's not.

[Sean Hayes]

I don't like the term dad joke. I think that that's. I think that's lazy to call it.

[Will Arnett]

How about bad joke? Just say bad joke. So people aren't expecting to lie.

[Sean Hayes]

Like a pun.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

That's okay to say.

[Jason Bateman]

I got one more. You got one more.

[Will Arnett]

Are there any mom jokes?

[Jason Bateman]

Here's a mom joke. What's faster, hot or cold? Hot. You can always catch a cold.

[Will Arnett]

That's good. That's good. That's pretty good. I guarantee you at least one of our listeners will be using that today. After they get out of their car, of course, or off their subway or done with their jog. You know, it's fun. You're welcome.

[Sean Hayes]

I love. Just. No, hang on, Sean. I love Jason Shine too. Imagine what regular people do. It's so fun. They get on the subway and then they jog and then they kiss their kids goodbye. Walk outdoor, go to job, say, hi, boss office.

[Will Arnett]

Want to hear joke?

[Sean Hayes]

Want to hear a joke at water cooler with me? I love Succession to nyc.

[Will Arnett]

What are you watching?

[Sean Hayes]

I'm also watching Succession. Are you watching it? I am also worried about saying that I don't like it. You're worried that you're saying I do like it. I'm just making the joke.

[Will Arnett]

Not real. Real good opening patter, everybody.

[Jason Bateman]

Did everybody sleep well? I slept really well.

[Will Arnett]

Patter's over. Let's get to our high level guest. Really good though.

[Sean Hayes]

Did you for the first. Actually, that is worth it.

[Will Arnett]

You want to talk to us about your sleep? The guest is not going to wait for your sleep.

[Sean Hayes]

Well, it's very rare that he has good sleep before we get into it. It is true, Sean, and I'm happy for you. And there's nobody. We talk about it all the time. Right, Sean? Yesterday morning, jb, Sean, I said to him, hey, you got a second? Let me know when you got a second. Like seven. I'm up at six. I said, let me know when you got a second.

[Jason Bateman]

It was like seven.

[Sean Hayes]

It was at seven. He calls me and I go. And I thought that he was back. You know, his usual thing. He wakes up in the middle of the night and then he goes back to bed at 6:30 until 10 is whatever. And he was up and he'd been up since 3:30.

[Jason Bateman]

3:30.

[Sean Hayes]

And he's been on a bad run of not being able to sleep. So.

[Jason Bateman]

So I slept all through the night. I got up to pee and I went right back to sleep.

[Will Arnett]

And why do you think that is? Did you load up on a bunch of sugar before you went to bed?

[Jason Bateman]

I did a little bit, but because of yesterday, I think that what Will's talking about. I think I ran myself around in circles like a little child being up at 3:30. And then I just crashed and it made me sleep all night long. It was awesome.

[Sean Hayes]

You nabbed.

[Will Arnett]

What a fucking story.

[Jason Bateman]

I'll nap like, I'll nap like. I'll nap like 10 minutes. Anyway, so good that we stopped for that.

[Will Arnett]

You were right, Will. Silly me. So today's guest is so immensely accomplished.

[Sean Hayes]

We'Re gonna see Bateman's face. What a fucking story.

[Will Arnett]

I mean, God, who else slept through the whole night? Make sure you call in, our lines are open and love to hear about it. So our next guest is so accomplished and so universally loved. Okay. He's done everything. He's done television, film, theater.

[Sean Hayes]

Wow.

[Will Arnett]

He's even got a Grammy. I believe it's been comedy, it's been drama, it's been popcorn movies, it's been Academy movies. I just don't know what else to say about this fella except he's a new friend. Oh, okay. Okay. We met online and he is also a Capricorn and. No, he is a New friend that I'm very excited about. He swings a mean golf club.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, I thought the way that started was he swings.

[Jason Bateman]

I know, I know. I was like, oh, what?

[Will Arnett]

He'll take you where you want to go on the weekends. Okay. Well, that's what I'm saying. But listen, I love him. He's here. Very kind of him to say yes, because this is a big shot. Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Don Cheadle. Hello, Don.

[Jason Bateman]

I love Don Cheadle, people.

[Don Cheadle]

What's happening?

[Sean Hayes]

Good morning, Don.

[Jason Bateman]

Don Cheadle's done.

[Will Arnett]

You know what I was trying to remember, Don? What is that great nickname that you were given because you're so smooth? I couldn't remember. You told me this on the golf course.

[Don Cheadle]

I think Kelly Slater said that was very Donchalant.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, Donchalant.

[Jason Bateman]

Is that a new. Is that a new nickname? That's really clever.

[Don Cheadle]

It's. I'm trying to put it out there. You know, I was going to try to trademark it, but I was unsuccessful.

[Sean Hayes]

Donchalon is out there now. Just. Just FYI, It's. It's fully out there. And if you happen to run into Don Jeet on the streets, just immediately. Don Chalant. Yeah, let him know.

[Don Cheadle]

Mr. Shalant, you can single gun it or double gun it. I don't.

[Sean Hayes]

Okay.

[Will Arnett]

Don.

[Sean Hayes]

Don Cheadle. Hi.

[Will Arnett]

Good morning.

[Don Cheadle]

What's up, gang?

[Jason Bateman]

I love Don Cheadle.

[Don Cheadle]

You know, the. The team was like, you've got to do these guys podcast. It's. You're going to love them. I love all of you, individually and collectively. Not as. Not as much. When I sat through the banter, the.

[Will Arnett]

Early banter, it's like, remember the. Remember the joy that Regis and Kathie Lee used to give you with that. With that first 10 minutes of coffee patter?

[Jason Bateman]

Right.

[Will Arnett]

That's what we're reaching for, Don, you know?

[Don Cheadle]

No, it was a strong six minutes.

[Sean Hayes]

Don. Don, where are we finding you right now? Because. And the reason I ask is because you look like you're either coming from or going to the golf course because you're wearing a zip up. But I want to say, which is surprising because you are such. You're so busy and rightfully so. Cause you're always. You fit in that category for me, too. Of people who are always good no matter what the project is. You're so consistently awesome all the time in work.

[Don Cheadle]

Wait till you see this one. Who's gonna take that down?

[Sean Hayes]

I don't know.

[Jason Bateman]

You know what? You know what, Scotty?

[Don Cheadle]

I appreciate that.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. Scotty and I just watched just last week, not even knowing, obviously, that you were gonna be on, because you're Jason's guest. We watched Mission to Mars.

[Don Cheadle]

I was in there, and I was.

[Jason Bateman]

Like, there's Don again. And you're brilliant in it.

[Sean Hayes]

Always. Always brilliant.

[Jason Bateman]

Because, you know, I'll watch anything sci fi.

[Will Arnett]

I am picking up on surprise in Sean's voice, though, right when he says, and you're brilliant.

[Don Cheadle]

It was like.

[Jason Bateman]

No, no, you were pretty good. No, no, I meant to. To Will's point.

[Sean Hayes]

I didn't know you were an actor.

[Jason Bateman]

You're.

[Don Cheadle]

And that you could grow facial hair. I thought it was only Jason who could.

[Will Arnett]

This is not really facial hair. This is disgusting.

[Jason Bateman]

No, it was great.

[Don Cheadle]

You're great.

[Will Arnett]

So, Don.

[Don Cheadle]

I'm in Atlanta. Will, to answer your question, I'm in Atlanta.

[Sean Hayes]

You're in Atlanta.

[Will Arnett]

And what's happening there in Atlanta? Working on something, no doubt.

[Don Cheadle]

I am working on something. It's a project called Fight Night. And I am in this wonderful project with who you guys had on the show. Kevin Hart, Sam Jackson, Taraji Henson, Terrence Howard.

[Sean Hayes]

Wow.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, it's. It should be. It should be. I'm looking forward to it.

[Jason Bateman]

I just.

[Don Cheadle]

I've shot one day, so I'm, you know, I'm looking forward to.

[Will Arnett]

So you can still be fired. They can still easily reshoot one day early enough. Yeah. So watch it.

[Don Cheadle]

I've been replaced before. It wouldn't be the first time.

[Will Arnett]

No, have you. I've been replaced before. Oh, I have.

[Jason Bateman]

I've been.

[Don Cheadle]

I didn't mean to bring something pink.

