Trump Calls Reporter “Piggy”; House Votes to Release Epstein Files |Ariana Grande, Josh Hutcherson | Tuesday, November 18

Summary

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon | Episode Summary

Episode: Trump Calls Reporter “Piggy”; House Votes to Release Epstein Files | Ariana Grande, Josh Hutcherson
Air Date: November 19, 2025
Guests: Ariana Grande, Josh Hutcherson
Special Appearance: Corey Billingsley as Costco’s lawyer (comedy sketch)

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Main Theme & Purpose

This lively Tonight Show episode strikes its signature blend of sharp political satire, celebrity conversation, and playful sketches. Jimmy Fallon’s monologue digs into the House vote to release the Epstein files and former President Trump’s headline-grabbing insult to a reporter, before pivoting to lighthearted pop culture moments. Extended couch interviews spotlight Ariana Grande’s starring turn in the new "Wicked" film and Josh Hutcherson’s retrospective on "The Hunger Games" and his new series "I Love LA," with signature games and witty banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Monologue: Political Headlines and Satire

• Epstein Files Vote:
  • The House voted overwhelmingly to release Epstein files:
    • “The final vote was 427-1. I mean, it just goes to show, every office has that one weirdo.” (01:51)
  • Jokes about Trump potentially destroying evidence as white smoke rises from the Oval Office:
    • “White smoke emerged from the Oval Office chimney 'cause Trump started burning them.” (01:31)
• Trump–Reporter Incident:
  • Trump, aboard Air Force One, called a reporter “Piggy.”
    • “He called the reporter Piggy. But after the Epstein vote, she was feeling like…” (02:49)
  • Fallon quips about Trump’s hostile style:
    • “They don’t even talk to you like that on Spirit Airlines!” (02:49)
• Cultural & Business Headlines:
  • Meta ruled not a monopoly, internet outage knocks out ChatGPT, Butterball CEO update, and a Costco tequila lawsuit.
  • Humorous sketch with “Costco’s chief legal counsel” (Corey Billingsley) pokes fun at store-brand products and legal evasiveness.
    • “We sell a lot of stuff, Jimmy. That doesn't mean you should buy it.” (05:08)

2. Ariana Grande Interview: “Wicked for Good” and SNL Co-Hosting

• Wicked Movie:
  • Grande discusses filming both "Wicked" movies at once, challenges of emotional continuity, and the joy of a classic premiere.
    • “In my head, they’re both one story and one experience.” (11:26)
    • “I’m grateful that they did [split it into two films], because you really get to expand on Glinda’s story.” (11:50)
  • Praises director Jon M. Chu:
    • “He’s truly the best there is. And his choices in this are so, so beautiful.” (12:09)
• Personal and Funny Moments:
  • Grande expresses excitement and nervousness about co-hosting SNL’s holiday episode with Cher:
    • “I didn’t know it was gonna be her until like two days before... What an honor.” (08:35)
  • Description of the technical Mirror Scene and “Girl in the Bubble” sequence, emphasizing both choreography and emotional performance.
    • “It was a really intricate dance that we had to do for Girl in the Bubble.” (14:17)
• Behind the Scenes:
  • Discussing the fluidity of shooting schedule and improvisations—how moments from rehearsal shaped the film:
    • “So many of the choices that you tried don’t end up in the final edit... the audience, you would get to see how that would happen in real time.” (12:50)
  • Tips on filming practical effects:
    • “Most of it is practical. And our special effects team is the most incredible.” (13:41)
• Wand Skills, Bloopers and Banter:
  • Fallon and Grande joke about wand choreography, failed twirls, and outtake-worthy moments.
    • “It got caught in my wig a few times.” – Ariana Grande (15:36)

