Trump Doubles Down That Epstein Scandal Is a "Democratic Hoax" | Steve Buscemi, David Byrne, Malin Akerman | Wednesday, September 3

Summary

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Episode: Trump Doubles Down That Epstein Scandal Is a "Democratic Hoax" | Steve Buscemi, David Byrne, Malin Akerman
Date: September 4, 2025

Overview

This episode blends late-night comedy, news parodies, quirky games, and light-hearted celebrity interviews. Jimmy Fallon opens with topical jokes about the Epstein files and recent political events, before welcoming a star-studded lineup: Steve Buscemi talks about his career and his new role in "Wednesday," David Byrne shares insights about his new album and stage ventures, and Malin Akerman discusses her hit series "The Hunting Wives." The show maintains a playful and improvisational feel, full of quick riffs and memorable moments.

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Monologue & Current Events Satire

[01:11–05:41]

• Epstein Files & Trump Commentary:

  • Fallon pokes fun at Trump dismissing the Epstein scandal as a hoax.
  • Quote:

    "Trump’s so desperate to change the subject, he was like, who wants to hear about me dying last week? Remember that?" — Jimmy Fallon [01:15]

• International News Satire:

  • Jokes about Xi Jinping, Putin, and Kim Jong Un's joint military parade.
  • Quote:

    "The parade was fun, especially when Kim Jong Un had to sit on Putin’s shoulders so he could see." — Jimmy Fallon [01:34]

• CDC Parody:

  • Mocks the CDC’s supposed confusion after recent leadership changes.
  • Quote:

    "For the question ‘What does CDC stand for?’ it says 'pass.'" — Jimmy Fallon [02:21]

• News Avoidance Segment:

  • Introduces "breaking news correspondent" Conrad Peck to comment on news avoidance, only for him and David Byrne to humorously avoid all news.
  • Byrne taps on pots and pans, citing "self care."
  • Quote:

    "It’s called self care, Jimmy." — David Byrne [03:55]

• Tech & Business Gags:

  • Jokes about Uber Eats delivering Best Buy goods, Instagram on iPad, and fake Loboo dolls at Seattle airport.

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Game Segment: "Any Answer Wins"

[06:41–10:27]

• Contestants: Steve Buscemi, Malin Akerman, David Byrne

  • Every answer is valid—trivia with no wrong answers.
  • Comedy highlights include intentionally absurd responses.
  • Quotes:

    "What does the acronym GIF stand for?"
    "Great Ideas for Time?" — Contestant [07:36]
    "What is President Calvin Coolidge’s most famous quote?"
    "Pizza." — Contestant [09:41]

• Prizes:

  • All win "three tubes of German mustard."
  • Fallon wraps:

    "Any Answer Wins, the game where any answer that’s correct." — Jimmy Fallon [10:27]

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Interview: Steve Buscemi

[10:49–20:06]

Career Highlights & Recent Projects

• Talks about his cameo in "the studio" and being cast by Seth Rogen.

  • Quote:

    "I was reading these horrible things that they’re saying about me… Who is this bug eyed, you know, corpse?" — Steve Buscemi [11:53]

• Name pronunciation humor:

  • Quote:

    "They also have a big thing where they’re trying to pronounce your last name." — Jimmy Fallon [12:39] "Yes, yes... At one point they said Bruschkemi. Like Bruschemi Buscemi." — Steve Buscemi [12:40]

• "Happy Gilmore 2" & Meeting John Daly:

  • Mistaking famous golfer John Daly for actor John Daly; riffing on their chemistry during filming.
  • Quote:

    "I thought he was a teamster." — Steve Buscemi [14:26]

On "Wednesday" Season 2

• Joining the established cast:

  • Quote:

    "You come into something that’s so well established and that people love. It is a little intimidating." — Steve Buscemi [16:27]

• Childhood stories about his dad’s fascination with the occult and healing pyramids:

  • Quote:

    "He would sometimes wear the pyramid on his head like a hat." — Steve Buscemi [19:08] "My dad died 10 years ago and he was cremated and I keep his ashes in a pyramid urn." — Steve Buscemi [19:30]

• New role:

  • Principal Dort, "kind of a dork," hiding something nefarious.
  • Quote:

    "He’s kind of another great name, kind of a dork. But he’s. He’s named Dort." — Steve Buscemi [19:45]

---

Interview: David Byrne

[20:31–28:41]

Personal News & Collaborations

• Announces his upcoming marriage.

  • Quote:

    "Yeah, I let the cat out of the bag kind of." — David Byrne [21:08]

• Playing with Olivia Rodrigo at Governor’s Ball, matching outfits, and spontaneous collaboration.

  • Discussion of taking inspiration from live performers.

• Reflects on stage presence compared to Talking Heads days.