[Sean Hayes]

I love the. I love the Ds. Like, no, I have.

[Will Arnett]

No.

[Sean Hayes]

Sorry. I was just kidding you.

[Will Arnett]

Of course mine was.

[Don Cheadle]

Why do you think I'm on your show?

[Will Arnett]

Mine was the cruelest, though, because I worked my nards off on this pilot. We shot the pilot. It went well. So I thought. And then, like, a couple of days before the big announcements happen about whether pilots are going to get picked up to go to series, I get a call from my agent saying, you are going to. Good news, bad news. Good news is the show got picked up. And I said, unbelievable. He goes, here, let me finish. The bad news is that they're going to go a different direction with your character. And I said, okay. Two days later, found out they're actually not picking up the show. So, I mean, it's just like the worst 48 hours.

[Don Cheadle]

So good, bad, good.

[Will Arnett]

Well.

[Sean Hayes]

But I agree with Don.

[Will Arnett]

I could have been spared all of it by just them saying, well, we're not picking up the show. Basically, we're all fired. You know.

[Don Cheadle]

Are you still with this agent?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah. That's good.

[Will Arnett]

Exactly. No, no, no. That's three or four.

[Sean Hayes]

But it's good to know. I like. It is personal a little bit because they were like, hey, we know the show's not getting picked up, but let's let Bateman know, even if it did, he wasn't coming with.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

In the event that this is going forward. Not you.

[Sean Hayes]

I got fired, too. I got fired off a pilot the year that went to series, the year before we started Arrested Development.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, God bless.

[Sean Hayes]

And had I been. Had I not been, I would have been stuck on that show. Don, wait a second. So you're in Atlanta. You're doing this thing with. With. With Sam Jackson. Are you. Are you potentially playing golf with Sam today?

[Don Cheadle]

You know, Sam has been on IR for a minute. I hope he comes off, because I would love to. You know, we used to play a lot, but what's ir? He's nursing an injury or two. Fingers crossed.

[Will Arnett]

How's. How's his game?

[Don Cheadle]

Sam was like a four.

[Will Arnett]

What?

[Sean Hayes]

Wow.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah. Damn it.

[Sean Hayes]

Wow.

[Will Arnett]

There's all these people, the games. So easy to so many people.

[Don Cheadle]

Well, you know, Sam famously, you know, whenever he would get a gig, a part of his contract was they had to get him a membership to whatever local course there was because he's such a freak about it.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, really?

[Will Arnett]

No shit.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, he played everywhere. I was like, you can do that. Sam also was, you know, mister, if you force me, you're bringing me $900 in cash in an envelope the next day. Like a drug dealer. I was like, this dude's my hero.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, that's, by the way, Jason. You could. Jason, right now, you see, he looked down, he's just gone. His phone speed dialed to CAA, right? He's like, what the fuck?

[Will Arnett]

About 12 country clubs short. Damn it.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Yes. All right, now, how do you like. How do you like Atlanta? You know, I've worked there a lot, and I always. I always thought that it was not going to be a place for me. And every time I work there, I just love it more and more and more. Are you enjoying yourself there? You've worked there a bunch?

[Don Cheadle]

Yes, I've worked here a bunch because a lot of the Marvel stuff was here.

[Will Arnett]

Right.

[Don Cheadle]

And I've kind of been around it a little bit more, but this is probably the longest stretch that I'm going to be here, so I'm looking forward to, like, getting up to the mountains and the lakes and just checking it all out.

[Jason Bateman]

So. So I did a movie there a long time ago in Atlanta during the summer. Did you guys shoot those. All those Marvel movies in, like, the summertime because you can't breathe. It's so hot.

[Don Cheadle]

Hot, hot.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, yeah. And. And how do you. You're in those costumes and running around in that heat. Is that what it.

[Sean Hayes]

And you're in space.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, I mean, I think that was the. Oh, that's a callback. I was going.

[Jason Bateman]

No, but I mean, isn't that brutal?

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, it's brutal. I mean, I was, you know, I'm from Kansas City, Missouri, where, you know, 98 degrees and 98% humidity. So I was. I was. I was born for this.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

You know.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

But. Yeah, it's not. It's not fun. But right now it's very cold, actually.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, it gets cold. I like it. I like it, too. I like jb. I spent the last few years. About last year, I spent six months, I think, almost in Atlanta, and I really liked it. I really liked the people. Once you find a kind of a good zone where you can. You find your stuff and whatever. I liked it a lot.

[Don Cheadle]

I find a zone.

[Sean Hayes]

But I was down in, like. I was down, like, right near sort of little five points, like all in there. Like, that's where I was staying. It was awesome. A lot of great, like, restaurants and.

[Will Arnett]

Okay. Okay.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Will Arnett]

So, Jason, have you had enough? Yeah, that's. You opened it.

[Sean Hayes]

You opened it, you opened it. This is like. This is like that fucking court case.

[Will Arnett]

Good sleep last night, Don?

[Don Cheadle]

You know what's hilarious when Sean was talking about that is I was very jealous because I did not sleep well last night.

[Jason Bateman]

That's what I'm saying.

[Will Arnett]

Worst episode we've ever recorded, right? We're right 17 minutes from what I did.

[Don Cheadle]

No, no.

[Will Arnett]

It's all my fault. All my fault. I'm talking about fucking Atlanta. We're talking about the weather. We're talking about sleep. It's like, let's get to something hard hitting. Now. Somebody told me the other day that Kansas City.

[Don Cheadle]

Here we go.

[Will Arnett]

Kansas City is actually split right down the middle, the border between Kansas and Missouri.

[Sean Hayes]

You still don't have it, jb. You still don't have it.

[Will Arnett]

No.

[Sean Hayes]

You still haven't got it.

[Don Cheadle]

That's a whiff.

[Will Arnett]

No, no. Help me, people.

[Don Cheadle]

No, no, no. There's. There's one in Kansas and there's a Kansas City in Missouri. Two different. I mean, they're close.

[Will Arnett]

Wait, there's two different places called Kansas City.

[Don Cheadle]

Oh, my God.

[Sean Hayes]

No, I know.

[Jason Bateman]

John's about to leave.

[Sean Hayes]

John. This is. This is every day, by the way.

[Don Cheadle]

This house.

[Will Arnett]

54 years old. And this is. This is. I'm just now getting close. Clarity on this. Let's. Let's. Let's do it publicly. There are two. Two places called Kansas City. One's in Missouri, one's in Kansas.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Correct.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

And which one's got.

[Don Cheadle]

There is a border.

[Will Arnett]

Which one's got the Royals?

[Sean Hayes]

Missouri.

[Don Cheadle]

Missouri.

[Will Arnett]

Missouri's got what?

[Sean Hayes]

Let me just say this, Don. Take a look at JB's face now. JB walked on through the gummy routine. This is going to explain a lot. Walk them through the timing and the.

[Will Arnett]

Guys. I'm still up. I'm still up from last night's chew. No. Now, we talked about this a little.

[Don Cheadle]

Bit on the golf course.

[Will Arnett]

I don't remember.

[Don Cheadle]

I don't know if you remember. I'm sure you don't remember because your gummy program.

[Will Arnett]

No, no, never, Never. When I'm golfing. Golfing. Serious business.

[Don Cheadle]

You said that.

[Will Arnett]

Now, wait a second. What. But what sports team does Kansas City, Kansas have? The Royals.

[Don Cheadle]

He's still. He's here.

[Jason Bateman]

Is it the Royals?

[Sean Hayes]

It's crazy.

[Will Arnett]

No, no, honestly. Is it. The Royals are in Kansas City.

[Don Cheadle]

Do we want to just ask, Go to, like, the.

[Will Arnett]

Kansas City, Kansas has nothing. Is that correct?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

No sports teams. No professional sports teams.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, man.

[Will Arnett]

I'll let it rest now.

[Don Cheadle]

Look it up.

[Will Arnett]

Okay. I hope, Honestly, Honestly, they're all looking it up, America.

[Don Cheadle]

I've never looked into it this deeply. You might be absolutely right. I just know. I've always.

[Will Arnett]

Has. The Royals.

[Jason Bateman]

Are there any sports teams in Kansas City, Kansas?

[Will Arnett]

I'm so sorry. America, and specifically Kansas City has had.

[Jason Bateman]

Teams in all five of the major professional sports league. Three major leagues remain today.