3. Josh Hutcherson Interview: “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2” and “I Love LA”

• Early Ties to Ariana Grande:
  • Hutcherson recalls connecting with a young Grande through mutual friends:
    • “She one day told me, you know, I’m a really good singer… I can do, like, the Mariah Carey whistle. I was like, really? … And she does the whole dolphin voice thing.” (17:51)
• "The Hunger Games" Retrospective:
  • Fond (and funny) look back at the franchise and friendship with Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth:
    • “It was utter chaos… It’s a miracle that we made any days, really.” (19:06)
  • Describes the experience as ‘college’ for him:
    • “It was like four years, 18 to 22—didn’t learn anything. Useless degree. I didn’t go into debt though.” (19:39)
• Current Projects & Pop Culture:
  • The “Josh Hutcherson Renaissance,” working in multiple genres.
    • “I can confirm that. I feel like I’m in a little bit of a renaissance.” (20:20)
• Five Nights at Freddy’s 2:
  • Hutcherson promises a scarier, jumpier sequel:
    • “It’s all been cranked up. It’s a lot more jump scares. It’s darker, more intense. It’s great.” (21:04)
  • Megan Fox voices Chica:
    • “And it’s like this sweet Megan Fox voice inside of like a seemingly nice little animatronic.” (21:47)
  • On set life with animatronic co-stars:
    • “There’s guys inside there… Pop the head off, have a smoke break. It’s like—Johnny, how you doing?” (21:22)
• "I Love LA":
  • Hutcherson geeks out over massive, strategic board games—especially Twilight Imperium:
    • “The shortest round I’ve ever played was nine hours.” (22:23)
    • Gives Fallon a crash course in board game terminology, parodying his own nerdery:
      • “Have you ever played as a Sardak Nor trying to capture Mekkah Rex rolling decahedrons to…?” (22:38)
  • Discusses chemistry with Rachel Sennott, her talents, and the show’s concept:
    • “She wears all the hats… She brought a bunch of amazing actors, writers, and directors to bring this thing to life.” (25:01)
    • Describes show as if “Entourage and Girls had a baby, with Seinfeld sprinkled in.”* (25:22)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Political Roast:
  • “Every office has that one weirdo.” – Jimmy Fallon on the House Epstein vote (01:51)
  • “They don’t even talk to you like that on Spirit Airlines!” – Jimmy Fallon on Trump’s insult (02:49)
• Grande’s SNL Excitement:
  • “I almost passed out… What an honor.” – Ariana Grande on learning she’d co-host with Cher (08:40)
• Movie Magic:
  • “It was a really intricate dance that we had to do for Girl in the Bubble.” – Ariana Grande (14:17)
• Behind-the-Scenes Fun:
  • “It got caught in my wig a few times.” – Ariana Grande re: Mortal Kombat-like wand fight (15:36)
  • “Let me show you a picture of my kids.” – Jimmy Fallon, spoofing casual animatronic on-set chat (21:29)
• Board Game Nerdery:
  • “Have you ever played as a Sardak Nor trying to capture Mekkah Rex rolling decahedrons…?” – Josh Hutcherson (22:38)
• Describing “I Love LA”:
  • “It’s kind of like if Entourage and Girls had a little baby, with Seinfeld sprinkled in.” – Josh Hutcherson (25:22)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

| Segment | Time | |-------------------------------|-----------| | Monologue & Political Satire | 01:12–06:23 | | Costco Tequila Sketch | 04:29–06:00 | | Ariana Grande Interview | 07:32–16:39 | | Ariana’s SNL Surprise (Cher) | 08:28–09:00 | | Grande on Filming "Wicked" | 10:31–15:39 | | Grande on Movie Magic | 13:41–14:35 | | Hutcherson on Meeting Grande | 17:51–18:28 | | "Hunger Games" Retrospective | 18:34–19:47 | | “Josh Hutcherson Renaissance” | 20:04–20:28 | | Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 | 20:41–21:55 | | Board Game & “I Love LA” | 22:12–24:49 | | Rachel Sennott & Show Concept | 25:01–25:42 |

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Conclusion

This Tonight Show installment is a spirited, well-paced blend of political puns and pop showbiz sparkle. Fallon’s monologue tackles the Trump/Epstein headlines with jokes that walk the edge of late-night. Ariana Grande’s segment doubles as both promotion for "Wicked for Good" and a showcase of her comedic chemistry with Fallon, full of heartfelt, candid chat and light improvisation. Josh Hutcherson’s segment highlights fan nostalgia, geek culture, genre versatility, and the quirky ethos of his new HBO series. For listeners looking for political laughs, pop culture insights, or just a joyous celebrity hangout, this episode delivers with witty warmth.

Transcript

[Jimmy Fallon]

From Studio 6B in Rockefeller 7 in the heart of New York City, it's the Tonight show starring Jimmy Palace. Tonight, joining Jimmy and his guest, Ariana Grande Jaz Hutcherson. And featuring the legendary Ruth Cru. 2, 2, 7. And now, here he is, Jimmy Bell. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Thank you very much. Come on. I love you. I love you. Thank you very much.