  • Quote:

    "The name of this next song is. And There We Go." — David Byrne [23:16]

Stand-up Comedy & Broadway

• Tries stand-up after encouragement from Fred Armisen.
  • Quote:

    "It’s the scariest thing in the world... I mean, you don’t have a band..." — David Byrne [23:47]

New Album: "Who Is the Sky"

• Title origin: a voice-to-text error.

  • Quote:

    "A friend was texting me and using voice to text. Must have said, 'Who is this guy?'... changed it to 'Who is the sky' on my phone. And I said, there’s my record title." — David Byrne [25:09]

• Working with producer Kid Harpoon and collaborations with St. Vincent and Hayley Williams.

  • Attends a birthday party to meet the producer.
  • Quote:

    "He did Harry Styles and Miley... I played him my songs... they’re a little bit left field." — David Byrne [26:21]

• Performance of the new single, filmed in the basement of Rough Trade Records.

---

Interview: Malin Akerman

[29:07–34:19]

The Hunting Wives Phenomenon

• Discusses runaway success of the Netflix series.

  • Quote:

    "I was in Sweden... A week into airing, my Instagram went up by like 30,000 followers. And then the next day, it was like 40,000. I was like, this is crazy." — Malin Akerman [29:57]

• On playing Margot Banks and how the role fit her.

  • Quote:

    "She's amazing. This character is so incredible to get to play all the nuances..." — Malin Akerman [31:16] "My husband... went, 'This is tailor made for you.'... He's pretending to be a middle-aged lesbian on Reddit just to get into all of the Reddit threads." — Malin Akerman [31:48]

• The show's famously debated wig:
  > "We literally pulled a wig out of a box... put it on. We were like, well, this is all we got, so we're gonna make do." — Malin Akerman [32:48]

Hopes for Season Two

• Speculation about return of the wig and whether the show will be renewed.

  • Quote:

    "Is the wig going to return?... I feel like now is a question of whether people want it to return because it's its own character..." — Malin Akerman [33:05]

• For new viewers, sums up the plot:

  • "It's a woman from Boston... meets Margo Banks and her socialite little clique, and it turns into friendships, affairs, and murder." — Malin Akerman [34:09]

---

Memorable Quotes & Moments

• David Byrne’s anxiety about news ("La la la la la") — [03:24]
• Steve Buscemi’s story about his dad’s pyramid hat — [19:08]
• David Byrne on the strangeness of stand-up — [23:47]
• Malin Akerman’s husband crusading Reddit as a fan — [31:54]

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Notable Timestamps

• 01:11 — Monologue: Trump & Epstein scandal jokes
• 03:12 — Segment on Americans avoiding the news
• 06:41 — Start of "Any Answer Wins" game
• 10:49 — Steve Buscemi interview segment begins
• 20:31 — David Byrne interview segment begins
• 29:07 — Malin Akerman interview segment begins

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Tone & Style

The episode maintains Jimmy Fallon's trademark blend of energetic humor, spontaneous riffing, and genuine excitement for his guests. The interplay between guests and host is loose and quick-witted, with moments of heartfelt personal storytelling alongside irreverent satire.

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Summary

This Tonight Show episode is a smart snapshot of 2025 pop culture, mixing sharp political satire with feel-good celebrity stories. The highlights include quick-fire game antics, Steve Buscemi’s earnest family tales, David Byrne’s inventive musings about art and technology, and Malin Akerman’s viral TV role. Whether poking fun at news avoidance or marveling at Broadway’s backstage mysteries, Fallon keeps things buzzing with a light, joyful touch.

Transcript

[Jimmy Fallon]

From Studio 60 in Rockefeller's center in the heart of New York City, it's the Tonight show. Starring Jimmy Fallon. Tonight joins Jimmy and his guests, Steve Buscemi, David Byrne, Marlon Ackerman. And featuring the legendary Ruth curve. 2177. And now, here he is, Shimmy J. Come on. That's a high crowd. I love you guys. Thank you. Enjoy yourself. Welcome, everybody.

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the Tonight Show.

You're all here. Thank you for watching.

It's going to be fun. Well, guys, the big story is today in Washington, members of both parties called for all of the Epstein files to be released. But President Trump once again called it a hoax. Yeah, Trump's so desperate to change the subject, he was like, who wants to hear about me dying last week? Remember that? Trump really wants to get the Epstein files off the front page. Today he ordered Travis and Taylor to get engaged again. He's like, just please, please, one more time. Some major news from overseas today. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un appeared together at China's largest ever military parade. The parade was fun, especially when Kim Jong Un had to sit on Putin's shoulders so he could see. I thought that was cute. Meanwhile, Trump watched the entire parade at home yelling, where's the Ronald McDonald balloon?

Come on. What is this?