[Will Arnett]

Is that Missouri or is that Kansas?

[Jason Bateman]

That's Kansas City, Kansas.

[Will Arnett]

Okay.

[Sean Hayes]

Wait. Who's in Kansas City, Kansas?

[Jason Bateman]

I don't know.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, I don't know. Boy. This is.

[Jason Bateman]

Again, this is Kansas City.

[Will Arnett]

We're going to pick this up. Hey, Don, how'd you get started in the business?

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, no, I want to know, jb.

[Sean Hayes]

Fuck you. You have.

[Jason Bateman]

I want to know that a little.

[Don Cheadle]

Porn called Don Chalantism.

[Jason Bateman]

No, I do want to know. Because to me, I've seen you in so many things, and like Will said, always brilliant. Like, to me, you were born on screen. Like, I don't know anything about you other than the.

[Don Cheadle]

I was born on screen.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, other than we we run into each other a few times and had lovely conversations. But tell me, how did you get like you were in theater in high school?

[Don Cheadle]

Well, sidebar. We almost. We played around with doing a movie together at one point.

[Jason Bateman]

I know.

[Don Cheadle]

I don't know if you ever got that off.

[Jason Bateman]

I did. It didn't do that.

[Don Cheadle]

Did you get it off?

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, it didn't do well, but thank you for your consideration.

[Will Arnett]

Way to dodge a bullet, Don.

[Don Cheadle]

I was trying to give a compliment. And went right in the trash bin.

[Jason Bateman]

No, but did you. Did you. Were you interested in high school? Like, what, eight? How early were you? Did you get the bug?

[Don Cheadle]

So I kind of got the early acting bug. I think I was in fifth, sixth grade. I was Templeton the Rat in a production of Charlotte's Web that was written about extensively in the Denver, Colorado periodicals. You can look it up. I'm sure it's still there.

[Sean Hayes]

Sure.

[Jason Bateman]

No, I don't have to.

[Will Arnett]

Templeton.

[Don Cheadle]

And I was singled out. I'm just saying. I was singled out.

[Will Arnett]

So the standout was the Rat.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah. And when Cheadle hits the stage. Hold on to your. Yeah, so I did that. But I was also doing music kind of at the same time. That's when I got involved in playing my saxophone and instrumental jazz. And so I kind of was on these two tracks of really studying music. And when I went to high school, I had a great acting coach, a great acting teacher, a great drama class, and I was in a really good jazz band. So I was kind of on these two tracks. And when I graduated from high school, I had applied for both things to go into music, to go into vocal jazz, to go into instrumental jazz, and also to study acting, theater acting. And I got some scholarship money from a bunch of different places, and I.

[Jason Bateman]

Kind of made for acting or music or both.

[Don Cheadle]

Both. I got. I had both. Wow. But I kind of made not only a weather choice, but I think I made a choice based on what I believed I was going to be able to actually do. Because I grew up with musicians now who are like professional musicians and who are hugely successful and incredible. And I knew what it was going to take to actually be able to do that, go down that road and, you know, shedding and learning theory and doing all of those things that I was like, I'm not. I know I'm not going to do that.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

And I think I'm probably going to spend my time more being out of the house, being with other people and pursuing acting. And I loved it. I loved it. Equally. So I kind of went up that road.

[Jason Bateman]

But there's definitely science and math to music that you have to want to.

[Don Cheadle]

And I think it kind of. I was intimidated by it a little bit, to be honest. I think I was a little. You know, I'd gotten by. I had really good ear and I had gotten by on really being able to hear music rather than understanding how it broke down. And I would kind of wide eye when it would. When I'd get into the weeds on that. So I get that it's like I kind of ran into something that I felt more comfortable with. But it's funny that the music has kind of come back around and that's become a bigger part of my career now, too.

[Sean Hayes]

But, Don, did you ever. And Sean, forgive me for taking your question, but did you ever think about, you know, kind of like when that guy dropped the chocolate in the tub of peanut butter and they came up with the Reese's. Did you ever think of taking the music and dumping that into the theater and going into musical theater? Sean? 5, 6, 7, 7, 8. Did that ever. Did you ever get into that stuff?

[Will Arnett]

Oh, he sure did. Let's talk about the Tonys. Go ahead.

[Don Cheadle]

Well, I've never gotten one. No. But I did produce something that's an award winning show called Strange Loop. Yes.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, my God, that's right. With. With Barbara. Barbara Whitman.

[Don Cheadle]

Yes.

[Jason Bateman]

Right. And she produced the play I just did. That's right.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Congrats on that.

[Don Cheadle]

Thank you. Thank you. Crazy great show.

[Sean Hayes]

But did you yourself, were you yourself at like in high school or afterwards in college?

[Don Cheadle]

Absolutely, yes, 100%. I mean, when I graduated high school, the choice I made was to go to. I came to California and studied at California Instit through the Arts. And we, you know, did everything there. Musicals and dramas and classical pieces. We did. We did everything. It was really a great experience for me and a place to be able to try everything and make a lot of mistakes and, you know, not get fired for it as a result.

[Jason Bateman]

Get ready. Because I love horrible theater stories, things that go wrong. So just get one ready.

[Don Cheadle]

Oh, yeah, they're the best. You can't wait.

[Will Arnett]

Before we get to one of those, can you guys extend your tolerance for my lack of intelligence? Again, it's Kansas.

[Don Cheadle]

Are you going to go? The Chiefs and the Royals again?

[Sean Hayes]

It's worn pretty thin at this point. It's very thin.

[Will Arnett]

So if I'm on the border between no, and we will be right back.

[Jason Bateman]

So I remember when I first started out, I used to work at a box office for a ticket printing company. And then as I moved to la, I worked at a production office. So I've worked at a lot of offices. There are many different types of offices out there. One thing's for certain, choosing the right candidate for any office is a huge responsibility. Well, if you're hiring and want to find the best candidates for your office, you need ZipRecruiter. And right now you can try it for [e-mail] Smartless ZipRecruiter is the hiring site employers prefer the Most based on G2. How fast does ZipRecruiter smart technology start showing your job to qualified candidates immediately. ZipRecruiter's powerful matching technology works fast to find top talent so you don't waste time or money. You can invite top candidates for your job to apply to encourage them to apply sooner. Remember, if you want to find the right candidates for your office, you need ZipRecruiter. See why 4 out of 5 employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. Just go to the exclusive web address right now to try ZipRecruiter for free. Ziprecruiter.com smartless Again, that's ZipRecruiter.com ZipRecruiter the smartest way to hire.

[Don Cheadle]

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[Sean Hayes]

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[Don Cheadle]

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[Will Arnett]

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[Sean Hayes]

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[Jason Bateman]

And now back to the show.

[Will Arnett]

So jazz Talk to me about jazz now. I'm I'm a big music fan and specifically classical music. And so I feel like if I love classical music, I could really love jazz because it's a little easier to love. It's a little bit more toe tappy, but I got to understand it a little bit more. And I'm hearing that jazz, it's its real appeal is knowing that for the most part it's improvised. Is that correct? Or is there is it more traditionally written out in their sheet music?

[Don Cheadle]

That is a component of it. And I think the umbrella of jazz under that are many, many subdivisions and Categories. It's a huge sort of a blanket term, especially by now if you think of somebody like Robert Glasper, who I won the Grammy with for producing the album. Anyway.

[Sean Hayes]

Sorry, your cough sounds terrible. Your cough sounds really.

[Don Cheadle]

My second Grammy.

[Sean Hayes]

Sorry, you got a really terrible cough.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, thanks, Will.

[Will Arnett]

Let me get worse.

[Don Cheadle]

Water.

[Will Arnett]

Wait, are you close to an egot?

[Don Cheadle]

Two Grammys.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, no.

[Jason Bateman]

Clear. Your throat's clear.

[Sean Hayes]

Now get that looked up.

[Don Cheadle]

Okay, that's good.

[Will Arnett]

Now you have. Do you have. Do you have a. Do you have a nomination? Egotistical. I think you do.

[Don Cheadle]

Yes, I have a nomination. You got yes, but not. I don't have them all.

[Will Arnett]

Pretty fucking good.