Enjoy yourself.

Welcome to the Tonight Show. This is it. Oh, yeah.

I'm excited about this. From the new movie Wicked for good.

Ariana Grande is here tonight. Wow.

That's right. She's here tonight. She didn't take a car. She floated here in a pink bubble. It was amazing. I watched it. Yeah, that's right. Ariana and Cynthia Erivo are an amazing team. Oh, my gosh. They're the most popular duo in the country, right above six' seven. Oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah. The sequel to Wicked is gonna be huge. The only release people are more excited about are the Epstein files. I mean, that's. That's right. The big story is today in Washington, the House voted to release the Epstein files. And if the day couldn't get any worse for Trump, halfway through the vote, there was a performance from Bad Bunny. And if today couldn't have gone worse, After the vote was passed, they were to release the Epstein files. White smoke emerged from the Oval Office chimney cuz Trump started burning them. That's why. Yeah. The final vote was 427 1. I mean, it just goes to show, every office has that one weirdo. You know what I'm saying? And this is going viral. While aboard Air Force One, Trump had a pretty crazy response to a reporter who asked him about the Epstein files. Watch this.

Yeah, Jennifer, go ahead. Venezuela. Quiet, quiet.

They don't even talk to you like that on Spirit Airlines. No, I mean, that's. Yeah. He called the reporter Piggy. But after the Epstein vote, she was feeling like.

Yeah, come on.

Switching gears. Today there was a massive Internet outage that knocked out several major sites, including ChatGPT. It was scary for a couple hours. People had to get medical advice from a real doctor. Uh, you have a hernia or you're pregnant. Can you come back in an hour? This is the Internet's now. Listen to this. Today, Meta scored a major win after a federal judge ruled that it is not a social media monopoly. The judge was like, meta is definitely not a social media monopoly. Because during the entire argument I was scrolling TikTok. Switching gears, the CEO of Butterball said that ahead of Thanksgiving, turkey prices are the same or. Or even lower than last year. Yep. Meanwhile, the price of your aunt's green bean casserole is holding steady at. I'll just take a forkful and give it to the dog. I don't know why, but the CEO of Butterball has a funny ring to it. Picture a bird smoking a cigar, you know? Sounds like a name Trump would call a reporter. Hey, quiet. Quiet, Butterball. Be quiet, Butterball. Some more business news. Costco is being sued for allegedly falsely advertising its Kirkland Tequila as being made with 100% blue Weber agave. Here to discuss the lawsuit, Costco's chief legal counsel, Corey Billingsley. Thank you for joining us.

Cory.

Hi.

[Corey Billingsley]

Happy to be here to talk about the real issue at the heart of this case.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, yeah? And what is that?

[Corey Billingsley]

Why was this person buying Kirkland's signature brand tequila? I mean, buddy, are you okay?

[Jimmy Fallon]

I'm sorry. Am I hearing this right? You're saying that it's the customer's fault? I mean, isn't this Kirkland signature Tequila?

[Corey Billingsley]

Yeah, and you can also buy Kirkland signature socks. You know any other tequila brands that sell socks? Jimmy, you wearing Jose Cuervo boxer briefs right now? Didn't think so.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I'm not much sure that's a fair response. I mean, you guys are the ones selling the tequila.

[Corey Billingsley]

We sell a lot of stuff, Jimmy. That doesn't mean you should buy it. Lucky for this customer, we've got great deal on mirrors right now.

[Jimmy Fallon]

We.

[Corey Billingsley]

Which they need to take a long, hard look at.

[Jimmy Fallon]

1.

Is this really the message you want to be sending to your customers?

[Corey Billingsley]

All I'm saying is maybe don't buy your tequila from a store where you can also buy enough mayonnaise to fill a hot tub for $12. But listen, we want to show good faith. So we're prepared to offer this customer a settlement that we think is more than adequate.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, yeah? What is that?

[Corey Billingsley]

A tiny little cup with a Wheat Thin in it.

[Jimmy Fallon]

This has gone too far. Corey Billingsley, everyone. We'll throw in a chicken B. Did you guys see this? The TSA is investigating how someone was able to bring a meat cleaver on a Delta Airlines plane. He was like, oh, this is my emotional support. Meat cleaver. A meat cleaver. Yeah. That's one way to make sure the guy next to you doesn't take his shoes off. And finally, a Swedish man broke a world record by shoving 81 matches up his nose, marking an even sadder day for the guy who held the previous record. We have a great Show.

