Brandon Scott Jones | 'Ghosts'

Summary

The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert Episode: Brandon Scott Jones | 'Ghosts' Release Date: February 1, 2025

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert welcomes actor and comedian Brandon Scott Jones, known for his role in CBS's hit sitcom Ghosts. The conversation delves into Brandon's journey in the entertainment industry, his experiences on The Late Show, and the intricacies of portraying a historical character on a modern sitcom.

Early Collaborations and The Late Show Ensemble

Brandon Scott Jones reminisces about his early interactions with The Late Show team. Stephen Colbert highlights their previous collaboration during the show's first year, particularly the “Reject TED Talks” segment—a humorous take on TED Talks that didn’t make the cut for the official website. Brandon recalls being one of the inaugural participants:

Brandon Scott Jones [02:28]: "Yes. It was one of my favorite things."

Stephen praises Brandon’s performance in the segment where he humorously questions his costume choice, underscoring the ensemble nature of their collaboration:

Stephen Colbert [02:37]: "You're part of the ensemble here."

Brandon shares a memorable moment portraying Reince Priebus during the Trump administration, reflecting on the fleeting nature of political roles and his personal attachment to the character:

Brandon Scott Jones [03:51]: "I probably took it worse than he did."

Transition to Ghosts and Character Development

Transitioning to his current role, Brandon discusses his character Isaac Higgintoot, a captain from the Revolutionary War era who resides in the afterlife within the show's setting. Stephen probes whether this historical portrayal offers educational value:

Stephen Colbert [04:16]: "Is it educational?"

Brandon responds candidly, explaining that while the show incorporates historical references, his primary focus is on the character rather than traditional historical accuracy:

Brandon Scott Jones [04:22]: "It's an educational program. It's a bunch of characters from different parts of history."

Immersing in the Role: Learning French in Montreal

One of the standout segments of the conversation centers on Brandon’s efforts to authentically portray his character by immersing himself in the local culture of Montreal, where Ghosts is filmed. He shares his humorous yet insightful experience attempting to learn French:

Brandon Scott Jones [05:14]: "I'm trying to learn French. I'm in classes now."

Drawing inspiration from his father, a foreign language teacher, Brandon aimed to accelerate his language acquisition by immersing himself in the French-speaking environment of Montreal:

Brandon Scott Jones [05:22]: "One of the things he always said was that the best way to learn a foreign language was to immerse yourself in that culture. 100%."

However, Brandon candidly recounts the challenges he faced, particularly a memorable mishap at a local café where his attempt to order an iced coffee in French didn't go as planned:

Brandon Scott Jones [06:14]: "I was a good mimic. I was imitating the Google robot woman's voice saying that very slowly."

Brandon Scott Jones [07:49]: "I basically have no idea where it went wrong."

Stephen expresses empathy and amusement over Brandon’s experience, highlighting the universal struggle of language learners.

Cultural Adjustments in Montreal

The discussion also touches on Brandon’s adjustment to Montreal’s unique culture. He humorously references the linguistic divide, noting his endeavors to blend in by learning the local language:

Brandon Scott Jones [05:50]: "I'm gonna be the next, you know, Timothee Chalamet."

Brandon emphasizes the importance of a foundational understanding before full immersion, reflecting on his initial missteps and the lessons learned through the process.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, Stephen reflects on the enriching conversation with Brandon, highlighting his dedication to his craft and the humorous anecdotes that make his journey relatable and inspiring. Brandon expresses his gratitude for being part of the Late Show ensemble and shares enthusiasm for his ongoing role in Ghosts.

Brandon Scott Jones [08:36]: "It's such a pleasure."

The episode concludes with a promotional nod to Ghosts, airing Thursdays on CBS, and an encouragement for listeners to explore more content on The Late Show YouTube channel.

