"Male Actors" w/ Hari Nef

Summary

StraightioLab: "Male Actors" with Hari Nef – Detailed Summary

Podcast Information:

• Title: StraightioLab
• Hosts/Authors: Big Money Players Network and iHeartPodcasts
• Guest: Hari Nef
• Release Date: April 22, 2025

Overview: In the "Male Actors" episode of StraightioLab, hosts George Severis and Sam Taggart engage in a thought-provoking and humorous exploration of male actors within the context of straight culture, drag performances, and evolving standards of masculinity. Joined by guest Hari Nef, the trio delves into topics ranging from fashion norms and drag culture to the portrayal of male actors in contemporary media.

---

1. Introduction and Arrival Delays ([02:05] – [07:15])

The episode kicks off with George and Sam humorously addressing their late arrival to the recording session, attributing it to suspected citywide train delays.

George Severis: "We are coming at you live from New York City where we are roughly 1/2 hour late, which is so."

Sam Taggart: "We get here thinking, oh, everyone's gonna be late. There are major citywide train delays."

They playfully discuss the discomfort of being late and share anecdotes about holding onto a lone string cheese offered at the office, symbolizing their attempts to maintain composure despite their tardiness.

2. Introduction of Guest Hari Nef ([06:16] – [07:15])

The hosts express their excitement about finally bringing Hari Nef onto the show, highlighting her multifaceted career as an actress, writer, and model.

Sam Taggart: "Please welcome actress, writer, model, beautiful hair, half Hari Nef."

Hari Nef: "Hi."

3. Segment: Straight Shooters ([23:23] – [38:52])

Straight Shooters is an interactive segment where Hari is quizzed with rapid-fire questions contrasting elements of straight culture. The objective is to assess her familiarity and complicity with certain straight cultural norms by making quick, gut-based choices.

Notable Quotes:

• Hari Nef: "Baghavad Gita."
• Sam Taggart: "Blaming karma the second one because you're gay."

The segment showcases the playful dynamic among the hosts and Hari, offering insightful yet humorous commentary on societal norms.

4. Fashion and Style Discussion ([09:13] – [37:12])

The conversation transitions into a lively debate about fashion rules, particularly the societal expectations surrounding white jeans and the antiquated notion of matching belts to shoes.

George Severis: "Bring back dogma, baby."

Hari Nef: "Don't follow any of that. Like, aren't the shoes supposed to match the belt?"

They critique the rigidity of fashion standards imposed by traditional norms, advocating for personal expression over conformity.

Notable Timestamp:

• 12:05 – Discussion on sex-specific fashion norms and the impracticality of carrying multiple pairs of shoes.

5. Drag Culture and Parental Support ([26:05] – [43:44])

A significant portion of the episode delves into RuPaul's Drag Race, exploring the portrayal of drag queens, the supportiveness of their parents, and the intersection of drag and mainstream culture.

George Severis: "I love the representation of a nonplussedly supportive parent."

Sam Taggart: "If my mom was Sam Starr's mom and she was like, 'Who here needs help tucking?' I would, like, not like that."

Hari Nef: "We're talking about neutrality on this podcast a lot, and there's many realms. We are supportive politically. Not politically, of course, but one thing I do think where neutrality really matters is parent support."

The discussion highlights the complexity of parental reactions to their children’s participation in drag, emphasizing the need for balanced support without overstepping.

6. Main Topic: Male Actors ([58:00] – [77:43])

The core of the episode revolves around the exploration of male actors and their roles in both traditional and contemporary media landscapes. The conversation critically examines how male actors are portrayed, the shifting standards of masculinity, and the influence of drag culture on mainstream acting.

Key Points:

• Evolution of Masculinity: The hosts discuss how traditional masculine ideals are being challenged and redefined in modern cinema.

  Sam Taggart: "We're declaring done with cut. Hashtag donewithcut."

• Critique of Contemporary Male Actors: There's a critical analysis of actors like Timothee Chalamet and Daniel Craig, questioning whether their portrayals align with authentic masculinity or lean towards performative aspects influenced by societal pressures.

  George Severis: "The gays are not the cultural force that they used to be 100%. They are kind of top down retooling their brand."

• Drag Influence on Acting: The intersection between drag performers and male actors is examined, suggesting that drag culture offers a unique perspective on performance and gender expression that could enrich male acting.

  Sam Taggart: "I do think that there's something about, okay, you see a poster for a movie... it's like American Hustle and it's Jennifer Lawrence. It's time for her to basically have a variety of interactions with men that are kind of like wooden and like, don't say much."

Notable Quotes:

• George Severis [61:02]: "We are still kind of under that rock. I mean, I think I read this thing about Nic Cage, how he just doesn't do that. And that's why he's amazing. He's like. He's a male actress."

• Sam Taggart [65:21]: "Some of the great male performances are directed by women, and none of them are ever acknowledged as like in the cause. Everyone just wants Francis Ford Coppola."

• Hari Nef [70:09]: "Jenna is like what she likes about her is that she gets to be a drag king. She's like, I'm not a man, I'm a drag king."

7. Shout Outs Segment ([80:02] – [83:39])

In the final segment, Shout Outs, the hosts and Hari pay homage to various elements, people, and concepts they appreciate, often with a humorous twist.

Notable Highlights:

• Chekhov's String Cheese: A recurring joke about the string cheese offered earlier in the episode becomes a playful topic of discussion.

  Sam Taggart: "Shout out to string cheese. Honestly, one of the most underrated snacks."

• Midtown New York: George delivers a rapid-fire, animated shout out to Midtown, capturing the quintessential New York morning vibe with references to iconic personalities like Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum.

  George Severis: "Shout out to Midtown... you are on Broadway way. How dare you? The diners are open."

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

1. George Severis [02:30]: "Run in one bite because she said Madonna documentary style."

2. Hari Nef [09:04]: "It's so nice to refer to ourselves as the bottom of the totem pole."

3. Sam Taggart [26:38]: "The Devil is real."

4. George Severis [31:23]: "Here's what I really think. The gays are not relevant."

5. Sam Taggart [53:57]: "Commit. Commit."

6. George Severis [61:20]: "This is like Sunday morning for me that it doesn't sound much fun for the male actors."

7. Sam Taggart [69:32]: "Mickey Rourke, I think."

8. George Severis [72:09]: "You wanna talk about silicone injections in the face."

---

Insights and Conclusions:

Redefining Masculinity: The episode underscores the evolving portrayal of masculinity in media. Traditional stereotypes are being deconstructed, with a push towards more nuanced and authentic representations. The hosts argue that male actors are at a crossroads, needing to balance societal expectations with genuine character depth.

Influence of Drag Culture: Drag culture emerges as a pivotal influence, offering alternative perspectives on performance and gender expression. The fluidity and intentional performance inherent in drag provide a template for male actors to explore and express complex facets of masculinity.

Role of Supportive Parenting: The discussion on parental support in RuPaul's Drag Race highlights the broader societal implications of acceptance and encouragement. It emphasizes that balanced support without overstepping is crucial for the personal and professional growth of individuals in performance arts.

Critique of Current Male Actors: The hosts express a critical stance towards contemporary male actors, questioning the authenticity of their performances amidst changing cultural dynamics. They advocate for performances that align more closely with personal identity and societal expectations, rather than conforming to performative ideals.

Future of Male Acting: Looking forward, the conversation hints at a need for a broader and more inclusive approach to male acting. By drawing parallels with drag performances and encouraging actors to embrace diverse expressions of masculinity, the episode envisions a more dynamic and representative future for male actors in film and theater.

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Conclusion: The "Male Actors" episode of StraightioLab offers a rich and engaging exploration of the complexities surrounding male actors in contemporary media. Through insightful discussions, humorous banter, and critical analysis, George Severis, Sam Taggart, and guest Hari Nef dissect the interplay between straight culture, drag performance, and the evolving standards of masculinity. The episode not only entertains but also provokes thoughtful reflection on how societal norms influence performance arts and the portrayal of male identities.

Transcript

[George Severis]

Every morning brings a fresh new energy, and no matter what the day holds, we come to the Today show for all of it.

[Sam Taggart]

We get the best start to the day because we started together.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch the Today show weekdays at 7:00am on NBC.

[George Severis]

Honestly, honestly, honestly.

[Hari Neff]

No one wants to think about HIV.

[Sam Taggart]

But there are things that everyone can.

[Hari Neff]

Do to help prevent it.

[Sam Taggart]

Things like prep.

[Hari Neff]

PREP stands for Pre Exposure Prophylaxis, and it means routinely taking prescription medicine before you're exposed to HIV to help reduce.

[Sam Taggart]

Your chances of getting it. Prep can be about 99% effective when taken as prescribed. It doesn't protect against other STIs, though.

[Hari Neff]

So be sure to use condoms and.

[Sam Taggart]

Other healthy sex practices. Ask a healthcare provider about all your.

[Hari Neff]

Prevention Options and visit findoutaboutprep.com to learn more.

[George Severis]

Sponsored by Gilead Let's Bogo the Hoppin.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Goods sale at Designer Shoe Warehouse is on. Buy any pair of shoes in store or online. Get a second qualifying pair 50% off.

[George Severis]

Yep, must have sandals, sneakers and more.

[Ryan Seacrest]

From brands you love are buy one.

[George Severis]

Get one 50% off at DSWell, but.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Only for a limited time. So hop to it, fill your basket and score. BOGO 50% off at your DSW store or dsw.com.

[George Severis]

The best moments happen when you're with your people, laughing, vibing and just enjoying life. Coke is making those moments even sweeter. Shara Coke is back and it's all about sharing with the whole crew. Doesn't matter if it's your bestie or bro, there's a can with their name on it. So grab one for the squad and make some memories. But hurry because these Coca Cola limited edition bottles and cans won't be here forever. Don't miss your chance to share a Coke with all your favorite.

[Hari Neff]

Podcast starts now. Hello, we are coming at you live from New York City where we are roughly 1/2 hour late, which is so.

[Sam Taggart]

So first of all, we're being gaslit because both of us saw major train delays that were allegedly citywide. We get here thinking, oh, everyone's gonna be late. There are major citywide train delays. We get here, everyone is here, everyone's fine.

[Hari Neff]

Everyone's sitting around waiting for us.

[Sam Taggart]

But both of us coming from different places are both late.

[Hari Neff]

Well, we were targeted. It was an attack.

[Sam Taggart]

I do think. Do you think it's part of Trump's tariff related actions? Of course he is saying we are doing no more in studio gay podcasting in this new era of America, once.

[Hari Neff]

You silence the gay podcasters, you silence truth.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, I do think that Actually, there's something to that. Because if you think about it, we're sort of the bottom of the totem pole. You start with us, correct? It's kind of like starting with public universities and working our way up to Harvard. We are kind of like the subject Ball State.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And then, you know, next thing you know, where's Michelle Obama's podcast?

[Hari Neff]

Wow.

[Sam Taggart]

Why isn't she talking to Sophia Bush about being empowered?

[Hari Neff]

It's so nice to refer to ourselves as the bottom of the totem pole. Well, you know, of course, I feel I have to say, you know, last night I was. I was. I'm in New York, and I was like, God, New York is just like Paris. Never been to Paris, but still, the sentiment was there. And then today I'm like, you know what? I needed this. I needed to be brought down a few pegs because.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, by the subway.

[Hari Neff]

You mean by the subway. Because I was really like, what am I doing with my life?