[Don Cheadle]

But like, Rob Glasper, you look at his music, and he. You know, he spans the globe of what his musical knowledge is and his experience. And he does popular stuff, Black radio, which is sort of. I think you would think of more as, like, R and B influenced. And then he does straight ahead, you know, jazz and standards, and he does everything in between. So I think if you were to ask a musician like that what jazz is, or even if you were gonna go back and ask, you know, Miles Davis what jazz was, he hated that word. He was like, that's a word to box somebody in. You know, it's about good music. It's about social music. So I think there are different. Like, when I get in the car and, you know, the driver taking you somewhere is like, let's put on some jazz. And he puts on smooth jazz. It's like, I want to shoot him.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

I hate.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, I'm.

[Sean Hayes]

Don, you have to. Don, you have to forgive Jason, because they don't do explanations of jazz on the Hollywood Reporter homepage so that he wouldn't read it. But let me just say this. We did this bit in our show. Flaked nothing. Huh? Okay, so where we had. Where we did, this guy's getting ready to have this girl over for a date, and then his buddy suggests he put jazz on. And they look at each other, and they're like. And they're unsure. And he goes, I'm not sure where I fall on jazz. And our joke was always that, like, I can't figure out if it's cool to say I do like it or if it's cool to say I don't like it. And I'm still trying to decide where. Where I land on that.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah. Yeah, right.

[Will Arnett]

Me too. Like, I just feel like I. You know, everyone says you should go to New Orleans for the jazz festival or when you should listen to It.

[Don Cheadle]

And that's a very specific kind of jazz.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, right. I'm more like. I'm open to it if there's a melody that I can hum back, like a song. I'm not open to the.

[Sean Hayes]

Fair enough. Yeah, yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

The jazz that's just people just playing.

[Sean Hayes]

Sort of fusiony, improvised fusion, is that.

[Jason Bateman]

You can't latch onto anything.

[Sean Hayes]

You can't whack off to anything.

[Will Arnett]

What. What did you say?

[Don Cheadle]

I. I love it all. Because if you're really, you know, if.

[Sean Hayes]

You'Re jazz, you can whack, too.

[Don Cheadle]

Sorry, Jazz.

[Jason Bateman]

No. Latch onto.

[Don Cheadle]

Grab your thing and have some fun.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, you heard it, jb. You heard it, too, right?

[Will Arnett]

But so. So don. So you. So you're. So you're. You're learning the saxophone at an early age. That gets you into music. Music that's. Eventually you find an appreciation for Miles Davis, and then that project comes about. That was a. What was that? A documentary that you produced or.

[Don Cheadle]

No, no, no, no. A movie.

[Will Arnett]

A film. And you played him.

[Don Cheadle]

Yes, yes, yes.

[Will Arnett]

We're not good journalists.

[Jason Bateman]

Brilliantly. And I remember you telling me when I ran into you, you were working on that. You were.

[Will Arnett]

So nominations or even some wins for that, I believe.

[Don Cheadle]

Well, that was the Grammy that we got for the soundtrack, which is really cool that we put together with Rob Glasper. He and I put that together. So that was really cool. But, yeah, I think it's a big category. Talk about jokes on shows. We had one on Black Monday where I'm talking to. Thank you very much. I'm talking to Regina Dawn. Her name. The character's dawn, about it. And she goes, yeah, I can never get into jazz. It just always sound like a bunch of instruments thrown down a flight of stairs.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Now, in my incredible research, did you really work on the Fresh Prince?

[Don Cheadle]

Funny enough, I did. I was on one of the first episodes of Fresh Prince, and I have a funny pilot firing story, too. I love it about a pilot that didn't go. So I did the. I think it was the second or third episode of the Fresh Prince where Will was still super green. He's like, mouthing everyone's words, you know, along with his. So he'd say his line, and then he's staring at you and you'd say your line, and, yeah, he's mouthing it.

[Sean Hayes]

That's such a thing. We've all worked with people who do that. It's such an actor thing. Right. Where you're, like, mouthing my dialogue to me as I'm saying.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, yeah, so he was so studious, you know, he knew everybody's lines and then he would, like, mouth everybody's lines. But so we did that one. And by the third or fourth show, the creators, Susan and Andy Borowitz, who were the head writers on the show, they said, we want to do a show around you. Uh, oh, not necessarily based on the character that you're playing on this, but we just want to do a show around you. And I was like, okay. So that's cool. So they wrote this show. How old were you when I did Fresh Prince?

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, early 20s.

[Don Cheadle]

Is that really germane to the story?

[Will Arnett]

I mean, you just gonna come in, offered your own show? It's like, I was six.

[Don Cheadle]

Okay?

[Jason Bateman]

I was fucking six.

[Sean Hayes]

No, he's just jealous. He's just jealous. Cause he's like, when are you getting offers for your own show? And he's like, I worked my whole. Michael Landon did a creator show for me. Sorry, jb.

[Don Cheadle]

I know that Michael Landon. So third day, they come down, they're like, we want to do the show. I said, okay, great. So they wrote this pilot. We shot the pilot. It's called in the House. I wrote the theme song to the day. It was just. Everything was great. Heavy saxophone, super, super heavy saxophone. It was on the schedule. And I, you know, I'm pretty. Like, I don't believe it until I see it. And I just kind of wasn't believing that it was real. And also, it just was a huge thing. It was the biggest thing that had happened in my career at that point. I was like, I don't. Something's telling me this isn't real. But it was on the schedule. It was going. So, like the day before I got this fateful call. I gave my brother my car. I was like, hey, it's on. Take the cards. I'm about to have this huge windfall.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, it's.

[Don Cheadle]

I'm ready. And the next day I got a call and they said, it's off the schedule. It was. How old I was, was. Brandon Tartakoff was still running NBC at that time.

[Will Arnett]

Okay, we're a late 80s.

[Don Cheadle]

I don't know if people are listening, may not know.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, Brandon.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, but he. When he stepped down and Warren Littlefield came in, he killed all the shows that were under Brandon. And that was one of them. That was one of the casualties, you know.

[Sean Hayes]

Sean, Sean, you told me your story, and correct me if I'm wrong about where you shot the pilot, because they had mignonette sauce instead of cocktail sauce for your Oysters. Is that true? And you guys were about to leave Van Nuys, and you shot. You were so mad you were shot because you were like, I hate mignonette sauce. I like cocktail sauce. You shot the pilot, left him on the sauce.

[Jason Bateman]

But I spared the co pilot as.

[Don Cheadle]

A lesson so he could live to tell the story to other pilots to.

[Will Arnett]

Get the sausage right now. All right, so now, Don, could you imagine if that show had taken off, became a big success? You would have been a big sitcom star. I wonder where your career would have gone.

[Sean Hayes]

And what was. I was thinking the same thing.

[Will Arnett]

Like, but, like, even so, going back before that, was there another significant fork in the road, either where you grew up, like a fateful move to a certain city or what your parents were doing or saying, or sibling, where you could have easily seen, oh, if I just simply gone right instead of left, I would be a veterinarian, too. Or I would be an architect today. Or was there. Was there a fork? That's such a good question. Thank you.

[Don Cheadle]

I mean, you know, it's crazy that. That my fallback was music. Like, if this acting thing doesn't work out, I'll be a jazz musician. That'll get me there. It's like, so. I mean, that's where I was trending. That's what I wanted to do. And quite honestly, it's. There's still no greater pleasure that I have, you know, in any sort of performance capacity than being with musicians and creating music.

[Sean Hayes]

Really? Really.

[Don Cheadle]

That's, to me, the highest. It is. It really is. I think, because of. As you were talking about improvisation, that you're creating things spontaneously. I don't know what it's doing biochemically to you, but I'm sure if you have electrodes on and, you know, they were testing you, you're getting dopamine hits that are just through the roof because. Because it's just so alive.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

And it necessitates this connection with these fellow, pardon the term, artists, that you're kind of communicating without speaking, and there's a handoff and a. Yes and thing. You get that also in acting, but, yeah, you do.

[Sean Hayes]

And there's also that thing you do when you perform live when you also get that. When you get that feedback from an audience when you're on stage and you get that thing and it starts to inform you a little bit. They become part of your creative process. Because you get juice from that, I think.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, absolutely, you do. And it transcends language and it transcends English, Spanish. We can all speak this language. And so there's a big unifying thing that it does that's just, like, beyond.