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Key Takeaways

• Brandon Scott Jones' Versatility: From parody segments to serious character portrayals, Brandon showcases his range as an actor and comedian.
• Cultural Immersion Challenges: Brandon’s attempt to learn French illustrates the humorous and humbling challenges of language acquisition and cultural immersion.
• Collaborative Spirit of The Late Show: The episode underscores the supportive and collaborative environment of The Late Show, fostering meaningful relationships with its ensemble members.

Notable Quotes

• Brandon Scott Jones [07:01]: "puy je va cafe glace. I want an iced coffee. May I please have an iced coffee?"
• Stephen Colbert [02:37]: "You're part of the ensemble here."
• Brandon Scott Jones [04:22]: "It's an educational program. It's a bunch of characters from different parts of history."

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This episode offers listeners an insightful look into Brandon Scott Jones' professional journey, the blend of humor and dedication in his roles, and the personal anecdotes that make his story both entertaining and inspirational.

Transcript

[Brandon Scott Jones]

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[Stephen Colbert]

This episode is brought to you by Intuit. TurboTax didn't file with TurboTax last year. That's in the past. Now taxes is getting the TurboTax app and filing your own taxes for free. If you didn't file with them last year, file by February 18th. All tax forms, all 100% free. Now this is taxes, Intuit, TurboTax. New filers and filers who didn't use TurboTax last year only must start and file your own taxes in app by February 18th. Excludes TurboTax Live full [e-mail] it's the late Show Poncho with Stephen Colbert.

Ladies and gentlemen. My next guest is an actor and comedian, you know from the other two. Isn't it romantic? And Renfield, he now stars in CBS's hit show Ghosts.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Maybe being imprisoned in this dank lair with that interminable dripping is my comeuppance. What are you talking about? I've disappointed everyone has ever depended on me. I was a bad fiance in death, a bad husband in life. Let this be my promise to you, my friend. If by the grace of God, we ever get out of here, I vow to change my ways, to be kinder, to be less selfish, to be a better person. Good for you. Your rock looks more comfortable. Can I have it? What happened to being a better person? What? Oh, no, no, no. I said if. If we get out of here, God has to uphold his end of the bargain. First, please.

[Stephen Colbert]

Welcome to the Late Show Brandon Scott Jones. Hello.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Hello.

[Stephen Colbert]

Nice to have you on here. We've never met before, but it turns out that we've kind of worked together before. Because in the first year of the show, we did this thing. We did a segment that was making fun of TED Talks called Reject TED Talks. These were things that were shot for ted, but they weren't good enough to actually be put on the TED Talk website.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you were one of our first ones.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Oh, my God. Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Here you are.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

There we go.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you are a man asking the pertinent question of the audience. Am I dressed as Albert Einstein or Mark Twain?

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yes. And even in the TED Talk, he never figured it Out.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yes. It was one of my favorite things.

[Stephen Colbert]

Because the costume he bought at the Halloween store just said, smart guy costume.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

He just said, smart guy costume. That was it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Thank you. You're part of the ensemble here.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Are you kidding?

[Stephen Colbert]

When we actually. When Trump first came into office last time, we cast you as Reince Priebus.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Living with Steve Bannon in Knock Couple. That was me excited to play Reince as a part.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

I was thrilled to play Reince Priebus because it was around the time that you were having one of my favorite actors, Laura Benanti. She was playing Melania Trump a lot in the show, and she's amazing. And I remember thinking to myself, I was like, oh, my God. I'm the Late Show's Reince Priebus. I'm in the coterie. Sure.

[Stephen Colbert]

You were on the ensemble.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

I'm in the ensemble of the show.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure. Have that on your resume.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yeah, have that on my resume. And then I remember, like, a week later, he was fired, and I was. And I had, like, told everyone. I was like, hey, guys, look out for me on the Late Show.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

And then a week later, I was, like, completely distraught, walking the streets of New York, and my friends were like, what's wrong? And I was like, reince Priebus was fired.

[Stephen Colbert]

Took it quite personally.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

I did. I probably took it worse than he did. Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

These days, you play Isaac Higgintoot.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

On Ghost. Captain of the Revolutionary War.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yes, sir.