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

And now here I am a half hour late, sweaty as hell.

[Sam Taggart]

I mean, there really is very. It's about being humbled. There's Nothing like running 20 minutes late and then texting. Is there food in the office? Cause I haven't had breakfast and being told, yeah, there is a single string cheese. Here you go. There's a string cheese.

[Hari Neff]

I actually really respected that you asked that.

[Sam Taggart]

And I am now I'm in this dilemma. If you're not watching on video, I'm holding the string cheese. It is Chekhov string cheese. And it might be eaten by the end of the episode or it might not.

[Hari Neff]

I think you should have. Why didn't you eat it before recording?

[Sam Taggart]

Because there is something about admitting defeat. You know what it is? It's like, imagine I'm Lady Gaga, okay? And I'm running late, and I'm saying, is there anything there? And they give me one string cheese. Would Lady Gaga eat the string cheese?

[Hari Neff]

Yes. This logic game is not working for me.

[George Severis]

No.

[Sam Taggart]

She would say, well, she would eat.

[Hari Neff]

It in three bites. She wouldn't strip. She'd eat it in three bites.

[Sam Taggart]

She would eat it in one bite because she said Madonna documentary style.

[Hari Neff]

She would say, truth or dare.

[Sam Taggart]

She would say, truth or dare. Put this string cheese in your mouth.

[Hari Neff]

One fucking bite. I think you should have eaten it. I think Lady Gaga would have eaten it. I think Madonna would have gagged upon it.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

I think if. I think there's something about being so in need where then you have to perform how needy you were when you get here, where you almost need to scarf it and be like, God, I was about to die.

[Sam Taggart]

Here's what. So, okay, related to this, here's what I'm struggling with. Obviously we're late and obviously we're talent. Now you're, now you're forced. It's not that annoying. Now you're forced to decide, are you gonna be so apologetic and humble or are you gonna walk in and pretend nothing happened and say, this is how I operate.

[Hari Neff]

Well, what did you do? I missed your entry because I was.

[Sam Taggart]

I was apologetic, but I stopped myself from being overly apologetic because I think there was a way I could have debased myself further. And I said, no, no, you host an I Heart podcast, bitch. You host an iHeart podcast and you have a free string cheese on your person that you could eat it at any point.

[Hari Neff]

You know what? I did.

[Sam Taggart]

And it's tax deductible.

[Hari Neff]

Okay, first of all, I also apologize, but I also, you know, tastefully not overboard. That would have been so bad. That would have made it their problem, not mine. But I had a half drank coffee and I threw it away on the way in because I didn't want to.

[Sam Taggart]

Walk in late with a coffee. Yeah, totally.

[Hari Neff]

And I was like, that's enough coffee.

[Sam Taggart]

I want to get our guest's take on this whole debacle.

[Hari Neff]

I can't wait to hear our guest's perspective on this entire debacle.

[Sam Taggart]

I have to say, we have been trying to get this girl on. I feel almost like when we had Kathy Griffin on. Not only because they're both ladies in comedy that are not afraid to speak out about Donald Trump.

[Hari Neff]

That's right. That's very true.

[Sam Taggart]

Because they were both. No, no, she's not allowed to speak yet. But because they are people that have been like screamed for on the discord in the messages we're getting when we did the poll. Who do you want to see on the pod? This person ranked above Lady Gaga. All three. Chaim Sisters.

[Hari Neff]

All three.

[Sam Taggart]

All three. Because there were submissions for Even Danielle. Yeah, there were submissions for Haim and then there were multiple submissions for Just Estie because of course she's the comedian of the trio. So please welcome actress, writer, model, beautiful hair, half Hari Neff.

[George Severis]

Hi, boy.

[Sam Taggart]

Hi. So, Hari, how are we doing so far?

[George Severis]

Yeah, you're doing great. I feel like you walked in late and you apologized from a place of power. I feel as though it's fine. I feel as though I was in Midtown at 8:30am today to get a dry bar at Nordstrom and I went to A whole diner before I got here. I got the New Yorker Breakfast Special at the Brooklyn Diner.

[Sam Taggart]

Wow.

[George Severis]

So that's who I am today. But you relate, and that's who you are today, and I don't hold that against you.

[Sam Taggart]

Are you mourning? Are you a morning diva?

[George Severis]

I'm always in mourning.

[Sam Taggart]

Are you in mourning? Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Grief is just a part of life.

[Sam Taggart]

Grief is a part of life.

[George Severis]

I'm in mourning for my life.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, yeah, totally. Think of.

[George Severis]

Check off string cheese.

[Sam Taggart]

Ooh.

[George Severis]

Ooh.

[Hari Neff]

Okay, so when you arrive and they say they're running late, tell us what's going through your mind.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, what's going through your mind? Walk us through that.

[Hari Neff]

Walk us through that.

[George Severis]

No, I already told George, like, somebody owes me something. Like, I've won. Like, you are going to be apologetic. You are going to lay it on a little thicker. You are going to act like you owe me something, and you do.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. Wow.

[George Severis]

It's great for me.

[Sam Taggart]

The thing is, that's how I would feel, too, because you think that's totally.

[Hari Neff]

How I would feel.

[Sam Taggart]

You think, as the person apologizing, that you're in the. That you're, like, humiliated and have something to prove. And it's like you're just giving the other person the gift of being in power in that sort social situation.

[Hari Neff]

What? George, I have to tell you something. I have to come clean about something.

[Sam Taggart]

What?

[Hari Neff]

Normally, I'm the one that's like, five minutes early, and you're the one that's like, five to 10 minutes late. And, you know, me and the squad here sort of look at each other and go, when's he getting here? Today. And we get to have this amazing little vibe, this connection, and I get to have this power. And today it's been stripped away from me in such a huge way, and I'm having an identity crisis because of it.

[Sam Taggart]

That is one of the most shocking things you've ever seen.

[Hari Neff]

And even when I walked in, I had to look at everyone in the eyes and say, like, but you guys know, it's not normally like this.

[George Severis]

How would I know?

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

And that's true. And that's true. You would have no way of knowing. So that's kind of funny. A little peek behind the curtain.

[George Severis]

It's okay. I forgive you. Why are you.

[Hari Neff]

No punishment. Hurting yourself.

[Sam Taggart]

It's over. It's over. It's over. Punishment is over, and we are back in power.

[George Severis]

Okay, I like this.

[Hari Neff]

Okay, I have a new topic I want to talk.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, what's the new topic?

[Hari Neff]

Okay, today I've decided to wear white jeans.

[Sam Taggart]

Uh huh. What do you think about white jeans?

[George Severis]

Power move resort. It's wealth. It's like, dirt will not besmirch me. I am not in the dirt. My hands are not getting dirty. Neither are my legs. I'm white jean. Yeah. And I think it's even more bold and powerful before Memorial Day. Diva. Like, is that the thing? Like, Memorial Day to Labor Day is, like, when it's permissible to wear white.

[Sam Taggart]

Bottoms, but that's the only time when it's okay to be a white bottom.

[George Severis]

How do you feel about white bottoms?

[Sam Taggart]

You know, it's complicated, obviously, because it is my community, but I definitely feel like they've had enough time in the sun.

[Hari Neff]

Really? Wow.

[Sam Taggart]

But here's what I think, though, that. Don't you think that saying the whole Memorial Day to Labor Day thing is now so passe that it's almost like it's more of a power move to wear it outside of that?

[George Severis]

No. Because I love rules. I love clothes rules. We have been stuck in the TikTok algorithm of finding your personal style. And everybody is beauty. Everybody is fashion. Every core is a whore.

[Sam Taggart]

You're saying bring back shoes, have to match the belt.

[George Severis]

Yeah. Bring back dogma, baby.

[Hari Neff]

I said this to one of our friends, and I bet you can guess who based on the response. I was like, he was trying to dress me. And I was like, well, this is kind of weird. Like, aren't the shoes supposed to match the belt? And he's like, I don't fucking care what you learned on what not to wear in 2003. Like, you don't have to follow any of that.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, I do think, though, Hari is right, that it's like things have gone so far in the other direction that we need to reign it back and everyone has to actually look like a Ralph Lauren ad for just, like, three years to get back on track.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, Yeah. A reset.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

It's like going on the brat diet, but for style.

[Sam Taggart]

It's exactly like that.

[George Severis]

I don't know about belt to shoes, but purse to bag.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Oh, no. Purse to purse, to shoes to shoe. No.

[Hari Neff]

No. Matching.

[George Severis]

No. Never.

[Sam Taggart]

I didn't even know. Is that. Do you have to. Was that a rule that you had to match your purse to your shoe?

[George Severis]

No, but I think it's something that is done. I see it.

[Sam Taggart]

Upper east side lady.

[George Severis]

Yeah. Or like, I don't know where that's. I've never done it, actually. I'm having a memory of trying to do it once and Having maybe, like, an elder queen or an elder girl or someone really severe who I looked up to very severely and fiercely punished me for that. The first time I ever went out in heels, it was like a Jeffrey Campbell Lita, you know, like 2011. I was outside the club and I was fighting for my life. I was leaning against a brick wall, having a cigarette. I could barely stand. And this drag queen sees it. She clocks me, and she goes, don't let him see you take your shoes off.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, my God. For her to know you were in pain just by the way you were leaning on the wall.

[George Severis]

Do not take them off. Do not take your shoes off. And I have taken that so to heart. I think it is disgusting when the girls do that at weddings and bar mitzvahs.

[Sam Taggart]

I agree.

[George Severis]

It's unladylike. It's unseemly.

[Sam Taggart]

What do you think of girl having sneakers in her bag and putting them on at the after party?

[George Severis]

I don't know. Like, who wants to have shoes in their bag?

[Sam Taggart]

Right.

[George Severis]

Those shoes are on the ground. They're inside of your purse. Your tote.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. This is actually something I noticed when I first saw I moved to America. Is that American people, when they pack, will just put a toothbrush loose with their shoes in their bag.

[George Severis]

Do you know what I mean?

[Hari Neff]

Well, I don't mix my toothbrush with my shoes, but I will sort of throw my toothbrush in the dopp kit loose. So whatever else is in that bag, it's touching.

[Sam Taggart]

And are the shoes loose with your clothes?

[Hari Neff]

No, I put my shoes in a little bag now. But that's kind of a newish development.

[George Severis]

Honestly, anytime you get a little dust bag, save it. I have, like, a bag of the bags, and it just, like, sits in the corner of the closet. You fish it out anytime you have to travel. Hold onto that. Oh, also, anytime you're at a hotel, they have those bags in the thing. I don't think they charge you if you steal them. I always steal them.

[Sam Taggart]

The secret was stealing things from a hotel. Don't look at the bill afterwards. I have no idea if I was ever charged for the robe that I stole from the computer.

[Hari Neff]

That's a really good hotel in San Francisco.

[Sam Taggart]

I wear it all the time. I'm Instagram myself in my little robe.

[George Severis]

Oh, they charge you for the robes.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, you know what? My theory, There were three in my room, even though they knew I was just one person, and I took one, and I was like, oh, they're not gonna notice. Cause why would they have Three in there. But what I think they do is they purposefully put three in there so the guest thinks, oh, I can get away with it.

[Hari Neff]

This is so finances, according to George, which is just like, just don't look.

[George Severis]

How many beds were in the room?

[Sam Taggart]

1. I think it was like, a king.

[George Severis]

So they're putting three.

[Sam Taggart]

They said maybe it's four bathrooms in there.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, they're being very progressive.