[Jason Bateman]

I had the same thing, Don. I always had music to fall back on should the acting thing. And I still have the music to fall back on if the acting thing doesn't work out. But I always thought my fallback was going to be, oh, I'll just be a pop star.

[Don Cheadle]

Well, you can sing your ass off.

[Jason Bateman]

So.

[Don Cheadle]

That a shot?

[Jason Bateman]

Well, no, but let's play it.

[Sean Hayes]

Can we just play it? Could just play him a little bit of it right now. We do this every once in a while, Don.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

No, now Don Bennet's gonna find it for us. He's gonna play before Don leaves. Bennett or Rob are gonna drop that needle.

[Don Cheadle]

Bennett.

[Will Arnett]

Hey, Don, do you have a place where you go, like, Woody Allen famously took his clarinet out on a once a week or whatever, and that got that.

[Sean Hayes]

Not a euphemism.

[Will Arnett]

Not a euphemism. Right in there, Will, but you're the best.

[Don Cheadle]

You're my new favorite guy on the podcast.

[Will Arnett]

Do you have a place where you go whip out your sacks and go play it Rocket.

[Sean Hayes]

Hang on, man.

[Don Cheadle]

I just said, will. Got that one. You don't have to jump on top.

[Will Arnett]

I'm trying to piggyback on that.

[Don Cheadle]

Hey, you hear what I did? Jump on top of Will's thing. I'm tripling up on it. Your turn, Sean. Get in there.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, that was a good one, too.

[Jason Bateman]

I'll take it.

[Will Arnett]

Like. But, like, do you have Y'all take it off? There it is. Do you have a band that you play with or a jazz club that you go to every once in a while?

[Don Cheadle]

No. And I've been like, bounce bouncing around on dip. So I played the sax, and then I didn't do that. You know, when I went to Cal Arts, it was kind of like a conservatory. The amount of time that you had to spend on all that, there was no time, really to do anything but theater and voice and movement and dance and all that stuff. So I just kind of dropped it. And then I was in New York doing a play, and I walked by a pawn shop, and I saw this beautiful tenor sax. And I was like, I'm gonna pick it back up again. I'm gonna see if I have any facility, because, you know, you lose your embouchure. You use. Lose that musculature to be able to play it. It's hard to get it back. So I started playing it again. It sounded terrible. I was like, no, just Hang out, just like, stay with it. So I started doing that, and then I took a gig, actually, the Rat Pack movie, and playing Sammy Davis Jr. Who played drums and played trumpet and gun twirled and could play piano. And so I kind of went back to school again, having lessons from all of these teachers to learn how to do all these different things. And that's when I started trying to pick up the trumpet, which became something that I didn't know I was going to need later when I did the Miles Davis thing. So I've been playing bass more than anything lately, and piano more than anything lately.

[Jason Bateman]

That's great.

[Don Cheadle]

I haven't gone back to the sax. I did bring about a really beautiful, brand new sax and let this dude play, and he just recorded an album with it. And it's like, so it's always in the periphery somewhere. But I haven't. You know, I think the most amazing experience I had in musical experience in the last couple years was. Was Rob Glasper was at his. He was recording something. He said, hey, come by. Come listen. And I said, yeah, keep a track open, because I'm gonna bring the bass and I'm just gonna, like, you know, kill you guys with some shit. So just keep the track open. I was completely joking. And so I came over and I listened to him for a while, and he goes, okay, here. Here's the bass. Let's go. I said, no, no, no. I was joking. I don't want to play. He's like, oh, no, you're gonna play. And it became sort of like, you know, trial by fire. And I don't play like that. But when you play with great musicians, you know that they lift you up.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

And they.

[Jason Bateman]

It's just like acting.

[Sean Hayes]

I wish I could find that.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

It's fucking unbelievable. I'm just dragging these two.

[Jason Bateman]

Don, you seem to be, like, so great at surrounding your life with the things that have great value to you. Music, acting, family. You always seem to be in a great mood, too. Like, golf is golf. Yeah. How do you do that? How do you. For people who don't know how to do that, where. Where they're like, I'm. I'm in this rut. Like, to us, we've all found the thing that we love to do or things we love to do.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

How did you learn how to gravitate towards the good versus the bad? You know, the things that are good for you, the things that fill your soul.

[Will Arnett]

This is a question. This. This is a question. This is an interviewer. Well, this is somebody who knows how to shape a question. Okay, sorry, go ahead, Don.

[Don Cheadle]

I love the comments.

[Sean Hayes]

I'm just here for the potshots from the sideline, man.

[Don Cheadle]

You know that Will's killing. And you're killing the potshots from the sideline, by the way.

[Sean Hayes]

I appreciate it, man.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah, don't encourage him.

[Don Cheadle]

I honestly have to attribute it, a lot of it. I have to attribute a lot of it to my upbringing. I was very fortunate to have. And people get to it however they get to it. I was very fortunate to have really solid parents, you know, really sort of, you know, corny, traditional picket fence, three, you know, the 3.5 kids and the dog and the whole thing. I really was able to grow up like that with parents that never dissuaded me from going after what I wanted to go after.

[Jason Bateman]

That's great.

[Don Cheadle]

I think it was, you know, really fortunate that my mom was sort of a frustrated, you know, performer, a frustrated singer. So when I wanted to be an actor, she was like, like, yes.

[Will Arnett]

So after that, do you have an older sibling that knocked the crap out of you when you got too big?

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, well, she's a girl. So I took advantage of the different muscles. I was stronger than her. And then we moved into weapons and that's when it was like, oh, she's leveled the playing field, so we gotta chill out. And that's when we stopped fighting. But just really close knit family. And it's something I think I just wanted to replicate in my life. And I'm really lucky that, you know, I have friends from when I was in elementary school still and from college and the people that I'm close to are still, are still in my life. And I think we all know people who have gotten to a certain place and have looked around and they don't know anybody. That's no one that around them has been around them for five years. And you go, that person's probably going to have some problems. So. Yeah, you need people who will laugh at you and say, you're not. Not important. Chill out.

[Sean Hayes]

I don't keep those people around because. Because people can't breathe the air up here the way I can.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, you're one of the, you're one of those people we were talking about, Will.

[Sean Hayes]

The air is so thin up here. It's so, it's so rare that I can bear. I'm, I'm. I'm handing out masks to these two because I'm like, guys, we're going on a ride. We're going somewhere.

[Jason Bateman]

We're going down or we're going down.

[Sean Hayes]

No, it's so important. I love that. It is. It is a measure of somebody, by the way, how many old friends they have from back in the day. And I think. I'm with you on that. I think it's really great. I've got a lot of my old buddies, too.

[Will Arnett]

Now, Don, I got a question here. You've been a part of so many incredible projects. I want to know. It's crazy. I want to know if any of them felt or smelled like turds right in the middle of it, and you were shocked at the end of it that it turned out so well. Projects like crash oceans, 11, 12 or 13, traffic, out of Sight, Boogie Nights. I mean, yeah. Any of the Marvel stuff. Did any of them just, like, go, oh, Jesus, what did I do here?

[Don Cheadle]

I think I've had the opposite, where I'm like, this thing's gonna crush. And then it comes out and I'm.

[Jason Bateman]

Like, ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

Not so much.

[Will Arnett]

Not so much. Right?

[Don Cheadle]

I mean, we don't know, right? You just go in with, you know, your best. You know, you've made the best decision you could, and you go in and throw everything into it. And then sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. But I've never. You know, I've always had. I've always believed that the thing I've said yes to has value and it's going to be good, and the experiences, and then it turns into being what it's going to be. I've been really fortunate to have really, really great experiences. I've had very few experiences where it's. It's a toxic set and people are horrible. You know, I've just been very, very. I've been. The things I've gravitated toward have gotten made, and I've just been very, very fortunate. I've had a very blessed career.

[Will Arnett]

You've clearly got a. Got a nice connection going with Steven Soderbergh. Yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

I heard the set of Chernobyl was toxic.

[Will Arnett]

Nice. Well, hey, it's a great show. You and Soderbergh have a great. A great rhythm going. Yeah, you see. You see? Working with him again in the future, probably. Yes, of course. Right.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah. I mean, we. We have stuff. We're trying to develop things as we speak.

[Sean Hayes]

There's a couple things I love. Out of Sight is such a great fucking movie, man. I.

[Don Cheadle]

Isn't it good? So underrated. Overlooked.

