June Squibb (Extended) | 'Thelma'

Summary

The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert: Episode Featuring June Squibb

Release Date: January 13, 2025

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Introduction and Welcome

In this engaging episode of The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert, host Stephen Colbert welcomes Academy Award-nominated actress June Squibb. Known for her stellar performances in films like About Schmidt and Nebraska, Squibb takes center stage to discuss her latest project, the action-comedy film Thelma.

Discussion About Thelma

Colbert kicks off the conversation by delving into Squibb's role in Thelma. Squibb explains that the character Thelma is inspired by the writer's great-grandmother, a 104-year-old woman who becomes a victim of a scam. This personal family experience fuels the narrative of revenge and action in the film.

• Stephen Colbert (02:38): "You're getting a lot of acclaim about this, which is your first starring role. You're the lead. You are Thelma in this. Congratulations."

• June Squibb (02:42): "Thelma was the writer's grandmother... she was scammed... what she does to get her money back."

June's Stunt Performance

A highlight of the interview is Squibb's discussion about performing her own stunts in Thelma, a feat that earned her the "Best Stunt Performance" award from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. Colbert praises her courage and shares a clip from the film featuring Squibb alongside Richard Roundtree.

• Stephen Colbert (03:12): "I know this because there are action sequences and physical comedy. And you were awarded, quote, best stunt performance from the alliance of Women Film Journalists."

• June Squibb (03:30): "And Richard didn't know I was going to do it... I just zoomed off and I kept thinking, oh, I hope they got that on camera."

Fearlessness and Early Life

The conversation shifts to Squibb's fearless nature, tracing back to her childhood antics. She reveals a history of adventurous behavior, such as jumping off sheds, which even concerned her parents.

• June Squibb (04:38): "When I was a little girl, I jumped off of sheds... I was always climbing on sheds and jumping off."

• Stephen Colbert (04:44): "How did your team... teachers and parents feel about this?"

• June Squibb (04:53): "My parents thought I was not a very good girl... we had some problems."

Acting Career and Audition Anecdotes

Squibb shares amusing and insightful stories from her extensive acting career. She recounts an audition for La Plume de Matante, where she lied about her ability to dance en pointe—only to have to improvise when confronted by a stage manager.

• June Squibb (07:24): "I lied once at an audition... I had told them, my agent had told them, yeah, she could do pointe."

• Stephen Colbert (07:45): "So I went downstairs as Gypsy as burlesque."

• June Squibb (08:05): "I did."

This anecdote highlights the challenges and improvisations actors often face in auditions, showcasing Squibb's adaptability and commitment.

Wisdom and Advice for Aspiring Artists

Reflecting on her long and successful career, Squibb offers valuable advice to young performers. She emphasizes perseverance and the importance of enduring the hardships inherent in the entertainment industry.

• June Squibb (08:59): "Just keep going... it's a hard business. If you have to do it, it's going to take years."

Age and Personal Insights

Addressing the topic of age in Hollywood, Squibb humorously admits to frequently lying about her age—typically subtracting five years—to navigate the industry's ageism.

• June Squibb (09:26): "I always took five years off... When I was doing Nebraska, Wikipedia outed me. They truly did."

• Stephen Colbert (09:54): "So you're actually 100?"

• June Squibb (09:57): "No, I stopped with the five years."

This candid revelation underscores the pressures actresses face regarding age and the lengths to which they may go to secure roles.

Conclusion

Stephen Colbert wraps up the interview by expressing his admiration for Squibb and promoting her film Thelma, now streaming on Hulu. He also encourages listeners to follow more of his work on the Late Show YouTube channel.

• Stephen Colbert (09:57): "June, thank you so much for being here. It's such a pleasure to meet you. The film Thelma is streaming on Hulu."

June Squibb's appearance on The Late Show Pod Show offers a blend of humor, behind-the-scenes insights, and heartfelt advice, making it a must-listen for fans and newcomers alike.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Stephen Colbert (02:36): "Lovely to meet you."

• June Squibb (04:38): "When I was a little girl, I jumped off of sheds... I was always climbing on sheds and jumping off."

• June Squibb (09:26): "I always took five years off..."

• Stephen Colbert (08:59): "What wisdom can you impart to young people out there just starting off in show business?"

• June Squibb (08:59): "Just keep going... it's a hard business."