[George Severis]

What are they surmising?

[Hari Neff]

It's a sex hotel.

[George Severis]

What do they want to happen?

[Sam Taggart]

I know, I know. They're also making me feel like a prude. Cause I'm there by myself.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. They're like, where are your two partners?

[Sam Taggart]

I would. Isn't even having one partner with me, let alone two. I guess it's San Francisco.

[George Severis]

I love re staying in a hotel room that I know I've had sex in. Like, I have really? There are certain.

[Sam Taggart]

Do you specifically request it? Well, yeah.

[George Severis]

I mean, I stay at the Sunset Tower in LA like, whenever someone else is paying for it. And there are a couple rooms there where it's just like the Grinder flashback of life of 10 years.

[Sam Taggart]

I do think there was a point in my life where I never wanted to look back. And every time I was somewhere where I had been before, I felt like, get me out of here. And I'm actually in a very nostalgic phase right now where I actually am, like, purposefully, like, I'll go to my high school reunion. I mean, maybe not that I wouldn't go that far, but, like, I'm in a high school reunion place.

[Hari Neff]

When it comes to hookups, I'm very nostalgic. Like, I'll have hooked up with someone once in 2013, and I'll, like, message them on Instagram and be like, how have you been.

[George Severis]

Sam? I have a really distinct memory, probably like five or six years ago, of, like, coming across your Instagram and I saw your little mustache and your little, like, kind of mullet, and I was like, what's that?

[Sam Taggart]

The mullet era was huge for you.

[George Severis]

Is it gay?

[Hari Neff]

That's funny.

[George Severis]

Is it kind of gay? That's cool.

[Sam Taggart]

Are you growing back Mullet?

[Hari Neff]

I'm kind of going back to Mullen.

[Sam Taggart]

I actually. I like this length.

[Hari Neff]

Well, it's a little more tasteful. Before it was, like, full, you know, trying to be country or something.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Hari Neff]

And now I'm going Paul Mezcal.

[George Severis]

Yeah, no, no, you. You were giving the fantasy of, like, the pitchforky, like, is it straight? Is it all, like, Tinder Fantasy of 2019 that's what you were giving. You look good then and you look good now.

[Hari Neff]

You know, that's the next shoe.

[Sam Taggart]

Would you ever go country?

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. Countdown to country.

[Sam Taggart]

When is it, if your career demanded it, if someone was like, you have.

[George Severis]

To go country out of respect to the country? No, honey, I could not be more coastal. I could not. Like, it's. I am not opposed to the genre, I am not opposed to the vibe. I'm not opposed to the anger.

[Sam Taggart]

But you don't think it would be authentic. You don't think if you were to go country you could pull it off, is what you're saying.

[George Severis]

Actually, now I wanna try.

[Hari Neff]

I think you should.

[Sam Taggart]

I kind of think it's your next era.

[George Severis]

If I. No, I don't mean like, pull it as an aesthetic for ladies and gentlemen. I mean, like, go to Lake Okeechobee and see if I can turn it. Cause if I can turn it in Lake Okeechobee, baby. Yeah, I'm good.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, it's sort of like the equivalent, you know, if you were a comedian, you would be like, touring the country, seeing if your material worked on non coastal audiences. You bring it back, suddenly you're better than ever.

[George Severis]

Yeah, I want access to that. I want to learn how to do that.

[Hari Neff]

I wish time was unlimited. Let's start there. Well, yeah, because I think.

[George Severis]

Wait, really?

[Hari Neff]

I wish I could choose. I wish I could be like, okay, now I'm going on vacation from real time and I'm going into fake time. Sort of the waiting room.

[George Severis]

Hermione Granger literally turning the time that you turned it.

[Sam Taggart]

We're huge Harry Potter fans over here.

[George Severis]

Oh, my God. I'm actually not really. Yeah, no.

[Hari Neff]

But because I would love to go work on a farm and see if I could do it. Like, I wanted simple life, my life, just for like a year, but not lose a year.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, hold on.

[Hari Neff]

Because think about if I worked on a farm and I got. What if I. Of course, you know, think of the montage. Month one, I'm horrible. Month three, I know where to get the pig slop.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, totally.

[Hari Neff]

And I. Ooh. And I'm good at carrying it.

[Sam Taggart]

I will say this. Sorry. Go ahead.

[Hari Neff]

No, I think this deserves a response.

[George Severis]

No, but like, you don't know, I'm assuming. Okay, wait, where are we from?

[Hari Neff]

I'm from the Midwest, in Virginia.

[George Severis]

Okay.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. I mostly grew up in Greece, but I spent six years in New Jersey.

[George Severis]

Okay. Yeah. So, okay, Jersey high school, like middle.

[Sam Taggart]

School, end of elementary school.

[George Severis]

So, like, do you know any of, like the Coastal kids who like gave up on the semi charmed kind of life and then like fully were like bio organic. They them farming like five years later and like maybe are still there.

[Sam Taggart]

One of my greatest, I wouldn't say regrets because ultimately I don't regret it, but I always would hear about those things. And by those things I mean anything ranging from Peace Corps on one end and organic farming, kibbutz living, organic, non binary Jewish farming, organic, non binary Jewish farming, sustainable. And I would always be like 65% interested. And I'd be like if I had just a little an inkling, more of the go getter attitude and the, you know, less of a fear of disappointing my parents who like wanted me to be an engineer, I would do it.

[Hari Neff]

Oh.

[George Severis]

But it felt very much like doing that. The whole point was to disappoint your parents.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, that's a great point.

[Sam Taggart]

I know. But the thing is I was playing the long game because the number one way to disappoint your parents is becoming a stand up comedian.

[George Severis]

You ate that?

[Hari Neff]

I did.

[Sam Taggart]

No, but I was. Did you consider it?

[George Severis]

No. I wanted to be an actress.

[Sam Taggart]

You wanted to be an actress? Sure.

[George Severis]

It's true.

[Sam Taggart]

And you also wanted to be in the big city?

[George Severis]

Well, yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Wait, where are you from?

[George Severis]

I'm from Boston.

[Hari Neff]

Oh, okay.

[George Severis]

Newton, Massachusetts.

[Hari Neff]

Got it, got it, got it.

[Sam Taggart]

Should we do our first segment?

[Hari Neff]

I think we should.

[George Severis]

Yeah. Okay. Every morning brings a fresh new energy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

This is today with.

[George Severis]

And no matter what the day holds, we come to the Today show for all of it.

[Sam Taggart]

When things are tough, we talk about it.

[Craig Melvin]

When there's something to figure out, we dig into it.

[George Severis]

And when there's joy, we celebrate it. Because today is where it's all happening. We get the best start to every morning because we start it together.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch the Today show with Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin. Weekdays at 7am on NBC.

[George Severis]

Ryan Reynolds here from IT Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities.

[Sam Taggart]

So do like I it and have.

[George Severis]

One of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today.

[Sam Taggart]

I'm told it's super easy to do.

[Ryan Seacrest]

@Mintmobile.Com Switch upfront payment of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month Required intro rate first 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See Full [e-mail] Spring into savings during Blinds.com's Spring Black Friday sale happening now. Freshen up your home with brand new Custom Window Treatments for [e-mail], shopping online for custom window treatments doesn't mean sacrificing on service, selection or style. As the 1 online retailer of custom window treatments, blinds.com has hundreds of options to fit any decor and budget. Choose from stylish roller or bamboo shades, blackout options and more. We even have motorized shades for your patio DIY or let our experts handle the heavy lifting. Blinds.com has you covered with free virtual consultations. We'll even send a pro to do the measure and install. Try before youe Buy with free samples delivered to your door. With over 25 million windows covered, every order's backed with Blinds.com's 100% satisfaction guarantee. Shop Blinds.com's Spring Black Friday sale now for up to 50% off site wide plus a free professional measure save up to 50% at Blinds.com rules and restrictions may apply.

[Craig Melvin]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Spring is in full swing, which means it's time for spring cleaning. Don't worry, we've got everything you need to stock up on spring cleaning essentials because a clean home is a happy home. Shop in store or online for spring cleaning favorites like Method All Purpose Cleaner, Swiffer Heavy Duty Mopping Cloths, Lysol Bathroom Cleaner, Scotch Brite Sponges and Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and Save. Offer ends April 22. Promotions may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Sam Taggart]

Hari Our first segment is called Straight Shooters and in this segment we test your familiarity with and complicity in straight culture by asking a series of rapid fire questions where you have to choose this thing or this other thing and you have to just go with your gut. And the one rule is you can't ask any follow up questions about how the game works because we will yell at you.

[George Severis]

Okay?

[Hari Neff]

Okay Hari the right to remain silent or the fight to regain the big.

[George Severis]

Client the fight to regain the biggest.

[Sam Taggart]

Agnes Varda or Ekhauslada Agnes Varda no.

[Hari Neff]

Shade Chester Cheetah or Bhagavad Gita Bhagavad.

[George Severis]

Gita down.

[Sam Taggart]

Mind the gap or grind or chat Mind the gap Meeting with.

[Hari Neff]

HR or speeding in a car Speeding.

[George Severis]

In a car a fast car Opposites.

[Sam Taggart]

Attract or Megalopolis fell flat opposite the.

[Hari Neff]

Track oh keep me in the loop or get me out of this improv.

[George Severis]

Troupe Keep me in the loop Using.

[Sam Taggart]

Klarna to pay or blaming karma the second one because you're gay.

[George Severis]

The second one, I feel like I.

[Sam Taggart]

Wouldn'T be caught dead logging into Klarna.

[George Severis]

Klarna is so dark to me.

[Sam Taggart]

Klarna is dark.

[George Severis]

And they've got all the drag queens doing the Klarta's pod too.

[Sam Taggart]

It's like, because, you know, they have to use it, baby, based on what they're being paid post. Drag Race.

[George Severis]

No, also like Klarta. What kind of a name is that? What kind of. It's like a Ryan Shakartan character.

[Sam Taggart]

You had one opportunity to name your company. You had a brainstorm meeting, you had follow up meetings. There was an email that went right up to the coo. There were reply alls that said, hey, following up. I love the direction we're going in. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the Klarna Klarna. She comes out, she's like, she sucks.

[Hari Neff]

She sucks.

[Sam Taggart]

She's first eliminated. But it's not even in like a Miss Vanjie fun way.

[Hari Neff]

No.

[Sam Taggart]

Everyone's like, this was a mistake.

[Hari Neff]

No, she's so flop.

[Sam Taggart]

We have to rank Hari's performance on a scale of one. So it used to be on a scale of one to 1,000 doves, based on the Lady Gaga song Zero Doves.

[George Severis]

Ciao.

[Sam Taggart]

We recently changed it to zero to 1,000 blades of grass in honor of the worst song from her new album, Blade of Grass.

[George Severis]

Hey, not too much on Stephanie, okay?

[Sam Taggart]

I have to say. I mean, I'm like, this is close to a perfect score for me.

[Hari Neff]

I was gonna say 999 doves.

[Sam Taggart]

999 dubs.

[Hari Neff]

And by that I mean blades of grass.

[Sam Taggart]

Blades of grass. What I loved about Hari's performance is that she, I would say, embodied a character of Drag Race. Judge.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, it was very.

[George Severis]

Stop. No, it was. You were being Michelle Vitach.

[Hari Neff]

It was very. How's your head?

[George Severis]

You were like, I haven't had any complaints yet. No. Because I want that to happen to me so bad.

