430: Enrico Colantoni—The Balls on this Guy!

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe Episode: 430: Enrico Colantoni—The Balls on this Guy! Release Date: March 25, 2025

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Introduction and Reunion

In episode 430 of The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe, host Mike Rowe welcomes returning guest Enrico Colantoni for a heartfelt and humorous conversation. Mike introduces Enrico with warmth, highlighting their long-standing friendship spanning over three decades.

Notable Quote:

Mike Rowe [00:04]: "He's your friend. He's my friend, yes. He's Canada's friend. He's America's friend. He's our friend."

Enrico’s Recent Surgery and Recovery

The episode delves into Enrico Colantoni's recent hip replacement surgery. Enrico shares his recovery journey, including the challenges of convalescing at Chuck’s house. He candidly discusses dealing with complications such as an allergic reaction to his bandages, leading to unexpected physical discomfort.

Notable Quotes:

Enrico Colantoni [10:12]: "I still marvel at what comes out of my ass after. You know, I mean."

Mike Rowe [13:56]: "The minute my dog squatted, he was in front of a driveway and the people walked out of the house... I won an Emmy."

Reflections on Acting Career

Enrico reflects on his extensive acting career, boasting over 110 acting credits across various mediums, including beloved TV shows like Veronica Mars, Galaxy Quest, and Contagion. He speaks with pride about roles that have been significant in establishing him as a "working class actor."

Notable Quotes:

Enrico Colantoni [35:18]: "It was the first job that got me to LA. It was the first steady gig that made me feel like I'm a working class actor."

Mike Rowe [23:15]: "You're a remarkably successful actor who has thrived in his chosen field."

Personal Stories and Anecdotes

The conversation takes a personal turn as Mike and Enrico reminisce about past experiences, including their time in New York and humorous incidents like Mike accidentally throwing up during a meeting. Enrico shares anecdotes about his interactions with prominent actors like Alan Rickman and Whoopi Goldberg, emphasizing the genuine friendships he has cultivated in the industry.

Notable Quotes:

Enrico Colantoni [56:31]: "But, you know, people who can't help but dig into them and call them things like racist or this or that..."

Mike Rowe [85:19]: "I saw you do Vanya or Macbeth... It's a mouthful."

Discussion on Persistence and the Creative Spirit

A significant portion of the episode focuses on the themes of persistence, dedication, and the unyielding creative spirit required to succeed in the acting world. Enrico and Mike discuss the importance of unwavering commitment, drawing parallels between their personal experiences and broader life lessons.

Notable Quotes:

Enrico Colantoni [48:37]: "I'm a working class guy... I just wanted to work and keep working."

Mike Rowe [51:07]: "She's doing really well. It was here, and it's dripping and pussing, and everything was leaking. And I go, I'm gonna die."

Friendship and Emotional Moments

The episode is peppered with moments of vulnerability and emotional honesty. Enrico opens up about his fears and the physical pain from his surgery, while Mike shares a touching story about his mother’s unwavering dedication to writing, reflecting on the importance of persistence without immediate success.

Notable Quotes:

Mike Rowe [75:10]: "Don't cry."

Enrico Colantoni [52:14]: "I think it's different because that machine is an expectation outside of yourself. You're waiting for the world to change as opposed to staying connected, to putting your work boots on and going to work."

Closing Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, Mike and Enrico reaffirm their deep friendship and mutual support. They share final humorous exchanges and heartfelt sentiments, emphasizing the enduring nature of their bond despite life's challenges.

Notable Quotes:

Enrico Colantoni [89:07]: "We have to keep always being uncomfortable somehow."

Mike Rowe [94:15]: "And before you go, won't you leave."

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Conclusion Episode 430 of The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe offers listeners an intimate glimpse into Enrico Colantoni’s life, blending humor with profound reflections on career longevity, personal resilience, and the sustaining power of friendship. Through candid discussions and memorable anecdotes, Mike and Enrico explore what it truly means to persevere in the demanding world of acting while maintaining genuine personal connections.

Transcript

[Mike Rowe]

He's your friend. He's my friend, yes. He's Canada's friend. He's America's friend. He's our friend. Rico Colantoni, second time on the podcast. This time I think it really is just a. It's kind of an opportunistic get that you got. But I'm so glad you got him because. Crap. That was fun.

[Chuck]

Yeah, that was a lot of fun. And you're right, it was a crime of opportunity. Or a podcast episode of opportunity. He's actually in town to get hip replacement, which he just got. He's 12 days out. He's been convalescing at my house. I had the great misfortune to assist our friend Amy in changing his bandage last Saturday, which, of course, I showed you a picture of that, which was horrifying. Yeah. And this was really, really fun.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. It's not NC17. I don't even think it's R rated, but I will tell you, we come in kind of hot. We've known each other, me and Rico, 40 years, as long as you've known him. And of course, you've known him a lot better than I have. He's living with you now in his convalescence. Look, if you don't know Rico well, then I don't. You probably don't have a tv.

[Chuck]

Hope and Gloria. Just Shoot me. Veronica Mars, Galaxy Quest, Contagion, Stigmata. Stigmata. He played the Italian priest in Stigmata.

[Mike Rowe]

AI. AI. Yeah.

[Chuck]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

So many movies, so many shows, so many plays. He is our favorite and consummate working actor. He's a true actor. But he is such a real human and such a sweetheart and so vulnerable at the moment that I. I almost feel bad. I made him cry twice. Oh, yeah. And he. He made me laugh, and then I made him laugh. And then we both laughed so hard for so long, I don't even know if it's usable.

[Chuck]

I don't know.

[Mike Rowe]

God.

[Chuck]

Yeah, that's funny. It's very funny.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Look. And you know what? You learn some things along the way because he's. He's thoughtful and he's smart and he's lived six decades. And he has a unique perspective on the world, I think, as most actors do who stay that busy for that long. But he's so forthcoming, our friend. He's so honest about the things in his life that are challenges and, well, some things that are attached to his body that have swollen to dimensions that a lot of people would not be comfortable discussing. And yet.

[Chuck]

And yet it just makes Me say.

[Mike Rowe]

The title of this episode, which is Enrico Colantoni. The ball's on this guy. Full disclosure. He says something toward the end that's so sweet. His exact phrase was, you know, it's important to be louder than the noise, which was going to be the title. And it's probably a better title. But again, full disclosure. I always think about the person who can't quite decide whether or not to click on this thing or not. And if you're that person and you looked at, you know, be louder than the noise, you might think, ah, you know, that's probably useful, but very earnest. Maybe later. But the balls on this guy.

[Chuck]

What about those balls?

[Mike Rowe]

What could it mean? Well, by all means, stand by and let me explain it to you right after this. When Discovery bought Dirty jobs from me way back in 2003, my little show was one of hundreds being carefully considered for an ongoing series. And I was really lucky to have an idea that resonated at just the right time on just the right network. Today, I don't know if Discovery is looking for the next dirty Jobs, but I do know that thousands of other companies out there are auditioning talent in every other field every single day with Zip Intro. Zip Intro is the latest breakthrough from our friends at ZipRecruiter. And it's another game changer. With Zip Intro, you have the power to quickly assess excellent candidates for your job via back to back video calls. You just pick the time and zip Intro does everything else. They find and schedule qualified candidates for you to meet at your convenience. And they do this the day after you post a [e-mail] RO hiring doesn't have to be a dirty job, especially when it's free. Try ziprecruiter.com ro they're the number one hiring site out there. Post your open job today and talk to multiple qualified candidates tomorrow with zip [e-mail] Roe the Smartest Way to hire. The smartest way to hire. Like veins. I mean, this has happened to you. I'm sure you've coughed up things and you've marveled. You've just looked at it and wondered how your body could create something.

[Rico Colantoni]

Where did that come from?

[Mike Rowe]

I mean, you know where it came from. It came from your lungs. But how, how could it spend so much time in there?

[Rico Colantoni]

You know what, Mike? I don't know. I still marvel at what comes out of my ass after. You know, I mean. You know what I mean? Ever do a real cleanse where you see Worms coming out and like, all that.

[Mike Rowe]

Good Lord.

[Rico Colantoni]

Little folks wiggling around.

[Mike Rowe]

Full disclosure, it's going to be one of those conversations we don't have a lot of governor on. Rico Colantoni. He's been on the podcast before. More importantly, I've known him for 30 years. Chuck's known him for about 50. Is that possible? How long have you known him by?

[Rico Colantoni]

A year and a half. I met you the same year that I met Chuck, so I've known you about 40 years.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, that's right.

[Chuck]

Yeah, that's true.

[Mike Rowe]

When you were at the academy.

[Chuck]

Yeah. You came to New York to visit us.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. Do we talk about that night still? One of my favorite nights my whole life.

[Chuck]

Which one? I've already forgotten.

[Rico Colantoni]

We were high, of course. It was night. It was dark, and we were walking by, and there was a guy laid out on the sidewalk, and somebody's looking at him, and Mike goes, yeah, he just. He just fell out from the sky, just, like, landed there. And then he was just like, what? Really? And he had this total stranger just kind of keep looking up on how this guy ended up on the floor of the sidewalk.

[Mike Rowe]

Do you remember that? No, I remember it. I also. It was the same trip, though, when I think I was helping you move in, I guess, and it was my first experience with a truly homeless person who had taken up residence in the gutter and was just lying there.

[Chuck]

Actually, I don't think he was homeless because he was wearing a suit.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, he was dressed right.

[Chuck]

And you were like, you were like. I just step over the guy because it's New York and I've been living there for all of, like, two months, so I, I, I know what, what's. What. And you're like, hey, man, this guy doesn't seem right. I think we ought to help. I'm like, oh, no, he's just drunk.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm just like, what happened to you, man? I mean, I, I've known you a long time. You're a man of compassion and humanity. Rico, he just.

[Rico Colantoni]

When did you stop caring? When did he stop caring?

[Mike Rowe]

That was my question.

[Rico Colantoni]

New York killed your spirit, Chuck?

[Mike Rowe]

Well, I knelt down next to the gentleman and rolled him over, checked his pulse.

[Rico Colantoni]

You did? For real?

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah. Oh, no. I mean, as Eagle Scout, man, this is like, this is my chance to maybe save a life or at least. Yeah, at least call it in, you know? At least call it in.

[Rico Colantoni]

What happened? Did he just, like.

[Mike Rowe]

What happened was he wasn't dead. He was, in fact, drunk. As Chuck had pre. Saved well, you.

[Chuck]

You called a police officer over, and the police officer came over, slapped him a little, and he kind of went.

[Mike Rowe]

Right.

[Chuck]

And he looked at you and said, oh, he's just drunk. And I'm like.

[Mike Rowe]

That was the most annoying part. To glance back at my friend Chuck and to see a look that I'd never seen before. It was I told you so. But there was also a kind of a world weariness about it. Like. Like. I don't know if you've understand, but.

[Rico Colantoni]

I've been in the big city, New.

[Mike Rowe]

York, couple weeks now. I've seen some things. I've seen some things. So you would just move there too then? Down from.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, we started at the same time. Chuck and I started at the Academy in February. So I just came in from Toronto.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

Staying at the 92nd Street Y. Remember that one? Still there?

