RAINN WILSON talks Dwight, Clowning, Baha'i

Summary

The Adam Friedland Show — Rainn Wilson Talks Dwight, Clowning, Baha'i

Date: September 18, 2025
Guests: Rainn Wilson (Actor, Author, Comedian), Adam Friedland (Host)

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Adam Friedland welcomes Rainn Wilson for a sprawling, funny, and probingly personal interview. While Wilson is best known as Dwight Schrute from "The Office," he requests that the conversation not revolve exclusively around the iconic comedy role. Instead, the episode sees Wilson and Friedland discuss Wilson’s new comedy film "Code 3," the art and history of clowning, Wilson’s upbringing and beliefs in the Baha’i faith, and the complexities around separating art from the artist. The vibe alternates between irreverent banter, insightful career and life retrospectives, and candid engagement with faith and social issues.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Limits of the "Office" Discourse

• Boundary Setting: Rainn’s team asks Adam not to center the episode entirely on "The Office," though Wilson is open to discussing it.
  • “He's totally fine to talk about the Office, but he doesn't want it to be a main focus of the interview and appreciate the topic to more of a minimum.” (00:08)
• Adam jokes about Wilson's post-interview “cyberbullying” antics and speculates with fake gravitas about the psychological toll of playing a comedic “buffoon” role for years.
• Adam calls in “sexual misbehavior expert” James Foley to humorously weigh on whether portraying a TV heel affects real life:
  • “If someone plays a heel…incredibly popular context…would that potentially affect their real life?” (04:34)
  • James Foley: “I would definitely think it would have a drag on their emotions.” (04:47)

2. Hollywood, Talk Shows, and Showbiz Memories

• Late Night Nostalgia: Wilson reminisces about doing "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno, describing Leno as supportive and referencing the tradition of drinks on old talk shows.
  • “He gets too much crap. He was a really good, like, first of all, when he first started as a comic…he was edgy or he was considered edgy.” (07:52)
• On Weird Al: Wilson and Friedland share admiration for Weird Al Yankovic. Wilson recalls being in Weird Al’s biopic and discusses the paradox of comic songs being dismissed as lowbrow.

3. Clowning and Craft: The Creation of Dwight

• Classical Training: Wilson draws a direct line from his theater and clowning training (including a class with Star Trek’s Gates McFadden) to his work as Dwight.
  • “I was a theater actor, and I was always really good at comedy theater…one of the things we did is we took clowning class.” (13:56)
  • McFadden “was our clown teacher…She could be your clown tutor, your private clown tutor.” (14:36)
• Clown Philosophy:
  • “What's really funny is being totally vulnerable…if you were to cry about like a dead relative, that would be hysterical…The roots of creating a character like Dwight come from these ideas of clowns.” (16:39)
• Building Dwight: Influences include Mackenzie Crook’s deadpan in the original British "Office," and a mix of nerd, bully, and police-aspiring elements.
  • “I knew he was kind of like...a nerd and kind of a bully at the same time.” (20:24)
  • The “melonic” head, specific haircuts, and improvisational backstory further shaped Dwight.

4. The Audition and the Craft of Comedy

• Distinct Approach: Wilson describes his three-dimensional, theater-inflected approach to Dwight versus other comic actors:
  • “When you have theater training, you’re trying to create a character…that can be funny but taken seriously and could walk down the street and you would believe it.” (23:37)
• Wilson improvised Dwight’s “Amish” ancestry and other personal details, which then informed writers’ decisions:
  • “I was like, my name is Dwight Schrute. My father's name, Dwight Schrud. His father's name, Dwight Shrud. Amish. And out of that, they're like, oh, we'll make him and his family Amish.” (25:00)

5. Spirituality and the Baha’i Faith

• The Baha’i Primer: Rainn identifies as Baha’i, explaining it as a relatively new, Abrahamic world religion with roughly six million followers, no clergy, and a democratic, non-ethnic structure.
  • “It is an Abrahamic religion. I would say it's the fourth major Abrahamic religion.” (30:52)
  • “No clergy, no…you literally go into prayer and contemplation and you write down silent ballot, nine names of the people that you want to vote for.” (33:13)
• Practices & Demographics: Describes hippie-American converts, later joined by Persian Baha’is after the Iranian revolution, and daily spiritual practices akin to prayer and fasting.
  • “A lot of people became Baha’is in the 60s and 70s…then there was this influx of all these Persian refugees.” (34:14)
• On Tithing and Community: Voluntary donations plus a 9% “over-and-above” tithe for surplus income, humorously noting his accountant is “Craig Tesla, Jew. Of course, you shouldn't let him near your money.” (39:41)
• Gender & LGBTQ Issues: Wilson admits to struggling with the Baha’i orthodox stance on marriage and homosexuality:
  • “I really struggle with it. But If I like 90% of the faith, then that's enough…It's not like there's no hell, there's no damnation…It's accept and love everyone.” (44:06)

6. Addiction, Punk Roots, and Personal Life

• Wilson opens up about falling away from (and later returning to) Baha’i, his punk phase at NYU, alcohol struggles, and a formative relationship with a Wall Street coke dealer.
  • “I got a buzz cut and dyed my hair black. I look kind of like Henry Rollins a little bit.” (36:14)
  • “I dated a coke dealer for a while…for a nerdy Baha’i boy from suburban Seattle, that was a sharp left turn.” (45:02)

7. Code 3 and the Reality of EMS Work

• The New Comedy Film: Adam presses Rainn to describe his role and research for "Code 3," which he completed with real EMT ride-alongs in South Central LA.
  • “I did ride-alongs with the fire department in South Central LA…there's no walk-in clinics, there's no…It's like a food desert for health care.” (50:11)
• Comedy, Humanity, and Systemic Problems: Wilson and Friedland connect the gallows humor of EMTs with the systematic underpayment and lack of recognition for frontline health workers, inflecting the film’s comedic tone with empathy and critique.
  • “We entrust to save our lives…In the movie, we tried to make it a comedy. It is a comedy…But it also is about looking at the underbelly of the American health care system.” (49:17 & 49:47)
  • Adam adds, “No industry has a more gallows sense of humor than that.” (52:17)

8. Art vs. Artist & Cultural Ethics

• The duo riff at length about the cancellation of figures like Woody Allen and Roman Polanski, pondering if and how audiences can (or should) separate the art from the artist.
  • Rainn: “I'm the same way. Listen, if we're gonna separate the art from the artists…How do you differentiate that? It's a really tricky moral argument.” (53:36, 54:46)
• Talk shifts to favorites (Annie Hall; Wagner operas), and jokes about the anti-Semitic context intertwined with great works of art.