[Sam Taggart]

Have you not done it?

[George Severis]

No. And I feel like they know that I'm in so deep and I feel like they know that I want it so badly. And I don't think they're ever gonna give it to me after this performance.

[Hari Neff]

No, they're absolutely gonna give it to you.

[Sam Taggart]

But here's my question for you, and we can stop talking about this whenever you want. Even though you brought it up, what would your ideal challenge be that you would judge?

[Hari Neff]

Oh, that's great.

[Sam Taggart]

Like, do you think? Cause you obviously are multi high fitted. Do you wanna judge an acting challenge, a Runway modeling challenge, a roast. You know, you're sort of the Kathy Griffin.

[George Severis]

Really. I'm not a woman in comedy kind of. Honestly, I feel like I can be more articulate and like an authority about a fashion challenge. I wish I were articulate and an authority about an acting challenge, but those are still stripes that I feel I am earning or stripes that, you know, the industry in question is, like, not going to give me yet. But fashion gave it away to me very quickly and very bountifully.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, so you're thinking an antm.

[George Severis]

Yeah. Really Speaking from a place of power when it comes to fashion, do you.

[Sam Taggart]

Think Runway or, you know, photo shoot? Editorial?

[George Severis]

I no, like, the ball.

[Hari Neff]

The ball challenge.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, the ball challenge.

[George Severis]

Yeah. Like, I Wanna Judge, like, 73 looks. No, but I also. No, but, like, I would love to judge a performance challenge because, like, I wanna be like, hey, you're the trans girl, right? Like, stop thinking about passing. Like, I can tell that you're doing that little thing with your voice. Like, let it go, baby. Let it all hang out.

[Sam Taggart]

She's like, I'm not trans.

[Hari Neff]

She's like, I'm not even. I'm just the camera.

[George Severis]

I lived in this season. I watch Drag Race and love Drag Race for the moments where the void opens and the line between trans and drag queen exists. The line between drag queen and capitalist subject. Oh, yeah. I mean, not exists. Disintegrates. And Hunter Schaefer walks into Untucked this season, and she's just sitting there and she's looking around at all of these drag queens in drag, and she's like, are. Are there any dolls in the room? And two of them are like, yeah, because you don't know.

[Hari Neff]

That was a funny moment.

[Sam Taggart]

I mean, I hate to become a Drag Race podcast, but I do want to know your quick thoughts on this season, because we have decided as a bit that we are team Jewel Sparkles.

[George Severis]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. In sort of a nihilistic.

[Sam Taggart]

And it's actually not a bit. We're fully team Jewel Sparkles.

[George Severis]

Why?

[Sam Taggart]

I think, well, obvious. Like, okay, watching it, I'm like, anya's gonna win. And I love Anya and I want her to win. But there's something about the perseverance of Jules. She's always being underestimated, and she always ultimately turns it out. She has a gorgeous, just presence. I mean, that face deserves to be on television.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. She's so funny and nice. And then also, I'm so happy when she starts a little fight, but she does it with she has moral correctness. She's like, I know what's good and what's bad. And I always agree with her morals.

[Sam Taggart]

And she has charisma, which honestly can't be taught.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Here's my thing. I like my drag queens with a drop of poison in it.

[Hari Neff]

Sure.

[George Severis]

I like the drag queen that kind of wants to hurt something. I like the drag queen that has hatred in her heart. I like the drag queen that desublimates the hatred in her heart into funny drag with a little twisted sense or wicked beauty that's a little disturbing. Or Tammy Brown just from outer space.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. So you love Hormonalisa.

[George Severis]

Yes. No. This is literally it. It's like, I was here for Hormona. I was even here for Susie, too, because I don't know whether she's aware of the poison, but the poison is there, and I live 100%. I love the rotted white theater queen. Not that, like, Susie Toot is rotted, but, like, I love, like, the white queens who are just like, I'm the one. And.

[Hari Neff]

That is such a funny thing to say.

[George Severis]

No. Cause I relate to it.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, my God. Honestly, so do we.

[George Severis]

Right?

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Like. And, like, I loved the kind of, like, trans vibe of the way Susie would deliver naturalism in the acting performances. Like, you're just an actress, baby. Like, the wig is on. But, like, the wig could really be on if you wanted the wig. There is a chemical substance stronger than glue. No. And I feel in this top four, like, there's a famine of poison. I would actually probably say team Lexi.

[Hari Neff]

Love, because there's some poison there for sure.

[George Severis]

Right? What did she say? It sent the whole, I host little Drag Race viewing sometimes on Fridays. You are always welcome. But she was on the stage and she said, the streets, the pipe and the pole. All of it.

[Hari Neff]

When she said that, that was amazing. That was like, Jerry Blank coded. Like, I was like, this is so great. I've never heard anyone say that in real life.

[George Severis]

I'm always gonna ride for a queen that's from the streets, the pipe and the pole. Ideally, all of it. Team Lexi.

[Hari Neff]

Team Lexi.

[Sam Taggart]

I guess I do. I mean, I do love Lexi. Lexi is a star. And it also just makes you remember, like. Yeah. What we lose by all of them being 23 is that they don't have lives they can talk about.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. I mean, the 23 was glaring this season.

[Sam Taggart]

It was really glaring.

[George Severis]

Yeah, but that's. There are drag queens at 23 who have shit to talk about.

[Sam Taggart]

That's true.

[George Severis]

I mean, it used to be like, I don't know, being a drag queen. It used to be like you were from the streets and you were a freak. This is like your last resort. Like, you have to do this because you cannot pass for anything other than a drag queen. But, like, I don't know, you know, like Mistress Isabel Brooks. Like, she's young. She's been doing drag since she was 16 or whatever.

[Hari Neff]

True, true, true.

[George Severis]

Yeah, we still have those gritty queens.

[Sam Taggart]

What did you think about all their parents coming in and being so supportive?

[George Severis]

Like, I live.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, no, it was. It's inspirational. And then at some point you're like, okay, so at this point, is this just the equivalent of, like, if your son played baseball? Like, if everyone is so supportive, but.

[George Severis]

Like, I actually lived extra for, like, Susie's mom being, like, non plussed.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

I just spit the P and plussed.

[Sam Taggart]

It was like, well, it's your theater training.

[George Severis]

That what I lived for. The representation of a nonplussedly supportive parent.

[Sam Taggart]

We were talking about this.

[Hari Neff]

I'm so much more realistic.

[Sam Taggart]

It's so much more realistic. And I really. I became upset at the fact that they were trying to sell us this narrative that Suzy Zom was less supportive, quote, unquote. Like, she was less excited than, like, a Sam Starr's mom or, like, the. Or Jules dad. And you were supposed to almost feel bad for her that they didn't have this more, like, Kiki relationship. And it's like, no, that's what my mom or your mom would be like.

[Hari Neff]

That's what moms are supposed to be like.

[Sam Taggart]

That's what moms are supposed to be like. If my mom was Sam Starr's mom and she was like, who here needs help tucking? I would, like, not like that.

[Hari Neff]

Well, there's something. We've talked about neutrality on this podcast a lot, and there's many realms.

[Sam Taggart]

We're for it.

[Hari Neff]

We are supportive politically. Not politically, of course, but one thing I do think where neutrality really matters is parent support.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[Hari Neff]

Like, they aren't supposed to hate what you're doing, but they're also not supposed to be, like, gagging.

[Sam Taggart]

I completely agree. That's the only way to raise normal children.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Is you can't gag too much.

[Hari Neff]

You just have to be like, okay, cool. Let me know how that goes. That's it. That's it.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

My mom gagged.

[Sam Taggart]

Really?

[Hari Neff]

She gagged? Well, you know, you were in action.

[George Severis]

I don't think she was being supportive. I just think I gagged her.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Gagged her A bit, I fear.

[George Severis]

I think I gagged my dad, too. Gagged my stepdad. Stepmom.

[Hari Neff]

Stepdad. Why are you gagging so? Stepdad.

[Sam Taggart]

Why are you gagging so. You know, I bring it to you every ball I've been. Klarna. Oh, my God.

[Hari Neff]

Klarna. Klarna. Documentary. When? Like, it's only a matter of time.

[George Severis]

Oh.

[Sam Taggart]

To expose Klarna. The company.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

I have a list of drag names, but I feel like we probably should start talking about something.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, my God. Okay, wait, we'll.

[George Severis]

Do you want, like, five of them?

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[Hari Neff]

Yes.

[George Severis]

Okay. No. Okay. Okay. Detritus.

[Hari Neff]

Oh, that's good.

[George Severis]

Jean Genet. Ramsey.

[Sam Taggart]

Jean Genet.

[George Severis]

Quarantine.

[Sam Taggart]

Quarantine.

[Hari Neff]

Quarantine would absolutely be a queen on the show.

[George Severis]

Skinny charisma.

[Sam Taggart]

Skinny charisma.

[George Severis]

Margiela. Subsequent.

[Hari Neff]

Wow.

[Sam Taggart]

Quarantine is my favorite.

[Hari Neff]

Quarantine's really good.

[Sam Taggart]

I always thought there should be a drag queen named Kombucha.

[Hari Neff]

I'm sure there is somewhere.

[Sam Taggart]

Probably.

[Hari Neff]

You have to hope.

[Sam Taggart]

But quarantine is beautiful.

[Hari Neff]

That's really a nice name.

[George Severis]

Become her.

[Hari Neff]

Wait.

[Sam Taggart]

Speaking of lists, Hari, you did send me last night an incredible list of straight topics. And you can choose whichever one you want, but I would like you to read the list in full.

[George Severis]

Yay. I love lists. Call me Busby. The way out of that. Yeah. Straightio. Okay. Quote, clubbing, unquote. Not like. Like, partying. Not like the clubbing.

[Sam Taggart]

Clubbing, yeah.

[George Severis]

The art house.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Interesting.

[George Severis]

Quiet. Luxury Drag brunch. Plastic surgery. Oh, okay. Big boobs. Okay. Skinny parentheses. New development.

[Hari Neff]

I would love to hear a little bit more about this.

[Sam Taggart]

Wait, wait. Finish off.

[George Severis]

Male actors, right?

[Hari Neff]

Yes.

[George Severis]

Being supportive. Kindness.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. There's so much there. I mean, first of all, clubbing, I think, is such a good. Clubbing in quotes is an amazing topic because it is, like, this thing where it's, like, foreign. They're like, well, that's a thing that some people do. It's like a genre person. Now I'm spitting. Now my theater training's coming out. And whereas for lgbtq, it's sort of like, well, yeah, that's a given part of life.

[George Severis]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

You're just say, I'm going out.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Yeah. Well, clubbing is about the club. It's about, like, the location. Ideally, the LGBT's. Like, we're here for the music. Or, like, we're here to, like, get laid. Or, like, you know, we're here to do drugs. Like, clubbing is about the club and it's about lines.

[Hari Neff]

It's about, like. And it's about, like, Drag Race wins.

[George Severis]

No, no. Cher is not Drag Race exclusive. The way I imitate her at this.

[Hari Neff]

Point, I think of Cher more with Drag Race than anything else. She exists as a character in the Drag Race universe.

[Sam Taggart]

You know, much like we were talking about Joan Didion the other day. There's Cher the person, and there's Cher the fantasm that exists in culture.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, she's much like Sally Rooney in that sense.

[Sam Taggart]

She's much like Sarah Rooney in that sense. Okay, wait, I do want to know which one you ended up I want to know which one you ended up choosing of the topics.