What kind of parade? Another big story people are still talking about is the CDC. Last week, RFK Jr. Fired its director and now people are worried that they don't know what they're doing over there. I mean, check out the new Frequently Asked questions page on the CDC website. First up for the question, what does CDC stand for? It says pass. That's not good. Next up, it says, how do we stop the spread of bird flu? It says, spritz your KFC with theraflu. Here's another one. How do I dispose of biohazards? It says put em in a trash bag and chuck em out the window, White House style.

That's White House style.

And finally, which international groups are you working with to avoid global threats? It says K pop demon hunters.

They don't know what they're doing.

Don't even. Well, get this. According to a new survey, more people than ever are avoiding the news for the sake of their mental health. For more on this, we turn to our breaking news correspondent, Conrad Peck. Hello, Conrad.

Hi, Jimmy. It's good to be here. Conrad.

Over 40% of Americans now say that they're avoiding the news. Do you think that they'll be less informed when it comes to issues like the firing of CDC director.

La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la.

Sorry, what?

[David Byrne]

I don't want to know, Jimmy. It's just gonna make me anxious.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You can't be part of the 40%. You're our breaking news correspondent. What about things that everyone already knows, like the fact that President Trump is.

I can't hear you. Can't hear you. I can't hear you anymore.

The pots and pans.

I can't hear you.

Why? Why do you have pots and pans?

[David Byrne]

Uh, it's called self care, Jimmy.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Okay, well, I'm sorry, but this is your job. And if you can't do your job, we're gonna have to let you.

Ding dong, ding dong. Meatballs. Yeah. And Avenue. You're fired. You're fired. I'm firing you. Okay. Hey.

Okay.

[David Byrne]

Hey. I'm sorry. And, Jimmy, I do have some breaking news.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Thank you. As a country, we need to be informed. Let's hear it. So I already watched the new season of Wednesday, and in the finale, there's a very special.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Conrad Peck, everybody. Conrad Peck. Get him off. Get him off, get him off. Get.

Some business news. I read that Uber Eats is now offering deliveries from Best Buy. Yeah, it's perfect if you want to do a Little shopping in 2006. Now, instead of a few French fries, your driver takes a bite of your HDMI cable. Monster cables. We have monster cables.

Guys, listen to this.

I saw that. You can now download the Instagram app on your iPad. Oh, yeah. Which means that you can now lie in bed scrolling and drop an iPad on your face. Hey, did you see this? C Span announced that they will start streaming on YouTube TV and Hulu. People who watch YouTube TV and Hulu are like, what the hell is C Span? While people who watch C Span are like, what the hell is YouTube TV and Hulu? And finally, officials at the Seattle airport intercepted over $500,000 worth of fake Loboo dolls. $500,000 worth? Trust me, they're not worth that much. If you saw where he smuggled them.

We have a great show. Give it up for the news, everybody. What a show we have.

He stars of one of the biggest shows in the world. Wednesday Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix.

Steve Buscemi is here. One of my favorites, my favorite actor.

Love that man. He is a legendary musician whose new album, who Is the Sky? Is out this Friday. We're talking to David Byrne tonight.

Who Is the sky.

Come on. And she is a talented actress who you know as Margo Banks and in the hugely popular Netflix series the Hunting Wives.

Malin Ackerman is here this evening. Fun show.

Hey, guys. It's time to play a quiz game that's sweeping the nation. It's time for Any Answer Wins.

Any Answer Wins. Yeah. This is Any Answer Wins.

A trivia game where there's absolutely no wrong answer. Now let's meet tonight's two contestants. What is your name and where are you from? Brooks? I'm from Seattle, Washington. What is your name and where are you from?

[Malin Ackerman]

Sylvia?

[Steve Buscemi]

New York City.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You are both correct.

You're off to a great start. Now, the rules of the game are simple. I'm going to ask you a question. And whoever buzzes in with the correct answer first gets a point. But remember, the correct answer does not actually have to be correct because any answer wins. Are you ready to play?

Ready.

Cheese. That's correct. Here's your first question. What does the acronym GIF stand for? Great Ideas for Time?

Correct. Very nice.

Question number two. And remember, any Answer wins. What is the original Coca Cola tagline from 1900?

[David Byrne]

Get you one?

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's smack.

Coca Cola gets you one. Very impressive. All right, now it's time for the second round. But this round, the rules are completely different. So pay close attention. This time I'll ask a question and whoever buzzes in with the correct answer first gets a point. But remember, the correct answer does not actually have to be correct because any Answer wins. Hang on. I'm being told that the rules are exactly the same as the first round. That's on me. Here's the next question. What is the bird call of the northern mockingbird?

Quack.

Correct. Can we see that in slow motion? Fantastic.

Okay.

Do you know what that sound means?

Yes. And do you know what that sound means?

No.

That's correct. You're both right.

But it also means it's time for the lightning round. And for this round, you'll be working together. I'm going to go back and forth asking you a series of rapid firing questions which you must answer immediately. We'll see how many you can guess correctly in 30 seconds. The last record was four, so let's try to beat that. Ready? 30 seconds on the clock. Let's begin. What is the main ingredient in marzipan? Potatoes. What is President Calvin Coolidge's most famous quote?