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This episode seamlessly blends humor with insightful discussions, providing listeners with a comprehensive look into June Squibb's illustrious career and the making of Thelma. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to her work, Squibb's stories and wisdom offer valuable takeaways for anyone interested in the performing arts.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Voiceover Announcer]

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[June Squibb]

Magnificent.

[Voiceover Announcer]

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[June Squibb]

Plus, the stuff of absolute dreams. It's the Late Show Poncho with Stephen Colbert.

[Stephen Colbert]

Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome back. My next guest is an Academy Award nominated actor. You know, from films like About Schmidt and Nebraska. She now stars in Thelma.

[Voiceover Announcer]

We could report a tracking number if it's with Western Union, FedEx, UPS. With the latter, our only real option is to contact the postal service. And with these types of things, the odds are slim, especially without the address.

[June Squibb]

I think I have it here. Such a mean thing to do. It's just. Is there anything that can be done? A database of some kind? We have no moral centers as a society. This is a systemic issue that I don't have it.

[Voiceover Announcer]

If it's any comfort, these kinds of scams are increasingly common.

[June Squibb]

Well, how do they know who I am?

[Voiceover Announcer]

They contact people at random using telephone listings and social networking sites.

[June Squibb]

Like Facebook?

[Voiceover Announcer]

Sure, like Facebook.

[June Squibb]

Well, how can Zuckerberg let this happen?

[Voiceover Announcer]

Sorry.

[June Squibb]

Shouldn't Zuckerborg be able to fix this?

[Voiceover Announcer]

Are you on Facebook?

[June Squibb]

Am I?

[Voiceover Announcer]

No, you're not. She's not. This was a tangent. I would suggest canceling your cards and freezing your accounts until you're sure you didn't provide any information. That can leave the door open to more fraud. Beyond that, there's not much we can do at this point.

[Stephen Colbert]

Please welcome to the Late Show, June Squibb. That's nice. Thank you so much for being here.

[June Squibb]

Oh, thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Lovely to meet you.

[June Squibb]

I'm excited.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, I'm excited, too. You're getting a lot of acclaim about this, which is your first starring role. You're the lead. You are Thelma in this. Congratulations.

[June Squibb]

Thank you. Thank you.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now, for those of you who may not know what's the movie about? Who is Thelma?

[June Squibb]

Thelma was the writer. Is the writer's grandmother. She's now 104.

[Stephen Colbert]

So it's based on his actual grandmother's actual grandmother.

[June Squibb]

And. And she was scammed. They tried to get money from Her. And luckily the family stopped it, but it gave him the idea for this film. So it's her being scammed and what she does to get her money back.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, so it's revenge.

[June Squibb]

Revenge and action.

[Stephen Colbert]

Action. So it's an action comedy.

[June Squibb]

An action.

[Stephen Colbert]

And I know this because there are action sequences and physical comedy. And you were awarded, quote, best stunt performance from the alliance of Women Film Journalists. Here's an example of one of your stunts. Here you are with the great Richard Roundtree.

[June Squibb]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Riding your own Jazzy across a park. The shaft.

[June Squibb]

The shaft behind me the whole time. Wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

He's a badass.

[June Squibb]

But that's not easy. That's not easy.

[Stephen Colbert]

That is not easy. How did you feel about doing. Were you hesitant at all?

[June Squibb]

Oh, no, I wanted to do them.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did they want you to do it?

[June Squibb]

No, they did not want me to do this.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[June Squibb]

There's one scene in the retirement home, and I ran into his scooter. With my scooter. And. Yeah. Head on. And they told me, you do not do that. You stop, you get off. And a stuntwoman gets on. And I thought, oh, what the hell? I can do this. You know? So I just powed into. And Richard didn't know I was going to do it. So he was like, wow. You know, I just zoomed off and I kept thinking, oh, I hope they got that on camera.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did they?

[June Squibb]

And they did.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's what we'll see when we watch the movie.

[June Squibb]

That's me, dude.

[Stephen Colbert]

Fantastic. Fantastic. Well, that. I mean, doing your own stunts takes a certain amount of courage. Have you always been such a fearless daredevil?

[June Squibb]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes. Even from a little girl?

[June Squibb]

When I was a little girl, I jumped off of sheds.

[Stephen Colbert]

Sheds.

[June Squibb]

Sheds. Old sheds in the backyard. And I was always climbing on sheds and jumping off.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. How did your team. How do your teachers and your parents feel about this?

[June Squibb]

My parents thought I was not a very good girl.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[June Squibb]

Yeah, we had some problems.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you do well in school?