Give it up for the roots, everybody. Uh huh.

I'm just conversing with your person. So it's just a conversation.

Yeah.

I'm back with a special presentation.

Like the rock told me, it's recreation.

We have a great show for you tonight. She's one of the biggest stars on the planet. She's a Grammy winner, a multi platinum selling artist and an Oscar nominee. Her giant film wicked for good is in theaters and IMAX this Friday.

Ariana Grande is here tonight. Love it.

My fave, my fave. He stars in the movie Five Nights at Freddy's 2, which is in theaters December 5th, and the new series I Love L. A which airs Sundays on HBO.

Josh Hutcherson is joining us. Stick around. We'll be right back with more tonight's show. The mom. Our first guest is a Grammy winning.

Multi platinum artist and Oscar nominated actress who stars in the giant new film wicked for good which is in theaters and IMAX this Friday.

Please welcome Ariana Grande.

You look stunning. Welcome back to the show. I always love seeing you.

[Ariana Grande]

You know, I love the pink tie as well.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I did it for you, Glinda. This is your 10th appearance on the Tonight show.

It's a special special appearance.

You've been so great to us. Thank you so much for being here.

[Ariana Grande]

Well, thank you for being so lovely to us.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You're gonna be back in the building in a few months. In a few weeks, actually. You're hosting Saturday Night Live, the holiday episode.

[Ariana Grande]

I'm so excited.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It's you and Cher.

[Ariana Grande]

I know, I'm so excited.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh my gosh. Cher's unbelievable.

[Ariana Grande]

I'm so. I mean, I.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You guys together?

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah. I didn't know it was gonna be her until like two days before and I found out and I almost passed out. I had no idea what to do. What an honor.

[Jimmy Fallon]

My God.

[Ariana Grande]

She hasn't done the show in a long time either.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, my gosh, forever. But she'. She's a legend. She's unbelievable.

[Ariana Grande]

She's the icon.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Yes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And I cannot wait.

[Ariana Grande]

The gayest SNL episode set.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Look at that.

Okay.

Yeah, it has to be.

Yeah, it has to be. Are you going to bring any of your characters back?

[Ariana Grande]

Oh, I don't know. I don't know.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I mean, is Domingo coming back?

[Ariana Grande]

Oh, I think he's been really busy. I think Domingo is.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes, he's been busy.

[Ariana Grande]

I think Domingo's dead.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes, he might be. Yes. I heard a rumor. I did hear a rumor. I heard a rumor that he might be. Yeah, I don't know.

[Ariana Grande]

The current cast, everyone is so brilliant. I mean, Ashley, Padilla, and I love James. I love Andrew. I love everyone there so much.

[Jimmy Fallon]

No, it's a great cast.

[Ariana Grande]

So I think it'll be exciting to see.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It's a great season.

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah, it's been great.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It's so good and fresh and new and fun. I love that show so much. Yeah, good. Me too. Me too. You're gonna crush it.

Thank you.

And I'll say hi to you when you're back here and bother you. I was at the For Good premiere last night. Man, oh, man, it was fantastic. Fantastic job. You were unbelievable in this.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Thank you so much.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, my gosh. This one. I mean, the first wicket. Love you. You were great. And you got nominated for an Oscar, which is.

Come on, Ariana. Come on, bud. Crazy.

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's the coolest thing in the world.

[Ariana Grande]

It's insane.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It's insane. And a Grammy.

[Ariana Grande]

Oh, yes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You got a nominee for a Grammy.

For Defying Gravity.

For Defying Gravity. But the. For good duet is the one that everyone's looking for this. You and Cynthia Erivo, just knockout. It was such a great premiere last night. No one really has premieres anymore like old Hollywood premieres. They don't really. You just release a movie and you go, it's out. And they go, cool. This was a giant deal.

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah. Our fans are quite extraordinary. It felt really.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Everybody showed up, everybody came out. People were dressed like you. People were dressed like Elphaba. It was just a lot of green and pink. It was crazy. New York City, which I love. New York City was great. At Lincoln Center. Universal knows how to throw a premiere. Donna Langley, that was. It was a big old school party. I loved it. And the whole cast was there. And is it fun to see everybody after? Because, I don't know when you stopped filming. That was a couple years ago, right?