[Mike Rowe]

It's still there. They do all kinds of broadcasting out of that thing. It's a thing. Right.

[Rico Colantoni]

Big theater. Too big.

[Mike Rowe]

Did you ever perform there?

[Rico Colantoni]

No, no, but I live there.

[Mike Rowe]

Ever invited to do so?

[Rico Colantoni]

Nope.

[Mike Rowe]

Any hopes, dreams, aspirations? 92nd Street Y. @ this point is. Is not on your.

[Rico Colantoni]

No.

[Mike Rowe]

Your wish.

[Rico Colantoni]

It was great. When we live there, it was like. It was so alive and it bordered what I, you know, back then was like probably the most dangerous part of the city being.

[Mike Rowe]

What exactly was.

[Rico Colantoni]

Well, anything beyond 93rd and 94th on Lexington.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Was not what you had east side uptown.

[Rico Colantoni]

What? Was not what you had south of 92nd Street. Right. 86th Street. That was considered the Upper east side.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, 86 is definitely south of 92nd to the tune of 6, if I'm doing the math right.

[Rico Colantoni]

93. 92. Yeah. Yep. 6. 6 numbers south.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

Remember those days? Those are fun days. It was a long time ago. Chuck is a constant reminder. I'm so grateful that he's in my life to remind me. How far, because you need a witness.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, I'm sure he's grateful that you're in his house right now.

[Rico Colantoni]

He needs me there. Yeah, he needs me there.

[Mike Rowe]

We need you on that wall.

[Rico Colantoni]

I know you want me on that wall.

[Mike Rowe]

For those of you.

[Rico Colantoni]

Have we started, by the way?

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah. We're deep into it.

[Rico Colantoni]

Okay.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Yeah. I think we came into it with that whole comment about the disappointment that sometimes leaves your body by way of your lower.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. By your lungs or your.

[Mike Rowe]

No, we started there, but you came out.

[Rico Colantoni]

I bring it right back to a level where I understand.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

I don't understand the lungs so much, but I'm really hip with the with the bowels.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, since you dragged your hip into it. Just so the listener, and hopefully the viewer understands, if you're not watching this.

[Rico Colantoni]

Why do I say yes to this?

[Mike Rowe]

If you're not watching this, Friends, what I'm looking at is a version of Rico that I haven't seen. There's a cardigan.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

There's what appears to be some kind of active sweatpants. Leisure wear.

[Rico Colantoni]

It's linen. Linen pants. Just comfortable. I'm 12 days out of a hip surgery.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

So this is like. Like, comfy.

[Mike Rowe]

I got it.

[Rico Colantoni]

Because if I have to whip my pants down and check my bandage, I'm ready to go. It's like everything.

[Mike Rowe]

We'll get there. Just hang on for a second. Just.

[Rico Colantoni]

I took pictures today. I'm doing really well.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm going look at the pictures. With your permission, we'll share the pictures. I think. I think part of what we ought to do with the time we have is bend this in, if not necessarily to a public service announcement, at least to some teachable moments for people.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, yeah, warning signs. That happened. Can I share what happened?

[Mike Rowe]

I want to hear what happened.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my God.

[Mike Rowe]

Because again, I ran into you 20 minutes ago out front. You were needlessly early. There's no extra credit for that. But, Chuck, I'm letting myself back in from lunch. You know, I got Mary and I got. I got Ken from Big Speak with me, right? And this older homeless gentleman walks up to us, you know, wearing a cardigan.

[Chuck]

With a cane.

[Mike Rowe]

With a cane. And mumbles something behind us. And I was like, oh, well, isn't this nice? Because I'm here with this big time agent, right? And it's like, it's always nice to be recognized, even if it is by the great unwashed. And this grizzled man is my old friend Rico. I'm like, good Lord.

[Rico Colantoni]

With the cardigan and the cardigan and the hair. I haven't done my hair. I came. I came.

[Chuck]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

[Mike Rowe]

I haven't done my hair.

[Chuck]

You haven't done your.

[Rico Colantoni]

I haven't done my hair. I usually trim it. It's never this long. This is like post op. Rico. I actually shaved my. I trimmed the beard.

[Mike Rowe]

You've got more hair on your face than you on your head.

[Rico Colantoni]

On my chest. You can't even know it's on my chest. But it's like I was, like, under a knife two weeks ago, and I barely started walking. And this weekend, it, like, I got an allergic reaction to the bandage and things started oozing everywhere, dear.

[Mike Rowe]

And now you're in the guest bedroom at Chuck's place.

[Rico Colantoni]

Well, I wore.

[Mike Rowe]

Which is where I sleep, by the way. The sheets.

[Rico Colantoni]

And I washed the sheets and stuff.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, you've slept in that bed many times. And I'm sure I'll be back into it now with thoughts of ooze and sputum. Right. No vision. Sugar plugs.

[Rico Colantoni]

Clean. It was all caught bandages. In fact, my friend Amy had a sanitary napkin for me.

[Mike Rowe]

That's nice, right?

[Rico Colantoni]

First time for me.

[Mike Rowe]

Sure.

[Rico Colantoni]

I had. I. You know, I had to throw the first one away because I didn't know that they had adhesive things that you could stick.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And the angle of it. But I finally figured out, and it caught everything that was oozing from my.

[Mike Rowe]

Junk in a sanitary net. Whoa, whoa.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yo. Yeah, that's.

[Mike Rowe]

We're talking about your wound.

[Rico Colantoni]

I know. It was here, and it's dripping, and all of a sudden, my junk turns into what looked like John Merrick's head. It was just oozing and pussing, and everything was leaking. And I go, I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. And the great story is that when I left the hospital, they didn't give me the surgeon's number, so I.

[Mike Rowe]

You have no one to call.

[Rico Colantoni]

I had no one to call.

[Mike Rowe]

Just quick point of order, or at least clarity.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

You're oozing from your junk.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm thinking that that would happen with the hole that's already there.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

But no, it wasn't.

[Rico Colantoni]

Intern. No, it wasn't that. It wasn't an infection. It was an allergic reaction. So I don't know why it was going there, but it was coming up my side and a big rash there. And it just pooled in your scrotum. Yeah. And in. Can I say penis if it applies. It does.

[Mike Rowe]

And it just.

[Rico Colantoni]

It looked like a beer can, which is not unflattering, but it's like, really just, you know.

[Mike Rowe]

Did you see this, Chuck?

[Chuck]

No, no, no, no.

[Rico Colantoni]

I wouldn't show anything.

[Chuck]

I specifically looked away. He couldn't stop staring at it.

[Mike Rowe]

Chuck showed me a picture of your wound.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Okay.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Which is. That's fine. You're staying in a man's house. Your wound is oozing, but in a place.

[Rico Colantoni]

But it wasn't oozing. That's the point. What was happening inside was good. It was actually an allergic reaction outside because of the bandage.

[Mike Rowe]

Ah, so you had a topical.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

But back to the oozing around the Testicles?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. I don't know. I asked the doc, I go, why is it there he goes, I don't know when a doctor says, I don't know. But he gave me some antibiotics, steroids, steroids. Now it's just a little itchy, dry, little topical and good.

[Mike Rowe]

All right, look, we're going to spend a little time on this. See, I don't got pictures.

[Rico Colantoni]

Here, let me show you.

[Mike Rowe]

I hope you're not kidding, because, look, I've been traumatized by this myself. Not directly, but my dad had a inguinal hernia. And part of the reality of repairing that thing affected his what they call a hydrocele. It's a sack of fluid in your scrotum. And when your body drains excess moisture fluid, whatever it is, you know, it goes to the lowest point. Yeah, well, my dad is a fairly circumspect guy. He's. I wouldn't say shy, but he's courtly. You know, he doesn't talk about any of the things we've already touched on. But when I walked in the apartment to see how he was doing, his scrotum had swollen up to the size of something like a small. You know, the small footballs, not the full size NFL.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.

[Mike Rowe]

And he greeted me in a bathrobe and immediately said, take a look at this thing. Does this look right to you?

[Rico Colantoni]

No, there's nothing that looked right.

[Mike Rowe]

And so I think when you're that old and when your body does something that it's never done before. For him anyway, it made him curious, but also certainly not proud, but not ashamed either. It was like a new tattoo that he would. He was showing it to everyone.

[Rico Colantoni]

Amazing. Yes, amazing that he would have such pride around that.

[Mike Rowe]

My mother, in vacuuming in the news. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wrote about this.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh my God.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh my God. Here, look.

[Rico Colantoni]

How is your mom, by the way?

[Mike Rowe]

She's great. She turned 87 yesterday.

[Rico Colantoni]

That's wonderful. Yesterday.

[Mike Rowe]

Yep. And five years ago, she. She wrote this. Late that night following the surgery, my husband and I were at home. As the anesthesia was wearing off, he lifted the sheet, stared wide eyed for a moment, then screamed like a man engulfed in flames. Peg, come here, quick. I pulled away the sheet and thought, my Lord, what's an eggplant doing down there on his private parts? I knew, of course, that it was my husband's scrotum, but only because of the position it occupied between his legs.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my God.

[Mike Rowe]

Again, folks, I apologize.

[Rico Colantoni]

I mean, you know, we got to talk about it. Anybody who Says, oh, hips. Oh. No complications, no nothing. You get your hip replaced, you're walking right away. They don't talk about how difficult it is to sleep, how difficult it is if you get an infection, because it's still a surgery. So I've had one done six years ago. I had a rash. I thought it was normal this time. I thought it was the same rash. But then when you're.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. You start swelling up sideways. Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And wrinkles. And it was frightening moment. So we don't talk about those things. And we should.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, we are. It's too late. But back to the.

[Rico Colantoni]

I'm so used to just looking at Chuck. He can't. Why can't he sit there?

[Mike Rowe]

We tried it. We focus grouped it, and the people were unanimous. He's in the shot too much. Oh, no. Well, he's got a dedicated camera. If you miss him, just cut right now, Chuck. There you go. See, he's there. Actually, we probably should have put him back here. Cause it's you guys. When a new person comes in here, you only have so much time.

[Rico Colantoni]

He'll make a new guy nervous. I know.

[Mike Rowe]

You know what? Chuck has a nervous energy about him that he didn't used to have. And I'm wondering if you can confirm any of this.

[Rico Colantoni]

I think since he started working with you, Mike, I'm pretty.

[Mike Rowe]

It's possible.

[Rico Colantoni]

I think if I had to narrow it down, he would stay. I think that's when it all happened.

[Mike Rowe]

We were like whiteboarding some ideas, like seven or eight years ago, maybe more, when I really noticed this. But. See that girder up there?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Like on that girder. Hang on a sec. I'm. Grab one of these right now. These things?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, yeah, these things are great. Somebody took a bite out of that.

[Mike Rowe]

He would stand there and just start throwing them to try and make them stick. And then he'd start pacing. He was like a wildebeest with the turning sickness. Just walking in circles with these little yellow foam squeeze hard hats. And he couldn't sit still. And I. And I'd never noticed that about you before. And now it's all I. All I see. All I see.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

It's tragic but true.

[Rico Colantoni]

It's. It's true.

[Mike Rowe]

But you haven't noticed.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, I. Oh, yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

All right.