9. Memorable Musical Detours

• Turns out Wilson plays guitar, drums, and (mocking himself) the skin flute and bassoon—prompting a bantering exchange about the obscurity and supposed innuendo of “bassoon.”
  • “I play the skin flute, and I play the…No, you don’t…Yeah…I also play a little guitar and drums.” (55:54)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the nature of comedy and clowning:
  “What's really funny is being totally vulnerable. And like, if you were to cry about like a dead relative, that would be hysterical.” – Rainn Wilson (16:39)
• On creating Dwight:
  “You put these elements together and you kind of create a clown almost in the way that you would have a red nose.” – Rainn Wilson (20:36)
• On the Baha’i faith:
  “It's an international faith, but it started in Persia…There's no church, no synagogue, no temple, you don't go. No clergy.” – Rainn Wilson (32:10, 32:25)
• On EMS comedy/gallows humor:
  “No industry has a more gallows sense of humor than that.” – Adam Friedland (52:17)
• On art and morality:
  “If we're gonna separate the art from the artists…I'm not sure how to play that one out.” – Rainn Wilson (54:46)
• Running Gags:
  • Rainn rarely missing a cue to rib Adam on Jewish stereotypes, but warmly and with playfulness.
  • Extended riffing on whether Adam’s aunt was the most 'f*ckable' on "House of a Thousand Corpses" set (12:34).
  • Rainn’s son, Kenzie, being a fan of Adam—prompting a brief, awkward parental phone call (21:03).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:32] – Adam addresses Rainn Wilson’s boundaries about "The Office"
• [04:34] – James Foley consultation on effects of playing a comedic heel
• [07:24] – Rainn on late night shows, Jay Leno, and Weird Al
• [13:56] – Wilson’s clowning training and its influence
• [19:13] – How Mackenzie Crook and British "Office" affected Dwight’s character
• [23:37] – Wilson describes his nuanced, theater-based approach to audition/character
• [30:43] – In-depth discussion of Baha’i, faith structure, community
• [34:14] – Baha’i in America: hippies, Persians, spiritual seekers
• [44:06] – Struggles with Baha’i’s stance on homosexuality
• [46:10, 49:17] – "Code 3": playing an EMS worker and America’s broken system
• [53:05] – Art and morality: Woody Allen, Polanski, Wagner discussions
• [55:54] – Hidden musical talents, including the “skin flute” and “bassoon”

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Overall Tone & Takeaway

The conversation is a rollicking mix of irreverent humor, pop culture riffing, and surprisingly earnest explorations of faith, ethics, and performance. Rainn Wilson balances satirical self-deprecation with profound insight, fitting for someone equally at home discussing “staplers in Jello” and the intricacies of Abrahamic religions. Adam Friedland’s comedic persona pushes boundaries while allowing Wilson space to reflect honestly. Fans of Rainn will leave with a deeper sense of his comedic process, spiritual commitments, and worldview—a lively, thoughtful, and frequently hilarious listen.

Transcript

[A]

We're talking about the film. Okay, stop it. No, no, it's not that good. It's really. Some of them are.

[B]

Rain's team wanted me to pass along the message. He's totally fine to talk about the Office, but he doesn't want it to be a main focus of the interview and appreciate main focus. We're talking about the topic to more of a minimum.

[A]

We're talking about the bag of David.

[B]

That's pretty true. They glean that. But I'm happy. We gotta call you fast.

[A]

Well, no, I. I want to talk about your new film, Code 3.

[B]

You know how you talked about the Midwestern person saying thank you and not really meaning it?

[A]

I'm so interested in hearing about your new movie. Tell us about your movie. Welcome back to the Adam Friedland show, guys. Adam Friedland here first. As always. I want to thank our members for supporting the show on YouTube and Patreon. If you'd like to support the show, you can do so right here on YouTube.com by clicking the join button at the top of your page or the link in the description below. You'll get early access to episodes. Discounted merch. Also, if you prefer to use Patreon, there's a link in the description of this video below. Speaking of merch, we have merch available, as I said last week. Go to theadamfriedland show and check out the store there. That's the theadamfriedland show. And you can. We have T shirts. We, you know, great stuff. My guest this week is actor Rainn Wilson. Wilson is, of course, best known for his portrayal of the buffoonish Dwight Schrute on the NBC hit sitcom the Office. During the series eight season run, America reveled in Schrute's humiliation at the hands of Jim Halpert, who was played by John Krasinski from also the Benghazi movie, if you guys have seen that one. During one such episode, famously Shrewsk star stapler was put in a gelatin mold and it was hilarious. Now, as everyone knows, one of my strengths as an interviewer is my natural charm and charisma. Practically every guest I've had on this show has left an interview in love with me, which is frankly, kind of annoying. But my conversation with Wilson was perhaps the polar opposite. It was contentious, it was uncomfortable. And after he left the studio that day, it came to my attention that. That he had cyberbullied me on the popular social media app Instagram in a post that both doxxed and ridiculed our office's bathroom. But it didn't end there. The following week, Wilson sent me numerous threatening text messages, which, in this current political climate, has left me on edge and afraid. But I didn't want to be a victim. I wanted to put myself in Mr. Wilson's shoes. Why was this beloved comedic actor being mean? Perhaps the answer was right in front of us this whole time on NBC during prime time, before Parks and Rec. I think it was eight on Thursdays. Perhaps art bled its way into reality. Perhaps he'd been driven insane after eight years of publicly broadcasted torture. Kind of like Heath Ledger, Joker. I'm not a licensed psychiatrist, and in order to confirm my theory, I needed to consult with one. So I called up friend of the show, sexual misbehavior expert James Foley, to see if my suspicions were proven correct. James Foley. Hi, James. Adam Friedland, Adam Freeland show. How are you? I'm doing great. I miss you, brother. You're doing well. I miss you more. I'm doing fantastic. No, you couldn't possibly notice it, but, yeah. Thank you. Wait, quick question. Okay. This kind of random, but, like, if. If someone was, like, played like, a complete, like, complete joke, or like a clown, like. Or a buffoon, like, for maybe, let's say, eight seasons on a popular television show where America just. Just loved laughing at them, just getting their comeuppance and. And just like, stepping on rakes and, like, you know, kind of like, metaphorically speaking, having their pants pulled down and then exposing their minuscule genitalia to. I don't know. Ignore that part. If someone plays a heel, right. In an incredibly popular context on television, let's say NBC during prime time, before Parks and Rec, maybe. Okay. Would that potentially affect their real life? Right? I. I would. I would think so. I would definitely. I would definitely think it would have an. A drag on their emotions. Yeah. Kind of like a Benoit situation. I don't know. I don't know. Ben. What? Who? Ben was Chris Benoit from wwe.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

Oh, okay. Yeah. Anyway, okay, thanks a lot. I will keep you. I think that answers my question. Okay, thank you, chap.

[B]

Okay, bye.

[A]

So what can we do as an audience when we see a beloved individual teetering towards self harm? We can all go and see Code three, which is the new movie that he's in with Lil Rel. It's in theaters now. It's about an ambulance. It's hilarious, guys. Enjoy the show. This episode is sponsored by Roe. Roe Sparks are a 2 in 1 prescription treatment for guys who need a secret Weapon. It's the new wave. They hit the bloodstream faster because they dissolve right under the tongue. So no more waiting to perform. After rose sparks dissolve, they work in 15 minutes on average. After it dissolves, they give you the boost to last longer and can give you bigger, longer erections. Guys, isn't that incredible? And spark stays active in your system for up to 36 hours, so you can get back to back to back, round after round. Be ready the morning after. Best part, it's done 100% online, so there's no awkward conversations with in person providers. If approved treatments ships directly to your door. And if prescribed, new sexual health patients get $15 off your first order of sparks. On a recurring plan, connect with a provider at Ro co tafs to find out if prescription rose sparks are right for you. That's Ro Co Tafs for $15 off your first order. Our next guest is a legendary Hollywood actor whose new film Code 3 comes out this month on the 12th. Please welcome Rainn Wilson, everyone. Big noise. Ooh, I like that with the drink. You're like a. You're like.

[B]

They used to do that on the old talk shows with the cocktails. They would come out, like, with cocktails.

[A]

Well, I think they were all hammered.

[B]

They were, I think.

[A]

Yeah. What's his name? Ed Sullivan.