Pizza.

What is Bruno Mars real name?

[David Byrne]

Ugo.

[Jimmy Fallon]

What animal has the longest tongue? Snake. Finish this song, you come to me with open Arms and a open heart. Who was the most recent woman to win a Pulitzer Prize? Uh, time. What's the opposite of purple?

[Steve Buscemi]

Green.

[Jimmy Fallon]

What's the first product scan with a barcode? Nothing. Which element was the chemical symbol?

K.

Actually is. Very nice. Very good. Time is up.

Let's calculate the results. You got a perfect score. You both win. Congratulations. Tonight you'll both be going home with three tubes of German mustard, yours to.

Distribute any way you like. Thank you for playing.

Any answer wins the game where any answer that's correct. We'll be right back with more Tonight show, everybody. Our first guest is an Emmy winning.

Actor you can see in one of the biggest TV shows in the world. Wednesday Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix. Everyone please welcome Steve Buscemi. Steve Buscemi, welcome back to the show. It's great to see you standing. Oh, come on. They love you. We love you.

Come on. That's a bite.

We have a lot to get into because you had many amazing projects that are happening right now for you. That's going on. First off, I just want to talk to you about the studio. Oh, yeah, your cameo in that. Oh, first off, how are you?

[Steve Buscemi]

I'm good.

[Jimmy Fallon]

How are you?

Okay, good. Sorry. I already talked to you backstage. I do know that you're good. But anyway, the studio was one of the funniest things.

[Steve Buscemi]

How do you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Who calls you when you get that?

[Steve Buscemi]

Well, I just got the script from my agent. I was shooting another movie in New Zealand and I was supposed to be back in New York because I had another film that I directed that I had to do press for. And then I get this thing to show up in LA to do this. I went, it's Seth Rogen. All right, well, I should read it, you know, But I can't do it. I don't have time. And I read it and I was reading these horrible things that they're saying about me. They toned it down. They toned it down. Yeah. Who is this bug eyed, you know, corpse? Like, whatever, I can't remember. And then Seth called me and he says, look, we love you and we want you to. And I, of course I'll do it.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Sure.

Yeah.

[Steve Buscemi]

It was so much fun.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It turned out fantastic. You and Marty Scorsese.

[Steve Buscemi]

Oh, I love that he was doing it. He was so funny.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Both of you guys are great. They also have a big thing where they're trying to pronounce your last name.

[Steve Buscemi]

Yes, yes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

At one point they said Bruschkemi. Like Bruschemi Buscemi.

[Steve Buscemi]

Yeah, I Don't like that one.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's so funny.

[Steve Buscemi]

Buscemi. That's like, I like that.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Buscemi, but it's not right.

[Steve Buscemi]

But. Well, that is the Italian way to say it. But, you know, but I just didn't grow up that way.

[Jimmy Fallon]

How'd you grow up?

[Steve Buscemi]

Growing up, we said Buscemi, which is like, I can't even do that anymore. So now I say Buscemi.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You said Buscemi.

[Steve Buscemi]

I. Yeah, I sort of take a little bit from each pronunciation. I don't know how to say my own name.

[Jimmy Fallon]

When we. When we talked about this once, when you. You. You did a little. Did you go under Buscemi then?

[Steve Buscemi]

No, I shortened it to Buse. You know, and we can imagine the fun that MC's had with that.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes. Buse.

[Steve Buscemi]

You know, Larry David introduced me when I auditioned for the Improv. He was the mc.

[Jimmy Fallon]

No way.

[Steve Buscemi]

And then I got to work with him many, many years.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Does he remember that?

[Steve Buscemi]

Of course not. No. No reason he should remember.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Last time I saw you was at the premiere for Happy Gilmore, too.

[Steve Buscemi]

Yeah, that was fun.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, my gosh, you crushed it. You were fantastic.

[Steve Buscemi]

Thank you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Than you and John Daly. You and John Daly. Who knew the chemistry that you have with golfer legend John Daly.

[Steve Buscemi]

You know, I don't follow sports, really? And golf I don't follow at all. And so when I saw the call sheet and it said John. John Daly, I thought it was a buddy of mine whose name is John Daly. He's a very funny actor, comedic actor. And I went, oh, great. I'm going to be working with John Daly again. And I get on set and I. This, like, bearded guy smoking a cigarette comes up to. Hey, Adam, I don't know. Hey, is this the Boucher?

[Jimmy Fallon]

All right, man, we're gonna.

[Steve Buscemi]

I thought he was a teamster.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Who is this guy?

[Steve Buscemi]

Who is this guy?

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's John Dale.