[Ariana Grande]

No, I mean. Well, we just did the. We put the last one out a year ago. It feels like we've all seen each other a lot and been, I guess.

[Jimmy Fallon]

They are, I guess, doing the press for it.

Yeah.

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah. A lot of people are asking, are you guys gonna miss each other? I'm like, I don't think we're gonna have to miss each other at all.

[Jimmy Fallon]

We've been hanging out more than we ever have during the movie.

[Ariana Grande]

We've become quite codependent.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, but you shot. You shot both movies at once. Did you see this one? And go, oh, yeah, I forgot we did that scene. Cause, I mean, it's a lot of stuff.

[Ariana Grande]

No, it was Interesting to watch it for the first time so many years after we had finished, because we shot both simultaneously. So in my head, they're both one story and one experience.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah. Originally it was gonna be one experience right back in the day.

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah. And then they separated it into two because there's just so much information.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It's fantastic. This one ties it up in a bow. It's beautiful.

[Ariana Grande]

I'm grateful that they did that, because I feel like you really. To know Glinda the way that I got to know her and to love her in order to play her, like, you get to expand upon her backstory a little bit. And Jon M. Chu just had the right.

[Jimmy Fallon]

He is unbelievable.

[Ariana Grande]

There's no one like, what a director.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, my God.

[Ariana Grande]

He's truly. He's truly the best there is. And his choices in this are so, so beautiful.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But Glinda. I can't picture anyone else playing Glinda or Galinda. You're so. Because you have the comedy chops as well. You could sing, as we've seen, as we know, but you have the chops. You can be funny. I was just talking to Ben Stiller about you because he was just on.

Oh, Ben.

[Ariana Grande]

Yes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And he said, you're fantastic in Fox.

[Ariana Grande]

Oh, thank you. He's fantastic as well, but he gave you props.

[Jimmy Fallon]

He's like, she knows comedy. I'm like, she does. She loves comedy.

[Ariana Grande]

Thank you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You're great. When you watch this, do you go, oh, yeah, I remember doing that one bit. I go, that way. I improvised that. Or I did. I fell there, and I wasn't supposed to fall.

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah, I love those bits. It's funny because when it comes to making a movie, I kind of am envious of doing the eight shows a week because so many of the choices that you tried and don't end up in the final edit. Like, the audience, you would get to see how that would happen in real time.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah. You don't really get to try it out.

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah. There's only one movie, but it's so fun to see what actually ends up in there. You know, even, like, the closet scene in Wicked. Like, that was something that was added because of something that naturally happened in rehearsals. And again, this just comes back to John Chu having the most incredible instincts in the entire world.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And there's that one scene in the new film where you're looking in the mirror and then.

[Ariana Grande]

Oh, yes, Girl in the bubble.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes. But then you're not in the mirror. You're actually in the mirror on the other. It's like it's magic. When you go see this, I would say go see it in imax, just because it's so colorful and giant. It's like a whole experience. It was crazy. And a lot of it's practical.

[Ariana Grande]

Yes, most of it is practical. And our special effects team is the most incredible in the entire world. Pablo, we love you, but also what.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You do, you're singing live and you're flipping around and flying. You got to fly in this one.

Or float.

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah, I float.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Yeah.

[Ariana Grande]

Sorry, the flying is.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Sorry, sorry, sorry, everybody. I don't want any Wicked fans.

Like, what?

No, she's not fly. She floats.

[Ariana Grande]

But back to the Girl in the Bubble. Alice Brooks, our dp, and John Chu. They spent months trying to choreograph, like, the ins and outs of the mirror. And she was using her daughter's little toy dolls and her iPhone to choreograph the camera movement.

[Jimmy Fallon]

No way.

[Ariana Grande]

So technically, it was just such a massive assignment from making sure each step that I took matched on either side of the filming. And then emotionally it had to line up, and vocally it had to line up and everyone had to kind of be very in sync. So it was a really intricate dance that we had to do for Girl in the Bubble.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I don't know how you do it, though, because there's so many emotional scenes in there, by the way. You're just so great and everyone just loves you so much. I'm just like, I love you. I don't want to see you cry. But it's. Everyone loves you so much. But then you're funny. But I'm like, oh. But I'm thinking in my head, of course, this probably wasn't shot in order, which makes it probably even more difficult.