[B]

I did. I only did Leno. Obviously. I was too. Not old enough to do Carson. But they would have the drink cart, like down the hall, wheel in the drink cart, like, like with the, you know, the shakers and the cognac.

[A]

And how is Jay?

[B]

You know, he was nothing but nice and supportive to me. So I.

[A]

He gets too much crap.

[B]

I think he gets too much crap. He was a really good, like, first of all, when he first started as a comic, like, especially in like the late 70s and the 80s, as a store, he was edgy or he was considered edgy.

[A]

Everyone from that era says there was one guy and by far he was the best, and it was Mr. Jay Leno.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And for people my age, we're like, oh, the guy that's like Monica Lewinsky. Like, you know, we're like, that guy?

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

The Republicans are crazy. The Democrats are crazy. Like how that guy was edgy. Yeah.

[B]

But, yeah, apparently he wasn't. But he was always really nice to me and I would go on and whore myself out to promote my.

[A]

He prostituted Mr. Jay Leno.

[B]

He was. Apparently he was the guy in the 80s. So I let him.

[A]

Oh, really?

[B]

Have me.

[A]

Yeah. Really. Out of respect. Yeah, Yeah. I did the same For Weird Al Yankovic. Yeah.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And he'll go there.

[A]

He will go there.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

He really does go there, actually. Apparently, he's the greatest guy of all time.

[B]

Weird Al.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Al is the nicest. Sweet spot.

[A]

You know him? He's a friend of yours?

[B]

Well, I also did his story about

[A]

his parents dying and then him performing that night is the most. Did you know about that?

[B]

I didn't know this story. Please tell.

[A]

His parents both died and then.

[B]

Do you want him on the show? Because I can get him on the show.

[A]

Yes, yes, yes. Okay. Here's another thing that gets too much. Funny songs.

[B]

Parody songs.

[A]

Funny songs are like. People are like, say it's the lowest common denominator.

[B]

It's the funny Adam Sandler's Hanukkah song.

[A]

Well, listen, that one. In this day and age, we can't. Come on. It's too dicey these days.

[B]

You can't sing a Hanukkah song because of Gaza.

[A]

Yeah. Yes, exactly. Out of respect for Hamas, I will not listen to it.

[B]

No, but tell the dead parents joke.

[A]

It's not a joke.

[B]

Or joke a story. Sorry.

[A]

His parents, I think there was a gas leak and they both died. And he had a concert that night, and he went out and he was like, I'm fat. You know, he's like, I gotta do the show.

[B]

Must go on.

[A]

Yeah. And he was like, you know, living in an Amish paradise.

[B]

I think I lost respect for him.

[A]

He should have canceled the show.

[B]

I'm sorry.

[A]

I think he probably should have canceled the show.

[B]

He should have canceled the show.

[A]

We're talking shit on this guy about his lowest moment in his life.

[B]

Al is the great, greatest guy alive. I was in his movie Weird. The Al Yankovic Story. Have you seen that movie?

[A]

No. Wait. No.

[B]

Very funny. They wrote a fake biopic of Al Yankovic, and it's got a great cast, a lot of comic actors.

[A]

That other movie is the three letters.

[B]

Vh. Vh, uhf.

[A]

That movie is so funny.

[B]

That's very funny.

[A]

But this.

[B]

This came out a couple years back. Weird. The Al Yankovic story is very funny. It's as can alternate world, as if Al Yankovic was more popular than and dated Madonna and was like, the most popular pop star on the planet.

[A]

He should have been, if you ask me.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

How is this interview going so far?

[A]

It's not an interview yet. We're just. We're just feeling. We're like two dogs at the dog park sniffing each other's asses. Right.

[B]

How is this Show. Oh, the show itself going so far. How is the Adam Cleveland show, episode number 237 with Rainn Wilson? We're six minutes in. How's it going so far?

[A]

I feel like, again, like we're two dogs at the dog park smelling each other's bums.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And your shit, it smells like roses.

[B]

All right.

[A]

It smells phenomenal.

[B]

Yours smells like freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.

[A]

Oh, thank you so much. Is that good or bad? I mean, chocolate kills dogs.

[B]

Good point.

[A]

Okay, I was looking at your filmography, and you're in a film directed by Mr. Rob Zombie.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Called. What was the name?

[B]

House of a Thousand Corpses.

[A]

And correct me if I'm wrong, did you wear costumes on the. On the set?

[B]

I wore costumes.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And there was someone that was a costumer on set.

[B]

I imagine that there was. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

And her name was Amanda.

[B]

Could have been Friedland, perhaps. It could have been.

[A]

Yeah, Perhaps my aunt.

[B]

Your aunt Amanda dressed me for that

[A]

show, and she said she laid out

[B]

my wardrobe in the trailer for me.

[A]

I don't know how you guys put the clothes on.

[B]

Yep. It's usually laid out in a trailer. You got your trailer. It says, like, Rainn Wilson, and you open it up and there's your wardrobe is laid out. And then convenient person comes by and they're like, here's your pants. And we steam those. And if you can choose, you can either wear these tennis shoes and these for this scene. And there's a change of underwear in the closet. Let me know if you have any questions.

[A]

And then perhaps there's a vote on set of who in the production is most fuckable, and perhaps my aunt wins that vote.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

This is what I was told on the phone yesterday by Auntie Amanda, and I just want to know, did you vote for my aunt or not?

[B]

I would have voted for Rob Zombie's wife, Sherrie Moon Zombie, because she is smoking.

[A]

Okay. You didn't vote for my.

[B]

But I don't remember Amanda Friedland.

[A]

I would have liked. Oh, okay. She said she saw you at Comic Con. You were very nice. You remembered her. But you would have remembered that she was voted most fuckable on set. Is that something that happens a lot in Hollywood? You know, where the guy. The fellers get together and they vote for who's the most fuckable?

[B]

They do? Yes, Every production. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Who it is. Yeah. Who won the office on the Office, Leslie? Jan Levinson.

[B]

Jan Levinson Gold. Yeah.

[A]

I want to ask you. See, the annoying thing is this. Every interview you get the Question. Are you tired of being Dwight or something? Right. Or like. Or being. Because it is an iconic, ubiquitous, like, American comedy, like, legendary character. Right. And everyone asks you about getting, like, approached on the street, but they don't ask you about, like, how what gave birth and Dwight.

[B]

So right down the street at nyu, you know, I was always really good at. I was a theater actor, and I was always really good at comedy theater, whether it was doing sketches or a farce or doing clowny kind of characters or Shakespeare clowns or something like that. But I did pretty wide ranging theater training. But one of the things we did is we took clowning class. And this is like, who's the guy who plays Borat again? What's that guy's name?

[A]

Sacha Baron Cohen.

[B]

Sacha Baron Cohen.

[A]

He went to the guy in Paris.

[B]

He went to go see Guy, right? Yeah. Lecoq. And that.

[A]

That's funny. That's funny.

[B]

His. But this woman, Gates McFadden, was our clown teacher just for a couple of years, weeks or months. And she was actually played Dr. Crusher on Star Trek the Next Generation. The beautiful redheaded woman.

[A]

She teaches clown, Is a clown teacher,

[B]

A master clown teacher.

[A]

That was a childhood. Like, I didn't even have, like, know what sex was, but I was like, I need her. Crusher was incredible. She's still available, is she? Mm. And she teaches clown.

[B]

She doesn't regularly teach it, but she is capable of teaching a mean clown class. She could be your clown tutor, your private clown tutor.