[George Severis]

Oh, I have to choose.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, we can also choose together.

[Hari Neff]

Well, okay, but I also. Wait, can you.

[George Severis]

No, I already offered Molly back.

[Hari Neff]

I want you to expand on Skinny Princes new development.

[Sam Taggart]

I do want you to expand on that, even if it doesn't end up being the topic.

[George Severis]

I mean, it's just like, you know, the X algorithm. It's like, I feel like if you're gay, it's about the cutting edge, and it's about being different, and it's about especially, like, the coastal gay, especially the New York gay. It's always about going over here when everyone else is over there. And, like, the new thing is like, I want a big boy. I want a big, fat boy.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[George Severis]

Like, it's like the two torsos, like, the cut torso and the belly torso. It's like, oh, ki. Want the belly. Like, you know, it's. We're done with cut.

[Sam Taggart]

We're done with cut.

[George Severis]

Well, well, maybe we're done with cut, period.

[Hari Neff]

This is what we're declaring done with cut.

[Sam Taggart]

I think hashtag done with. I'm RuPaul announcing the challenge, and the hashtag is donewithcut.

[George Severis]

Why it gotta be cut?

[Sam Taggart]

Why gotta be cut? She already done cut hers.

[George Severis]

Well, yes.

[Hari Neff]

Well, yes.

[George Severis]

Twice.

[Sam Taggart]

Girl.

[George Severis]

Listen.

[Sam Taggart]

Wow.

[Hari Neff]

Well, okay, so skinny new development.

[George Severis]

Five Lubix, the faggots.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. Yeah, literally. I think that is interesting. I mean, it is. We talked a little bit yesterday about, like, working out and sort of the masculine vibe of it. And I do feel like skinny as the ideal body type is like, a new, like, Republican ideal.

[Sam Taggart]

But you're saying gays, when they zig, we zag. Meaning, like, okay, we're hashtag donewithcut for men, and then for women, are we hashtag donewithskinny in the gay world?

[George Severis]

Well, I think that, like, lesbian beauty standards are always affirmative of, like, a healthy woman's body, like, the straight girl standard of trying to Be like cute, skinny and petite for like a guy. Like, it's like we go the other way of that as lesbians. I'm not a lesbian. I'm trying to. I'm using my theater training.

[Sam Taggart]

I'm not a lesbian. I'm using my theater training.

[Hari Neff]

You're a lesbian character?

[George Severis]

No, no. I feel as though the healthy female body is celebrated. I feel like I can't really imagine the lesbian that's like, you know, the Chinatown art, bro. That's just like. I love like an abject little like skinny, like indie sleaze, like 12 year old, like, you know, vibe.

[Sam Taggart]

Theater training is absolutely coming out well.

[George Severis]

I mean, I mean, like, I just. I don't know. I'm sorry.

[Sam Taggart]

Are you Sarah Snoop Nuke?

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. This is 26 different characters.

[Sam Taggart]

Are you playing the 26 characters in Dorian Gray right now?

[George Severis]

No, but I could.

[Sam Taggart]

You could.

[Hari Neff]

You could.

[George Severis]

No, I could. I could play like 19.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, yeah, no, I could play like they would have to cast a different person just for the final six. It's like you're doing 19 and they're like, she has. She almost has the range to do all 26, but she's just doing 19.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

I kind of want to see it. I think. I think she's the team.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, she is. I mean, talk about drag. She says that she's like. Like what she likes about her is that she gets to be a drag king. She's like, I'm not a man, I'm a drag king.

[George Severis]

In the show, I kind of identify as a female impersonator. On the low, Hari, what are you talking about?

[Hari Neff]

Please say more.

[George Severis]

Well, it's just like what the girls used to call themselves vocationally.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes, it is semantic.

[George Severis]

Like the real Showgirls in the 80s who were living their lives as women, but we're also employed as female illusionists. And it wasn't like. It's like, I'm not a drag queen, I'm a female impersonator. I embody the look and feel of real. Oh, that good 80s silicone. The injection. If that weren't illegal and highly dangerous, I would be coned down.

[Sam Taggart]

Are you thinking of a sort of Pam Anderson Baywatch? A figure?

[George Severis]

No, no, no. It's just like a BBL does not hit the same level as just a little bit of free silicone injected into your hips in a bathtub.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, inject me. I'm a free bitch.

[George Severis]

No, it's cool. I don't know. I'm obviously not trying to publicly disavow whatever I Identify as on the record. But I love female in person.

[Sam Taggart]

No, no, no.

[George Severis]

And people who live their life the way I live my life with the same whatever. Like, that was the nomenclature. Honey, I'm all about, like, it's ahistorical that. This is also proprietary.

[Sam Taggart]

Honey, don't you think gay guys are male impersonators in some way? Because they're sort of like trying to.

[Hari Neff]

In a huge way.

[George Severis]

The masks are.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, the masks are. And even like putting on a camo hat.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Just like the gym gaze. They're like, oh, no, I have to have another male body on top of mine so that I can feel like a man.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, it's just protein instead of silicone.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, it's protein instead of silicone. And silicone is so much more glamorous.

[Hari Neff]

Literally.

[Sam Taggart]

I do wish there was a version of getting giant fake boobs for a man because I think that would make so many people so much happier.

[George Severis]

You can get silicone injected into your pectorals.

[Hari Neff]

It's also the chin. The chin trend.

[Sam Taggart]

The chin. The chin trend.

[Hari Neff]

That's the. That's the equivalent.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, yeah. People do be getting chins.

[Hari Neff]

People are getting chins in a big way.

[Sam Taggart]

You're lucky you have a strong chin.

[Hari Neff]

Oh, thank you for saying that.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, wait, so. But I do want.

[Hari Neff]

No, you don't, Hari. That's okay. George says I do.

[George Severis]

I already said that. I kind of thought you were cute, but I don't see a strong chance. I don't really see it.

[Sam Taggart]

I want to know about parentheses and new development when it comes to skinny. So you're saying in a sort of like, is this kind of. Not to be so literal, but in a post ozempic world, Skinny is back in.

[George Severis]

I just feel like. Okay, here's what I really think. The gays are not relevant. The gays are not in the pole position. No, I agree. The gays are not the cultural force that they used to be 100%. And so they are kind of like top down retooling their brand. Right now they're at basement fucking on girls.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. Yeah, completely.

[Hari Neff]

No, I think you're totally right.

[Sam Taggart]

We ceded so much ground during the marriage equality era where everyone had to pretend they were normal so that we could get married. And I think we thought, you know, we thought, we thought, oh, we'll do this performance of everyone. Everyone wants little designer twins and we're all normal and we're all wearing ties, and as soon as we get our right to marry, we can go back to being absolutely horrifying. And doing Cher impressions and, you know, injecting silicone for support. Yes, but it doesn't work like that. The brand is ruined. We're klarna now.

[George Severis]

But it's not your fault, little gay boy, because it's really hard to be a man right now. It's really not fab to be a man right now, and it hasn't been for years. And I feel like the gays are just trying new things. Like, what if we weren't body fascists and we were actually like, you know, I want a big boy. What if we weren't, like, ew, vagina. And, like, you know, sampled a little fish? It's like, what if? Will this save me? Like, yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Spoiler.

[George Severis]

No, I mean, y'all got your podcast, so y'all are good. Y'all can cut. You know, y'all can suck dick or whatever, but, like, some of these gays are really looking for their way in.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

No. Whenever I meet a gay without a podcast, I get so upset because I must be lost.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. What is the. I guess you're gonna have to, like, try bisexuality.

[George Severis]

One of the drag names is Mortgage Memoir.

[Hari Neff]

Oh, that's nice.

[Sam Taggart]

What I love about this topic, Hari, is that we keep getting farther and farther away from skinny. New development. You have now theorized about every.

[George Severis]

No, I'm just saying. I'm just saying, like, skinny was the gay standard.

[Sam Taggart]

I see.

[George Severis]

And because it is the gay standard and the stocks is down, it's straight now.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes, okay, okay, I get it.

[George Severis]

I get it.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[George Severis]

Okay. And I feel like gays of all. You know, actually, I shouldn't just say gays. While stripes. I should say that skinny gays feel more down for big boys now. They're talking about it on Twitter very loudly and performatively, and I think that they. I think it's a matter of being seen as having more largesse. Pun intended.

[Sam Taggart]

More ways than one.

[Hari Neff]

I'll say.

[Sam Taggart]

Largess. Great drag name. Please welcome Largesse Girl.

[Hari Neff]

So this is complicated for me, of course. Well, Sam has always been into big boys.

[George Severis]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

That's sort of been my whole vibe, big boy. I can't help myself.

[Sam Taggart]

Do you feel like it's getting more popularized in a way where you were like, oh, I saw Arcade Fire at Sasquatch in. You know.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. I'm literally like, wait, you never even listened to their ep? You don't care? No, I'm sort of like. I'm just being like, I'm taking a back seat. I'm like, you know, I'M letting everyone else discover on their own time. And I'm sort of, you know, I would say not. I think it is a bit desperate because it's not being into big boys. It's the branding about being into big boys. That's embarrassing.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

So I'm sort of letting them sort of shame themselves and embarrass themselves.

[Sam Taggart]

Uh huh.

[Hari Neff]

And then just silently, you know, I'm sort of quiet luxurying my interests.

[George Severis]

Are you a feeder?

[Hari Neff]

No, I'm not a feeder.

[George Severis]

Okay.

[Hari Neff]

But I celebrate the community. Of course.

[Sam Taggart]

Of course.

[George Severis]

You don't want them to show their work come complete.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay.

[George Severis]

Come as you are.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, let's wait. I want to look at the. I have the list in front of me. We are going to pick one on air.

[Hari Neff]

Okay. I will say drag brunch is already jumping out.

[Sam Taggart]

I know. I love drag brunch. And we're already talking about drag.

[George Severis]

Yeah. I'm not sure I've even actually been to a drag brunch because that's how straight it is. I've never been to one, so. Not for us.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. But it is the girls, they are working.

[George Severis]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay.

[Hari Neff]

Is that what we're gonna do?

[Sam Taggart]

Drag brunch is big. I mean, I do love kindness and being supportive. I do love male actors because. Because you are so right that the deification of like. And by the way, I love these men. But you know, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, like to be like, my favorite actor is. Al Pacino is so straight.

[George Severis]

I. To quote Joan Didion, it's not a part of my world. It's not.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Like, I. There are male actresses is.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, my God. We've talked about this. Okay, this is. Okay, so this theory that basically acting shouldn't be by gender. It should be like, best butch performance, best fem performance, best twink performance, best bear performance. And like, you can be Judi Dench and you can be giving a bear performance or you can be Judi Dench with a bear.

[Hari Neff]

It's with a bear smile.

[Sam Taggart]

Or you can be Oscar Isaac and you can be giving like a high femme performance.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, yeah, I know.

[George Severis]

I like this outfit.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, wait, so let's.

[Hari Neff]

All right, well, even male actors, I think, like, because there's one thing where it's the greats and then the other thing where it's like obsessing over Paul Rudd.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes, yes.

[Hari Neff]

He's like, always good. Sure. But it's like, what is this? Like, why is he. Why are you so obsessed with him? Like, he's just sort of A, like, average, handsome guy.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, we're doing male actors. I'm declaring it.

[Hari Neff]

Okay.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, great. Hari, which of your peers do you hate?