[Rico Colantoni]

Big, big. He's like walking around. He's always on the phone.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, that's.

[Rico Colantoni]

I mean, he doesn't stop working. Maybe you don't know this about him, but he doesn't stop.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, he doesn't stop moving. Now, if we Want to take the lead.

[Rico Colantoni]

That could be it. That could be it.

[Mike Rowe]

If you want to equate movement with work.

[Rico Colantoni]

With work. Yeah, maybe.

[Mike Rowe]

Fine.

[Rico Colantoni]

Maybe that. He does do a lot of pacing.

[Chuck]

Moving's hard.

[Rico Colantoni]

So much weight.

[Mike Rowe]

He's. Oh, he's a rail.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

He's kinetic.

[Rico Colantoni]

No, no. But I'm just thinking.

[Mike Rowe]

No, back to your hips. Six years ago. Six years ago, you get what's up. You're a young man. What you do to your.

[Rico Colantoni]

I. I don't know. But mom and dad both had them done, you know, in their 70s.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

So I figured it was just a matter of time. And everybody said, well, it's inevitable. You got arthritis there.

[Mike Rowe]

And it was like, all right, well, that's something.

[Rico Colantoni]

And so I was dumb enough to take a kickboxing class this summer if I. And it jacked me and. But I had to go to work. I'm doing a show up in Canada called Allegiance where I have to play a police officer. A beat cop.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, God.

[Rico Colantoni]

So they had to write in that I had hip issues because they kept. I couldn't not limp. Storming the castle. I got my gun all ready to kick the door down. And I'm like. I'm like, Ratso Rizzo.

[Mike Rowe]

Right.

[Rico Colantoni]

Storm in the castle. It's not good. So for four months, I'm in absolute agony. I had this window to get it done because English teacher supposedly is coming back at the end of February, new show by. And I've been waiting in Canada for a hip replacement for four years so we could talk about a whole segment. It's four years. They must have lost my number. I put my name on a list in Ontario four years ago, and I still haven't heard from them.

[Mike Rowe]

So you got your left hip done six years ago.

[Rico Colantoni]

Here.

[Mike Rowe]

Here. Yeah. Then you go back up to Canada.

[Rico Colantoni]

And I'm going, I'm going to need this done.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

I'm putting myself on the list early because I know it'll take some time. Four years later, I'm still okay. But then when it happened, I would have to wait another year.

[Mike Rowe]

Dumb. They say that two things in this life are certain death and taxes. Well, I don't know who they are, but somebody should tell them about another certainty. If you're with Verizon, ATT or T Mobile, you are certain to save a small fortune every month when you switch to PureTalk. I switched months ago because I like what PureTalk stands for as a company and because I like saving money. And I bet you will, too, for just 25 bucks a month. You get unlimited talk, unlimited text, and 5 gigs of data on America's most dependable 5G network. How much will you actually save? I can't say for sure, but I can tell you the average family of four is saving over $1,000 a year when they switch to PureTalk. And with PureTalk's US customer service team, you can switch hassle free in as little as 10 minutes. You can even keep your current phone and your current Number. Go to PureTalk.com ro to make the switch, and you'll save an additional 50% off your first month at PureTalk.com ro PureTalk Wireless by Americans for Americans. Pew, pew, pew. Pew Talk. How many movies have you done?

[Rico Colantoni]

I don't know.

[Mike Rowe]

How many TV series?

[Rico Colantoni]

Chuckle.

[Mike Rowe]

No, Chuck, look into it for me, okay? It's a larger point I want to make. You've been a working actor, I think, longer than any other working actor I know. By the way, Tim Allen says hello. He sat right here.

[Rico Colantoni]

Did he remember me this time?

[Mike Rowe]

No.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, I didn't think so.

[Mike Rowe]

No. But he did say hello. It's just impossible to come to any other conclusion but for the undeniable fact that you're a remarkably successful actor who has thrived in his chosen field. And you can certainly get your hips done. You can get your legs replaced. You can do whatever you want. You go. You can get better testicles. Get the whole scrum thing worked out. You're a man of resources and means is what I'm saying.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, Right.

[Mike Rowe]

And you're living right now. You've been at Chuck's for the last month and a half.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

In the guest bedroom where I will sometimes crash.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. But it's clean, I swear. Margarita comes in and she's like. She makes sure that she fumigate. It'll be fumigated by the time you get there.

[Mike Rowe]

You could be in any facility in the Los Angeles area. You could be any home. Yeah. You choose to be where you are now.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Make it make sense for me.

[Rico Colantoni]

I love Chuck.

[Mike Rowe]

That's it.

[Rico Colantoni]

He's my oldest and dearest friend. And coming back and just knowing that there's a place that I can feel absolutely at home. They offered hotels. They.

[Mike Rowe]

Sure.

[Rico Colantoni]

I could say in hotel, I go, no, just easier at Chuck's. I love it when he. Because, you know, he's literally working with you during the day, so I have the place to myself.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And then he comes home and we just catch up.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, he actually didn't come home last night.

[Rico Colantoni]

No, he didn't. All week he's been away, you know what he did?

[Mike Rowe]

He took an Arrow bed I bought 20 years ago.

[Chuck]

Facts, right?

[Mike Rowe]

Because when he was living in that shoe box not far from where he is now, I would crash there. Really? For the same reasons you're describing?

[Rico Colantoni]

Of course.

[Mike Rowe]

But, you know, there was no place to lie down comfortably. He had this chaise lounge.

[Rico Colantoni]

The chaise lounge? Yeah. What do we call it? Oh, I don't.

[Chuck]

Don't say we don't.

[Mike Rowe]

This.

[Rico Colantoni]

I call it the splooge chair. A lot has happened on that chair.

[Mike Rowe]

Let's call it the ooze chair at this point, because you've been oozing all over the place. But the point is, you know, at that point in my life, yeah, I could probably have stayed any number of places, but I got an Aero bed, and I blew it up. And I slept like a dog at the foot of his desk. And he was in the other room with, you know, who knows who.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

And I'm just lying out there. And there were nights where I would say to myself, what. What are you doing? Like, what are you. Why are you here? Exactly.

[Rico Colantoni]

I can be ordering room service someplace right now, Right? Anywhere.

[Mike Rowe]

But it'll amuse you to know that last night, right there to your right.

[Rico Colantoni]

On that same Arrow bed.

[Mike Rowe]

On the same Arrow bed.

[Rico Colantoni]

Did you find it in the closet, by the way?

[Chuck]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

You just dug it out. Yeah. We knew it was there.

[Chuck]

It was there. Still there. Still had the sheets with it that fit it.

[Mike Rowe]

So that was.

[Chuck]

It worked real good.

[Rico Colantoni]

Still had the sheets already on it, like fitted. Ready to go?

[Chuck]

No, no, they were folded up. You know, they were clean.

[Rico Colantoni]

That'd be weird if it was just ready to go from 20 years ago.

[Mike Rowe]

Why is it relevant? Why is it interesting? I'll tell you why. Because most of the people listening to this don't have famous friends. And many of them are thinking, God, if I were famous, what I would do is, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But your choices, and to some extent, I think maybe my own, reflect the fact that it never changes in the end. Whether it's your hip or your sphincter or your test, whatever's let you down. If you need some time to get your feet back under, you want to be around somebody who you. Who you care about or who cares about you, just doesn't matter. Where you go, I'm gonna make you cry.

[Chuck]

You've done it. You've done it.

[Mike Rowe]

This is cry, dude.

[Chuck]

I'm gonna note the time because this Is gonna happen a lot, I'm sure.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Yeah. So sweet. You're just one of the sweetest dudes walking. Nice.

[Chuck]

Nice try, dude. Nice try.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, shoot.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my God, Mike, off. You made me cry.

[Mike Rowe]

You want to hear something funny?

[Rico Colantoni]

It's true. But it wasn't just her. Amy was there. Yeah, Amy spent, you know, 10 nights on that side of the couch. Just. It's like where people in Toronto are going, well, why don't you get it done? Here I go. Because Chuck and Amy are down there.

[Mike Rowe]

So why is it. Why is it that the people we've known the longest get more important as we get older?

[Rico Colantoni]

Mike, really, I feel like I just got. Just got ambushed.

[Mike Rowe]

Imagine there's a microphone pointed somewhere towards your mouth. If you're going to be poignant, be poignant in a way.

[Rico Colantoni]

I'm not poignant. I'm just emotional. I'm sentimental.

[Mike Rowe]

But I want the lesser famous people listening right now to understand the universality of the unassailable truth that you're.

[Rico Colantoni]

I think in all the years that I've done what I've done, I've made two legitimate friends, like Hollywood friends, not someone that I've known from New York or from the past or from high school. Two legitimate Hollywood personalities that I could call and say, hey, let's get some dinner. And some. One of them is no longer with us, and the other one lives on the East Coast.

[Mike Rowe]

That Tim Allen.

[Rico Colantoni]

Alan Rickman was the most generous human being and lovely and welcoming, and he made you feel like you were his dear, dear friend. And Whoopi Goldberg is the other one. And Whoopi is just one of my. I just adore Whoopi. But anybody else that I've worked with in passing, I don't gravitate toward them. I don't gravitate toward them because these two specific people, Hollywood people, look you in the eye and they really make you feel like they want to know you. And so why, when you look back, I referred to Chuck as a witness. I refer to you as a witness. I've seen where you started. I knew to be able to say that, to be able to know that no matter what, I'm going to be there for that man, and he'll be there for me and Amy. And it's like, I'm not going to pass that up for anything.

[Mike Rowe]

But precious.

[Rico Colantoni]

It's absolutely precious. And it's the. And the older you get and the more people you meet and more people that want to know you, you know, I don't you know, going into a hotel and have people greet you with a smile, you know, they're waiting for some, you know. But no, I don't know how to make it more profound than that. That's other than after 40 years, you. He's my brother.

[Mike Rowe]

Which brings us to the question of the rent.

[Chuck]

Oh, now you really made him cry. Look at him. Oh, my God. He's really worked up about the rent.

[Rico Colantoni]

We have a deal. If I'm there for a period of time, I feed him, you know, dinner.

[Chuck]

Which is quite expensive, as you know. I like to eat.

[Rico Colantoni]

I feed them. Yeah. And I think that works well for both of us because, you know, I think that's a pretty good deal. Yeah, Chuck.

[Chuck]

Yeah, that's a great deal. I love that deal.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, I mean, you're obviously talking about the literal business of chewing and swallowing actual food.

[Rico Colantoni]

I pick up, you know. Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

But we're also talking about nourishment, right? Like, what actually nourishes? When do you feel truly fed? It's not when you jam your gob full of whatever available sticky fodder is within reach. It's. It's. It's when you sit there and watch somebody who loves you prepare a meal for you.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. And I mean, you know, we don't prepare that much anymore, but we'll, you know.

[Chuck]

But, well, Amy cooked. That's what she did while she prepared, which is great. And she's amazing, as you know.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

So for 10 days, she was making something, and she would ask what we wanted. Chuck, how about this? Poof. There it was, you know.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

That sorbet still in the freezer. It's really good. She made. Chuck had four huge pomegranates just sitting there, and they were getting. It was time. And Amy saw them, and she goes, what can I make with pomegranate? And she turned it all into this great sorbet. So it felt like camp. It felt like camp. When you were at camp.