[Ariana Grande]

It was. No, it was very back and forth. We did shoot both films at the same time, so we shot one and two simultaneously. And so, like, at this point, am I.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Do I know about the bubble yet or. I'm not in the bubble yet. Okay, this is going back.

[Ariana Grande]

It was an interesting process because, you know, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, we'd be like young, bubbly school students. And then the second half of the week, I would be processing death.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes, yes.

[Ariana Grande]

Like sobbing in a closet.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes. There's one scene where you and Elphabug kind of. There's a fight scene. Oh, yeah, let's say it.

[Ariana Grande]

Oh, there's a.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It's a full on video game Mortal Kombat fight scene. And you show off some crazy wand skills.

[Ariana Grande]

Oh, thank you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes. I mean, it was like. I mean, it's pretty impressive.

[Ariana Grande]

It got caught in my wig a few times.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's not in the movie.

[Josh Hutcherson]

But.

[Ariana Grande]

No, it's not. But it was quite a reset.

[Jimmy Fallon]

We always happen.

[Ariana Grande]

I'm sorry.

[Jimmy Fallon]

We always happen to have a wand.

What?

Floating around.

[Ariana Grande]

Why didn't I see. Wait.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You just in case.

[Ariana Grande]

How didn't I see that behind you?

[Jimmy Fallon]

I know.

[Ariana Grande]

It's very visible and I did not see.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Why am I just so sad? What if we just did always have a want we want to break anything. Would there be. This is it. This is the one. Oh, my gosh. I feel like I'm in the movie. Can you.

[Ariana Grande]

What are you going to ask me to do right now?

[Jimmy Fallon]

No.

Could you do any sort of skills? Can you do any flips? Do you remember it?

[Ariana Grande]

Yeah, I can try. I'm a little out of practice. It's been like three and a half years.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Sorry.

And you don't have to do it. Well, we just. This is. Sorry. No pressure. I hate to ask you to do it.

[Ariana Grande]

I have to find my footing.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Hold on. How can I.

Do it?

[Ariana Grande]

No, I don't want to do it towards you because I don't want to take your eyes out.

[Jimmy Fallon]

All right.

[Ariana Grande]

I also might take out the couch in my own eyes as well.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes, that is how you do it. Come on now. Yes, that's how you do it. Come on. Ariana Grande Wicked for Jared is in theaters and IMAX this Friday. We'll be right back with Josh Hutchinson. Stick around, everybody. How is this day to the 10? Our next guest is a talented actor.

Who stars in the movie Five Nights at Freddy's 2, which is in theaters December 5th. And his new series, I Love L A airs every Sunday at 10:30pm on HBO. Please welcome Josh Hutchers.

Love, Josh.

It's always great to see you. Welcome back to the show.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Thank you so much.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Ariana Grande was just out.

[Josh Hutcherson]

That was amazing.

[Jimmy Fallon]

She's unblued.

[Josh Hutcherson]

What a multi hyphenate.

[Corey Billingsley]

She can do it all.

[Jimmy Fallon]

She can do it all. Well, you guys both started acting young. Have you ever crossed paths?

[Josh Hutcherson]

Yeah, we did. I used to when I was like 15 to 17, I was friends with a bunch of the cast of Victorious, the show. And I met Ariana multiple times in that day and age. And she one day told me, you know, I'm a really good singer. And I was like, I believe you. And she's like, no, but I can do like the Mariah Carey, like whistle, sing. I was like, really? And she's like, yeah, watch. And the whole like, dolphin voice sounding thing. And I was like, you're very good. Yeah, I'm gonna be a singer too. I'm like, I believe you. Wow. Cut to Ariana Grande. Yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

One of the biggest pop stars. She was like, wow, that's a great story.

It's Great.

It's been 10 years. I was looking at it since the Hunger Games ended the trilogy. We've recently had Jennifer Lawrence on. We've had Liam Hemsworth on. Do you stay in touch with those guys?

[Josh Hutcherson]

The Holy Trinity. Now you have me.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Now I have you. Exactly. We do pack complete now.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Yeah, we do. You know, it's like, obviously people have kids and then you're shooting movies all over the world. So it's like, not all the time, but whenever we do, it's like we drop right back into the same thing. It's like no time has passed at all.

[Jimmy Fallon]

What do you remember?

Just.