[June Squibb]

I did fairly well, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

From the beginning. Even in kindergarten?

[June Squibb]

Well, kindergarten I didn't do because they put me in kindergarten, and I decided I didn't like it. So I came home and they said, how was kindergarten? And I said, awful. All they did was give you cookies and you took naps. And I just thought that was dumb. Even then I thought it was dumb. At 5, I thought it was dumb.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[June Squibb]

So I told them I didn't want to go again, and they, thinking this would solve it, said, you have to tell them yourself. So I went to my grandmother who lived Next door and had a telephone. Now, first of all, she was not fond of my mother ever.

[Stephen Colbert]

Was this your father's mother?

[June Squibb]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay.

[June Squibb]

So she was very happy to help me, and she got them on the phone. I called up kindergarten and said, this is June Squib, and I'm not coming back. And I never did.

[Stephen Colbert]

Acting involves selling yourself, you know? And that's the kind word saying is lying in auditions. What's some of the best lies you had to tell because you've been doing this for 70 years? What are some of the best lies you've had to tell?

[June Squibb]

I lied once at an audition. I was asked to audition for La Plume de Matante. And the role I was asked to audition for, she did pointe. I danced.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, you started off as a dancer?

[June Squibb]

I started dancing when I was young. And so I went to the audition. I had never been in a pair of pointe shoes in my life. But I had told them, my agent had told them, yeah, she could do pointe. So I'm a good agent.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yes.

[June Squibb]

Yeah. He lied all the time.

[Stephen Colbert]

She can go on pointe on a horse.

[June Squibb]

I'm surprised he didn't say that. But it was like I didn't know what to do. And I ran into a stage manager I knew, and he said, what are you doing here? And I said, I'm here to audition for this role. He said, you don't do pointe. I said, sure I do. He said, where are your pointe shoes? I said, I forgot them. He went downstairs, came back with an old pair of pointe shoes and was about to make me put them on when they called me in to sing. And so I sang. And this gentleman came walking down, and he was the stage manager from Gypsy, and it was the same producer. They were both Merrick shows. So he had sat in to see for this replacement, and he liked me. And then he asked me to do some strip movement. And I didn't know what to do.

[Stephen Colbert]

So I went downstairs as Gypsy as burlesque.

[June Squibb]

Well, it was for one of the strippers that does. You gotta get a gimmick.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah.

[June Squibb]

And so I went downstairs, and there was a friend of mine there, and I said, what's strip movement? So she said, oh, just bump and grind and dip a lot. So that's what I did. And I got it.

[Stephen Colbert]

You got the job, which I just love. You were once just my first Broadway show.

[June Squibb]

Gypsy was it. First Broadway show.

[Stephen Colbert]

You were once called the dirtiest mouth on Broadway. Do you still have the goods?

[June Squibb]

I do.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you have a. Do you have a favorite curse Word to drop.

[June Squibb]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Do you mind? We can always bleep it. It's a classic. It gets the job done.

[June Squibb]

It says so much. It says you can go everywhere with it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Yeah. Yeah. Even on pointe.

[June Squibb]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

You celebrated your 95th birthday in November. If you're. What wisdom can you impart to young people out there just starting off in show business?

[June Squibb]

Oh, God. Just keep going. I mean, really, you have to. I mean, it's hard. It's a hard business. And I think I've always said to people, if you don't have to do it, don't do it. But if you have to do it, it's going to take years. And you can't say, you know, one thing, one year. You can't give yourself time. I don't think.

[Stephen Colbert]

Did you ever. A lot of people lie about their age. Did you ever lie about your age?

[June Squibb]

Oh, my God. I always took five years off. I lived in New York for 65 years during the time I was doing stage work, and we all took about five years off and I continued it out in LA doing films. And then when I was doing Nebraska, Wikipedia outed me. They truly did.

[Stephen Colbert]

Damn it.

[June Squibb]

Damn it.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow. So you're actually 100?

[June Squibb]

No, I stopped with the five years.

[Stephen Colbert]

June, thank you so much for being here. It's such a pleasure to meet you. The film Thelma is streaming on Hulu. June Squibb, 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 Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[June Squibb]

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[June Squibb]

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[June Squibb]

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[June Squibb]

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[June Squibb]

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[Voiceover Announcer]

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[June Squibb]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[June Squibb]

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[Voiceover Announcer]

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