[Chuck]

Mike, did anybody make pomegranate sorbet?

[Mike Rowe]

You may be confused as the type of camps I attended. We were really skinny. I was a Boy Scout.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, but no pomegranates.

[Mike Rowe]

No, there was no pomegranate. That would have been frowned on. That would have been viewed with suspicion, Looked at askance.

[Rico Colantoni]

Well, imagine me looking at Chuck over the counter, just literally peeling all the membrane between seeds and just eating it like that. It looked.

[Mike Rowe]

Was this sad.

[Rico Colantoni]

So Amy interrupted it all and just turned.

[Mike Rowe]

Thank God. She was magic. Yeah. But just back to the scrotum. Briefly. Was it oozing as the pomegranates were being peeled? Is there some metaphor? Because my mom really leaned into.

[Rico Colantoni]

That's very.

[Mike Rowe]

The eggplant.

[Rico Colantoni]

That's good. Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

And so, like, it's the crushing of the pomegranate juice and the seed reference. But beyond that, like, there's something in our brain that forces us to think about growths, tumors, organs, all these things. We try and find their corollary in, like, the fruit or vegetable world. And I don't know why we do that, but it interests me, I think.

[Rico Colantoni]

Because trying to describe it otherwise is impossible. I couldn't describe what was going on down there.

[Mike Rowe]

Right.

[Rico Colantoni]

But if I had thought of a pomegranate at the time, it would have applied. But definitely the crushed beer can. Just like.

[Mike Rowe]

God.

[Rico Colantoni]

I know. It was scary.

[Mike Rowe]

Amazing. Do you have pictures? I mean, you really didn't document?

[Rico Colantoni]

I couldn't. I couldn't. I didn't want.

[Mike Rowe]

It was. That angle wasn't wide enough. Simply couldn't find a lens.

[Rico Colantoni]

I couldn't find the light to accommodate enough to really capture. It's like a landscape. It's like the Grand Canyon. You can't really capture this gum in the Grand Canyon on a cell phone. So it's just like, enough. This is just for me and you. You and me. And I was good for that. Especially when it started to die down. Oh, my God. Oh, my.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, God.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

According to the graphic that Chuck has put up, you're winning actor.

[Rico Colantoni]

Is that I just about winning two ends? I guess that would be whining.

[Mike Rowe]

I guess three of them, technically. Three ends.

[Rico Colantoni]

Three ends, yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Just not. That's funny that you say whining just one letter away. You could be in a whining actor.

[Rico Colantoni]

A whining actor.

[Mike Rowe]

Is there anything less attractive in your estimation than an actor who's not sufficiently grateful, one who whines, in other words.

[Rico Colantoni]

I hope I never meet anyone like that.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, come on. You've encountered some actors who don't.

[Rico Colantoni]

I wouldn't call them whining. I call them entitled and thinking that somehow they're bigger than the.

[Chuck]

Then your scrotum.

[Mike Rowe]

If you pause in the middle of a sentence and you're searching for a metaphor, somebody's gonna hop in. Somebody's gonna hop in. And the odds are good for the next 40 minutes or so that the answer is going to be scrotum. If there's an awkward pause.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

Hey, listen, going back to what you asked before there. Rico has. According to IMDb, he has 110 acting credits, seven producing credits, seven directing credits, one writer credit, and 37 appearances as himself.

[Rico Colantoni]

Huh? Just 110. That's it. That's specific credits. Not ours.

[Mike Rowe]

No, not ours.

[Rico Colantoni]

No.

[Mike Rowe]

No. So if this were, you know, the Actor Studio and I were. James Lipton, I suppose the question would be of which of those many credits are you most proud?

[Rico Colantoni]

Enrico Hope and Gloria.

[Mike Rowe]

Really?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Why?

[Rico Colantoni]

It was the first job that got me to la. It was the first steady gig that made me feel like I'm a working class actor.

[Mike Rowe]

I can see why that would make you feel grateful but proud was the question.

[Rico Colantoni]

And Alan Thick was on there. Taylor Negron, Cynthia Stevenson, Jessica Lundy. And it was the kind of show that was just. It was ostentatious for that time.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And I got to play a complete doofus. A guy. Elliot. No, that was just Shoot Me.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, right.

[Rico Colantoni]

Shoot Me was a lot of fun, but playing a guy named Louis Utz.

[Mike Rowe]

I could play Find Me Louis Otz, for God's sake.

[Rico Colantoni]

Right there.

[Mike Rowe]

That's it.

[Rico Colantoni]

That's me. Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh. I was looking at the wrestling going on, like diving through the air. There's no way that's.

[Chuck]

You see, look, if I can make.

[Mike Rowe]

This bigger with those hips.

[Chuck]

Yeah, that's the wrong.

[Mike Rowe]

Wrong way.

[Rico Colantoni]

It was. It was proud because it.

[Chuck]

Oh, my God.

[Rico Colantoni]

But I'll tell you, it'll always be Galaxy Quest. That made me. That show, I think, actually legitimized me as an actor.

[Mike Rowe]

Did you know it when it was.

[Rico Colantoni]

Happening, the fun that we were having? That's all we knew.

[Mike Rowe]

I said to Tim yesterday, stupidly, as he was leaving, I didn't say it when we were sitting here, but the thing that really struck me about that movie was I liked everybody who was in it before I saw it. And afterwards I liked everybody even more.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, we had a great time.

[Mike Rowe]

Sam Rockwell.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, fantastic. He had just finished the Green Mile and stuff. And.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

Daryl Mitchell, who's now on Tim's new show, Shifting Gears. Yeah, shifting Gears, yeah. But Dean Pariso, who was sort of hired behind the eight ball because I think it was Harold Ramos who was.

[Mike Rowe]

Supposed to do it originally and it was Mark Johnson directing, or Mark Johnson was producing. Right.

[Rico Colantoni]

Kevin Klein was supposed to play Tim's part. This is how I heard it.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And so they, you know, they backed out and Dean had all of, like, two months to pick up the ball and run with it. So he was just really hands off. He cast it and he literally just let us play. So we had more Fun. And it left us with a feeling of, like, you know, the danger of we're having more fun than an audience is going to have watching it.

[Mike Rowe]

Right. Like breaking sometimes.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

It's indulgent.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my God. It was just the most. And Tim was notorious. And it was only Sigourney who would sort of bring him back down to planet Earth and bring him back up. Come on, Tim, we have to go back to work. Because if you gave Tim audience, that's it. It's just like, it was endless. And Chill would always be at his feet, just, like, laughing hysterically. So it was always Sigourney who said, come on, Tim, gotta go back. Gotta go back to work.

[Mike Rowe]

Dumb. Call me biased, but I think the sponsors of the Way I Heard it are the finest sponsors on the planet. In particular, I'm partial to LifeVac because LifeVac is my only sponsor to save 3,700 lives, 15 lives, in fact, from my audience alone. This is a device that should be in everybody's home. It's been proven countless times. If you go to lifevac.net and use code Mike, you'll not only save 20% off your own LifeVac, but you'll see this thing in action. It is right up there, in my view, with a smoke detector and a fire extinguisher, you just should have one nearby. They're very affordable and they are saving lives even as we speak. March 28, by the way, is National Choking Awareness Day. I know they got a day for everything, but it's a good day to think about how simple it can be to get a device in your home that could save the life of a loved one. Dr. Ben Carson, by the way, the neurosurgeon has partnered with LifeVac, and the success stories go on and on. Check him [e-mail] use code mike at 20% off your first order. Cause it's no joke when you choke it's no joke when you choke so get life back and live without breath there'll be death so get life back and live get life back and live get life back, life back and live get life back and live.

[Chuck]

You needed Sigourney here yesterday.

[Mike Rowe]

No kidding, man. Look, I loved him. And this is the second time I've interviewed him. But he is. He's at such an interesting point in his life, right? Like us, older than he's ever been, he's got a lot on his mind. And in the wake of the fires, he's a philosophy major, and he's contemplating the mysteries of the universe and physics and like the unexamined life in Kierkegaard. And like, all of these. I mean, he literally got off the elevator in the middle of a sentence, and there was nobody on the elevator. So he's, like, talking to himself. And we come out, we say hello, and just. We're talking. We're talking and we just sit down and so there's no real beginning or end of this conversation, but it goes on for well over two hours.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. And nothing's changed.

[Mike Rowe]

He thinks deeply on big ideas and funny. And funny. Yeah. Always funny. Were you and Rickman pals prior to this?

[Rico Colantoni]

No.

[Mike Rowe]

That's where you met?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. Yeah. And in the same way I met Whoopi on the Hollywood Squares is like they, you know, we would do back when she was the center square.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

They would move us around. We did five in a day, covered the whole week. And so I found myself next to her and I knew I was next to her and sort of look over there toward microphone, just. Just to see her.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And she was already waiting for me. Hello.

[Mike Rowe]

Right.

[Rico Colantoni]

Right. And that was it. And she hasn't stopped looking at me like that since, you know, just. How are you welcome? I don't know. It's like. It was just a thing. I see it in her, she sees it in me. Good folk. Good folk. Tim. And Alan was at my point is that Alan was the same way he looked at me. He goes, I would like to see you in the theater. You know what I mean? He'd like to see you do a play.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know, and did he.

[Mike Rowe]

Did he ever see you do a play?

[Rico Colantoni]

You know what? I was in London doing a new play. Chuck came to see me, but he was in New York directing a play. But Rima, his partner and his stable of friends all came to support me.

[Mike Rowe]

That's good.

[Rico Colantoni]

And took me to dinner on his behalf. And, you know, so he was. Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

What was the play?

[Rico Colantoni]

Neil Abute wrote a play called the Distance From Here. Yeah. And it was. They didn't like it at all. The Brits didn't like it at all.

[Mike Rowe]

Who cares?

[Rico Colantoni]

But it was fun.

[Mike Rowe]

When did I see you on stage? I saw you do Vanya.

[Rico Colantoni]

Did you see Vanya or Macbeth?

[Mike Rowe]

Macbeth. Yeah, it was me.

[Rico Colantoni]

You came to Macbeth?

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And that's just. I just, you know, it's a mouthful.

[Mike Rowe]

That's a mouthful of words, man.

[Rico Colantoni]

You're doing sitcom and says you wanted to. And it was. I wasn't that far out of theater school, so I just. I Still needed to do it.

[Mike Rowe]

What was the twist on the Macbeth show that I saw?

[Rico Colantoni]

Six. Six cast members. And it was sort of a cyclical story where he's like, living in his head. Everything was happening in his head. So we started in a traditional way, but we ended up in the exact same spot when. Before the witches. Because he just. He just got the. You know, the witches told them that you will be king. And so he's like, all wrapped up in his head, the story goes. And then we ended up right back there living in his head. So it was. How else do you do. With six actors.

[Mike Rowe]

Come ceiling night, scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day, and with thy bloody invisible hand cast off that wretched bond that keeps me pale. Light thickens, the crow makes way to the rookie wood. Good things of day do droop and drowse, while night's black agents to their prey do rouse. Yeah, man, he could turn a phrase that. Dude.

[Rico Colantoni]

Wow. I'm gonna cry again.