[Stephen Colbert]

Who is now dead. Are you learning more. Are you learning about history from doing this? Is it educational?

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Sometimes, but not. No. I mean.

[Stephen Colbert]

Cause that's what Ghost is primarily. It's an educational.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

It's an educational program. It's a bunch of characters from different parts of history. You know, every now and then, they'll have a reference in the script, and I'll be like, ooh, what's this? But to prepare for the role, I didn't really do a lot of research, like, traditional research, because I was like, you know, it's not like a show that takes place in the Revolutionary War. It's just. I'm just playing that character. And so I bought this big, thick textbook. It had, like, an orange cover. And I was like, I'm gonna read this and know everything. And I got, like, a page in, and I was like, I can't do this. Have you ever tried to read a textbook by yourself?

[Stephen Colbert]

You shoot the show in Montreal?

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Which is a lovely town. I've been there. I worked up there. How are you adjusting to the culture? Cause Montreal's got its own. It's its own thing.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And do you spry kinds of French spray?

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yeah. Well, great. I am, I'm trying to learn French. I'm in classes now, but when I.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like go to a class classes, I.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Go to like a class class. In Los Angeles, where I live, every Saturday morning I've been like going, it's fun to go back to school.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

So I had this idea. My dad is a foreign language teacher. One of the things he always said was that the best way to learn a foreign language was to immerse yourself in that culture. 100%. Right? Yeah. And so when I found out the show was gonna be shooting in Montreal, I was like, oh, my God, I'm gonna become fluent in French. It's a French speaking city.

[Stephen Colbert]

Of course. Yeah.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

I'm gonna be the next, you know, Timothee Chalamet. The comparisons were already there.

[Stephen Colbert]

100%.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

100%. Yes, yes. No. So, and so. What I didn't realize though, is that when you are going to immerse yourself into a language, you have to have at least some basis. Sure, sure. And I knew zero French.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sure, sure, sure.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

But the way I chose to do this was I. And you'll hear where I went wrong much quicker than I heard where I went wrong. So my plan was to throw myself into the deep end. I was going to go, when I got to Montreal, I was gonna type into Google Translate, may I please have an iced coffee? And I was gonna go to a cafe, I was going to say that in French, and when they responded, I was going to pull what I can only describe as a delightful switcheroo and say, actually, I don't speak French. I'm learning, I'm immersing myself. And that didn't go great. And I'll tell you why. So I type it in to Google and when you do that, you can press the little microphone button so you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Can hear how it's supposed to be said.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yes. And the Google lady says it. And then for a while, I don't know if they still do this, but. But you could press it again and she would say it really slowly. And I was like, I'm an actor, I can do this. I'm a mimic, you know. And so I said it and I was like, okay, I repeated it and it comes back like, oh, my God, I'm gonna do it on national tv. Oh, God. Puy je va cafe glace. I want an iced coffee. May I please have an iced coffee? So I repeat it to myself. The Google lady says it. I'm saying it over and over and over again. And I go to the cafe and I say it, and the barista's face, it, like, turns white after I've ordered my iced coffee. And I'm like, I'm so sorry I bailed. I was trying to immerse myself, and I basically have no idea where it went wrong.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

And I record myself saying it and I hear the problem. I was a good mimic. I was imitating the Google robot woman's voice saying that very slowly. So in English, it was essentially me walking into a bunch of cafes going, may I have an iced coffee?

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

Yeah. May I have an iced coffee? I'm. Where in that story did you hear I was going wrong? Because it was pretty. It's not a. I stopped listening a lot of times. Okay.

[Stephen Colbert]

So lovely to see you, Brandon.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

It's such a pleasure.

[Stephen Colbert]

Ghost airs Thursdays on cbs. Brandon Scott Jones, everybody. Thank you for listening to the late show pod show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

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[Stephen Colbert]

We rolled the dice one last time.

[Brandon Scott Jones]

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