[A]

My clown teacher?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Crusher. Yeah. What did. What did Worf. Was he funny or. No, he was hysterical.

[B]

He was my voice as Michael Dorn.

[A]

No, he wasn't. Yeah, Michael Dorn was.

[B]

Yeah. And Patrick Stewart.

[A]

He taught. He taught. Non disclosure agreement. He taught. So.

[B]

But anyways, in this clown class, you did a lot about creating a character kind of out of nothing. And that when you put on the red nose, it amplifies whatever you're doing. And the big mistake with red nose clowning is you do something clowny. And there was this exercise we did called Circle of Fire, which is basically you put on the red nose, you go in front of people, and you can only leave the stage once you've made everyone laugh, really. And sometimes people would be up there for 45 minutes.

[A]

Yeah. Because you had enemies in the class. People that, like, really did.

[B]

Good, good thinking. But because it's really hard to make people. Maybe not for you and maybe not even for me a little bit, but it's really hard to make people laugh with A red nose on your face.

[A]

What if you fart really loud? Just get out there.

[B]

It's gonna. It's not gonna be that funny.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. Because no, what you think is gonna be funny doesn't work with a red nose. Cuz it. So what. What's really funny is being totally vulnerable. And like, if you were to cry about like a dead relative, that would be hysterical.

[A]

Really?

[B]

I'm not even kidding.

[A]

I cried on this show a couple weeks ago. I don't think it was.

[B]

What did you cry about?

[A]

No, we don't have to get into it.

[B]

All right, so I'm just saying. I'm just saying that the roots of creating a character like Dwight come from these ideas of clowns. Like the. You go back from. You know, there have always been clowns in human history. And you can go back to the Greek comedies and then the, The Roman comedies and then Commedia dell'. Arte. That was traveling clown troops in wooden wagons all across Europe. And then Moliere and Shakespeare took those tropes and those ideas, put them in all their plays. And then those became like British vaudeville, that became American vaudeville. That became like, you know, Jack Benny and early television and the Honeymooners and sketch comedy and that became, you know, Monty Python. You can, you can trace clowning and some basics about building those characters back to the classics. Yeah, there were probably golden Hebrew clowns.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Back in the, in the Old Testament,

[A]

the slaves in Egypt, they were like, what? I can't be out in the sun this long.

[B]

The slaves sound like Woody Allen.

[A]

It's ridiculous that they. My friend Michael, Mike Racine used to have a joke. He's like, imagine having a slave and it's a fucking Jew. He's like, those would be the worst slaves ever. Well, okay, so I.

[B]

Do you want me to.

[A]

Is there a universal comedy language? Because it's very interesting. You were saying that what. You have to go up on stage and make someone laugh. I've been thinking this. I've thought this for years. Like, what? Like, if you went to like a tribe in the Amazon and like, that's been.

[B]

Like, what would be funny?

[A]

What would be funny? And it's a very interesting thing to ponder, but I think there's only one thing I could. I would consider.

[B]

Farting balls.

[A]

Like, just getting hit. Hurting your.

[B]

Hitting the balls.

[A]

Yeah, hitting the balls.

[B]

That is universal. I think there's some universals. I think someone like, trying something and failing is. Is. Is universally funny. I think. You know, I think if you went in the truck, if that happened in the TR. To the Amazon. They would be hysterical right now.

[A]

Taught you that. Crusher taught you that.

[B]

Go to two. Go to two.

[A]

There's a real pro. We got a pro.

[B]

So those elements come into playing Dwight. Like, first of all, I saw Mackenzie Crook on the British Office, who was brilliant. And there was a thing that he did that no one had done as well as him before, which was to say the most absurd, ludicrous things with an absolutely straight face without any kind of hint at all that there was a joke there. And he was so brilliant at that. And Ricky really, I think, taught him that. And Stephen Merchant, like, a lack of self awareness, basically.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes, but without. You couldn't see the actor because it was a documentary. You couldn't see the actor kind of doing a weird line like, I drink my own urine and putting any kind of spin on it, just like, I drink my own urine just completely. And so I loved that. And then there were some other elements of, like, I knew that Dwight needed. I needed. I have a huge weird head, and I needed a haircut to showcase just how gargantuan and melonic my head is. And so I sculpted that and the self seriousness. And I knew he was kind of like. He was a nerd and kind of a bully at the same time.

[A]

Like, he can do lives matter. Yeah. He respects the police.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, totally.

[A]

He wants to be a cop. Right.

[B]

But, like, yeah, it was a Lackawanna County Sheriff's deputy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So you put these elements together and you kind of create a clown almost in the way that you would have a red nose. Is your audience going to give a fuck about this?

[A]

Yeah, I think so.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Okay, wait.

[B]

Well, my son is a huge Adam Friedland fan. What's happening?

[A]

Does he have emotional problems? Sorry.

[B]

A little bit.

[A]

I want to get my. Sorry. My stupid thing.

[B]

Should we call him?

[A]

Yeah, call him right now. This is very unprofessional.

[B]

I think he's in class.

[A]

He is. Tell him to get out of class. Send him a selfie. Okay, I'm just gonna take one of these stupid things. I'm sorry.

[B]

The person you've dialed can't take your call now.

[A]

Oh, my God. He blocked you.

[B]

They go by Kenzie.

[A]

They. Okay. And they're. They're a big fan. Where do they go to school?

[B]

Bard College. Here. You can leave an audio note.

[A]

Oh, yeah, no, they're. They're doing ketamine right now. Hello, Kenzie, I'm with your dad right now. This Adam Friedland. Oh, you sent him the Richie Torres interview. That's so embarrassing.

[B]

He sent it to me. He said, please don't read my texts.

[A]

Okay, well, you're. Should I pick up?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Hey, what's up? It's Adam. I'm with. I'm with your dad right now. We're chilling. It's Adam Friedland. Oh, hi, Adam. What's up? How's Bard going? This is so surreal. Yeah, yeah, yeah, how's Bard? You go to class? Are you wearing all black? No, but I do sometimes. You got to stay away from those NYC kids. They're. They're no good. Yeah, yeah. Well, I heard that you like the show. I just want to say hello real quick. Oh, hi. Yeah, I like your shirt. What'd you say? I have a friend who's more of a fan of you than me. Who likes you more than me. Oh, well, I'm sorry, dude. I'm okay. So tell your friend I say what up? All right, we got to get back to this interview. We're doing a bad job so far. Oh, am I on tape right now? Are you serious? No, no, you're not on the show at all. Okay, bye. All right. By. Wait. Okay, so they released the auditions for the Office. And the amazing thing is this. And I don't like, not to freaking blow smoke up your hole or whatever they say, but like it's Seth Rogen, Judah Friedlander, Patton Oswald, and you. And you're just white. The character is fully fleshed out just in an audition. Like a self tape. Yeah. And it's like, it's amazing to see that, like, you know, these guys are like heralded comedic actors. Right. And you just destroy. I mean, you're just Dwight. So in that sense, when I watched that, I was like, oh, he's crafted this. It's not a matter of like that the writers kind of have done it. This is a guy that's auditioning for a role and that's to me, made it like all the more impressive, you know?