[George Severis]

Well, you're doing what, in my mind, drag race wouldn't do. You're validating my status as an acting authority.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes, well.

[George Severis]

Or perhaps you're minting it.

[Sam Taggart]

Ooh. Okay. I think. Okay, so, all right, there's old actors. There's like, Marlon Brando Standom. And then from that, like, basically anything related to the Godfather. You know what I mean? Like Robert, you know, Al Pacino, basically all the Italians. So I think that's a big part of, like, dad actors, dads, like.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And then there's the more contemporary, buzzfeed tinged sensibility of, like, Ryan Gosling. Yes. And again, Paul Mescal, Timothee Chalamet, like the boy, the Internet's boyfriend, that kind of thing. You know what I mean?

[Hari Neff]

Which. That, to me, is like, the weirder one currently.

[George Severis]

Well, the Internet boyfriend thing is an archetype that is being gestated in this age that we mentioned, that I mentioned of it being unfashionable to be a man.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[George Severis]

This is the new minted masculinity of, like, I hate to say it, but, like, I can't phrase it any other way. Like, in order to become an Internet boyfriend of the. You have to have it stamped on your forehead. Like, I'm not going to rape you. Like, that is what it takes to be a heartthrob.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

And is that fab, right?

[Sam Taggart]

You have to. Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Wow. There is something. Okay. There's something about Timothee Chalamet's current vibe.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Which I do think is almost going against Internet boyfriend, where it is sort of being like, wait, he's being, like, nasty.

[Sam Taggart]

He's being toxic. Nasty.

[Hari Neff]

He's being toxic. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, he's dating Kendall. I mean, he sort of wants to have it both ways because he wants to be wearing the yellow suit and the vest without a T shirt and be so twink. But then he also wants to be dating a Kardashian and saying he wants to be the next Robert De Niro and having this sort of almost machismo. It is a twink. It is machismo. But through a twink lens, which actually is one of the most dangerous kinds.

[George Severis]

Well, no, I mean, this positions him to be huge. I mean, he is huge. I think he's on his way to being one of these.

[Sam Taggart]

It seemed into being like Leo, because that's what Leo. Leo was machismo through A twinkle. And then he just had to sort of age in a kind of, you know, we have this theory created by our friend Olivia. You can either age dry or age wet. And Leo aged wet, which actually gives you more gravitas.

[George Severis]

That's all I'm saying.

[Hari Neff]

And I feel that there's something about him where his beginning was very like, I'm androgynous. I have stamped on my forehead, I'm safe. And now it's like, oh, he's actually being like, no, actually, I'm actually proud to be a man. Yeah, actually, it's good that I'm a man.

[George Severis]

I think that's refreshing after all this fracking.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, no, there's something to it, but it is. It feels like a new. It feels like a new change in culture.

[George Severis]

I mean, honey, it's like if you're gonna be a man with all the options to not be a man in front of you. Like, if you're gonna choose this, choose it. Do it.

[Sam Taggart]

Commit. Commit.

[George Severis]

This is drag.

[Sam Taggart]

I do think we have. There are various men that signify this transitional period between Buzzfeed Twink and the new masculinity. And I think a big one is Glen Powell. Glen Powell is someone that along. And they actually do want him to be an old fashioned man, but they're not ready to hard launch that yet. So they'll make him, like, they're making him more silly and be a little more Internet's boyfriend, you know? But then at some point he's gonna, you know, go, Mel Gibson.

[Hari Neff]

He's literally like. Like a little dog on a leash right now in a way where I'm like, set him free. I want to know what's bad about him.

[George Severis]

What do you want to see from a man on screen? Like, I feel like, as gay people, we don't think about things.

[Sam Taggart]

I know, I know, I know.

[George Severis]

I don't care.

[Hari Neff]

You're so right.

[George Severis]

I don't really care. I mean, like, I can think of the exceptions to the rule. Like, have you ever seen, like, John Cassavetes Husbands? That is male actressing down. That is like, you know, masculinity, like, kind of like crumbling before you.

[Sam Taggart]

Or like Mikey and Nicki.

[George Severis]

Love when it's just like the guy is becoming so much of a guy that he's collapsing under the weight of how much of a guy he is. And then it's kind of pussy.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, I love that. I kind of get a kick out of Adam Driver for that sometimes.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. But it has to be done right.

[Hari Neff]

It has to be Done right.

[George Severis]

Are you saying he's not doing it right?

[Sam Taggart]

I'm saying that when directed correctly, such as by Lena Dunham, he is doing it right. And I actually think it's not a coincidence that Mikey and Nikki is also directed by Woke. I think that there need to be more men directed by women in the way that, you know, men have not to be. So feminism 101. Like, I'm writing an op ed for Marie Claire, but I do think some of the great male performances are directed by women, and none of them are ever acknowledged as like in the cause. Everyone just wants Francis Ford Coppola.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Adam Driver in Girls is a better male performance than Leonardo DiCaprio in the Revenant. Period. Sorry, it's true.

[Hari Neff]

My empty bottle.

[Sam Taggart]

Do you not agree with that?

[George Severis]

I just feel as though one is in service of something else that the other one is not in service of. And I'm forming this idea in real time. Leonardo DiCaprio's performance in the Revenant is all about difficulty. It's all about arduousness. It's all about recreating. Freezing on the Titanic, but you're just freezing inside.

[Sam Taggart]

In a bear.

[George Severis]

Yeah, inside of the corpse of the bear.

[Hari Neff]

My fantasy.

[Sam Taggart]

Where do I sign up?

[George Severis]

And I feel as though it's about suffering alone in the wilderness. And I feel like Adam Driver's performance in Girls is so memorable, particularly to us, because it wasn't just about like a certain kind of man that was recognizable. It was like a certain kind of man in relation to a certain kind of woman. And it's yes, being directed by Lena Dunham, but it's also like acting off of her. And this idea that, you know, this elusive, chauvinistic, magnetic, hot kind of straight guy actually really wanted the, like, complicated pussy, like, that was revelatory for us. And I feel like I'm unable to see his performance outside of the thing that I learned about what guys want. Like new guys, like guys of my generation. Once I learned it, got myself a right complicated pussy. Honey.

[Sam Taggart]

And he taught you that you have Adam Driver to think for that, for your self actualization.

[George Severis]

I have Lena Dunham. I will FaceTime her right now.

[Hari Neff]

Wow.

[George Severis]

Should I FaceTime Lena Dunham?

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, my God, we would be in heaven.

[Hari Neff]

Wait, seriously? I would love this.

[George Severis]

No, I can't do it.

[Hari Neff]

Oh, my God. You can't tease us like that.

[George Severis]

Okay, I almost did it.

[Sam Taggart]

Here's my question for you. Should men only be in theater and not on screen?

[George Severis]

I live.

[Sam Taggart]

You know what I mean?

[George Severis]

Well, yeah. Because the screen is like the soul. The screen is inside. I don't wanna go inside.

[Sam Taggart]

Right.

[George Severis]

I want you to do something for me, at least to me at most. And you can get that in live performance.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. And I wanna see it from a safe distance, but I wanna feel a little bit of a fear of he and come out and punch me in the face.

[George Severis]

Yeah. But also I feel like the gaze of theater, a z e, like the audience, that's cruel in one way in the gaze of the camera is cruel in another way. I think the cruel gaze of the camera brings something really cool out of women. But it's also a gaze that women are trained and conditioned to exist under, which is why gay guys love of actresses, because they just do it. But I think that men can sort of function in a similar way under the gaze of theater, because it's not like an institutional gaze that you could write about and the cultural criticism of the male gaze, it's this thing that exists everywhere the theater one. It's like we're all just here now looking at you, and you're a guy, and you're supposed to be a leader and you're supposed to deliver, and you're supposed to make the people come together. What are you gonna do right now? Impress us. I feel like guys can do something special with that, and I wanna see them do it.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. I also think there's something about, okay, we give women just this small screen, and they can make a world out of it. It's like I could do a close up of Cate Blanchett, and she's doing so much with her eyes and her face and. Or whatever. And then with men, it's like the stage is like, them being in public and taking up space. That's what they want.

[Hari Neff]

It's more of, like, a sport.

[Sam Taggart]

It's more of like a. Yeah, it's more of a sport.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And you want to see them just, like, take up, go high, go wide.

[Hari Neff]

Well, it's their drag queen. It's their drag performance.

[George Severis]

But that's what men used to do on screen. Before Marlon Brando. Yes, before Marlon Brando. We are like Humphrey Bogart. See, like, we had. There was this element of male drag, but, you know, Marlon Reddo is the one that kind of like, you know, just like, brought it all down to this naturalism thing and, like, changed the way people saw acting and created a whole new set of expectations for, like, A, everyone but B, specifically the guys. It's like, if you give me nothing, you are giving me Everything.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

That's like. We are still kind of under that rock. I mean, I think I read this thing about Nic Cage, how he just doesn't do that. And that's why he's amazing. He's like. He's a male actress.

[Hari Neff]

I was gonna bring him up 100%.

[George Severis]

Long legs, girl, don't even get a shirt about long legs. Her crossy teeth.

[Sam Taggart]

Wait, literally, we need to. Long legs. There needs to be an investigation. Investigation into long legs.

[George Severis]

A transvestigation.

[Sam Taggart]

A transvestigation into long legs.

[George Severis]

You want to talk about silicone injections in the face face bitch.

[Hari Neff]

That movie, I felt so gaslit by sort of the entire world.

[Sam Taggart]

I completely agree.

[George Severis]

Well, okay, maybe this is straight culture. There's this new thing, I feel like, in horror movies and other things, where it's like, no, like, the Devil is real. Like, dark magic is real. This is actually not a story about a man's curdling insanity in a basement or. Yes, and the Devil is also real. I watched it with Ludwig, my boyfriend, and I turned to him after and I was like, okay, wait, so he was a bioterrorist. The black powder smoke coming out of the head of the doll was like anthrax that makes people kill people.

[Sam Taggart]

Being Erin Brockovich, he's like, no, sweetie, it's the Devil.

[George Severis]

I could not accept.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

I just. It's not a part of my world.

[Hari Neff]

It's not a part of my world.

[George Severis]

It's not a part of my world.

[Hari Neff]

We tell ourselves stories.

[Sam Taggart]

So I felt this way with the Witch and with Hereditary, where I was like, wait a minute. After all that. And listen, I'm Great films.

[Hari Neff]

Okay, well, Hereditary. I. Stan, listen, I.

[Sam Taggart]

Great. Again, great films. Talk about an actress. Toni Collette, I am your mother.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. That's amazing.

[Sam Taggart]

I'd like to see Dustin Hoffman do that. But I. Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Don't come for him.

[George Severis]

Not Tootsie honey.

[Hari Neff]

Not Tootsie.

[Sam Taggart]

Tootsie was sort of the long legs of her generation.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. The Devil made him do it.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, but didn't you expect both the witch and hereditary, that there would be some heightened. That it wouldn't just be literally about.

[Hari Neff]

No, you're right. There's like. It's like a Get out of Jail free card in a way, where you're like, okay, let's do another draft. Like, let's find a real justification.

[George Severis]

I mean, it's like, I don't mind it in a classic like the Exorcist or Rosemary's Baby. It just has to be done with. So Much glam and so much precision and such good writing that, I mean, you have to write better than the Bible, honey, in order to really get it.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. Ms. Ari Aster. You have to write better than the Bible, girl.