[Mike Rowe]

Good. I'll tell you why. I know that one. It'll make you laugh. Well, it might make you weep. I don't know. I was living in New York, and this is so crazy. My. My friend who I was living with owned a recording studio called the Giant Lizard Company, and he had somehow forged a relationship with Tip O'Neill's, I think, son or relation or some guy was related to Tip O'Neill. And he was involved in a project of Japanese anime. And so this is a long time ago, and it was called Vampires of New York.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh.

[Mike Rowe]

So it's about this hyper violent animated show about vampires who somehow saved the day in some kind of vigilante construct. And there was no real dialogue. It was all just acted out with beautiful symphonic music playing with layers of creepy narration on top of it. And so this guy would only. He only wanted to record at the Giant Lizard Company at midnight, and he would call my friend Dan, and I was living with Dan at the time. And Dan says to this guy, hey, my friend Mike has kind of a creepy voice, or at least he can make it creepy. So I went. I would go in and read these random chunks of great gothic literature. So there's Lovecraft, there's Shakespeare, obviously, there's Camus, the rats coming to dine in the happy city. And like, all this stuff. And it was the weirdest combination of stuff because these guys were smoking all the weed in the world, and it was just a cloud of cannabis in the air with this great.

[Rico Colantoni]

And for all these years, you remember that one particular speech I do.

[Mike Rowe]

It stuck. And I remember you saying those words, too, even if you don't.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

In that.

[Rico Colantoni]

I don't know.

[Mike Rowe]

In that production, I was like, oh, man. I remember that because it wasn't that long before you did that show that I was doing this.

[Rico Colantoni]

Very strange. Know that. That would have been cool.

[Mike Rowe]

Proving once again that Shakespeare is always in the room.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my God. Yeah. That was. Oof.

[Chuck]

Rico, who played your Lady Macbeth.

[Rico Colantoni]

I see her. She was on.

[Chuck]

She was on Breaking Breaking Bad. The wife in Breaking Bad.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, she's terrific. Yeah.

[Chuck]

What's her name?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Mrs. White, do you cross paths with.

[Rico Colantoni]

No.

[Mike Rowe]

With Cranston here and there. Brian? Chris.

[Rico Colantoni]

No, no, no. We did Contagion together. And thank God that's crossing paths, dude.

[Chuck]

And a gun. It's.

[Mike Rowe]

And a gun.

[Rico Colantoni]

And a gun.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

Thanks.

[Mike Rowe]

And to get your gun.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. Brian and I did Contagion, but I hadn't seen Breaking Bad at that point, so sort of like, hey, man, what's up?

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

If I had seen Breaking Bad and then gotten to work with him, I think I would have been a little nervous.

[Mike Rowe]

Sorry, but I got that beat.

[Chuck]

Question. Is that Rainn Wilson, A very young Rainn Wilson on the far end?

[Rico Colantoni]

That's Rain.

[Chuck]

Wow.

[Rico Colantoni]

That's Rain. Wow.

[Mike Rowe]

I never knew that.

[Chuck]

Yeah. I didn't know it until just now. Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

We're looking at a picture of Galaxy Quest, and. Yeah, that's Rainn Wilson from the office. Well. And who knew? Of course, that's way before the office.

[Rico Colantoni]

Way before the office. He was like. He would come and watch. Just shoot me.

[Mike Rowe]

Go.

[Rico Colantoni]

I want to do this. It was just like, yeah, you're gonna do this. It's crazy. He created things. He came out of the NYU with, you know, with that group of the Deb Messings and stuff, and he had created a clown show called the New Bozema or something. So we already knew that he was a genius, sort of crazy guy. But so, yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

I mean, how many guys like that and women do you think are walking around in this business who truly have the goods, who have something special and unique, but just have not yet stumbled into the world or the opportunity that's gonna unleash it or haven't found their hope in Gloria?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. I don't know, Mike. I don't know. That makes me sad, too. Right?

[Mike Rowe]

Don't cry.

[Rico Colantoni]

No, but that's a different kind of sad.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh.

[Rico Colantoni]

Cause you gotta want it, too. Right. You gotta be able to look at yourself in the mirror and say, I want that. I have the Goods. And there's got to be the. I've got the goods. Plus.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

A willingness to eat bouillon cubes and to go through the mud and really develop a thick skin and deal with the rejection and keep going, I think. I mean, you know, my daughter is in theater school now, and she has the benefit of me talking her through it, but I worry about her because. Because how bad does she want it? Is she willing to go to New York? Is she willing to walk away from everything and just create something and really just close any back door? I don't know who's willing to do that. I don't know how many of these talented people we're talking about are willing to shut a door so that other door will automatically open for them, but too many of them leave it way open, just in case.

[Mike Rowe]

How bad did you want it?

[Rico Colantoni]

Enough to walk away from my family and live in New York, and it just one step in front of one foot in front of the other and kept going.

[Mike Rowe]

Had you not had Hope and Gloria or the successes that you did when you. When you did.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Would you still be pushing the rock up the hill? Did you want it that bad?

[Rico Colantoni]

I think I would have. I think. Because even the theater, even though, you know, monetarily, you're not making that much.

[Mike Rowe]

Doing plays, but, hell, you're losing money.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, yeah. You're paying them. But that need to be connected to. I called the spirit. That creative spirit, man.

[Mike Rowe]

I like to laugh as much as the next guy, obviously, but, like, the older I get, the more I think about, you know, the honest answer to that question. And I'm just sitting here looking at my mom on the front of her third book. Right.

[Rico Colantoni]

And, Mike, you're gonna keep creating something new. I mean, you might not be doing this in five years or next month. You're gonna make something else up. You can't not make something else up.

[Mike Rowe]

I can't not try.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

I can't determine, right. What's gonna happen, but something I'll throw the mud for as long as I.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know, and that's the spirit. That's the energy. That's. That's that creative spirit that will. That is always bigger than ego. It's always bigger than pride. It's just that need to just keep creating something.

[Mike Rowe]

Yes, but you can have it. Like, how long do you stand at the slot machine pulling the lever and never winning? Right.

[Rico Colantoni]

It's different. That's got to be different.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, I think maybe. Maybe mechanically it's different, but this woman, my mom, her dream was to be a best selling author, and then her dream was to be a published author. She didn't care about being a best seller. And then when it became clear that those two things weren't going to happen, after writing for 35 years every day and not getting a book deal, she gave up on the dream, but she didn't give up on the work. This woman wrote every day for 60 years.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yes.

[Mike Rowe]

And when she was 80. Yes. She got her first book.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yes.

[Mike Rowe]

And it went to the top of the bestseller. So in some way, shape or form, I always come back to, do you have 60 years of doing the same thing every day and getting no success? Do you have the facility to stay at the machine that long? I don't think I do. You know, I got enough success early on to.

[Rico Colantoni]

I think it's different because that machine is an expectation outside of yourself. You're waiting for the world to change as opposed to staying connected, to putting your work boots on and going to work. Amy Distant was telling this great story about her dad and how he was working for Lockheed Martin and he was laid off for four months. But every day he got dressed and he went to the office. Yeah, he would perform it. His wife didn't know about it. Nobody knew that he got laid off. But every day he woke up, he got dressed and he went to the office and he just waited there. And the more he waited, the more he showed his face and the more he just committed to that, who he was. It only lasted four months. They positioned him, they brought him over there. They just. It didn't last long. Everybody else was laid off and they'd forgotten about. But he was there still just showing up, just showing up.

[Mike Rowe]

I don't know what the lesson there is. I mean, it's a great story.

[Rico Colantoni]

Have you read, have you read the War of Art?

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, sure. Pressman. Yeah, Pressfield.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. Just like he puts his boots on and he goes and he starts typing. That's what your mom did. She didn't give up on the need to write. She didn't give up on that.

[Mike Rowe]

Her office was her kitchen. Okay. She wasn't literally going into a building.

[Rico Colantoni]

But she was doing, she was doing a painter's paint. Writers write, okay. You know, actors act, okay. I'm on a TV show now.

[Mike Rowe]

I'm making literally hundreds of dollars.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know what I mean?

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

But I need to act. If it's, if it's a small theater or a big venue, I need to do that. I need to do it and not out of. Just out of. That's who I am.

[Mike Rowe]

That's part of who you are, dude. The other thing you need to do is not act like you need to be so off book. You need to be so off script. You need this. You need to cry at a card trick. You need to hear something that resonates in a way that just feels so completely honest and real and I guess, maybe, obviously.

[Rico Colantoni]

Well, it's you, Mike, but it's you too. It's you too. I've known you. I've known. I mean, you know. Yeah, you know. I mean, your intellect is. Is fast. Is this.

[Mike Rowe]

It's fast.

[Rico Colantoni]

It's fast. And I'm not that fast.

[Mike Rowe]

No, no. Vast.

[Rico Colantoni]

It's vast.

[Mike Rowe]

It's not fast.

[Rico Colantoni]

It's vast and fast.

[Mike Rowe]

It's enormous.

[Rico Colantoni]

It's not unlike my pomegranate. It keeps coming up.

[Chuck]

Seriously, it just keeps growing.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know what I'm trying to say?

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, so I do.

[Rico Colantoni]

For as long as I've known you, not only have you been. You're an intimidating presence because of your vastness, but at the same time, you make me feel completely at home and okay to just mumble and bumble and.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, you make me proud to share the species with you. You really do, because you're like a tuning fork. You're an emotional tuning fork. You walk into a room and somebody gets ding. And every single. There he is, man. He's in the room. He's in the room. And frequency.

[Chuck]

Crying. Crying.

[Mike Rowe]

But he. He hums with his own unique enthusiasm. And there's something about.

[Rico Colantoni]

I squealed, didn't I? That was a squeal. That was a cry. Squeal.

[Mike Rowe]

Just now.

[Rico Colantoni]

You made me squeal.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, you're welcome. You and that Beatty.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my God. Ned, baby. Oh, no.

[Chuck]

You just got that.

[Mike Rowe]

There you go.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, no.

[Mike Rowe]

Fast and fast. Rico.

[Chuck]

Oh, my God, he's crying hard now.

[Rico Colantoni]

What'd you find?

[Mike Rowe]

There it is.

[Chuck]

What is happening?

[Rico Colantoni]

What is happening? Open up that oyster again.

[Mike Rowe]

Those aren't meant to be swallowed. Let me tell you what happened to me yesterday.

[Chuck]

Why did Ned Beatty make you cry?

[Rico Colantoni]

The squeal part. The squeal part.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, poor Ned's funnier than sodomy.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I don't know why that. Oh, that was good. And, you know, four weeks ago, if I had laughed that hard, I'd be in such pain right here. I'd be in such pain right here. So that was a good laugh. That reminded me. Oh, I'm healing. That's good.