[Sean Hayes]

Such a good movie.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

God damn it. Despite Clooney's, looks.

[Will Arnett]

It's so good to get around. But Soderbergh's just, he's the. Soderbergh's such a beast. So a good guy too. But I mean like writing and directing and camera operating and editing and I just, I would imagine that's got to an easy voice to follow considering he's kind of this.

[Don Cheadle]

Are you trying to dovetail into you because.

[Will Arnett]

No, no, no, no. That's what I'd like to do, but.

[Don Cheadle]

Can I take a minute to honestly.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, here we go. Spike it. He served it up. You might as well spike it.

[Will Arnett]

Guys. Take us. Take a spike.

[Don Cheadle]

I do want to spike it.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

I'm a. I'm big. I'm a big Jason Bateman fan. I'm just going to say I'm a big Jason Bateman fan and I'm really. I love everything that I'm seeing you do. And I saw you in a roundtable talking about, you know, understanding as an actor what you were going to be doing as an editor and knowing when you get into the editing room what you're going to be able to use and not use and how you kind of craft your performance based on that. And I was like, well, but fucking smart and such a cheat.

[Sean Hayes]

But it's really, it's really fun. It's really fun because he lives his personal life like an editor too. So he's always thinking about the roof.

[Will Arnett]

Cut you off. Yeah. Trimming you. Well now what will. What Don's doing here is he's dovetailing into his accomplishments as a director as well that he has.

[Sean Hayes]

I wanted to get into.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah. He has gone. He's gone ahead and he's taken all the incredible set experience he's had and lent that to the directing experience. Right. And made everybody's life a lot easier, I would imagine. You'll never do it again, do you? Come on.

[Sean Hayes]

Why not?

[Will Arnett]

Bullshit.

[Don Cheadle]

I don't anticipate ever doing it again.

[Will Arnett]

Come on, you've done it a handful of times at least and that was enough. It's really too much. Is it the workload or the pressure or the time commitment or what?

[Don Cheadle]

It's the pressure. Honestly. It's the pressure. I think, you know, my agent one time said, you know, good actors are just like can be and sometimes need to just be hard sons of bitches. They just have to be able to. Not necessarily in how they deal with people, but you have to have a. The ability to have stuff kind of roll off and be thick skinned and not have it be you know, penetrate and keep moving. And I think I have more. I'm more like, sort of bandied about by the things that happen and the things I wasn't able to get. And I just. And it's something that I've learned about myself going through that experience. I'm like, oh, I'm a lot more. More porous in that regard than I thought I was.

[Will Arnett]

As an actor, you can ignore a lot of drama or problems or complications with the production, and you just kind of sit in your trailer and then someone else will figure it out. Says director, you can't hide from anything.

[Don Cheadle]

None of it.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

We'll be right back.

[Jason Bateman]

Explaining football to the friend who's just there for the nachos.

[Sean Hayes]

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[Jason Bateman]

For the game in as fast as 30 minutes. So you never miss a play or lose your seat on the couch or.

[Sean Hayes]

Have to go head to head for.

[Don Cheadle]

The last chicken wing.

[Jason Bateman]

Shop game day favorites on instacart and enjoy.

[Sean Hayes]

$0 delivery fees on your first three.

[Jason Bateman]

Grocery orders offer valid for a limited time. Other fees and terms apply and back to the show.

[Sean Hayes]

John, you bring up a really good point, though. It is true. You know, actors, as we know historically, you take a lot of heat and people go like, oh, fucking actors. Or you hear people write. Like, even people you grew up like, what's your life like now you're an actor. You see that people have this sort of thing. And I always say, and they're like, oh, yeah, but you're just an actor. And I'm thinking, like, yeah, I am friends with. I am an actor. I'm friends with tons of actors, some of the most creative, amazing people. And on top of that, to what you were saying, they're also. It is a tough road, as you know from when you're younger, to start to do the things that you want to do. And you have to. You do put up with a ton of disappointment. You get kicked in the nards on a daily basis. You know, my own experience, I lived in New York for 10 years and was trying to get fucking work and just got kicked in the nards. And then as I'd go down to wincing in pain from getting kicked in the nuts, I'd get kicked in the face. You know, like Jason, like you saying, like, the show's not. Here's the Ben, you're fired. And then the next day, the show's fucking gone, and you're like, fuck, I didn't need those two kicks.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, right.

[Sean Hayes]

And by the way, and it's not once a year. It's like two, three times a week.

[Will Arnett]

Four years. That's if things are going well for you, because those two or three rejections each week mean you got two or three auditions that week, which is really good.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

And I'm not saying to feel sorry for it, but. But it is, right, Donna? It's. It's a tough. You just got to have a little bit of, you know, you show your mettle a little bit.

[Don Cheadle]

Well, for. For me, I really could. I sound like an idiot, Aaron, you know, complaining about anything about my acting career because, again, I'm super, super fortunate. I've never done anything but this to support myself. I, you know, got my first. First job when I was still in college. In my, you know, my junior year, I got a gig. Oh, I did get fired from a job. That was actually the first job. I. I got an AT&T commercial where a kid was supposed to be on the phone and sort of trying to dodge the questions that his mom was asking because he was not doing so well. She goes, how are your grades? And he's like, my grades? I can't hear you. This connection is bad. She's like, no, I can't hear you. Great. And it was AT&T, you know, you can't fake the funk. You know, one of those things. So I was running on my. I was going out of the door to do this audition, and the phone rang in the hallway, and I just kind of knew it was for me. And I picked it up. It was my agent. She goes, ah, Don, bad news. They're not. They're not going to use you in the spot. I was like, what? Why? She goes, they don't want to portray a black kid as failing out of college. I was like, so they're gonna give a white kid my job?

[Sean Hayes]

Wow.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

The irony of that.

[Don Cheadle]

That'S what's gonna happen. So I actually did get fired from a job I got. That was the first one. But, yeah, but for me, the acting thing has been. I've been, like I said, I've been very blessed, very fortunate. But the directing part of it, yeah, it's really just. It's been these particular experiences I've had not when I've directed my show. That's a little bit more of a comfort zone, a little bit more support I've had, and a little bit More resources and people to rely on. But, you know, I made. We made miles ahead for $8.5 million in a town that had only done one other movie before that, where we would show up and there was, like, no redundancy in the departments. We'd have two cameras and only one cameraman. I'd be like, where's Phil? It's like, oh, he took a commercial. And then, you know, yeah, yeah. Coming in one day. And I was like, where's the. We had her in the scene. She's like, yeah, she didn't want to come today. I'm like, but we shot. She's in the scene. Like, nah, she doesn't want to come. So I'm like, put this woman in the dress, turn her back to the camera. Like, every day it was something like that. Always solving problems, but problems that didn't make sense. Like the fire alarm going off and then the fire. Then the actual fireman coming and coming in while we're shooting the scene. And so, okay, I guess we'll shoot this mos and just mime all these, and we'll do it in post. I get, you know, just every day it was something like that. My wife came out to see me, and she said, you can't do this anymore. You know, I lost weight. It was just bad. So I have a lot of scar tissue. So maybe if I get, you know, some sort of procedure where I can scrape that off, I'll try it again.

[Jason Bateman]

For the emotional scars. I have a question just about your acting style and approach. Because when I first saw Ocean's Eleven and which you were brilliant in. I'm not making this up. Like, halfway through the movie because of your accent, I was like, oh, wait, is that. Is that Don Cheadle? Like, you didn't do anything to your appearance. You just changed your kind of way. I don't know how to describe it. And it's amazing what an act, just an accent can do. How did you find the trust to do that? Why? That character like that? And how do you do that? Like, in any character you approach.

[Don Cheadle]

It was written like that, and I was going to change it. And my manager at that point said, there aren't black British people. I was like, oh. I mean, yeah. She's like, so why don't you just do it as how it's written? And I was like, yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh.

[Jason Bateman]

So it was written as.

[Don Cheadle]

And so while I'm in my trailer with, you know, a vocal coach, a speech coach, going over, like, diphthongs and schwas, and stuff. They're out playing basketball. I'm, like, sitting in my trailer watching them play poker and have fun. And I'm like, you know. No. This word. No. Uh, no. Ah, no. Uh.

[Sean Hayes]

Sean, stand up. Sean, stand up real quick. He's. Sean's wearing a diphthong. Let's stand up real quick.