[Steve Buscemi]

And he walked away. And Adam, that's John Daly. And he had to give me a whole education. Adam, like, texted me a video about his whole life.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, he's an amazing golfer.

[Steve Buscemi]

Yeah, guy's amazing.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But you guys had good chemistry together.

[Steve Buscemi]

We did. And then they. Yeah, he would put us in scenes, and, you know, Adam just likes to yell things out. Or we could improvise. And one of the takes, like, John, like, he kind of hits me, but not hard, but I hit him back.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

Yeah, that's a great scene.

You start hitting, punching each other, and he kind of looked at me, and.

[Steve Buscemi]

Then we got into it. We really, like.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You started Wrestling.

Yeah. Yeah.

That's fantastic. Now you're buddies. And then. Speaking of buddies, can we talk about Bad Bunny?

[Steve Buscemi]

Oh, sure, yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You and Bad, One of the biggest artists on the planet. This is you, and this is Bad Bunny. I don't know if you could see. Wow.

[Steve Buscemi]

So I didn't know who John Daly was, but I knew who Bad Bunny is.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Okay, good. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You should. That makes me happy. You should know who.

[Steve Buscemi]

But when I got to set, he looked like that the whole time I was there.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, that's odd.

[Steve Buscemi]

I never got to really see what he looked like.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You can't really talk to him when he's like a vampire.

[Steve Buscemi]

I know. But then I did see him at the reunion show. You know the 50. Yeah. And we had a nice conversation.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, he's amazing.

[Steve Buscemi]

How good is he? And Happy Gilmore, too.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, by the way, he's so funny in it.

Yes.

He's fantastic in that as well. And he's crushing it right now in Puerto Rico for somebody doing. He's just amazing. I love that guy. And now, congrats on Wednesday. Here we go. Thank you. The first part came out. It was the number one show in 88 countries. That's not too shabby, but, yeah, it's massive. Good. What's it like to join the cast on that thing? Do you.

[Steve Buscemi]

I was. I mean, I've been a fan of the show Addams Family since I was a kid. Right. And then the movies. And then the first season, too, before I knew I was going to be in the second season. I loved the first season.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Is it weird to come in when the show's already shot?

[Steve Buscemi]

It is. Even though everybody was great and I worked with Tim Burton before, and I had worked with Jenna Ortega before, but still, you come into something that's so well established and that people love. It is a little intimidating. It happened to me years ago when I. When I did the Sopranos. When I first came onto that show, I was directing, and my first day on set, I had to, like, you know, go up to Jimmy Candolfini and, like, say stuff to him. And I was so nervous because I really believed he was Tony Soprano. Like, I.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's really funny.

[Steve Buscemi]

Walk up to him and say, hey, Jimmy, do you mind? And all he would do was look at me, like, never mind.

[Jimmy Fallon]

No, it's good. You got a perfect.

[Steve Buscemi]

I like what you did. I like what you did.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I love what you did. Go again. Come on, let's go.

And Wednesday, there are supernatural events, and I was going to ask You. If you've ever, like, got into anything supernatural or ever met a psychic or.

[Steve Buscemi]

Anything or actually, you know, growing up, my dad. My dad was a sanitation worker and, you know, like, pretty conservative guy, but he was very open minded about the occult. He loved reading books about the occult or reincarnation. Edgar Cayce was this psychic that he, you know, and he had a psychic friend. I don't know how he met him. His name was Erwin Greif. Spelled Greef, but he pronounced it Gryfe. That's a great name, Erwin Greif. Little guy, kind of balding, like really thick glasses, wore like platform shoes. And he would come to our house because my dad would have these psychic parties and you would. And he would give you a reading. You'd give him an object or a picture and he would tell you about the person. And you know, he goes, yes, yes, this is a very angry person.

[Jimmy Fallon]

He's talking to you right now.

[Steve Buscemi]

But he was good. He was like. He was the real deal.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I love that.

[Steve Buscemi]

But my dad was always into that stuff. You know what he was into the healing power of pyramids, which I didn't know this was a thing, but he used to make his own pyramids out of balsa wood. And I remember he kept it under the bed of my grandmother, lived with us then. He kept it under her bed like a good luck as a healing thing. She lived to be like 98.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Wow.

[Steve Buscemi]

And then. Yeah, and then he would, you know, like the bottom was hollowed out. And he would sometimes wear the pyramid on his head like a hat.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, of course.

[Steve Buscemi]

And then sometimes I'd come home late at night on the weekend, and he'd be in his favorite chair, like a cigarette burning in the ashtray. The Tonight show is on, you know, but he'd be totally dead asleep with.

[Jimmy Fallon]

A pyramid on his head tilted to the side.

[Steve Buscemi]

And he'd be snoring. Snoring.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And I'd be like, that's fantastic.

[Steve Buscemi]

It's working for you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Every time you see a pyramid, you think of Pops.