[Mike Rowe]

I'VE learned over the years that there are two kinds of sweatshirts out there. The kind that your girlfriend will steal and the kind they won't. American Giant makes the kind your girlfriend will steal. I don't condone this, obviously, especially because American Giant makes the same impossibly soft and totally indestructible sweatshirts for women, too, right here in the usa, with cotton grown right here in America. But whatever quality sweatshirts, like everything American Giant makes, have a way of wandering off. Personally, I don't buy American Giant clothing just because the quality is second to none. I buy from American Giant because they've proven after 15 years in business that it's still possible to make great clothes in this country. And that strikes me as really, really important. That's what American Giant has been doing from day one. And I appreciate that you will, too. @american-giant.com Mike, use code MIKE at 20% off their T shirts and jeans and jackets and pants, along with those impossibly soft and totally indestructible sweatshirts that your girlfriend, wife, daughter, or sister will most likely steal. @american-giant.com Mike Quality clothes for Americans made by Americans. American Giant. American made. American Giant. American made.

[Rico Colantoni]

Well, you know, I was.

[Mike Rowe]

I was. I was trying to find a way to transition into humility. So what happened to me yesterday? I got to tell you this. I was in a meeting across the hall with Mary and some CEO, some big company in Australia, and they're in the middle of this pitch, and they're. I mean, they're leaning in. I'm sipping my tea, and I'm full of steroids and antibiotics and just try.

[Rico Colantoni]

From their thing. From whatever that was.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah. I don't normally cough like this in the middle of sentences.

[Rico Colantoni]

That was a huge cough.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, that happened yesterday.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my.

[Mike Rowe]

Times about five. And so the reason I wanted to get that out now is because I didn't get it out yesterday. I fought it, you know, and I'd like to keep it down because I'm in a meeting and I'm trying to look interested as this guy is explaining his wish fulfillment and his life story. And he's created his company, and he's here to ask me if I would speak on behalf of his dream. Okay. And in the back of my throat, it's like, things fall apart. The center cannot hold. Okay, I'm going full Yates on this thing. And then I had to cough so bad, but wasn't that I started to cry. I'm looking at the guy, and the guy's looking at me, and he's thinking, I'm killing him.

[Rico Colantoni]

I got him. I got him.

[Mike Rowe]

I got him. He's hanging on every word. So I'm sitting there crying, and all I'm trying to do is not cough or crap up my back, okay? And this guy is telling me. He's telling me the story of his life. And out of nowhere, and Barry's sitting there. She knows something's wrong with me because I don't cry. I never cry. I don't have any feelings left anymore. I've heard it all. I'm the opposite of you. I'm a tuning fork with one prong. And so I hold up my finger and I try to say, hold that thought. It'll just be a minute. But what comes out is. And I stand up and I open the door, and I leave Mary's house. And now I'm coughing like. And I'm running for the bathroom, not because I feel like anything's gonna tear loose, but because I need to cough as loud as I can and as hard as I can. And I don't want to do it in my office, and I certainly don't want to do it in front of this poor guy who flew in from Australia. I get to the bathroom, and before I get the door closed by me, I fall to my knees and I start coughing kind of like that.

[Rico Colantoni]

Is it one of those. Oh, just.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, my entire trachea spasm. And I threw up all over my feet. I coughed so hard, I threw up on my shoes. I was so stunned because I didn't have any feelings of nausea. I was just coughing suddenly. So now through the wall, I can still hear the guy going, Anyway, we're thinking, right? You know, you come in with this idea in the market, we introduce you, and, you know, Austin first, and then maybe we come over here. And I'm thinking, shit, man, if I can hear him. He just heard that. He just heard that. So in the midst of all of this, you know, whether it's your hydrocele or your Uzi scrotum or your weepy.

[Rico Colantoni]

Wound, we're getting old. It's getting harder, isn't it?

[Mike Rowe]

When you walked in in that cardigan, I thought, that's it. That's where we are, man.

[Rico Colantoni]

I mean, the quality of the cardigan is nice. It's nice. It's a nice. It's a. You. You want to touch it.

[Mike Rowe]

So what a life now two shows in production. Is that right?

[Rico Colantoni]

A Canadian show. Two Canadian shows. And the. An English teacher. Yeah. On fx? Yep.

[Mike Rowe]

So Chuck has been bragging on the English teacher thing forever.

[Rico Colantoni]

Have you not seen it?

[Mike Rowe]

I haven't seen it, but my parents were both teachers and I'm English by extraction, so. I feel as though you finally did a project for me.

[Rico Colantoni]

I think you'll like it, Mike. Well, I think you'll like it.

[Mike Rowe]

Can we watch a promo or something? Is that possible?

[Chuck]

For the love of Pete.

[Mike Rowe]

This is new, by the way. Did Chuck tell you this?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

No, no, I live there.

[Rico Colantoni]

I know exactly the stress he's been under the past two weeks. The sleeveless nights. Oh, yeah. It's like, how the am I going to do this?

[Mike Rowe]

It's my fault, but I can't. Oh, I know, but I'm not trying to torture.

[Rico Colantoni]

No, I know.

[Mike Rowe]

I just wouldn't do that. It's that feeling where. I mean, don't you think that. I think of it like a pop fly. Foul balls are either going up or they're coming down. And, like, there's a moment where they're doing neither. They're just sort of suspended there. And there's a temptation to look at any good thing. A marriage, a relationship, a TV show, a role as like, oh, yeah, we're in that sweet spot and it's just gonna stay there. Yeah, but it doesn't.

[Rico Colantoni]

Not for you.

[Mike Rowe]

I don't know. For anybody.

[Rico Colantoni]

I know, but you're. I mean, you know, I've known you long enough. It's just like, you just keep reinventing yourself. So I get.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, you keep getting new roles. It's the same sort of thing, like you're playing and you get better and.

[Rico Colantoni]

Better and better, and it becomes sweeter and sweeter and sweeter and easier and easier to use it to transition from one to the next.

[Mike Rowe]

You get better and better and better at being lots of different people. I hope I get better at being me, because that's all I do, whether it's behind a mic or in front of a camera. And the reason I make his life miserable is I know we have to keep always being uncomfortable somehow.

[Rico Colantoni]

That's great, but I don't know how.

[Mike Rowe]

To do that necessarily outside of, like, in your world. It's, get a new part, get a new role.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, it's always like first aid kindergarten.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, I know that guy. He's good. What's his name?

[Rico Colantoni]

Which one? Brian or the good one or.

[Mike Rowe]

No, not the other guy. He's no good. The good one.

[Rico Colantoni]

No, you. You'd love this show. I mean, I think it's got a nice take. On woke versus Conservative. You know, they make fun of everybody.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

Nobody's safe, you know, as long as.

[Mike Rowe]

They make fun of everybody.

[Rico Colantoni]

They make fun of everybody. They really, really do. Brian is gay in real life. He plays a gay English teacher. But one of my favorite lines from the. From the first episode is the coach is saying, come on, you're defending yourself. Just tell them that you're a. You're a proud gay man. He goes, I'm not that proud. You know, it's like, yes, finally, you know, I'm not that proud.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. I'm a deeply ashamed gay man.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. Yeah. You know what I mean? I'm human.

[Mike Rowe]

Look at you, man. It just kills me.

[Rico Colantoni]

Independent Spirit Award nominee right there.

[Chuck]

That's right. Independent Spirit award out there.

[Mike Rowe]

What makes. What makes a spirit better if it's independent?

[Rico Colantoni]

Don't.

[Chuck]

Don't.

[Rico Colantoni]

Don't even answer. Don't even answer. I mean, who comes from first, spirit, the chicken or the egg?

[Mike Rowe]

Well, I just like to think of it in terms of who's going to award the Dependent Spirit Award. We've given it a lot of thought, and we realize that you're utterly dependent on the spirit.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know what? This might not be answering your question, but I did a Broadway show two years ago called Birthday Candles, and they gave me Theater World Award for like. Like a debut. Broadway debut. And I remember going to receive this award. It wasn't a competitive award. It was basically, you did a good job, and you and these five other people were giving you this award.

[Mike Rowe]

Right.

[Rico Colantoni]

And I go, well, that's the spirit. Right? That's the creative spirit. It's not a competitive spirit. I know in America, we like to claim who wins and who. The trophy does have a certain significance. Does it feel like a participation trophy? It's like, no, it doesn't. Because how do you determine that one performance is better than another performance and that warrants it, that you're gonna walk away with that trophy? So I feel it's the same way with the Independent Spirit Awards. In the name it. It represents the. You know, the. Just the creative spirit as opposed to, oh, I gotta win that award.

[Mike Rowe]

How many of these things do you have? Not that specific one. But, like, if you were the kind of person to take your many accolades and awards and put them on, say, a mantle. Yeah. Obviously would be a large mantle, but.

[Rico Colantoni]

No, like four or five.

[Mike Rowe]

Are you proud? Like, of which are you most proud? Enrico, let me. What do you got? You got Emmys?

[Rico Colantoni]

No.

[Mike Rowe]

You never got it.

[Rico Colantoni]

I'm. If I don't win an Emmy for this. I'm never going to win an Emmy because that. It's so much fun and people love it. I think it's going to be a very popular show. I mean, that's what it is, right? Popularity has a lot to do with it. I should have won an Emmy for, you know, Louis Uts, but nobody saw it. Lewis Sut was great. The greatest performance of my career.

[Mike Rowe]

I won one.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. And an Emmy. I know you have.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. I got nominated a bunch for the show. Everybody knows, like, Dirty Jobs. Got nominated every year. I never won one. I won an Emmy for hosting. Returning the favor on Facebook. I won it during the lockdowns, and when I won it, I forgot it was even happening. Somebody was accepting it for me virtually. I was walking my dog, Freddie, who at the moment my phone rang. This guy Jacob called me to tell me I walked. Won an Emmy for best host of a reality series as my dog was shitting. Right. But the funny part is the minute my dog squatted, he was in front of a driveway and the people walked out of the house, right? So the dog is about to crap on a driveway, and the people. So I have the bag in my hand. So I put the bag in my hand and I reach down to catch it, and I catch Freddy's crap midair. As my friend Jacob tells me, I won an Emmy.

[Chuck]

Memories, am I right?

[Rico Colantoni]

You never forget moments like that.

[Mike Rowe]

It was just a great.

[Rico Colantoni]

Tell us about the time you won that Emmy.

[Mike Rowe]

I was on Golden Gate Avenue. But it gets even better. One week later, they canceled the show.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, yeah. Oh. How many times has that happened?

[Mike Rowe]

You win an Emmy and you're canceled?

[Rico Colantoni]

Nobody cares. Yeah, nobody cares. Why is that? It's quality, but yet nobody's watching. So that's just the business of. Well, I wasn't the business.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Zuckerberg, you know, he spent a billion dollars to see if he really wanted to compete with Netflix, to see if he wanted to be in that business. So he launched a platform called Watch. And he hired, like, Jada Pinkett Smith and me and some other people to do whatever show we wanted. And I wanted to do the show that I did. And it ran for 100, and I'm super grateful. People loved it. It was downloaded 400 million times. In fact, we're rebooting it right now under a different name because it was good. It was a celebration of. Of nice people doing good things in little towns, but of all the shows to hit, only to go away because the larger grand experiment turned out to be. Nah, we don't wanna. After a billion dollars. I mean, imagine having Just Shoot Me canceled at the height of its popularity because. Was it CBS or abc?

[Rico Colantoni]

NBC.

[Mike Rowe]

NBC. One of them. Bound to be one.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Just decides, ah, we don't. We don't want to do shows with cameras in them.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, well, he was the guy who canceled us.