[Don Cheadle]

Oh, that's nice. That's a nice diphthong. But I was famously murdered. You know, people hate. People are split right in the middle on that. The people that hate that hate it. When I was in London, I almost had to get security because people wanted to kill me.

[Will Arnett]

Your accent.

[Don Cheadle]

Based on how bad they thought that accident.

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, the accent.

[Don Cheadle]

Why they hated it. And me, people literally drove. They would see me and come across four lanes of traffic to pull up next to me to scream at me about how bad the accident was.

[Jason Bateman]

I was like, oh, my God. I totally bought it. I totally bought it.

[Will Arnett]

It's safe to say you'll never do another British accent again. Again.

[Don Cheadle]

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah. Doing an accent, I believe that would be.

[Sean Hayes]

It takes a lot of time.

[Will Arnett]

Very, very tough for me because you're acting twice, right? You got to do performance and you.

[Don Cheadle]

Got to do the accent and some somehow.

[Sean Hayes]

So. Would you make them pay twice, Jay? I know Jay very well. Would you make them pay twice?

[Will Arnett]

I would like to. I would like to.

[Jason Bateman]

Are you going to say, Don?

[Don Cheadle]

No, I'm just going to say. And some of them, you know, fit better than others that I've attempted to take on, you know, but they're all. Like you said, it's all tricky. Like, you're kind of acting through a mask, and you're trying to make that mask be as real and as facile as you can. It's tricky.

[Jason Bateman]

Right, Right. Right.

[Will Arnett]

Now, all of these incredibly high profile films, which one do you think gave you the most useful bounce? Was it Devil in the Blue Dress?

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, I would guess Devil in the Blue Dress was probably. I was on picket fences for a couple years before that.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, wow.

[Don Cheadle]

You know, I was 12th on the call sheet, and you guys know what that is. I'm sitting in the trailer all day, and they're like, we're coming up to you next. We're coming to you next. And they're like, oh, no, we're not going to use you today. And you'd been in the trailer for 12 hours. So I started writing. That's when I started writing. And just as survival, just to not go crazy.

[Will Arnett]

But then along comes this film with Denzel Washington. And it was. Did you. Did you leave that project with any pearls of wisdom from Mr. Washington?

[Don Cheadle]

I mean, it was an incredible experience. It was directed by Carl Franklin, who I did his AFI thesis project, you know, his asi, his graduation project. So I had known him from before, so that was really old home and felt great. And Denzel and I, from the audition on. Which is online. Actually, our audition is online.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, no way.

[Sean Hayes]

No way.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, yeah. And so is that pilot that I mentioned, by the way. People find shit and upload everything. But we just had a great time. And of course, I was just in awe of him and, you know, worked as hard as I've ever worked on anything to make sure I was in the pocket, you know, when I was with him, I didn't come out. I was super methody. I was not great character. I was mouse all the time. You know, I just stayed in it. And yeah, I. Yeah, I had a great experience. I love that movie and I love that experience.

[Will Arnett]

Would you like if you had. If you had, say, you had a scene with. Because, you know, you're Denzel now, to a young actor, if you were to do a film with it, what would you say to a young actor today that you wish you'd known back when you were just starting out, you know.

[Don Cheadle]

Sound fucking light, right?

[Will Arnett]

Exactly. Don't you upstage me or shadow me.

[Don Cheadle]

Don't you dare attempt to overshadow me.

[Will Arnett]

But we do have a tendency to overcomplicate things, right? And things get more simplistic as we get older. You know, I wonder, aside from just that generality, is there anything specific. I'm trying to think myself what I would tell somebody, you know, probably.

[Sean Hayes]

Probably step away from my BMW. Would you. Would that be.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Which.

[Don Cheadle]

Which of your BMWs, Mr.

[Jason Bateman]

Guy?

[Sean Hayes]

That's a great. That's very good.

[Don Cheadle]

I just think that, you know, like, we. I think people underestimate, you know, to what Will was saying earlier is what we really do. I think people think it's super, super easy. And then they try it and they're like, oh, you're actually trying to be very naturalistic inside a completely unnatural environment where somebody's standing in your eye line, chewing gum and, you know, somebody else is making noise off and somebody, you know, walkie talkies going off. And you've got to act like this is the first time you've ever done or said any of these things. And I think that you only do that well if you're really prepared and you've really done your homework and you're not here just because you think it's going to be cool to cut line at a restaurant. You know, it's like, right. This is. This is a real. This is really. I'm not. We're not rocket scientists, and we're not, you know, jumping out of airplanes or whatever the hardest shit there is to do or ditch digging. But there is a craft, but we can play them. That's what. We play the shit out of them and we learn about them. That's another thing. Good actors are students, so we're always in the lab, Right. We're always trying to. If I play a doctor, I'm gonna read up on doctors, I'm gonna follow doctors, I'm gonna go to hospitals, I'm gonna try to sit next to them. If I'm playing a cop, I'm gonna do a ride along. I'm gonna. So I feel like that part of it often gets overlooked that we're always in school, you know, we're always trying to. To learn new things.

[Jason Bateman]

So true.

[Don Cheadle]

I think that's a great boon for us as artists that we're always expanding ourselves.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Now, Sean doesn't want you to get away without, you know, searching your memory for a really. A tough theater story, you know, like forgetting your lines or trying to keep.

[Sean Hayes]

Improving, you know, A sandbag fell from a mountain, and I landed in. In the first row in the woman's lap, and she said, you think you're drunk? Wait till O'Toole comes out. Or something like that. Right, Sean? Is that what you were.

[Don Cheadle]

Oh, you were at that performance.

[Will Arnett]

Of course you were there.

[Jason Bateman]

That's exactly right.

[Don Cheadle]

But I said, wait till my tool comes out. Yes. Double guns. Double guns.

[Sean Hayes]

Yes.

[Don Cheadle]

Donchalant.

[Jason Bateman]

Donchalant.

[Don Cheadle]

Donchalant strikes again. Is that you, Sean?

[Jason Bateman]

Oh, this is me singing. Yeah. It's horrible. Here we.

[Sean Hayes]

Here we go.

[Jason Bateman]

As I glide through the back door. It's so bad. Okay, hang on.

[Don Cheadle]

Is that Tabla? Is that some Tabla?

[Jason Bateman]

Okay, that's good.

[Sean Hayes]

You know what, it's like. Jimmy Somerville from Bronski Beat was put in the back of a van and driven to Beirut and forced to make a Middle Eastern dance record.

[Jason Bateman]

Jimmy Somerville in Beirut. That was the name of the album.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

Did you ever see. By the way, did you ever see Ricky Gervais's music videos or anything?

[Will Arnett]

Oh, yeah. Those are brilliant.

[Don Cheadle]

Yes.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, that's what. That's. I'm similar path, but yeah. Do you have any, like, tragic, horrible theater gone wrong?

[Don Cheadle]

My tragic. The most tragic thing other than A real injury that I suffered during a play. Same play, by the way, we were doing Cymbeline at the Public that Joanne Acolaitis directed, who. Who is experimental director from Mabu Mines. If people want to go back and look at all that stuff, she's great. But we had an actor, Stefan Schnabel, who played the doctor in this play. And it's kind of a stereotypical Shakespeare fifth act wrap up where one character knows everything that happened in the play. Like you're his niece and she actually has the potion and this king knew him as a. Like, they unwrapped the whole thing and we're all on stage going, oh, that's how I d. So he had this last, you know, speech that he had to give. Stefan was, I think, 98 at the time.

[Sean Hayes]

Uh.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, wow.

[Don Cheadle]

So it comes time for him to wrap this up and he goes up that.

[Will Arnett]

Forgets his lines.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, forgets his line, goes up. Forgets his lines for those who want theater vernacular. And he starts stammering and making up words and basically just sort of like trouble, you know, standing in place and teetering. And no one. You can't give somebody in Shakespeare, you know, it's not. We're not doing something naturalistic. You can't come up with some. You could. Tried to come up with some iambic pentameter and like, slip a line there to help him along the way. But it went on so long that first the audience sort of laughed and then realized, oh, it's not a bit, and stopped laughing. And then the other half the audience laughed, and then half the audience shushed that part of the audience that laughed. And then the actors on stage kind of were starting to laugh, you know, those two that would start to laugh. And everyone's like, shut the fuck up. And everybody stops laughing and. And he's still kind of trying to pull it off. He doesn't think anyone's noticed trying to pull it off. This went on for probably two minutes. You know how long two minutes is? Yeah, you got. I mean, you guys have died for two minutes for sure. Collectively on this show. 100%.