[Steve Buscemi]

You know what? My dad died 10 years ago and he was cremated and I keep his ashes in a pyramid urn.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Ah, good. See, that's untabulous.

Good for you.

How do we set up who you play in the season of Wednesday?

[Steve Buscemi]

So, yeah, I'm the new principal. Principal Dort. He's kind of another great name, kind of a dork. But he's. He's named Dort.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Dort.

[Steve Buscemi]

And he is very like Gung Ho being an outcast and and. But there's something nefarious going on. We're not sure what, but we'll find out. Yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Steve Buscemi, everyone. Wednesday Season two is now streaming on Netflix. More tonight's show after the break. Stick around. Our next guest is a Grammy, Tony.

And Oscar winning music icon who's releasing a brand new album this Friday called who is the Sky? Please welcome David Burr.

Yeah. They love you. Come on. Hot drop, Hot show tonight.

Hot show tonight. Welcome back to the show. And before we get into everything, I want to say congratulations. You announced that you're getting married this week.

[David Byrne]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's, ah, that's big news. That's happy news. Yes.

[David Byrne]

I let the cat out of the bag kind of.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah. Good for you. Congratulations and I hope you have the best, best time. I want to talk to you about other things you've been up to. You made a lot of headlines this summer because you played the Governor's Ball with Olivia Rodrigo and.

[David Byrne]

Yes, I did.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You just showed up and just very classic, you. You guys are matching outfits. Surprise. During your set.

It was great. How, Jeez. She sent me a picture of her.

[David Byrne]

Outfit and I said, oh, yeah, I can match that.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I get something similar. How did you guys. Do you guys know each other before?

[David Byrne]

No, I saw her show here at Master Square Garden and met her and she's great. I'm a fan. And she stayed in touch and she said, hey, hey. Wanted to join me?

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah. Want to do something fun?

[David Byrne]

Yes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And you just did it.

[David Byrne]

I said, yes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You had choreo and everything.

[David Byrne]

Yeah, I did say, hey, if you're in town for a couple days, maybe we can work out a little choreo.

[Jimmy Fallon]

When you see performers live at Mass Square Garden and stuff, do you go like, oh, I would want to work with that person or what are you looking for? Are you just there for the sound of the show? What are you, ah. Wow.

[David Byrne]

You're looking at their relationship to the audience and she has a great relationship with her audience. And they're like, not only do they know the songs, they feel like she's. It means something to them. And of course, I'm looking at the production and going, oh, she's doing that and now she's doing that and now she's got some of this going on.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Do you get tips that way or do you do your own thing?

[David Byrne]

I do my own thing, but I do get tips. Like, okay, how many dancers she got?

[Jimmy Fallon]

I've never seen you talking heads. But do you have a relationship with the audience like you did with Your one man show.

[David Byrne]

The Broadway show with talking heads. No, I mean, I. Yeah, but I didn't talk to them that much. It was kind of like.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Thank you.

[David Byrne]

Okay.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That was it.

[David Byrne]

The name of this next song is. And There We Go.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Really?

[David Byrne]

Yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But the Broadway thing, you were telling jokes.

[David Byrne]

I was telling jokes, yes, you were.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Great.

[David Byrne]

Well, thank you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I couldn't get enough of it. I don't want the show to end.

[David Byrne]

I found out that. That I can get a laugh sometimes. Sometimes.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Fred Armisen got you to do standup.

[David Byrne]

Fred Armisen. He'd seen the Broadway show and saw that I could get a laugh and said, dave, David, you should do some stand up. I said, really? Really, really does that.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Scary.

[David Byrne]

Because it's the scariest thing in the world. I mean, I don't have to tell you, but I have to tell these people.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, yeah, we're all listening. Yeah. It's not the easiest.

[David Byrne]

I mean, you don't have a band, you don't have. It's. And if it.

[Jimmy Fallon]

If it goes, it goes, it goes, it goes. And you have.

[David Byrne]

Anyway, you can't turn around and go, hey, hey, my bass player up.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, you can't do that.

You can't.

Yeah, you can't do that. Yeah, we try to do that every night. Sorry, Mark. Yeah. So what was your act? What'd you do?

[David Byrne]

He does. He does a night at a place in la and he said, you can come. It's not announced. Nobody knows who my other guests are, so just come and do it. And I said, can I do it as a slideshow? It was not my summer vacation, but, yeah, I took pictures. And he said, yeah, yeah, sure, sure, we'll set that up.

[Jimmy Fallon]

But.

All right, so let's talk about the album. Here we have it here. It's called who is the Sky? Comes out on Friday, and then you're starting a huge tour later this month. And I would buy the vinyl too. Just, you know, whoa, look at how cool that is. Come on. Look at you there. Can you tell everybody the story of how you got the title who is this Guy?

[David Byrne]

Yeah. A friend was texting me and using voice to text.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, yeah.