[Mike Rowe]

Who?

[Rico Colantoni]

Jeff Zuckerberg.

[Mike Rowe]

Jeff Zuckerberg.

[Rico Colantoni]

Isn't that who. That you just mentioned?

[Mike Rowe]

No. There's Mark Zuckerberg who runs Facebook. There's Jeff Zucker who runs.

[Rico Colantoni]

He went to cnn, right? He went to cnn. He was the last chief that got rid of Just Shoot Me.

[Mike Rowe]

Did you know him?

[Rico Colantoni]

Jeff Zucker?

[Mike Rowe]

Did you ever meet him?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, he seemed. He seemed nice to us, but I don't think he.

[Mike Rowe]

My mother called him, called him to complain that I was doing a show called Somebody's Gotta do it, and it kept getting preempted. It came on before Bourdain's show. So, like, we shoot the show and we promote it, and then it'd be like a riot in Haiti or something. And they're breaking news and the wrong way call him. She had enough. So she calls him, leaves a message, gives him all kinds of hell. And it was so funny. We went back and filmed her doing it and turned it into a promo because they kept moving the show.

[Rico Colantoni]

That's so awesome.

[Mike Rowe]

And I'll tell you one other thing about that guy. You know, we don't see eye to eye on a bunch of stuff, but he gave me the rights to Somebody's Gotta do it back after Trump won. And he literally said, I'm going into the Donald Trump business. And if you thought your mother was pissed before about the amount of times you're going to get preempted everywhere. So we had shot season four.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, that was the first term. Right. That's when. The first time. Right, right, right, right. CNN made.

[Mike Rowe]

Yep. That was first of 20, 2016.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

So he literally gave me the rights. He was licensing that show. And, you know, Mary, this is like. You'll appreciate the extraordinary complexity of that deal. We own the rights. They took a license and then they just gave it back to us and didn't even air the fourth season. That's how committed he was. The money they lost on that was bananas. And they just gave it back to us. So we cut it in a half hours and sold it around the world.

[Rico Colantoni]

All because he. Yeah, he wanted to. He found entertainment in who he was.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, he also knew that.

[Rico Colantoni]

But we're talking About CNN too, right?

[Mike Rowe]

That's right.

[Rico Colantoni]

Talking about a news network that is supposed to be newsworthy.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And it was all about entertainment. And there it is.

[Mike Rowe]

You know what, ma'am? Okay, I think. How do you think about that? Like you, I know you're not a political guy really, but you, yeah, but you're living with a political animal. Chuck is very, very, very, very, very opinionated.

[Chuck]

What?

[Mike Rowe]

Very opinionated.

[Rico Colantoni]

I, I mean, I became a US citizen. So I, after the 2000 election, right when Gore and Ambush had that, it was crazy, like the super bowl. And I go, I want, I want in, in the next four years. So I became, I became a U.S. citizen so I could, so I can play. And Chuck, you know, being really balanced in his thinking because he knew he was talking to me. He said, listen to npr, listen to fox, listen to all of it. Listen to talk radio, listen to all of it. And I just found it interesting that people on the left were just so mean and angry.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And people on the right were just sort of like, this is. They just seem logical to me. But I'm still apolitical. But I naturally lean to the right, I think because just because I. Logic, logic will prevail over emotion and name calling and vilifying people just for how they. Because that, first and foremost, I'm an actor. And to be an actor I have to be non judgmental. I can't play a character and judge them. So people's behavior and choices they make are. It's gold for me. I don't judge it. And who you vote for, I don't judge either. But there are a lot of people who can't help but can't help it. Just dig into them and call them things and call them names and mean or racist or this or that. It's just like, what are you talking about? You don't understand why this person is voting for this person. Maybe he just. It's about paying the bills and feeding his family. It doesn't make him racist. It doesn't make him anything other than I'm going to vote for that guy. And that, and that's the part that confuses me about how divisive it is in the United States. It's still, people on the left just love throwing, being mean. And I love it when a guy like Jon Stewart says, stop calling him anything. Stop calling him names and start changing things.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

Do something. Well, I think like finally.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, I think you're right. Like the only thing that's persuasive today, not the Only thing. But we need to be able to criticize our own tribe.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Like, when Bill Maher speaks that kind of truth to that audience, it matters because that audience doesn't necessarily want to hear it. Likewise on the right, you know, if you can. You know who did a good job? Ben Shapiro did a good job for years when he would weigh in on Trump every single day, called Good Trump, Bad Trump. This is what he did. I like. This is what he did. I don't like.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

And the people who were all in really hated him for pointing out that. But in the end, that's kind of what we have to do. It can't be about D's and R's. And I wonder how you felt because I guess you were down here a couple weeks ago when the fires happened.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

You know, this is like your. Your second home.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Or. I don't know how you think of it, but what was that like? Had you just gotten the operation pre.

[Rico Colantoni]

It was free, so I. I wasn't sure if they were going to cancel the surgery. I didn't know what they were going to do, if it was going to shut the whole city down.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, wow.

[Rico Colantoni]

I had no idea. And these alerts on my phone, our phones, like. And then, you know, things settle down and you realize, oh, my friend just lost that house. Another friend just lost. And. But then you learn things along the way, too. It's like, wow. I mean, personally, I look at California and I go, where's Hollywood? It feels like the desert that it's built on, literally, there's no water, there's no work that's dry. It's like, why is that? Why is California so dry? People are moving to Atlanta because the work is there. It's like, it's Hollywood. We should be making films in Hollywood. We should be making TV shows. It should be that.

[Mike Rowe]

Do you think of Hollywood purely as a geography or as a sort of a state of mind?

[Rico Colantoni]

As a state of mind. It's a culture. It's absolutely the culture of the area. And when you dedicate yourself to a craft, you know, you're a cinematographer or a grip. These are working class guys making things that entertain. You know, it's like, that's the simple version of it. Then it becomes. Then you weaponize it and you. You have an agenda and all that stuff. But, you know, see, I. But there's no reason to not keep it here. And. And who do I go? Who do I blame? Or who do I try to hold? Is like, you know, it's whoever's in charge. Right.

[Mike Rowe]

I shot a show in Atlanta during the lockdown. Couldn't afford to shoot it here. Shot a show in Oklahoma. Seven seasons in Oklahoma.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Because that was a better deal than Atlanta.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

But it was impossible to even think about doing it here. What if Hollywood needs a. A new hip, right? I mean, like, really, what if. What if this town has become like a stubborn 61 year old man.

[Rico Colantoni]

That's a good point.

[Mike Rowe]

Who refuses to lie down and let its own scrotum swell up to unnatural sizes and to deal with a weepy wound.

[Rico Colantoni]

That's a good point, Mike.

[Mike Rowe]

Right. Because you pivot or perish, you adapt or die. And this town to me feels intransigent. And so like, no, we're going to do it this way. And whether it's a union that won't budge or whether it's a producers guild who won't budge or whether it's. Yeah, I don't know what it is, but man, it's like that pop fly. We're not going to hover here forever, guys.

[Rico Colantoni]

No, I got no argument against that. That's a really, really good point.

[Mike Rowe]

I didn't want to argue with you.

[Rico Colantoni]

But I mean, I'm romantic about it. I want it to be. When I came here in the 90s, it would still beautiful. People were happy, people were making money, and it was just, you know, it was like sitcoms where everybody's watching sitcoms.

[Mike Rowe]

Are you sure? Or did you just have a part of the elephant? Like, were you holding the tusk and concluding that the whole creature was ivory? Because that's what you had your hands on. Maybe.

[Rico Colantoni]

I mean, I was coming from the theater school. I just wanted to work. Yeah, I mean, that first paycheck. Talk about weeping. But I made more in one week doing a Hope and Gloria than my dad did in a whole year as a laborer.

[Mike Rowe]

And it's like, all right, man, you want to cry, let's cry.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, tell me that.

[Mike Rowe]

Because I live in a pretty nice house now and my dad came to see me for the first time about five years ago. He taught public school his whole life, and he knows what I do, but he doesn't really like the idea of being hired to go give a speech and getting paid more money than he earned in any given decade. We don't talk about that. I think he kind of knew it, but, you know, he walked down onto my deck and he. And he looked at the view that I'm blessed to enjoy and he wept and he looked at me dude, with that, it just like, what did I miss? How did you do that? It reminded me of that scene in Death of a Salesman. Right? Where Willie says to his Uncle Ben.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, how did you do it?

[Mike Rowe]

And he said, I walked into the forest with nothing and I came out a rich man. And poor Willie can't connect the dots. I was like, but how? Gold mine. What? How? How? That's the thing about this town. Everybody knows what's possible.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

If you work hard, you're lucky. Everybody knows you could be Enrico Colantoni. With a resume, you can't even name your credits.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

But they don't quite know how until it happens.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know what I think it took me going back to Toronto to realize what it. What's so magical about this, this part of this place. And Disney proved it. You see barren land, but if you plant it and you water it and you nurture it, it'll grow. It's not like New York City where you feel the creative energy just like it'll. It just literally carries you moment to moment to New York. But in la, in this area, if you plant it and work it and it'll grow.

[Mike Rowe]

Dude, that's. That's Chauncey Gardner right there.

[Rico Colantoni]

That is Chauncey Gardner.

[Mike Rowe]

That's Peter Sellers, man.

[Rico Colantoni]

But isn't it true, though?

[Mike Rowe]

Yes.

[Rico Colantoni]

And how many people come here with the expectation that it's just going to happen, that they don't have to do anything?

[Mike Rowe]

Talk a little bit more about that juxtaposition between the difficulties and the advantages of New York, since that's where we started. Yeah, right. Me stepping over him, stepping over a body that I thought was dead. Like, what could possibly be the advantage for a creative type in that environment? Pros and cons of each place. Imagine somebody's listening who's trying to decide, I know I'm going to be in this business. I'm just not sure where to live.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. I guess in New York, you have to be louder than the noise, Right. You have to make a statement that is louder than what's going on. And here it's so quiet. I go back to that analogy of like, you know, plant it in your own garden. You could create something just and make it your baby and it'll grow. But in New York, there's an energy that everybody's tapped into, but is it channeled? Do you know? Where do you want? I mean, I came out of Yale and I started working. So many of my actor friends are saying, why you?

[Mike Rowe]

Right.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know, why you?

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And I go, I don't know. I guess because I want it. I want it. I'm a working class guy. When I set out, I didn't say I wanted to be Dad, I want to be a star. I didn't say I want to be a movie star. I said, I don't understand that. My parents were working class. I understood that. Apply that to this. I'm going to be a working actor. We went to the Academy. It was about how to become a working actor. I just wanted to work and keep working. And New York really gave me the people, the energy just kept me buoyant. It just kept me going until the next thing I know, I'm at Yale. And it's a different sort of energy. You're in New Haven, you're outside of the New York City vortex, and you really see that there's. Theater is all over America. Regional theater. I didn't know about regional theater. It was like, wow, that's where the working guy is. That's where they're working. They're in companies and they're working and they're doing plays. I didn't think I'd come to Hollywood, but it was a sitcom, Right. Which was like a play. And it was aligned with being bigger and having more fun and making choices and rehearsing. And so it was just. It was an easier transition. But it was always about the energy of New York. And that working class mentality came from the East Coast. Toronto, New York. The east coast has that.

