The New Yorker Radio Hour

Episode: John Goodman, Jeremy Irons, and Keegan-Michael Key

Date: February 17, 2017
Host: David Remnick
Guests: Keegan-Michael Key, John Goodman, Jeremy Irons

Episode Overview

This special episode features three acclaimed actors—Keegan-Michael Key, John Goodman, and Jeremy Irons—in conversations recorded live at the New Yorker Festival. The episode explores their career paths, their craft, and cultural themes ranging from race and comedy to addiction, fame, and British identity. Each segment reveals personal insights, memorable stories, and the unique perspectives that have shaped their acclaimed work.

Segment 1: Keegan-Michael Key — Comedy, Code-Switching, and Obama’s Influence

Interviewed by Henry Finder
Segment Start: 00:17

Key Points & Insights

• Origins and Training

  • Raised around Detroit, Key intended to do regional theater after graduate school, describing his career in comedy as a “19 year odyssey, this Detour” (02:50).
  • Discovered improvisational comedy at Second City Detroit, likening it to earning a “master’s in comedy” (03:32).

• MADtv and the Genesis of Key & Peele

  • Opted for MADtv over Saturday Night Live, citing creative collaboration and the chance to work with Jordan Peele (03:58).
  • Key describes his and Peele’s first meeting: “We stayed in that diner until about 4, 5 in the morning, talking about Monty Python. It was just fantastic.” (04:28).
  • Their partnership solidified by writing all sketches together: “We’ll just be the yin to each other’s yang... a package deal.” (05:15).

• Key & Peele in Cultural Context

  • Both attribute the show's opportunity to Barack Obama’s presidency: “If Barack Obama was not the president of the United States, we would not have a television show. I really believe that to be true.” (07:09).
  • Created iconic characters like Luther, Obama’s “anger translator,” to channel the frustrations of respectability politics: “If he gets angry, he’s the angry black man. If he doesn’t say anything, he’s uppity or ineffectual. It’s like the guy couldn’t win.” (11:36).

• Artistic Process: Topicality vs. Timelessness

  • Key explains their approach to evergreen comedy: “We have to write things that are evergreen... about the human condition, because... we could never be topical.” (14:11).

• Comedic Techniques and Identity

  • Code-switching as a central theme: “Everybody code switches... Typically a vocal change to fit where you are in a moment. ...I'm actually speaking a different dialect of English to make them feel comfortable. No, actually, I’m lying—it makes me feel comfortable because I don’t want to feel like the outsider.” (16:27).

Notable Quotes

• “In confinement, one finds discipline. So that kind of confinement, if you will, was helpful. If anything, we were... liberated by the confinement.” — Keegan-Michael Key (06:00)
• “He [Obama] smells great. He’s warmer. He’s sharper, and he has an avuncular quality about him that I wasn’t expecting to have.” — Keegan-Michael Key on President Obama (08:46)
• “You sound like John Ritter all the time.” — Sketch excerpt on code-switching (17:14)

Memorable Moments

• Keegan’s account of performing at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner alongside Obama, with the President as his comedic partner (08:19–11:00).
• Distinguishing Key & Peele’s approach from SNL, with a focus on timeless rather than topical sketches (14:11).

Segment 2: John Goodman — From Poverty to the Coen Brothers, Addiction and Recovery

Interviewed by Lawrence Wright
Segment Start: 19:50

Key Points & Insights

• Early Life and Motivation

  • Born in St. Louis to a single mother, John Goodman reflects on humble beginnings: “She took in laundry, babysat children... just did odd jobs.” (21:38).
  • Found solace and creativity in imagination; acknowledges its “benefit in a career, but not so well in life,” citing introversion as tied to his alcoholism (22:17).

• Path to Professional Acting

  • Discovered love for theater in college: “I felt good at it. I felt comfortable at it. I was drawn to it.” (23:18).
  • Moved to New York out of necessity: “I had to do it. Just... I wouldn’t kick myself... for not trying.” (24:27).

• Career Highlights and Challenges

  • Roseanne’s impact on his career and life under the tabloid spotlight: “Residual fame... such a tabloid magnet... If they couldn’t get her, they’d try stuff on me.” (26:56).
  • Addiction struggles, including the decision to seek help: “I bottomed out... I just didn’t want to do this anymore... I called my wife, which is kind of like Osama bin Laden calling Navy SEALS.” (29:40)
  • On sobriety: “I’m grateful for what I’ve learned in the process of becoming sober, which is a day to day process... Alcoholics who strive to be sober I think become better people.” (40:07)

• Film Career and the Coen Brothers

  • Serendipitously cast in Raising Arizona, followed by a cherished creative relationship: “They started writing parts for me until... they gave it to somebody else.” (34:17)
  • Discusses his method as Walter in The Big Lebowski: “It was all on the page... I’m in better hands if I trust material like that. And I don’t think too much or bring too much to it.” (34:45)
  • Describes New Orleans as an artistic refuge and home (38:03–39:21).