[David Byrne]

And must have said, who is this guy? Who is this guy? And of course, the algorithm or whatever it is, changed it to who is the sky on My Phone? And I said, there's my record title.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Wow. It just came to you like that? You go, this is poetry.

This is a gift. Yes. From the gods.

Yes.

[David Byrne]

I mean, everybody, anybody who says it, says the words, knows what it might have Been originally.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

[David Byrne]

And I thought, okay, that's it, that's it. Search no more.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Search no more. And there you are on the COVID But it's. You're kind of hidden almost.

Yeah.

And you're almost saying, who is this guy?

[David Byrne]

Yeah, well, who is the guy that would do that?

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yes. Only you would do something like that. David Byrne would do something like that. But you got some great people helping you out on here. I know St. Vincent's on here. Hayley Williams from Paramore is one of my faves on here to help you out. And who produced this?

[David Byrne]

Oh, a guy named Kid Harpoon. That's his.

[Jimmy Fallon]

That's his.

[David Byrne]

His production name.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Kid Harpoon. I know him from Harry Styles.

[David Byrne]

He did Harry Styles and Miley.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Miley Cyrus. Come on. How do you meet up with. How do you meet up with Kid Harpoon?

[David Byrne]

I knew, okay, two things. I had done a New Year's show with Miley, which is. There's another surprise.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, I love that. You just keep doing. Yeah, that'd be fun.

[David Byrne]

Yeah. It was kind of like, oh, that'll be fun.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah.

[David Byrne]

And he worked with another artist I knew, Maggie Rogers.

[Steve Buscemi]

I love Maggie Rogers too.

[David Byrne]

His records, I thought they sounded really good. So I could kind of write to these artists and go, did you have a good time working with this guy? Did it all work out? And then I was in LA briefly and I said, how can I talk to this guy? And he goes, there's a birthday party tonight. If you come to it, he'll be there.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Man, you gotta do a lot of traveling for all these gigs.

[David Byrne]

I happened. I didn't just go to meet him, but it worked out. It worked out. I played him my songs, my demos, they were just really simple. And I said, you know, these songs are not like some of the other people you've been working with. Yeah, they're a little bit left field.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Good.

But he must have loved it, though.

[David Byrne]

Yeah, he did.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I'll do it, I'll do it. Great record. Congratulations.

[David Byrne]

I was very happy.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Fantastic.

You're performing.

The new single for us, but in true David Byrne form, you wanted to do something different and you decided to perform down in Rough Trade Records down here at 39, downstairs in the basement of this building. It's a great, great record shop. What's the reason behind doing that? Just. Cause it's.

[David Byrne]

Yeah, well, we get an audience like you guys, but they're like right up next to us.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, yeah.

[David Byrne]

It was our first live show ever in front of anybody.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It's just almost more Vinyl surrounding you than people.

[David Byrne]

Yes, yes. I kept thinking, can I do some record shopping? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Do you have a big vinyl collection?

[David Byrne]

Not that big, but, yeah, but I. From back in the day, I kept my records.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You kept your records?

[David Byrne]

I did.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And do you listen to them now?

[David Byrne]

I still do.

[Jimmy Fallon]

This is a great way. If you guys don't have a vinyl collection, start now with this one right here. It's out this Friday. Congratulations on the album. Always great to see you and congrats on the wedding and everything. Love's in the air.

David Byrne, who Is the sky, is available this Friday. We'll be right back with Marlon Ackerman. Stick around. A nice guest is a talented actress.

Who stars as Margo Banks in the hugely popular series the Hunting Wives, which is streaming now on Netflix. Everyone, please welcome Malin Ackerman. It is great to see you.

[Malin Ackerman]

So good to see you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Congratulations on the Hunting Wives. Oh, my gosh. It is a hit.

It is a massive.

It has been in the top, top 10 on Netflix since it premiered in July. It's crushing right now. When did you realize that it was taking off?

[Malin Ackerman]

I actually have been gone this whole summer. I went to Sweden on the 21st when it aired, and it hasn't come out in Sweden. Thank God I didn't have to face my parents, because, you know, there's some scenes in there that you don't want to watch with your parents.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Sure.

[Malin Ackerman]

But I was in Sweden and on vacation, and then all of a sudden, a week into airing, my Instagram went up by like 30,000 followers. And then the next day, it was like 40,000. I was like, this is crazy. And then the DMs, and then the text messages, and Brittany Snow, who plays Sophie in it.

[Jimmy Fallon]

She's great.

[Malin Ackerman]

She is the best. And she texted me. She goes, malin, I was just at a party. Everybody at the party saw the show. I was like, okay, okay, that's great. She goes, no, no, no. I mean, like, every single person. I went, really? People are actually watching it?

[Jimmy Fallon]

Oh, yeah.