[B]

Well, I love all those actors. They're all great. I think you come at a character from a different way when you've had theater training versus when you come from a stand up or improv or sketch background and nothing against them. Like Steve Carell comes from a sketch and improv background, and he's one of the, I think, and truly one of the greatest American actors of all time. His dramatic work and his comedic work. So that's nothing against them. I just think when you, when you have theater training, you're, you're, you're trying to create a character, a three dimensional character that can be funny but taken seriously and could walk down the street and you. And you would believe it. There's not anything kind of like you want to, you know, theoretically make that character, like, fully living and breathing. And so I try and do that kind of work when I'm, you know, going in, especially on an audition. But this was one of those rare auditions where I'd seen the BBC office.

[A]

Loved it. It's the best. How good is it?

[B]

It's so good. And I took so many things from Dear MacKenzie and just kind of put my own kind of American, kind of white trashy spin on it and Pennsylvania Dutch kind of.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Well, that whole thing came out of an improv.

[A]

So. So you brought. Did you bring that in that, like, you had. You're a farmer and your cousin was like, oh.

[B]

So, yeah.

[A]

So that's another question I had. Like, how much was that the writers, and how much was it you creating

[B]

backstory, how Greg Daniels does that that no one else does? And it's. He's amazing in this way. Early on, I did an improv. We would just kind of improvise all the time to just kind of find the character and find the tone. And I did this improv. I don't even remember when it was. I think it was in the first week. And I was like. And I just improvised and I went. I really had not planned it at all. I was like, my name is Dwight Schrute. My father's name, Dwight Schrud. His father's name, Dwight Shrud. Amish. And out of that, they're like, oh, we'll make him and his family Amish. And then I did something about. I brought in, like, family photos of, like, my farmer ancestors in Wisconsin and Minnesota. And Greg's ancestors, Jewish, were actual beet farmers and Poland. And so, like, we'll make it. We'll have this farm Amish backstory to Dwight.

[A]

That's perfect. It's in Pennsylvania anyway.

[B]

Yeah, so it came out of that. It came out of all that. So, you know, that's amazing writing that you can kind of like, just kind of go with what you pick up.

[A]

Well, it is just a legendary. I mean, it's like Costanza level, just, like, comedic character. I mean, it's like. And it's just like, it's so impressive.

[B]

It's better than Costanza.

[A]

I mean, I don't know. Costanza is pretty good. I mean, it's anti Semitic for you to say, even though it's not Jewish. Wait, wait. You were quoted as saying that one of the best parts about the show was that there were no Jewish characters. Is that correct?

[B]

That's correct.

[A]

Yeah, I guess. Who? I guess there were, actually. I just made that up. Oh, Jan. Jan Levinson.

[B]

That's Levinson. Yeah.

[A]

Actually Laura Harden.

[B]

Non Jew.

[A]

That's probably a Jew.

[B]

How could she possibly understand what it is to be Jew? I can't believe she hasn't been canceled.

[A]

That has to be the most accurate character actually. Like, she's just playing a proper Jewish psycho. She's like my friends moms were like that. They were all like Joseph Stalin.

[B]

Like I.

[A]

The dinner party is my favorite.

[B]

Of course it is. Of course that's your favorite episode. And it's. It is. Is that it's like just next level.

[A]

Going to a couple whose rate, like relationship is falling apart.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

For dinner and you bringing an old lady.

[B]

My old babysitter.

[A]

Your babysitter.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

There's also implication that. That you're like an incredible fuck throughout the entire show. That you're just like a. Yeah, you do.

[B]

Which is another. Like no, no one else would do that would create a show, a character like Dwight. And like, let's not have him like fuck up in love. Let's like, let's have him bed like 20 or 30 women over the course.

[A]

Incredible. Like lover.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. You know, on Peacock, they have the extended episodes and I've seen a couple of them and it's really fun to watch those. I don't know, I'm sure that one is up, but I would love to see the extended episode of that one.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

Because every episode. You know, this was back in the days of network TV. We had to get every episode down to one to 21 minutes and like 40 seconds. So lots of stuff got cut out. So much stuff got cut out.

[A]

It's also amazing. They used to do like 25 of them. Like, like a season. Like that's so much work.

[B]

We would do between 21 and 25 episodes in. In a nine month span.

[A]

I mean it's just like a testament to like that operation had to be like a well oiled machine. Daniels had to be like fucking like a. Like an admiral or something.

[B]

It is. He is like a general. And not only that, but he's making decisions about what about this location and what about this hire and what about this payroll and he's meeting with the network and like Staples wants to sponsor these next episodes and how do we work that. And so you're dealing with Everything but the writer's room was like 15 strong and just amazing, amazing talent.

[A]

Like 87 year old Jewish men that were like dying. No, I'm just kidding, obviously.

[B]

38 year old Jewish men.

[A]

Yeah, I'm sure it's like Harvard kids. I'm sure it's like Lampoon.

[B]

It was a lot of Harvard kids. I think my grandmother was Jewish. I'm sorry, but we don't know.

[A]

We don't know that you say that in Hollywood.

[B]

Her name is Marie Nunberg and she's from northern Romania and the rumor is

[A]

that she was Jewish, but she could have been.

[B]

She died young and her family all died and blah, blah, blah. We don't know. But Marie Nunberg, it sounds pretty Jewish.

[A]

Where's the rest of your family from? Brazil, right? No, I thought they just showed up in like around the late 40s.

[B]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They showed up in the 1948 in Brazil.

[A]

My name is Heinrich. Yeah, yeah, we are like, we've been Brazilian this whole time.

[B]

We are Brazilians.

[A]

We love like threesomes and.

[B]

Did you ever see that movie Boys from Brazil?

[A]

Of course.

[B]

In the seventies.

[A]

Of course. Yeah, yeah. That was a Mengele, right, that it was about like Joseph Mengele.

[B]

It was about. They had cloned Hitler.

[A]

They cloned. And he cloned Hitler. Yeah, yeah. That's just an insanely stupid premise for a movie that in the 1970s you can make. You could like, you could really make that in the like death wish era of Hollywood where it's like, what if a guy's really pissed off and he just kills.

[B]

He just.

[A]

Thousand minorities on the, on the subway. Yeah, well, okay, I, I kind of wanted to like, let's, let's, let's parlay that. You were talking about your grandmother. Like, I know that you talk a lot about faith and in your, like you have a podcast and like, and you know, like in your career since then, you're very upfront about spirituality. And you're Baha'.

[B]

I'm.

[A]

Baha'.

[B]

I. Yeah.

[A]

And that's an Abrahamic religion. I know nothing of Baha'. I. But it's new, right?

[B]

It is an Abrahamic religion. I would say it's the fourth major Abrahamic religion.

[A]

Yeah. How many boys you got globally?

[B]

Six million. So small.

[A]

Small, yeah.

[B]

Six million.

[A]

Yeah. And you're like the number one.

[B]

I'm number. I'm like number two or three.

[A]

I've done. Dizzy Gillespie was Baha'.

[B]

I. Yeah, Dizzy Gillespie was Baha'.

[A]

I. That's not bad. Yeah, yeah. I went, what's your Hollywood what's the Baha' I like? What's the thing that you guys have. Have on lock? What's your. What's your.

[B]

There's like seven Baha' Is in Hollywood.

[A]

No, I mean saying, like, our thing is, like, we control the media and the banks.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Like, what do you guys control?

[B]

The highest control nonprofit International development service work.

[A]

That sounds evil. That sounds real evil. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

My. My bro, I'm staying with my homie. My Baha' I homies let me stay in his apartment in Harlem. He's off working on the international food program for Rockefeller Foundation. You know, feeding the. Feeding the kids. You know, feeding the kids.

[A]

And you guys have that sorghum on Lockheed. What's sorghum?

[B]

I don't even know.