Was it fun?

[Josh Hutcherson]

I remember just utter chaos.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It was.

Was it chaos?

[Josh Hutcherson]

It was. I'm like, I'm still shocked. Cause every now and then I'll see clips from, like, Hunger Games and I'm just like, I can't believe we made that movie. As in, like, we actually got through the days because of, like, the. The nonsense that happens with Jen and Liam and me and Woody. It's just like, it's a miracle that we made any days, really.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

[Josh Hutcherson]

But it was fun.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Jennifer Lawrence is fun, man.

[Josh Hutcherson]

She's super fun. And it's like, for me, that was my college in ways. It was like four years, 18 to 22, didn't learn anything.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, yeah.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Useless degree. Yeah. I didn't go into debt, though.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Okay, well, there you go. That's the only thing that's not. That's a positive.

Yeah.

[Josh Hutcherson]

But it's been fun now because I'm kind of getting to create some really great bonds with the new cast from I love la, which is just like a lot of fun and kind of like my new adult, grown up version of the college experience.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, you have.

I love L. A, but you also have this huge horror franchise. Five Nights at Freddy's 2 is coming out.

That's right.

This is. I wanted to show you something. A year ago, Esquire wrote this article and they said, is this the beginning of the Josh Hutcherson Renaissance? Are you in the middle of a renaissance right now?

[Josh Hutcherson]

I can confirm that. I feel like in a little bit of a renaissance.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Wow. All right.

This is exciting.

[Josh Hutcherson]

A little baby renaissance.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You're doing comedies, you're doing horror movies. Franchise.

[Josh Hutcherson]

I mean, what else you got for me?

[Jimmy Fallon]

What else you got? Yeah, what did you want? What else do you want?

[Josh Hutcherson]

I'm not twirling.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I can sing. You can twirl.

[Josh Hutcherson]

You can't sing.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, no, that's. We're happy with what you're doing.

[Josh Hutcherson]

No musicals.

[Jimmy Fallon]

We're loving what you're doing.

[Josh Hutcherson]

All right, good.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Five Nights at Freddy's was great. People loved it. It was a giant, massive box office hit. And I heard that the fans said they wanted this to be even scarier and so you upped it and made it scary.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Yeah, I think that, you know the die hard fans of the game. It's a scary ass game. And I feel like the first movie was a scary ish movie. So we wanted to step it up and make it a scary ass movie.

[Jimmy Fallon]

So that's all we did.

[Josh Hutcherson]

It's all been like cranked up. It's a lot more jump scares. It's darker, more intense. It's great.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Do you get freaked out when you see your co stars? Dear God.

You know.

[Josh Hutcherson]

No. I'll tell you why. First of all, they're quasi adorable as well as being creepy.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That is correct.

[Josh Hutcherson]

There's guys inside there that I've now done two movies with and they're like, pop the head off, have a smoke break. And it's like. It's like, Johnny, how you doing?

[Jimmy Fallon]

Josh, Good to see you, buddy. Let me show you a picture of my kids. Yeah, but they talk in this one.

[Josh Hutcherson]

They do talk in this one. They talk, Jimmy.

[Jimmy Fallon]

No, no, no. They talk. No, no. Them jumping out and their faces would scare me. That's all I need.

[Josh Hutcherson]

No, but now also, Megan Fox did one of the voices for Chica.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

No.

[Josh Hutcherson]

And it's like this sweet Megan Fox voice inside of like a seemingly nice little animatronic. Yes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I also want to talk about your show. I love la, man. We love Rachel Sennett. Oh, she's the best.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Rachel's the best.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Your character's great. Your character's kind of nerdy in some ways. And I read somewhere that was a little bit based on you. What do you geek out about?

[Josh Hutcherson]

So there's this game called Twilight Imperium.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Perfect. That's the.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Yep. I didn't think I was gonna get much there.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's the reaction we wanted.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It's a real game.

[Josh Hutcherson]

It's a real game.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Okay, good.

[Josh Hutcherson]

The shortest round I've ever played was nine hours.

[Jimmy Fallon]

What?

[Josh Hutcherson]

And it's basically an intergalactic space battle amongst you and your friends. Oh, here. Here it is. Are you kidding?

[Jimmy Fallon]

Me? Yeah.

[Josh Hutcherson]

This is the. There's over a thousand pieces.