[George Severis]

No, I. No, I. Listen, I'm actually. Did you see the trailer for her new movie?

[Sam Taggart]

No, I haven't. I should.

[George Severis]

I have very high expectations of Arabaster and. And I am really excited that he's coming out with a movie that takes place in 2020, because I've been sitting here since 2020 being like, when are we gonna. Why is nobody. I know, I know, but now is about 2020.

[Hari Neff]

It's like a pandemic movie.

[George Severis]

Yeah, it's very much about, like, I don't actually know the plot, but based on the trailer. It's like somebody scrolling in 2020. It was like Joaquin Phoenix scrolling in 2020. And it's like Emma Stone and Pedro Pascal.

[Sam Taggart]

It's very like this because I did see one screenshot that's like, you know, some influencer posting about like 2020 protests or something.

[George Severis]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Like, it's very. It's like making fun of that. Sort of the era of cancellation of that summer and, you know, we were all in a dark place, baby.

[George Severis]

We don't have to talk about it right here, but like, somebody, like, somebody so, like, lyrically misanthropic as Ari Aster could actually do something with that. And I'm kind of sad that I'm also just kind of saying this because, like, there's a 2020 movie that, like, me and a friend were, like, adapting from something and, like, kind of working on, and we sort of like, soft trotted it out a little bit, but. And this was in like 2022. And it was just resolutely like, the girls are not ready for 2020. The girls are not ready to go back. And I'm curious if a really cool film could tip the scales on that.

[Sam Taggart]

I do think it's gonna happen. It's like when people started making post 911 movies.

[Hari Neff]

But there's still. I feel like, what's a good 911 movie?

[Sam Taggart]

Well, unfortunately, all of them flopped. Well, a good 911 movie is Margaret. But all of them.

[George Severis]

Yes.

[Craig Melvin]

Yes.

[Sam Taggart]

Who's gonna make the Margaret of 2020 and Covid? Cause that is what I want to see. Kenneth Lonergan.

[George Severis]

I'm sorry for calling you strident.

[Sam Taggart]

Have you seen it?

[Hari Neff]

No.

[George Severis]

It's like one of my favorite movies.

[Hari Neff]

Oh, my gosh.

[George Severis]

Watch the three and a half hour director's cut. It's Like, I went up to. I don't do this. I went up to Anna Paquin at the Vanity Fair Oscar party and I was just like, Margaret is one of my favorite movies. Don't go up to a celebrity and say something like that unless you're sure it's something that they don't hear every day.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Cause they will live if like you have the thing that they don't hear every day if you do, you know.

[Sam Taggart]

Was she happy to hear that from you?

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

That's nice.

[Sam Taggart]

Heaven.

[George Severis]

It's. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

So I, I wanna, I'm like, how. Wanna get to a Grand theory of male acting? Because I do think this is such a rich topic.

[Hari Neff]

Well, okay.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

I think part of the issue is that it's like they're almost there as the, they're like a set piece. Like, it's less of a. Like it does feel like they are the, the, the ground and that for the actress to move around.

[Sam Taggart]

This is. We're saying it's genius because here's. Okay, you see a poster for a movie, okay. And it's all men in suits and then one woman in like a low cut dress. The conventional critique of that is like, look at fucking Hollywood. They, it's all men and they're so few roles for women, which of course I get. But what I see is that everyone else is a set and this is a one woman show featuring other actors. Featuring. It's like, it's her. It's like American Hustle and it's Jennifer Lawrence. It's time for her to basically have a variety of interactions with men that are kind of like wooden and like, don't say much. And then it's time for her to be like, listen to me, you little boy.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

And then her doing that over and over.

[George Severis]

This is like Sunday morning for me that it doesn't sound much fun for the male actors. Is it that they get paid so much that it doesn't match?

[Hari Neff]

No.

[Sam Taggart]

I do wonder that. I'm like, it seems so much more fun to be an actress than an actor.

[Hari Neff]

Well, that's why Leo is sort of an actress. He's like, I will do a movie with a bear.

[Sam Taggart]

Totally.

[Hari Neff]

Because I can't be background for an actress.

[Sam Taggart]

Which actors are actresses?

[Hari Neff]

Nicholas Cage.

[George Severis]

Nicolas Cage. It's literally like, name an actor.

[Sam Taggart]

Sebastian Stan.

[George Severis]

Sure.

[Sam Taggart]

I think Sebastian Stan is an actress.

[George Severis]

Her snatch came in a different man. Did you see that was tight? I did not know that. Was she in the prosthetics?

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, yeah.

[George Severis]

I could not clock the film.

[Sam Taggart]

She was not a Solka clock. She was being so long legs in that film.

[George Severis]

Yes. I think Sebastian Stan and Sebastian Stan clearly delights in versatility. Like. Like she delights in playing a range.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. What about Jeremy Strong?

[Sam Taggart]

This is tough because it's like she.

[George Severis]

Has a complicated, fractured subjectivity. That is actress, like.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes, exactly.

[Hari Neff]

That's true. Okay.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

She's giving symbol and she's torn apart in the media, of course.

[Sam Taggart]

So much like many women.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Ooh, this is. Oh, do you know who Lars Eidiger is?

[Hari Neff]

No.

[George Severis]

He's like. He's like a European. Like, he does like, art, movies and theater and stuff. Sorry. No, no. This is so pretentious. No, but like, if you saw him, you would, like, recognize his face. He does do some Hollywood stuff. He was in, like, the Irma, like.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure.

[George Severis]

As like the actor. He's crazy.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay.

[George Severis]

Love. He's one of my favorite actors.

[Sam Taggart]

We're being written a note.

[Hari Neff]

We're being written a note.

[George Severis]

Oh.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, Mickey Roarky.

[Hari Neff]

Roar.

[Sam Taggart]

Now that's interesting.

[George Severis]

You don't talk about silicone injections in the face.

[Sam Taggart]

Mickey Rourke, you know, long legs was sort of reheating Mickey Rourke's nodules. Mickey Rourke, I think. I think. Okay. Do you think Mickey Rourke in the Wrestler was being actor or actress?

[George Severis]

Haven't seen it.

[Hari Neff]

I haven't seen it either. So, George, what do you think? You're the only voice.

[Sam Taggart]

Also, do you think Darren Aronofsky is a male or female director?

[George Severis]

Female for making Black Swan. Male for making Basing it off of Perfect Blues nachos.

[Hari Neff]

Uh huh huh.

[Sam Taggart]

Period.

[George Severis]

No shade.

[Hari Neff]

I don't know what gender, Mother.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, yeah, what gender? Yo. Okay, Mother, go.

[George Severis]

Well, this is a sidebar, Mother. No, I can't. I don't know. I just love Jennifer Lord's adorable baby. Like, that's the vibe.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah, yeah.

[Hari Neff]

No, that moves.

[George Severis]

Engrossing.

[Sam Taggart]

No, the sink so fab when her sink is embraced. Do you remember? That's a big part of it is people keep breaking her sink all the time. Keep sitting on the sink and breaking it.

[Hari Neff]

I mean, nothing would. That's top Kristen Wiig's performance. Of course.

[Sam Taggart]

Oh, I forgot about Kristen.

[George Severis]

Oh, my God.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. What a beautiful performance in that movie. One of the films.

[George Severis]

Well, no, I'm trying to think of male actresses. I'm trying.

[Sam Taggart]

No, it's male actresses. No, it's so tough. It's so tough.

[George Severis]

It's really.

[Sam Taggart]

And we put you on the spot.

[Hari Neff]

And we really put you on the spot.

[Sam Taggart]

Hugh Jackman. Ooh. You know, that's more complicated. Hugh Jackman's relationship to gender and sexuality is something we are not gonna speak out about.

[George Severis]

Why not?

[Sam Taggart]

Although now I do actually think he's in love with Sutton Foster.

[Hari Neff]

But do you think he actually is?

[Sam Taggart]

Yes.

[Hari Neff]

Okay. Mystery solved.

[George Severis]

Mischief managed, I think.

[Hari Neff]

But his. Okay. What's weird about him is playing Wolverine for so long.

[Sam Taggart]

I think Jake Gyllenhaal is an actress.

[George Severis]

Oh, sure.

[Sam Taggart]

I think Jake Gyllenhaal in Okja. I think Jake Gyllenhaal in Prisoners. He's not afraid to emote, and he's not afraid to go full Jennifer Lawrence and mother.

[Hari Neff]

Well, and when he is playing, like, a really masculine man, it, like, reminds me of, like, you know, when Demi Moore shaves her head for GI Jane or whatever.

[Sam Taggart]

Totally, totally.

[Hari Neff]

It's like, I'm like, wow, he can even be a man. Like, I had no idea.

[George Severis]

Adrien Brody gave Actress and the Brutalist and he gave Actress winning for it.

[Sam Taggart]

Yes, I agree. Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

That was so actress coded.

[Sam Taggart]

I live. Yeah.

[George Severis]

So actress coated. No. I live.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. No, literally.

[George Severis]

Why are all penises. Prosthetics. Aesthetics.

[Hari Neff]

Now I know what started. Like, what happened to bravery?

[George Severis]

Whatever happened to cock?

[Sam Taggart]

Whatever happened?

[George Severis]

Well, I'm the wrong person now. Whatever happened to real?

[Hari Neff]

I'm literally like, why is it illegal to show a real dick on screen?

[Sam Taggart]

And also, it's like, okay, you don't want to show it, don't show it.

[Hari Neff]

Don't show.

[Sam Taggart]

Don't mess with me. I'm not gonna, like, write a. I'm not gonna, like, complain if there's no. In a film. I'm like, I might.

[George Severis]

Okay, but do you think that they're making the prosthetics for the actors, like, their cock, sight unseen? Or do you think they're. Is it, like, a weird part of casting where they're, like, looking at the actor and being like, this is the cock?

[Hari Neff]

No. They are making gigantic cocks just left and right. And they are not. They are not trying. They're not going for realism at all. They're going for Humphrey Bogart, not Marlon Brando when it comes to their cock prosthetics. And. And it's pissing me off.

[Sam Taggart]

There's also this lack of. It's like, not interacting with the actual reality of what flaccid versus erect looks like, what a cock in repose looks like.

[Hari Neff]

I am like, have you guys seen dicks before? They don't look like that.

[Sam Taggart]

It's actually sort of the opposite of men. Not Being able to write women and doing some, I don't know, being like, oh, she's on her period or something. Like, it's like, why? Okay, so if everyone involved is a man, why don't they know what a penis looks like?

[George Severis]

And, like, shouldn't somebody having a huge cock be, like, dramaturgically informed in the character? I feel like, you know, huge cocks are rare and huge cock personalities are rare. And I feel like the vibe of all of these huge cock prosthetics are like, well, this is what they want to see. We want to see a huge cock. But. But, like, I don't know, like, Drew Starkey's character in Queer. It's like, is that really like a huge cock character? Like, I mean, I get that he's, like, sexually desirable, but, like, I love the idea that the sexual obsession that Daniel Craig's character has for this character could exist for somebody with, like, a normal cock or even a small cock. Because it's not about the cock. It's about the straight.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah, the intersection.

[Sam Taggart]

I would say that that is one of the major flaws in that film is that he is written as having a medium to small cock.

[George Severis]

Like, in the book or.

[Sam Taggart]

No, in the film. Just like the character is written as having a medium to small cock. And that is the effect he would have on a Daniel Craig. I actually think Daniel Craig would be afraid of a larger cock.