[A]

Thing. What's. So what's like the. What's the book. What's your. Like. Like, what language is it? Because it's not like a. It's not attached to, like, an ethnic identity. Right.

[B]

Like, it's. It's an international faith, but it started in Persia.

[A]

In Persia, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So the.

[B]

The, you know, the main languages of the main Baha' I writings were Persian, Farsi and Arabic, both.

[A]

So when you go to shul or when you go to church or.

[B]

No church, no synagogue, no temple, you don't go. No clergy.

[A]

No clergy, no. So what's. So, like, do you like. Do you. Do you have songs or something?

[B]

There's. There's some songs that people make up and stuff like that. There's a bunch of Baha' I books and tablets and prayers. We're here in New York City. So every year, all the Baha' Is of New York City gather and elect nine Baha'. Is. They feel like kind of are the most wise and spiritual to kind of get on there, democratically run the affairs of the Baha' I community in New York City. So that. And then there's. But none of them have any authority over any other. So it's completely democratically elected religious faith.

[A]

Are you thinking about running.

[B]

No. Campaigning?

[A]

No campaigning.

[B]

Campaigning is illegal in the Baha' I faith.

[A]

So they just have to think of someone.

[B]

Yes. You literally go into prayer and contemplation and you write down silent ballot, nine names of the people that you want to vote for.

[A]

So if you get on that, you have to do it. Can you decline?

[B]

You can. You could decline. You can either just stop showing up or you can decline for, like, health reasons and some, you know, some other, like, hardship reasons.

[A]

So how does one practice the faith if there's no church? You can't go to the place and like, you know, sing the song.

[B]

We meet and gather at community centers or people's homes or something like that. So Baha' is read from the holy writings in the morning and the evening. We say one prayer in the middle of the day. And there's a fasting period, kind of similar to Ramadan.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so Baha' is do a fast. These are some of the things the Baha'. Is. These are what the Baha' Is do in your neighborhood.

[A]

And your parents were Baha'?

[B]

I? My parents were Baha'.

[A]

I. You were raised Baha'?

[B]

I? Yeah.

[A]

Is it kind of in America? Is it like kind of hippie?

[B]

It was kind of a hippie. It's this weird amalgam where my parents are Baha'. Is, kind of bohemian Baha' is from the 60s. A lot of people became Baha' is in the 60s and 70s when people were exploring kind of different spiritual paths. Like Cat Stevens became a Muslim and,

[A]

you know, Yusuf Islam, I call him.

[B]

Yeah. And Steve Jobs was in a. Like a Buddhist monastery. And then there was this influx of all these Persian refugees from the revolution in 79 and 80. So you had all these like hippie baha', is, you know, singing peace and love songs. And then this influx of Persian, black

[A]

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[B]

Yeah, I left the Baha' I faith for a long time. I didn't want anything to do like a lot of young people with religion or faith or God or morality or anything like that. And you went punk? I went. I went punk, yeah.

[A]

Were you punk? NYU?

[B]

Yeah, I.

[A]

Well, 86 NYU. Where? You're listening. I Died.

[B]

I got a buzz cut and dyed my hair black.

[A]

Buzz cut and black?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. I look kind of like Henry Rollins a little bit.

[A]

Really? Yeah. What were your bands when you were punk?

[B]

You know, I wasn't really that hardcore because I was like Clash, you know, stuff like that.

[A]

What's wrong with that?

[B]

Well, yeah, but I wasn't like, Best Bitch. I wasn't like. I wasn't like, going all like, Black Flag and. And, you know.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, stuff like that. Too scary.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I don't want to get hurt.

[B]

Smelly. A little smelly.

[A]

I like the. Yeah. My first. My mom, My Grandma gave me 20 bucks. I got a 3 CD set. Self title, London Calling and Combat Rock.

[B]

Oh, amazing.

[A]

When I was, like, 13 and I

[B]

was like, life changing, that's what I thought.

[A]

I was punk too. Yeah. And then my mom was like, fucking. You're an idiot. You're Jewish. And I was like, there's a lot

[B]

of great Jewish punks.

[A]

Who. Henry Rollins, not Jewish. I can't think of one.

[B]

Jello Biafra.

[A]

Ugh. What is he on about? You know, he has got the same voice as the B52S guy. No one says that. Right. He's annoying.

[B]

That's true.

[A]

The government doesn't, like, trust me. President Reagan. Yes. Whatever, dude. Anyway, I. Wait, so. So I've been to the Baha' I temple in. In Haifa. In Israel. Yeah, yeah. It's a new religion, you guys. You think about maybe getting the hell out of there. You don't need to get it. Be in the. We were there.

[B]

We were there before. Not. Certainly not before. Before the Palestinians or the Jews. But Baha' is were, you know, the Baha' I Holy Land was coming to existence, you know, late 19th century, early 20th century. So Baha' Is are so, like, neutral about the whole thing.

[A]

You guys are. Wait, Wait and see. That's your. That's your vibe.

[B]

Baha' is are just trying to survive and keep our holy lands intact. It's a really kind of like, please make peace and stop fighting. And it's beautiful. And. Yeah, but it was, you know, it was. It was pretty intense because the war was raging as the Baha' I temples were being built and the administrative center was being built. And then there was the, you know, the 1948 and stuff. And we weren't sure, like, where's the Jewish state and the Palestinian state? And how is that going to subdivide the Baha'? I.

[A]

You guys were just gardening.

[B]

We're just like. Yeah, just pruning shrubs.

[A]

It's really beautiful. The Baha' I gardens. I mean the buildings. I was like, looking online. The one in India is really stunning. The Lotus Temple. Yes. It's really. You guys have nice places.

[B]

Baha' is are very good at building houses of worship. They really are.

[A]

The community. You pay a tithing. Is that. How do they afford that?

[B]

You donate whatever you want to donate. But there is another thing called. Now I'm forgetting the name of it, I'm blanking on the name, but where we pay 9% of all profit over. It's kind of like a tithe over and above all essential costs. So once you pay your rent, your insurance, and blah, blah, blah, kids, tuition and, you know, cost of living, electricity, cell phone, blah, blah, blah, anything extra, you pay 9%.

[A]

So you have to like, ask your accountant to figure that out.

[B]

I do. That's when I literally. Craig Tesla, Jew.

[A]

Of course, you shouldn't let him near your money. But anyway.

[B]

Too late.

[A]

No, but, like, so wait. So I'm just interested because I was reading about it and I was like, I'd rather just ask you about it, but there was a guy named Bob, right?

[B]

The Bob. The Bob, which means the gate. B, A, B. Arabic B, A, B.

[A]

And then there was an offshoot that became the Baha', I, right? From the Babists.

[B]

Yes and no. It was a movement kind of like John the Baptist had a religious movement, spiritual movement that then became Christianity. And Christianity came out of John the Baptist's movement saying, like, there is a messiah that's coming. There's someone greater than me. It's going to be. It's going to rock your world. It's going to be amazing. And then Jesus gets baptized and sees the dove and the spirit of God and etc is kind of similar to that. So there was this religious movement called Babyism, followers of the baby who claimed to be a new prophet in this Abrahamic tradition. And he kept saying, there's a Messiah even greater than me that's coming imminently. And then Bahaullah is the founder of the Baha' I faith. His name means the glory of God and Baha'. Is. Bahaullah.

[A]

Wow. You guys have beef with Gary Dellibate. He's kind of making with Baba Bui. And then there was a third prophet named Baba Bui. Yeah. No.