[Mike Rowe]

You know, Nathan Fillian.

[Rico Colantoni]

I know he's Canadian.

[Mike Rowe]

Don't you guys all know each other?

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

No, he sat right there a couple months ago.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

And he was my neighbor in New York, and he said virtually everything you just said. And his thing. He's such a geek. He's such a science fiction guy, you know? But it was such a treat to talk to him because we hadn't talked in 20 years, but we each followed our respective careers on the tv.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

And so I was always just so delighted. A little different than you because I. I knew you well before that, and I knew there was no doubt of the path you were on. But when I met Nathan, he was. He was Joey Buchanan and One Life to Live, I guess. And so it was like it could have gone either way, but he had to quit that gig to come out here.

[Rico Colantoni]

Interesting, right? Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

And so to. To reminisce with him about Nathan York and to. Who else did I just listen to? The Game of Thrones actor little fella.

[Rico Colantoni]

What's his name Peter Dinklage? Yes.

[Mike Rowe]

God, what a talent that guy is. I mean, how else am I going to describe him? Dark hair, beard, three foot. That.

[Chuck]

That's three and a half feet. Yeah, yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

He. He just gives a great talk on he's love.

[Rico Colantoni]

I mean, powerful.

[Mike Rowe]

Very powerful.

[Rico Colantoni]

There's a lot of energy in that.

[Mike Rowe]

But this, the struggle to articulate, like, the dark matter of New York, that can work in your favor if you get into that slipstream. It doesn't exist here. It's so different.

[Rico Colantoni]

No.

[Mike Rowe]

I don't know if that's part of the public service, too. People ought to know it.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know, young actors say, where do I go? LA or New York? I don't blink. I go. Go to New York. Go to New York. I would rather be unemployed in New York City than Los Angeles. Between gigs, New York City is the place to go.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

You're walking down the street, you randomly run into somebody, next thing you know, you this. It's like the universe is working very well in New York City and it's happening.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

That fast. Go into a museum, you'll see a place, oh, we're going downtown. Spend the whole day and not know where what just happened.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Great.

[Rico Colantoni]

And here it's like, you do. But you do have to. You have to bring that same work ethic to Los Angeles in order for anything to sort of come your way.

[Mike Rowe]

But maybe a different expectation in order to stay sane.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, 100%. 100%. It's about the work. I mean, they talk about it. It's about the work in New York. It's about doing it. It's about getting to do it. And it's very interesting about Canadian film and television as well. They very much want the success. The standard for their success in Canada is getting to do it. I mean, if the government is giving you money or they get financing from something else, they get to go to work, and that's the success. They're not worried about box office. They're not worried about anything other than, we made this.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Is it just my imagination or is like John Candy having a moment still posthumously.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, tell me why we're just talking.

[Mike Rowe]

About Canadians, and I'm sitting here, like, wondering, did Second City TV loom large for you? Like, was that a big deal? Oh, yeah, it was for me, too.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. Kids in the hall, too.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know, SCTV was like, most of them started in Chicago anyway at the Second City, and then the show spawned from there. But yeah, imagine the alumni that came out of that Show.

[Mike Rowe]

How are you going to feel when Canada becomes the 51st state?

[Rico Colantoni]

I hope it lowers taxes. I hope it gets cheaper to live up there. Keep more of my paycheck.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah. Chuck, did you write down Louder Than the Noise by any chance?

[Chuck]

Yeah, Be Louder Than the Noise.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, I think that's the title for this one. I know if I talked to you long enough, you'd say something worth writing down.

[Chuck]

We got a crier and then we got a cougher. We got a crier and a cougher.

[Mike Rowe]

I know. I know. It's like a freaking tb.

[Rico Colantoni]

Part of my. Part of my head is going. Is going. My leg is going to spasm because it hasn't had that much ex. It's like it's been atrophied from the surgery, and suddenly it's just shaking like this.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, man.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, Mike, you're so awesome. Awesome.

[Mike Rowe]

How long have we been talking?

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my God.

[Chuck]

Hour and a half.

[Mike Rowe]

All right. Dude, I love you. I love you so much for coming here. And, you know.

[Rico Colantoni]

You know, to this day, I don't know why, but. Okay. Well, thank you for having.

[Mike Rowe]

You know why? Because you love him.

[Rico Colantoni]

I do love him. And I love you.

[Mike Rowe]

Tertiary.

[Rico Colantoni]

We haven't slept in the same room since that one time my son was there.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

And he'll never forget that, Quinton.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Rico Colantoni]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, I got an arrow bed. If you. I mean, you guys. Wait.

[Rico Colantoni]

Wait a minute. What story is that?

[Chuck]

What story is that where you slept in the same room with Quentin and.

[Rico Colantoni]

No, no, no, no. He. I was there. Quentin was there. Mike, I think, was sleeping on the couch.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, sure.

[Rico Colantoni]

And we came down and Quentin got to see Mike, and it was like.

[Mike Rowe]

Oh, yeah, it's the microphone. It's still. We're technically still, you know, still out there.

[Rico Colantoni]

We're still. I don't know, an hour and a half. I thought maybe. Maybe we stopped talking. No, that meant a lot to my. My boy, who's now, you know, dealing with his own kind of sure. Stuff up.

[Mike Rowe]

And was that the same night who got so upset with me when I was over at Rico's house? I tied somebody's birthday.

[Chuck]

That was Amy. Another Amy Wysorek. You tied a balloon? A helium balloon.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, my God.

[Chuck]

To the cat's tail?

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah.

[Chuck]

And she did not like that.

[Rico Colantoni]

She didn't like it?

[Mike Rowe]

No, no. She didn't appreciate it. I'm pretty sure, like, on behalf of the cat. The cat didn't seem annoyed. But I like the idea that watching this cat walk around with a. Like, a Four or five balloons tied to its tail.

[Rico Colantoni]

Where was I?

[Mike Rowe]

You were there. I think you might have been laughing.

[Rico Colantoni]

Too, but she think I was laughing too hard.

[Mike Rowe]

She sat me down, man.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, no, she did not.

[Mike Rowe]

She was like, let me explain.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, no.

[Mike Rowe]

The nerves and the important importance of a cat's tail. Let me just ask you, Michael, if you were a cat and some large creature came along and tied balloons to a very important part of your body, Right?

[Rico Colantoni]

I was just like, was that Halloween? It must have been.

[Mike Rowe]

It must have been this black cat.

[Rico Colantoni]

Must have been Halloween.

[Mike Rowe]

I remember it was a black cat, maybe gray. Those balloons and all the different colors, it really snazzed it up, man.

[Rico Colantoni]

Were you there, Charlie?

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, yeah, I remember that. Yeah, yeah. Chuck was just shaking his head. It was the same face, in fact, you had when I stepped over. When you stepped over the corpse in the. In the road that turned out to be a drunk.

[Chuck]

I knew it was a drunk all along.

[Rico Colantoni]

Remember, you were the only one who was confused about.

[Mike Rowe]

Yeah, but you also knew that Amy was going to give me the hairy eyeballoons to a cat's head.

[Rico Colantoni]

There are a couple people in that circle of friends who would have given you. I'm surprised it was her.

[Mike Rowe]

I mean, break a few eggs. The shows that people should watch, if they have any taste that you're currently.

[Rico Colantoni]

Involved in English Teacher, you can see it on Disney plus or who. Hulu fx, I think is still on Demand. We're still waiting to hear on a second season pickup, but they just extended the. The hold on us, so it looks terrific. It's okay. So it's very funny. I have a lot of fun.

[Mike Rowe]

Do you cry? Is there any weeping?

[Rico Colantoni]

No weeping. I save that for you and Chuck.

[Mike Rowe]

I appreciate it.

[Chuck]

There's no way to stop him, dude. No way to stop them.

[Mike Rowe]

And what's the other one you're shooting in Canada?

[Rico Colantoni]

It's called Allegiance. I think right now you can only see it on CBC and CBC gem. It's not down here, but so dozens.

[Mike Rowe]

Of viewers and I hear great things.

[Chuck]

You have to live in the 51st state to see that one.

[Mike Rowe]

I sound like Eeyore or Snidely. Some animated character.

[Rico Colantoni]

And there's another show called the Trades I do up there with.

[Mike Rowe]

That's great. We're out of time, you know.

[Rico Colantoni]

And then there's a. There's a tire company that I.

[Mike Rowe]

Hey, man, I know a guy in Australia who's looking for spokesman. I think I'm off the short list now since he heard me throw up. On my feet, the one and only Enrico Conantoni. Chuck, thank you for getting him down here. Rico, thank you for being so forthcoming about all your body's failings and all your hopes and dreams.

[Rico Colantoni]

Dude, I hope you get something out of this. It's like some of the people that you have on the show are smart and they got worldly, and all I do is cry.

[Mike Rowe]

Think of yourself as a counterbalance. But wherever there's economic relief, you know.

[Chuck]

What those people did? What those people have that you don't have is the ability to talk into the microphone.

[Rico Colantoni]

They got books. They got something that. So me, I'm going. I just cry.

[Mike Rowe]

Do you have, like, a website or anything?

[Rico Colantoni]

No, I don't. I don't even go on. There's Instagram.

[Mike Rowe]

I don't know where anybody. There's nothing anybody can do Instagram. Except watch your. You're on Instagram.

[Rico Colantoni]

Instagram, yeah. Tony Underscore. Really?

[Chuck]

Here it is. Yeah. Enrico calling. Tony Underscore.

[Mike Rowe]

Really? Really, Folks, do me a favor. If you enjoyed this conversation, light up his Instagram, and if it's not too much to ask, go ahead and post it. A picture of your genitals. He'd appreciate that, all things considered.

[Rico Colantoni]

I got the scar. Oh, the scar is beautiful.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, you know what? You're going to show it to me as soon as somebody says cut. Say it, Chuck.

[Chuck]

Cut.

[Mike Rowe]

There we go.

[Rico Colantoni]

Oh, Mike, what a joy.

[Mike Rowe]

When you leave a review, which we hope that you'll do, tell us who you are. Tell us who you are. And before you go, won't you leave.

[Rico Colantoni]

Five.

[Mike Rowe]

Star. Five lousy little stars.

[Rico Colantoni]

I am Christopher Titus of the Titus Podcast. I am Rachel.

[Mike Rowe]

And I am Ken Hyland, AKA the Highlander. When the rest of the world is.

[Rico Colantoni]

Screaming insanity, we scream sanity. We do a satire comedy news and events podcast. First and foremost, funny first.

[Mike Rowe]

Whatever's happening in the world, if you.

[Rico Colantoni]

Want to hear it in a way that doesn't rip your soul out, we'll.

[Mike Rowe]

Make you laugh with it.

[Rico Colantoni]

At the end of the day, we just scream sanity.

[Mike Rowe]

That's what we do. Can we just talk sanity?

[Rico Colantoni]

Because they have to screenshot sanity so nobody's gonna hear it. So tired of you guys screaming, I talk stupidity.

[Mike Rowe]

Well, that's true.

[Chuck]

The Titus Podcast on all major streaming platforms, YouTube [e-mail] Titus Podcast, it's time to scream sanity.