[Malin Ackerman]

And she was like, yeah, they are. So it was just like a slow burn because I wasn't here. And.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Have you met any people in the wild now that you're here?

[Malin Ackerman]

Not yet. Just you.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Really?

[Malin Ackerman]

You're the wildest.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You're great. You're great.

Yeah, it's really good.

[Malin Ackerman]

No, I really haven't been out and about, so this is like the first time. But it has. I've been in New York now for two days and literally just people going.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Everyone'S so close and not really knowing what to it. Everyone's like, yeah.

I mean, Margot Banks is such a great character.

[Malin Ackerman]

Oh my God, she's wild.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Did you know that you, like, when you read the script, you. Yeah, this is. I want to do this.

[Malin Ackerman]

I had some reservations.

[Jimmy Fallon]

You did?

[Malin Ackerman]

Yeah. Not. I mean, I started reading it and because of the content, you know, she's amazing. This character is so incredible to get to play all the nuances, the, you know, the whole art.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Play it so well.

[Malin Ackerman]

Everything.

[Jimmy Fallon]

There's a lot of layers.

[Malin Ackerman]

Well, that's. So I, I asked my husband, I was like, can you please just read this? Cause I don't know, like, it's really just. It's pretty crazy. And he read it and went, this is tailor made for you. And I. Exactly. He's like, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Are we still married? But yeah. He just went, honey, you have to do this. I was like, it's not your fantasy reel.

[Steve Buscemi]

Right?

[Malin Ackerman]

Like, this is like a good role.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Has he watched the whole series?

[Malin Ackerman]

Oh, he watched it twice.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Nice.

[Malin Ackerman]

Watch it twice. And he's creeping on Reddit. He's pretending to be a middle aged lesbian on Reddit just to get into all of the Reddit threads and like.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Find out the scoop.

[Malin Ackerman]

Find out all the scoop of what people are thinking and talking about the wig before I even talked about the wig.

[Jimmy Fallon]

And I was like, oh my God, the wig. Can we talk about the wig?

[Malin Ackerman]

We can talk about the wig.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It is.

Your wig has made a lot of headlines from the show. This is the wig.

[Malin Ackerman]

It's, you know, it's a wig. We really tried. Guys, here's the thing. I had a wig made for me and the wig arrived. We were already in Charlotte, North Carolina, where we were shooting, and it arrived and it fit. But the color and the whole thing, it looked like Linda Evans from back in the 80s. And I was like, ooh, I don't know if this is right. So we literally pulled a wig out of a box in the hair and makeup trailer, put it on. We were like, well, this is all we got, so we're gonna make do.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Really?

[Malin Ackerman]

Yeah. And that's the wig. And then we had to like change it up mid season. Cause they made another wig for my head. But it came in a different color when it arrived. Like, okay, we're gonna have to make it work.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah. So is the wig.

[Malin Ackerman]

It's its own character.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah. Is the wig going to return?

[Malin Ackerman]

Well, that's, I mean, that really I feel like now is a question of whether people want it to return because it's its own character or if I should do my own hair and dye it. I mean, how many of you have watched the show?

[Jimmy Fallon]

Everybody.

Everybody has seen this.

[Malin Ackerman]

Okay, so wig or no wig?

[Jimmy Fallon]

No wig. Wig. No wig. Wow. It's a mixed bag. There's people going, definitely a wig. Wow.

[Malin Ackerman]

There's a lot of strong feelings.

[Jimmy Fallon]

Yeah, they love the character as is. Keep the wig. Yeah, we'll keep it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And is it official second season? Are we done?

[Malin Ackerman]

We don't know.

[Jimmy Fallon]

We don't know yet.

[Malin Ackerman]

I wish I had better news, but. Has to be.

[Jimmy Fallon]

It has to be.

Are you kidding me?

[Malin Ackerman]

Come on.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I know what happened.

It's so good. We have to see more of this. For anyone who hasn't seen the Hunting Wives, how do we set people up and let them know what it is that they're about to see?

[Malin Ackerman]

Oh, boy.

[Jimmy Fallon]

I mean, you kind of get caught up. The first episode gets you right, and you're like, oh, I get this.

[Malin Ackerman]

There's not a lot of leeway. You're just right in. But it's. It's. A woman from Boston comes into town, meets Margo Banks and her socialite little clique, and it turns into friendships, affairs, and murder.

[Jimmy Fallon]

There you have it.

Everything you can want. Marlon Ackerman, everybody. The Hunting Wives is streaming now on Netflix. Stick around, everybody. My thanks to Steve Buscemi, David Byrne, Marlon Ackerman, and the Roots right there from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Thank you for watching. Good night, everybod.

Thanks for listening to the Tonight show starring Jenny Fallon. Don't forget to subscribe to get the latest episodes weekday mornings. Wherever you get your podcast, watch the Tonight show starring Jimmy Fallon. Weeknights on NBC and streaming on Peacock.