[George Severis]

Yes.

[Sam Taggart]

In fact, by the way, speaking of giant, Cox, Willem Dafoe is an actress.

[Hari Neff]

Oh, great. Great point.

[George Severis]

I was across the Delta 1 aisle from him flying to LA for Oscar weekend. And I really just, like, wanted to say something, but I could not summon the, like, deep cut. I literally looked at my letterbox watch and I couldn't. I thought about being like, oh, like, I watched Antichrist, like, alone in my living room at like, 11:30pm When I was 14, during that period where I was watching scary movies to try to desensitize myself from fear of the dark. Like, I, you know, thought about. But I just couldn' because I respect him so much. And then I didn't shoot my shot and. Yeah, I may never get that chance.

[Hari Neff]

No, you will.

[George Severis]

One time when I was. When I was at school, I was like, up to the Columbia quad. I was walking to my morning class at 8am and he was sitting on the steps of the library with a coffee in the sun with his eyes closed. Oh, my God. It was just really sweet.

[Sam Taggart]

I mean, that's actress behavior.

[George Severis]

Yeah, I didn't say anything then and I didn't Say anything the second time, but, like, ugh.

[Sam Taggart]

Well, he's a listener, so if you want to send him a message.

[George Severis]

Really? Actually, Willem Dafoe. Thanks.

[Hari Neff]

Beautiful.

[George Severis]

Thank you.

[Hari Neff]

There's something so Lana Del Rey lyric coded about saying I was sitting across from him in the Delta One Lounge.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. Sitting across from Willem Dafoe at the Delta One Lounge is the new the.

[George Severis]

Men in Hollywood business conference conference.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah. Should we do our final song?

[Sam Taggart]

I think we have to. Even though all I want is to keep talking.

[Hari Neff]

I know.

[Sam Taggart]

I mean, to bring up Antichrist within a conversation about Cox and prosthetics, and then we can't even. Have you seen Antichrist? I have not seen Antichrist. There is full. A close up of penetration, but they used porn actors to film it, even though Willem Dafoe very famously has a very large penis.

[Hari Neff]

Oh, I didn't know that.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. This is like a sort of Hollywood lore.

[Hari Neff]

Well, you know, and I want to shout out to Lars Von Trier for nymphomaniac showing, you know, which I watched.

[George Severis]

With my stepdad, and he was gassed.

[Sam Taggart]

That's when he was gassed.

[Hari Neff]

You know, that was a lot of real talks. And I said, thank you.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah. Shout out to the Dogma movement. We're doing that for podcasting. So we get it.

[Hari Neff]

So we fully get it. Yeah, I. Yeah, the way that I. I was gagged for Nymphomaniac 1 and 2, I was like, I am. I am.

[George Severis]

I'm sat on what?

[Sam Taggart]

Uma Thurman. There's no time. Actually, Uma Thurman is actress being actor being actress. And I'm not gonna elaborate on that.

[Hari Neff]

Wow, it's late actor Victoria.

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

I don't know whether it's morning or night.

[Hari Neff]

Okay, should we do our final slide?

[Sam Taggart]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Okay.

[George Severis]

Every morning brings a fresh new energy.

[Savannah Guthrie]

This is today.

[George Severis]

And no matter what the day holds, we come to the Today show for all of it.

[Craig Melvin]

When things are tough, we talk about it. When there's something to figure out, we dig into it.

[George Severis]

And when there's joy, we celebrate it. Because today is where it's all happening. We get the best start to every morning because we start it together.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Watch the Today show with Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin, weekdays at 7am on NBC.

[Craig Melvin]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Spring is in full swing, which means it's time for spring cleaning. Don't worry. We've got everything you need to stock up on spring cleaning essentials, because a clean home is a happy home. Shop in store or online for spring cleaning favorites like Method All Purpose Cleaner, Swiffer Heavy Duty Mopping Clean Cloths, Lysol Bathroom Cleaner, Scotch Brite Sponges and Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and Save. Offer ends April 22. Promotions may vary. Restrictions apply. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Savannah Guthrie]

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[George Severis]

Okay, real talk, we're all kinda hooked on our phones. It's full of shiny apps designed to keep your attention captive forever. But there's real life stuff to do other than scrolling, and I'm here to help. I'm Christina Quinn, the host of Try this, a podcast from the Washington Post. The show explores solutions for life's common problems. And this season we're learning to tame the dopamine beast and reclaim our attention in this noisy and distracting world. So let's tame the beast together. Find Try this from the Washington Post. Wherever you listen.

[Sam Taggart]

What is the Joan Didion quote that.

[George Severis]

It'S not a part of my world. Wow. Yeah.

[Sam Taggart]

Let's do our final segment.

[Hari Neff]

Okay. Our final segment was called Shout outs. And in this segment, we pay homage to the Grand Straits tradition of the radio. Shout out. Shouting out to anything. People, places, things, ideas. Just something that we like. And we make them up on the spot, George.

[Sam Taggart]

That's part of it. We make them up on the spot.

[Hari Neff]

Kick us off.

[Sam Taggart]

I want to give a shout out to Chekhov's string cheese.

[George Severis]

Yeah.

[Hari Neff]

Wow.

[Sam Taggart]

You know, everyone's been wondering, is it gonna be eaten by the end of the episode? Because that is, of course, what Chekhov string cheese means. And I'm here to tell you that I'm gonna take a huge bite Lady Gaga style on air. Oh, my God. Absolutely delicious. Thank you so much for everyone that has made this moment possible. And shout out to string cheese. Honestly, one of the most underrated snacks.

[Hari Neff]

Not underrated by me. I put it in the top five.

[Sam Taggart]

Okay, go.

[Hari Neff]

Okay. What's up, freaks, losers and perverts around the globe? I want to give a huge shout out to the raw sensuality of riding in New York. Subway and seeing someone across a train and being like, oh, let's try to make eyes. And then be like, what am I doing? I'm running late for my podcast. Why am I making eyes at a strain across the subway? And then being like, because it's New York and anything can happen. And I was feeling, yes, I was running late, but when I eventually found peace, and I said, but, you know, at least I'm seeing someone hot in this train. And that changes so much for one's day. And, you know, in la, you don't see anyone hot because they're in cars. And here you see people who are hot every damn second, and it's almost overwhelming. So I want to give a huge shout out to that feeling.

[George Severis]

Woo. You know where you don't see people who are hot, hot.

[Hari Neff]

Where?

[George Severis]

All right, ladies, gentlemen, say thems and germs and everyone else, I want to shout out to Midtown. In the middle of the morning, it is always 2004. You are in Tyra Banks's New York. You are inside of Heidi Klum in Tim Blanks's New York. You are on your. Suddenly I see Andy Sachs. You have somewhere to be. You are in a hat. You are drinking coffee out of a blue Greek coffee club, and you are on Broadway way. How dare you? The diners are open.

[Sam Taggart]

Period.

[Hari Neff]

Period.

[George Severis]

Open the diners.

[Sam Taggart]

Open the diners.

[Hari Neff]

Wow.

[Sam Taggart]

That was stunning.

[George Severis]

Oh, my God.

[Hari Neff]

Ahari, thank you so much for doing the pod. This has been a real treat.

[Sam Taggart]

This has been an absolute delight. Thank you for being gracious with us. Being. Thank you for bringing literally upwards of 12 topics. Thank you for doing Joan Didion as Cher.

[Hari Neff]

That was really inspired. And if that doesn't get you Drag Race, then someone's head will roll.

[George Severis]

I give up.

[Sam Taggart]

I cannot. I'm actually so annoyed that you have not been on Drag Race.

[Hari Neff]

No. There's just no justice in this town.

[George Severis]

No, but I have so much respect for RuPaul's sensibility and the people that enter RuPaul's algorithm. I know that I have not entered that, and I don't want to be on there. T. I earned it.

[Sam Taggart]

Wait till she sees a reel, an Instagram reel of you doing Jo Nidion as Cher, because that phone is gonna be ringing, mama.

[George Severis]

I don't know. Jonidian parts a little cerebral.

[Sam Taggart]

You better get your ass to Midtown for another blowout, girl, because it's time.

[Hari Neff]

Not Susie, too. It's in your cerebral.

[George Severis]

And Sasha Velour before her. Okay.

[Craig Melvin]

Susie, too.

[Sam Taggart]

To theater.

[George Severis]

Well, yes, thank you so much for having me. I am promoting absolutely nothing right now.

[Sam Taggart]

That's huge. Shout out. Shout out.

[George Severis]

I mean you know there are secret but I can't tell there are secrets.

[Hari Neff]

There's always secrets.

[Sam Taggart]

And if you're in the know, keep be on the lookout for those secrets.

[Hari Neff]

Yeah.

[George Severis]

Follow me.

[Hari Neff]

Okay, bye. Podcast ends now.

[Sam Taggart]

Want more? Subscribe to our Patreon for two extra episodes a month. Discord Access and more by heading to patreon.com Stradiolab and for all our visual learners.

[Hari Neff]

Free full length video episodes are available on our YouTube.

[Sam Taggart]

Now get back to work.

[Hari Neff]

Stradia Lab is a Production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network and iHeart.

[Sam Taggart]

Podcasts, created and hosted by George Severis.

[Hari Neff]

And Sam Taggart executive produced by Will Ferrell, Hansani and Olivia Aguilar co produced by Bay Wang Edited and engineered by.

[Sam Taggart]

Adam Avalos Artwork by Michael Fales and.

[Hari Neff]

Matt Grubb Theme music by BE.

[G]

Since its invention, the TV has been just that, a tv. But what if it could be something more Meet Samsung Vision AI Whether it's upscaling classic content to look brand new or translating in English, broadcast subtitles to Spanish in real time, Samsung Vision AI helps you get more from TV than you ever thought possible. Experience Samsung Vision AI and get a music frame on Samsung with a qualifying 2025 TV and audio video purchase. Visit Samsung.com to learn more. Valid 416 to 54 and qualifying 2025 Neo QLED OLED in the frame TVs with Vision AI while supplies last. See Samsung.com for terms and conditions. Vision AI features vary by model. Upscaling utilizes AI based formulas and results may vary based on source content. Translation accuracy not guaranteed.

[Craig Melvin]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Spring is in full swing so take some time for self care this spring now through April 22, buy two self care items and save $2. Shop in store or online for self care essential like Tom's Toothpaste Soft Soap, Liquid Hand Soap, Colgate Optic White Toothpaste and Colgate Total toothpaste and save $2 when you buy two participating items. Offer ends April 22. Promotions may vary, restrictions apply. Visit albertsons or safeway.com for more details.

[Savannah Guthrie]

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have supervision, enhanced hearing, extraordinary reflexes to be, dare we say, super un? Well, Roku's new Pro Series TV can't do any of that for you. But with a 4K screen, side firing speakers and a blazing fast refresh rate, it'll sure feel like it. Elevate your entertainment using all your favorite apps like iHeart, and Play all your music, radio and podcasts with the new Roku Pro series. Your senses aren't better. Your TV is.

[George Severis]

I'm Molly Roberts. And I'm Drew Goins. Each Friday on Impromptu, we talk through the questions we can't stop thinking about. Do we need to rethink how much we drink? Why are companies really asking workers to come back to the office? Does boycotting a business actually work? Should we quit social media? We're here when the news gets personal and the headlines hit home. Join Molly and me every Friday on Impromptu from Washington Post Opinions. Find Impromptu Wherever you get your podcasts.