Notable Quotes

• “I stopped whining. ... I don’t know why I am [an alcoholic], but I’m grateful for what I’ve learned in the process of becoming sober, which is a day to day process.” — John Goodman (40:07)
• “There was a nice benefit to being that angry, which was... But I don’t feel like I have to be funny all the time. The class clown, I think he’s put him to rest.” — John Goodman (40:54)

Memorable Moments

• The candid acknowledgment of his struggles and rehabilitation, delivered with dark humor and humility (29:40, 40:07).
• The ongoing inside joke about titling his memoir: “I’m so goddamn sorry I did that, by John Goodman.” (20:55, 41:27)

Segment 3: Jeremy Irons — Britishness, Villains, and Voice

Interviewed by Rebecca Mead
Segment Start: 43:00

Key Points & Insights

• Formative Years and Class Identity

  • Grew up on the idyllic but “backwater” Isle of Wight, attending school by steam train before moving to Hertfordshire (44:03).
  • Reflects on the English class system and education’s roots in Empire: “You wanted to get them to be self sufficient and stand up on their own two feet... we still had the system of schooling.” (44:17)

• Film Roles and Cultural Themes

  • On The Man Who Knew Infinity: Praises the film for its heart and story about cross-cultural friendship and overcoming prejudice (47:32–48:13).
  • Discusses persistent British racism: “I think it’s still there. You only have to read the newspapers just to know that... their attitudes tend to shine out of the dailies.” (48:54)

• The “Evil” Within the Actor

  • Known for playing morally ambiguous or villainous characters, Irons muses: “I think I’ve got a good amount of evil hidden away in me, like everybody else. ...We’re like grand pianos... but all the other strings are there.” (50:47)

• On the British Voice and Harry Potter

  • Surprised and flattered to be lauded for having the ‘ideal male voice’, sharing an anecdote about John Hurt’s actorly wit (51:32).
  • Jokes about being the only British actor not in Harry Potter: “The call never came. Well, I was too old for the chap with the glasses.” (53:35)

Notable Quotes

• “You were being trained to run a non existent empire. …Which I’m still prepared to do. But I don’t think there’s much sign of it at the moment.” — Jeremy Irons (45:27–45:31)
• “We’re like grand pianos... and we choose in our lives to play certain sort of chords. But all the other strings are there if you want to examine them. The murderer lurks within all of us.” — Jeremy Irons (50:47)
• “The call never came... But they’re lost.” — On not being in Harry Potter (53:35, 53:44)

Memorable Moments

• Improvised banter with Mead about British schools and empire, in a delightfully self-aware tone (44:00–45:31).
• The self-parody and wry humor over the “ideal male voice” title and the missing Harry Potter casting call (51:32, 53:23).

Notable Episode Quotes — At a Glance

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |------------|------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------| | 07:09 | Keegan-Michael Key | "If Barack Obama was not the president... we would not have a television show. I really believe that to be true." | | 11:36 | Keegan-Michael Key | “If he gets angry, he’s the angry black man. If he doesn’t say anything, he’s uppity or ineffectual. It’s like the guy couldn’t win, you know?” | | 22:17 | John Goodman | "I became extremely introverted and just dwelt in my imagination, in my own head, which is served me well in a career, but not so well in life." | | 29:40 | John Goodman | “I bottomed out... I just didn’t want to do this anymore... I called my wife, which is kind of like Osama bin Laden calling Navy SEALS.” | | 40:07 | John Goodman | "I’m grateful for what I’ve learned in the process of becoming sober, which is a day to day process." | | 45:27 | Rebecca Mead/Jeremy Irons | “So you were being trained to run a non existent empire. ...Which I’m still prepared to do. But I don’t think there’s much sign of it at the moment." | | 50:47 | Jeremy Irons | “We’re like grand pianos... and we choose in our lives to play certain sort of chords. But all the other strings are there if you want to examine them. The murderer lurks within all of us.” | | 53:35, 53:44 | Jeremy Irons | “The call never came... But they’re lost.” (On Harry Potter) |

Useful Timestamps

| Time | Segment | |--------|----------------------------------------------------| | 00:17 | Keegan-Michael Key interview begins | | 07:09 | Obama’s influence on Key & Peele | | 08:19 | Performing as Luther with Obama | | 14:11 | Evergreen vs. topical sketch comedy | | 16:27 | Key explains code-switching | | 19:50 | John Goodman interview begins | | 22:17 | Childhood, isolation, and imagination | | 29:40 | Addiction, seeking help | | 34:17 | Coen Brothers collaborations | | 40:07 | Reflections on sobriety and growth | | 43:00 | Jeremy Irons interview begins | | 44:03 | Isle of Wight childhood | | 45:27 | English schooling and class | | 47:32 | Acting in “The Man Who Knew Infinity” | | 50:47 | Portraying villains, “evil” in acting | | 53:23 | “Harry Potter” casting banter |

Episode Tone & Language

The episode is marked by humor, humility, and personal reflection. Guests are candid and often self-deprecating, switching seamlessly between storytelling, performance, and deeper commentary on society and art. The conversations are intimate, witty, and engaging, staying true to the festival’s spirit of deep-dive cultural conversation.

Summary for New Listeners

This episode brings together three major figures in film and theater for conversations that blend artistic insight with disarmingly honest stories. Keegan-Michael Key examines the roots of his comedy, race in America, and working with Obama. John Goodman offers a raw account of his journey from poverty and addiction to major Hollywood successes and personal redemption. Jeremy Irons reflects on Britishness, playing villains, and why he—inexplicably—never appeared in Harry Potter.

If you’re interested in the intersection of art, identity, and humor, or want to hear actors discuss their craft in their own voices, this episode is essential listening.