[Jimmy Fallon]

No, no, no, no, Josh, this is. No, this is insane.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Let me explain something, though, Jimmy. Have you ever played as a Sardaknor trying to capture Mekkah Rex rolling decahedrons to, like, see how many hits your battleship can take?

[Jimmy Fallon]

Let me take a thing, Let me think.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Decide if you're gonna bombard first before landing.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Why would I bombard before I landed? That'd be silly.

[Josh Hutcherson]

If they have PDSs, you bombard the PDSs, it takes away the planetary defenses.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But if you bombard. No, I've never played this game in my lifetime. Is this like Settlers of Catan?

[Josh Hutcherson]

Sure, Jimmy, sure. Yeah, it's just like Settlers of Catan. There's hexagons. Yes, that's in Settlers.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You say it's cute that. I thought it was that. Yeah. This is advanced gamery.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Nine hours minimum. Yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

So when do you. Do you have to schedule this in advance when you're playing?

[Josh Hutcherson]

I have a game this Saturday.

[Jimmy Fallon]

What time will you begin?

[Josh Hutcherson]

We will do the draft to decide your alien faction around 10am.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Holy moly. Wow. Of course, we'll have to decide our team. Of course. Who knows who's going to be drafted. Where do you play as a team or you play against each other?

[Josh Hutcherson]

No. Against each other.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

[Josh Hutcherson]

I personally love the Federation of Seoul.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You could be lying to me. Yeah, of course.

[Josh Hutcherson]

No, they're the best. Federation of Seoul, Classic OG pre expansion. Just like pounding ground kind of thing.

[Jimmy Fallon]

They're just.

[Josh Hutcherson]

They're the best. Look, if you ever have a couple weeks free.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But they threw that. They threw that in the show.

[Josh Hutcherson]

They threw a version of it. We had to create our own version of the game and it's called Seven Magic Kingdoms. But the gameplay features are. Some odd suck.

[Jimmy Fallon]

No, you're great.

[Josh Hutcherson]

I'm nerding out. We've created our own board game for the show that's kind of based in Twilight Imperium, as well as Terraforming Mars and Sellers of Catan. I better be getting like a free version of all these games.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes. I was saying, would you make your own version of the game? The fake game you're playing.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Oh, that could be cool.

[Jimmy Fallon]

If you get some brains involved and go, everyone. All these people get together and go. Cause you can make a game based on your fake game.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Totally could.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And make a real game.

[Josh Hutcherson]

I'll be the face of it. I won't be, like, designing it.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Why not?

[Josh Hutcherson]

You know how to play. Hi, my name's Josh.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

And I love this game.

[Josh Hutcherson]

I love this board game.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

And how's Rachel Sennett?

[Josh Hutcherson]

Rachel's amazing.

[Jimmy Fallon]

She's a genius. She's a comedic. She is so funny. She writes everything. She acts, she does everything.

[Josh Hutcherson]

She wears all the hats. And it's crazy. Cause, like, she's got such a singular, amazing vision for what she wanted this show to be. And she brought a bunch of friends together, a bunch of amazing actors, amazing writers and directors to kind of bring this thing to life. And she, like, soars at every element of her job. And I'm so lucky to be a part of it.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You guys got chemistry. You're great together. How do we describe what I love LA is about?

[Josh Hutcherson]

It's kind of like, I would say almost if Entourage and girls, like, had a little baby. I agree with some, like, Seinfeld sprinkling. It's great.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I like that description. That is exactly what it is.

Yeah.

[Josh Hutcherson]

It's kind of like a friend group in Los Angeles who's trying to navigate becoming famous, managing fame. And my guy is the Spanish teacher boyfriend.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

[Josh Hutcherson]

Pretty low key. Chill, dude. And then the series just goes wackadoodle crazy.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Come on now.

Josh Hutcherson, everybody. You can catch a new episode of I love LA every Sunday at 10:30pm.

On HBO and HBO. Max.

We'll be right back. Stick around. My thanks to Ariana Grande, Josh Hutchinson and the Roots right there from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Good night, everybody. Thank you. Get it. More. Yeah, baby. Going up, y'. All. Going up. Yeah.

[Corey Billingsley]

Thanks for listening to the Tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon. Don't forget to subscribe to get the latest episodes weekday mornings. Wherever you get your podcasts, watch the Tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon weeknights on.

[Jimmy Fallon]

NBC and streaming on Peacock.