[B]

Do you believe in God?

[A]

I, I, it would be nice, but I don't.

[B]

Are you a judist?

[A]

No, I didn't have anything to do with that. No.

[B]

Like Buddhist, but so many Jews. Oh, I think the Old Testament is so like we didn't have to do it. I didn't have anything to do with that.

[A]

It was the Romans. We just. We may have suggested. They have suggested. Maybe you want to maybe if you could maybe would maybe crucify. If you would crucify him.

[B]

I just read this whole thing. I read a whole book who's the Roman? About how Jewish, how they did that spin trying to get it away from the Romans. And the reason they did that, the early Christians and they spun it towards the Jews because they feared the persecution from the Roman Empire, especially in those first 300 years.

[A]

And then the whole empire converged and

[B]

then the whole empire converted. But before that, if they had in their writings, hey, our Messiah was put to death by the Romans, then the Romans would come in and be like, what the fuck?

[A]

Wait, so do you abide by like kind of like the New Testament, the Old Testament kind of the Quran Is there just.

[B]

The Baha' is accept from all the. We absolutely do. And Baha' is accept all of the world's holy books, including Buddhism and Hindu and we read the Bhagavad Gita and the writings of the Buddha. Has all of our book, so you

[A]

have to know every single one.

[B]

We have it memorized and you don't ask me any line, any page.

[A]

What's the best, what's the best book? What's the best one? Our one sucks. The Jewish one is like, they're simple chapters. There's. It's. God is just so.

[B]

It's kind of like Dune.

[A]

God is so insane.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

God is like, oh, you don't respect me, I'm going to smite you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. God's like, he's mean.

[B]

God changes though, over the course of the Hebrew Bible. You know, there's. There's an evolution. As you read it, you can kind of see his.

[A]

Have you read the Haktua?

[B]

I haven't read the Haktua Girl.

[A]

Did she sell her memoir? No, it's an ancient text. The Haktua.

[B]

The Haktua Girl?

[A]

Yeah. It's an ancient. No, it's not. Oh, I didn't know you've never read the Haktua. It sounds like a Jewish prayer, doesn't.

[B]

Lunacy.

[A]

What do you mean lunacy?

[B]

People have a good time. People watch the show.

[A]

What are you hating on the show?

[B]

A little bit.

[A]

Why?

[B]

I can't finish a sentence.

[A]

Have you read the Huck to. I just. Are they so. They so Baha' I like everyone. They're nice to everyone.

[B]

They're nice to everyone.

[A]

Yeah. Are they. They're nice to women. Women could be.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They're nice to gay people or they're nice to. Yeah, they don't like gay people.

[B]

Well, they like gay people.

[A]

Why do they like gay people?

[B]

Well, this is. This is a. This is a. This is a matter of a great deal of.

[A]

So you guys are like Rastafarians. You're like. You're like spiritual, but you still don't like gay people.

[B]

There's that Abrahamic thing about marriage and men and women and stuff that is still in the Baha' I faith. And I really struggle with it.

[A]

Really.

[B]

Personally, I don't know how to do that. I really struggle with it. But If I like 90% of the faith, then that's enough. That's enough for me.

[A]

But what other parts do you not like?

[B]

That's the main one. Yeah.

[A]

Religion is kind of a pick and

[B]

choose, but it's a little different in the by faith. It's not like there's no hell, there's no damnation. Sin doesn't work the same way. It's kind of like, here's the moral laws, but they're there for your guidance. So it's. It's much less. There's none of this kind of like gays going to hell. Gay evil stuff like that. It's accept and love everyone.

[A]

They're just being bad. They're being bad boys. Are you. You're a Blazer or. No?

[B]

I used to be.

[A]

You used to be. You're. You're sober gentlemen.

[B]

I'm sober, yeah. I'm a sober gentleman.

[A]

What was. What was your vice back in the day?

[B]

Mostly alcohol. Booze.

[A]

Yeah. Yeah. During your New York days.

[B]

But, yeah, and I had some. Some. Some drug phases. I dated a coke dealer for a while that was not a girl.

[A]

Coke dealer?

[B]

Yeah. Down on Wall Street. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, to like Wall street guys.

[B]

She had. Yeah, she had a leather satchel and she would open up. She had everything in it.

[A]

Wow, she's cool. What's she up to now? She works in the Jewish community.

[B]

She's running JP Morgan.

[A]

She is?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Really? Wow. That's a really cool kind of girlfriend. She definitely fucked your life up. You were. That was definitely like a. It didn't.

[B]

It didn't help. Yeah.

[A]

Well, no, just in like a. Like a high fidelity sense, like remembering all the girls of the past.

[B]

Right.

[A]

She. You're.

[B]

You were like, along for the ride. This was for a nerdy Baha' I boy from suburban Seattle. That was a sharp left turn.

[A]

Oh, my God, like 21 New York City.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

23 and a half. 24. Yeah.

[A]

We're talking about the film. Okay, stop it. No, no, it's not that good. It's really. Some of them are.

[B]

Rain's team wanted me to pass along the message. He's totally fine to talk about the Office, but he doesn't want it to be a main focus of the interview and appreciate the topic to more of a minimum.

[A]

We're talking about the Bag of David.

[B]

That's pretty true. I think that's pretty true. I don't know that I ever said that to them, but they glean that.

[A]

But I'm happy to.

[B]

We gotta call you fast.

[A]

Well, no, I want to talk about your new film, Code 3. You want to tell us a little bit about who you play, what it's about, and then we can kind of get into, you know, how you talked

[B]

about the Midwestern person saying thank you and not really meaning it.

[A]

I'm so interested in hearing about your new movie. Tell us about your movie. Is it a little bit of Bringing out the Dead? A little bit.

[B]

No, it's not as artsy and dark as that. It's more funny.

[A]

It's more funny.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You did a ride along with real paramedics. And how long did you do that for?

[B]

Like six or eight hours in South Central. No bag.

[A]

Well, that's, like, kind of. There's a real intimacy in doing that job because you enter people's homes, you see people's lives, and you see people

[B]

riding with them in the back of an ambulance to a hospital for.

[A]

Right, in moments of crisis.

[B]

Yeah, Right.

[A]

You see, like, a son become the man of the house. You see people in their.

[B]

The worst moments piss their pants or they've got vomit on them. Yeah.

[A]

And then you also see the different ways that people live. Right. And you see, like. You see, like. And I did it. I was in Israel for a year doing it, and I really saw the difference in, like, the way Arabs and Jews lived and the way that Orthodox and secular lived. And. And it was intense. I mean, it was. There were a couple funny parts of it, but, like, there was a hypochondriac, like, a Russian lady, and me and my friend, she would call, like, every three days, and she was just a liar. And then, yeah, another time we had to go to a funeral, and. Because they were afraid that it was like, this big tragedy that, like, a police officer was killed in the line of duty, and they were afraid of, like, people passing out because of the local tragedy, and we didn't speak, like, our Hebrew was pretty bad. Yeah. And there was this woman.

[B]

You were just there just in case.

[A]

Just in case. And there was this woman, like, who had, like, smelling salts, and she's like, she was walking around like they were crying women, like, like. And she'd make them smell it and slap them across the face. And they had me and my friend Matt behind the rabbi giving the eulogy, and we were just watching this lady just slapping other women in the face. And we were trying as hard as we could not to laugh.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

It was the hardest I've ever. Like, I was like, about to pee my pants out of female.

[B]

But you know what? They should have every 19 year old be a paramedic for a while.