[Will Arnett]

It feels like a long time.

[Don Cheadle]

It's a long time.

[Will Arnett]

And finally she says, it's not.

[Don Cheadle]

Joan Cusack, who was the lead in it, who played Cymbeline, just, finally. Just started saying his lines. She just couldn't take it anymore.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, just.

[Don Cheadle]

And he kind of revved up and got through it and then got off stage and he said, I want to kill myself. Yeah, I have to quit. Yeah, I never Want to.

[Sean Hayes]

You're like, you're 98. There's no point. Sorry. Yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

You're gonna be dead soon, I guess is what. Is what Jones said to try to, like, you know, bolster his good Lord.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah.

[Jason Bateman]

That's the scariest thing.

[Sean Hayes]

Wow.

[Jason Bateman]

It was.

[Don Cheadle]

It was really sad going.

[Sean Hayes]

Going up. Going up on your dialogue like that on stage.

[Jason Bateman]

Scariest thing in the world, right?

[Sean Hayes]

There's just nothing.

[Will Arnett]

You don't need that crap at 98.

[Don Cheadle]

There's nowhere to hide.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah, yeah, there's nowhere to hide.

[Will Arnett]

Right?

[Jason Bateman]

But now, Don, you're like one of the sweetest people ever. What pisses you off? Because I can't. The few times I've met you, even today, you're always just very in the middle, very cool, calm, collected. Gummy. Is there gummy program? What's that?

[Sean Hayes]

Gummy?

[Don Cheadle]

I said I'm on that gummy program.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah. I bet he's not happy when he blades a bunker shot. Right. You hit that ball right in the belly coming out of the sand trap. It's just it. You never have.

[Jason Bateman]

That's what pisses you off.

[Don Cheadle]

Yeah, immediately. But then I kind of let it go. You know, I think like, stupidity without any desire to not be stupid pisses me off. I don't mind if you're stupid. People can be stupid. But when there's are like, incurious and don't want to actually look under the stupidity and see where that stupidity is from themselves, that kind of pisses me. And you know, as we can see, it's incredibly dangerous. And, you know, yes, we're. We're in a sweet spot of stupidity right now for a lot of people.

[Sean Hayes]

And would that, Would that, that, and that. Would that extend across all sort of areas, that sort of stupidity, like, whether it's history or language or just geography, even basic geography of states and cities within the country that we live.

[Will Arnett]

Oh, and like, you know, I'm just.

[Don Cheadle]

How. Where a city was.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, like, they don't know where. It's been explained to them like a shot.

[Will Arnett]

This is definitely.

[Don Cheadle]

Hey, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I think Will's just trying to use general.

[Sean Hayes]

This is very general. I'm just trying to get a general.

[Will Arnett]

Sense of what Don, Because, Sean, remember earlier in the. In the show, and I had a problem with Kansas City.

[Don Cheadle]

Well, ignorance isn't stupidity. You know, ignorance is. Anyone can be ignorant.

[Sean Hayes]

You know, that's true. Anybody can be ignorant. Thank you, Jason. So, Don, Don, honestly, you've been a dream. You're just an. You're Such a cool guy. We've never hung out. We, we threatened once. I was on a. I was. Joey Russo wanted me to get in, into a football fantasy league, and I said no. And Joe said, well, just stay in the chat and talk, even though you don't want to play. And I did for about six months, I think.

[Will Arnett]

Really?

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah.

[Don Cheadle]

You were in there. You were in there.

[Sean Hayes]

It was great. Pratt and Rojo and. Yeah, it was fun.

[Don Cheadle]

It was a lot like this, just like pot shots from the side.

[Sean Hayes]

It was a lot of pot shots.

[Will Arnett]

Well, you know, Will, Will, you and Don should go out and play some golf while I know my golf hiatus and, and then I'll, I'll read a minute. Guys. In the end of fall.

[Don Cheadle]

Why are you on a hiatus?

[Sean Hayes]

He's on a hiatus because he's working. He shot a. He shot an even par 70.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah. Two weeks ago. But who cares, really? It's not a big deal. But listen, thank you for joining us today.

[Sean Hayes]

Don, will you make me this pledge when you come back that you and I will play? Can we do that? That. Can we say that'll happen 100%. Okay. Great.

[Will Arnett]

He's the absolute.

[Don Cheadle]

Do you play? This should be the foursome.

[Jason Bateman]

I, I, I can. I always say I can drive the cart.

[Will Arnett]

He loves to drive the cart.

[Don Cheadle]

It's a date.

[Sean Hayes]

It's so much fun. We get him a soda. We get him like a float, Like a root beer float. And he drives.

[Jason Bateman]

Next time. Next time you're a soda.

[Sean Hayes]

Sometimes a Shirley Temple, but it's a lot of sugar. It's a lot.

[Don Cheadle]

He's very groggy and, and by the 17th. Kind of, kind of irritable. A little, little grumpy.

[Will Arnett]

Guys, it's good. Just pick it up. We gotta go.

[Jason Bateman]

That's totally me.

[Will Arnett]

Love you, Don. Thank you for saying yes.

[Jason Bateman]

Love you, pal.

[Will Arnett]

Enjoy the rest of your day down there in Atlanta. And say hi to our friend Mr. Hart, please.

[Don Cheadle]

I will. Thanks, guys. Great seeing you today.

[Sean Hayes]

Great to see you, dude.

[Will Arnett]

Thank you, Don. Bye, buddy.

[Don Cheadle]

Yep.

[Will Arnett]

Yep.

[Jason Bateman]

I love Don Chalant. It's so good.

[Sean Hayes]

Jb. What a great. What a great, great guest. I love.

[Will Arnett]

Your shoulders just drop when you're talking to him.

[Jason Bateman]

Yes.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, he's cool. I mean, he's just such a. I can't. Another one of those mega talent. He falls into that category.

[Will Arnett]

Mega talent and universally loved.

[Jason Bateman]

And we, yeah, we say this all the time. It seems like the people who work all the time also have wonderful personalities.

[Sean Hayes]

Yeah, I agree.

[Jason Bateman]

Like the.

[Sean Hayes]

Well, Jamie, you know, You're a. You're a director. It's big part of your career now and your life. And when you're deciding between. You have a lot of options to do stuff with a lot of different people. And part of the calculus, I imagine, is who do I want to spend the next four months with?

[Will Arnett]

It's huge. And it's before I even start to get excited about the idea of them coming on. And that's cast or crew. I'll do zooms with people that I may not even see on the set. And I just need to know that they're not going to recognize with their.

[Sean Hayes]

Right.

[Will Arnett]

Not being nice people.

[Sean Hayes]

Important.

[Will Arnett]

But he is. He's amazing. And well, I could have. I could have just gone on forever and ever. We didn't get to much of anything, which is what we do on this show. Sorry.

[Sean Hayes]

No, we get a lot of complaints about that. I think that some from some people who say, like, oh, you guys, didn't you just. And what they forget is like, we're just so excited to see Don. Yeah, right. So a guy like Don. So we just start talking.

[Will Arnett]

Yeah. We're not journalists. We're just three dummies that want to just talk a little bit and can't believe believe anyone's listening. So.

[Sean Hayes]

And if you're like, oh, why didn't you. Why didn't you get to what Don's favorite dog type is? We're like, sorry, we were just excited. We just wanted to talk with them.

[Jason Bateman]

Yeah.

[Sean Hayes]

You know what I mean?

[Will Arnett]

Like, that's on the Smartless extras. If you want to know his favorite dog type exactly.

[Don Cheadle]

Or.

[Jason Bateman]

Or talk about, like, vacation spots. Like, I don't know, like, have you. Has he ever been to Thailand or Mumbai? Or Mumbai.

[Sean Hayes]

Oh, Mumbai, you glaze straight over it.

[Don Cheadle]

My B.

[Sean Hayes]

Smart.

[Will Arnett]

Less.

[Sean Hayes]

Smart.

[Will Arnett]

Less.

[Sean Hayes]

Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjarf, Bennett Barbico, and Michael Grant. Smart. Less.