[A]

No, it cannot. It's. It. Well, it's.

[B]

Yeah, they should.

[A]

You really see, like. I mean, like, you really see people in moments of extreme crisis. Yeah.

[B]

And mostly at their worst and occasionally at their best, I imagine.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you see, you see humanity rising through. Through the ashes.

[A]

Exactly. You see how families are immediately reshuffled and reorganized and like, wow, it's. It's. A doctor sees the end result. This is like a very. There's an. Yeah. There's a real personal, intimate aspect to it. And. Yeah, I think I was maybe a little too young. I think it was like, a little bit, like, intense.

[B]

And I think, like, well, this is what Code three deals with, is kind of the mental health ramifications of these frontline workers and EMS workers who are paid essentially minimum wage, maybe a little bit more, that we entrust to save our lives. You know, in the movie, we tried to make it a comedy. It is a comedy. It's very funny. It's a very good movie. I hope you'll see it. And I really do mean that. Audiences are loving it. And the EMS frontline worker community are loving this movie.

[A]

They feel like they're like, this is like their story.

[B]

Yeah. And.

[A]

But it's so.

[B]

But it's so rare. It's so rare to do a movie that's, like, funny, entertaining. If you want to just go watch an action comedy and eat popcorn, that's great. But it also is, like, about something, and it really is about looking at the underbelly of the American health care system and how these poor people, we're paying essentially minimum wage and we entrusting them to save our lives.

[A]

And also it costs like $8,000.

[B]

Yeah. And then you get your bill from the hospital or like something more 10 or 20 grand, and it's just all, it's all, it's all fucked up. But I did ride alongs with the fire department in South Central la and that was fascinating because down there there's no health care. I mean they've shut down all the hospitals because all the hospitals are owned by conglomerates and they're like, this South Central Hospital is not making us any money. They shut it all down. There's no walk in clinics, there's no like, you know, it's like a food

[A]

desert for hospital for health care and

[B]

there's barely any doctors. And so they call 911 for everything. The people down there, because they kind of have to. And the firemen are the heroes down there. The cops are kind of, obviously there's some issues there, but the firemen are the heroes. The firemen are getting them, getting their locked keys out of the car, breaking down bathroom doors, getting a guy some diabetes medicine, taking someone to the hospital because they can't get an Uber. And these guys, these are the most white bred dudes you could imagine. All these firemen down there, but they're cheered wherever they go. In South Central you don't hear that story. It was really interesting. But one of the darkest call we went on that night was, and this happens occasionally, this woman had fallen out of bed and needed the firemen to bring straps and get her back up on the bed because she weighed about 500 pounds. So they needed like four hardy men to kind of get her back up on the bed. The family couldn't do it. That was really intense and. But that's the kind of work that they were doing. But you're right, you're going into people's homes every day too. You're doing it 12 hour shifts, you know, three or four days a week.

[A]

There were laughs though. You're saying that it was a comedy, but I remember they just like we like play Black Eyed Peas or like LMFA or like pumping on the way to like. Yeah, because there's just like a sense of humor because these people are like about to deal with some fucked up shit. So then they play some like, you know, goofy like no industry has a

[B]

more gallows sense of humor than that.

[A]

These people are seeing just fentanyl overdose. Gunshot. Yeah, yeah, I, yeah. Telling that story I think is very worthwhile and I haven't really seen that story told very much. And like from my experience it's like that seems like a incredibly like worthwhile, like and noble like thing to depict.

[B]

And with that, my job here is done. Bye. Bye.

[A]

Is that what I sound like?

[B]

That's your imitation of, like, a Jew circa 1000 BC Moses. Why'd he go up to the mountain for?

[A]

And then I went to bed with her. She was a fabulous woman, and I went to bed with her, and she was my analyst.

[B]

How do you. How do you deal with the Woody Allen of it all? Do you still watch Woody Allen movies?

[A]

100%, yeah. The best. One of the best ever.

[B]

Even the bad ones. You watch them all?

[A]

I watched every single one.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What's your favorite?

[B]

Oh, Annie hall is my favorite.

[A]

There's so many watch this weekend.

[B]

You did this weekend?

[A]

Friends. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Now, what do you. What about the cancellation and the thing and the whole thing?

[A]

I don't know. I mean, like, it's a movie.

[B]

Ronan Farrow and I. I don't know.

[A]

I mean, it's a movie.

[B]

I'm asking you if generationally. Because I don't know. Like, I know where I stand on it, which. I'm the same way. I'm like, listen, if we're gonna separate the art from the artists, like, we're not gonna listen to Beethoven because he fucked his seventh daughter. We're not gonna listen to, I don't know, Chopin because he was a racist. And we're not gonna.

[A]

Caravaggio is a murderer.

[B]

Yeah. How are you. How do you differentiate that? It's a really tricky moral argument.

[A]

Well, it also just seems like it's like, this horrific thing that. I don't know. Like. I don't know.

[B]

And it's also very he said, she said. And it's not. Doesn't seem like there's, like, damning evidence.

[A]

Am I the one to adjudicate it? I mean, I think that we have this notion of, like.

[B]

Well, Roman Polanski was adjudicated. Would you watch Chinatown?

[A]

I watched Bitter Moon the other day, so good. Have you seen it?

[B]

No. What's it called?

[A]

So Horny.

[B]

Bitter Moon.

[A]

Yeah. The one where they're on a cruise ship. Yeah. No, there's a milk scene. It's one of the sexiest scenes I've ever seen.

[B]

Sign me up. Bitter Moon.

[A]

Yeah. You gotta watch it. How do you adjudicate it, then?

[B]

I watch the art because I just feel like we're gonna get in a bunch of trouble if we're gonna try and, like, cancel the art made by people who are racist, sexist, you know, abusive, whatever. I'm not sure how to play that one out. And maybe we'd love to hear from you in the comments section if you have Ideas about.

[A]

What's your favorite Wagner.

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

De Gouvernen.

[A]

Yeah, I like the.

[B]

The Tanner Hauser Tannhauser. The.

[A]

Yeah, the. What do you call it? The epic. The epic one, yeah. What's it called?

[B]

The Flight of the Valkyries.

[A]

No, no, that. That's. That's played out, dude. Yeah, that's hack.

[B]

Yeah, that's so 1979.

[A]

I'm over it, dude. No, the Tannhauser. Whatever. The. There's one part of it that's stunning, but, like. Yeah, he hated Jewish people. I don't know.

[B]

I know, but I love. I love the Looney Tunes where they do the Wagner opera. Oh, boom. Hilda, you are so wove We.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Yes. I know it. I can't help it.

[A]

I mean, Hitler had a lot of great paintings. I mean, let's just be. Let's be honest. Do you play music?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What do you play? Seattle groans.

[B]

I play the skin flute, and I play the.

[A]

No, you don't.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Do you guys catch that?

[B]

I also play a little guitar and drums.

[A]

Really? Yeah.

[B]

And I played the bassoon in college. In a high school.

[A]

What is a bassoon? You. In my mind, I think you.

[B]

What is a bassoon? You know what a bassoon is? It's not a kazoo.

[A]

A bassoon sounds like a. It sounds like an antiquated racial slurpee, like in the 1800s.

[B]

A bunch of bassoons. Bassoons. I want my daughter.

[A]

What is a bassoon?

[B]

You know what a bassoon is? You don't claim ignorance, kazoo. You don't really believe that.

[A]

I only know rock, bro. Rain Wilson, everyone. Hollywood. Hollywood legends.