Reel Confessions: David Wain

Summary

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Unspooled: Reel Confessions – David Wain

Host(s): Paul Scheer & Amy Nicholson
Guest: David Wain
Episode Date: August 7, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Reel Confessions" features acclaimed comedy director, writer, and actor David Wain. Hosts Paul Scheer and Amy Nicholson dig into Wain's new film Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Tape, explore his comedic sensibilities, discuss iconic and formative movies, and share confessional moments about watching and making films. The conversation covers Wain's unique comedic voice, his approach to collaboration and casting, the evolving relationship between his personal life and his work, and his memories as both a moviegoer and filmmaker.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

David Wain’s New Movie: Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Tape

• Early Praise:
  • Paul and Amy rave about the film’s humor and sense of fun.
  • Amy: “The second time I saw it here, I had to watch it alone in a room… and I still laughed, which is impressive.” (02:00)
• Collaboration & Casting:
  • Wain co-wrote with Ken Marino; both previously collaborated on Children’s Hospital and Role Models.
  • Paul highlights the “mix of new younger faces” (Zoe Deutch, Ben Wang) alongside frequent collaborators like Jon Hamm, John Slattery, Joe Lo Truglio, and Marino.
  • “See this movie in a crowded theater... it’s got so many great jokes in it.” – Paul Scheer (02:41)

Cinematic Confessions: The "Celebrity Pass" Dilemma

• Opening Confessional:
  • Hypothetical situation: whose side does Wain take if one partner in a couple uses a "celebrity pass"?
  • Wain: “First of all, I’m not friends with any couples.” (04:23)
  • “I would take Marty, whoever that might be.” (04:47)
  • Paul: “You make that a very strong thing—never befriend a couple.”

Iconic Lines and Their Afterlife

• On Quotable Films:
  • Wain says he generally enjoys hearing his films quoted, but “there are lines in Role Models that I feel like haven’t aged so well... casual homophobic jabs.” (05:09)
  • Notes it’s contextually justified, but recognizes cultural shifts.
  • Wain on fan quotes: “Sometimes I get... it’s a funny thing... they quote a line I said in some episode 25 years ago, and I’m like, sorry, I don’t exactly remember what you’re talking about.” (05:55)

Films in the Canon: The Wizard of Oz, Dick Tracy, and Hidden Gems

• On The Wizard of Oz:
  • Wain admits he hasn’t revisited it since childhood; its presence in his latest film is drawn from “the collective knowledge that we all remember.” (06:46)
  • Amy calls out how this tribute illustrates the film’s cultural impact.
• Warren Beatty & Dick Tracy:
  • Paul recounts Beatty’s legal obligation to appear as Dick Tracy to retain rights, culminating in bizarre TV appearances. (09:00)
  • Wain calls Warren Beatty “a criminally underrated director.” (08:32)

The Underrated in Comedy & Film

• Undervalued Comedic Performances:
  • Wain praises all the “little side characters” in Heaven Can Wait and the casting choices of Warren Beatty. (08:21)
• Dragging Friends to Unloved Favorites:
  • Wain admits he’s “totally been that guy” dragging friends to world cinema like Together or Nashville only for them to be bored. (10:52)
  • Shares an anecdote of his dad forcing an 80-year-old friend to watch Wet Hot American Summer on VHS:
    • “This 80-year-old man probably... sat there stone-faced for 90 minutes. Got up, said: ‘OK. Well, everyone likes the love story, I guess.’” (11:32)

Formative Influences & Comedic Weirdness

• Comedic DNA:
  • Wain credits the “shameless weirdness” of early Woody Allen films like Bananas and Love and Death:
    • “He’s so odd. And it so struck me funny. And I was like, oh, he can just do that.” (12:30)

Moviegoing Habits & Snack Preferences

• Theater Rituals:
  • Wain isn’t picky about seating but dislikes sitting too close or missing the beginning. (17:36)
  • “If that happens, I probably won’t go.”
  • Will eat “the hot dog or the nachos... because I need to eat something,” though he generally lowers his food standards at the movies. (18:01)
  • Praises the Angelika in NYC for serving actual food.

Standout Screening Experiences

• Most Memorable:
  • The Gail Daughtry premiere at Sundance 2026:
    • “It was really quite emotional... so exciting and so thunderous and so unified and validating.” (19:17)
  • Describes feeling less nervous for screenings because “the main event is finished... it’s out of my control.” (20:07)

Films That Changed His Life

• Personal Impact:
  • Rom-coms often cause him to “rethink” aspects of his relationships and desire to be a better partner. (20:27)
  • Wain: “Most rom-coms I’m like, oh, I should either be in a relationship or be in a better relationship.”

The Evolution of Relationships On and Off Screen

• Wain reflects on the personal connections and shifts reflected across his work, especially in Wanderlust, Wayney Days, and Gail Daughtry.
  • “Everything’s reflected and then jumbled in through a lens and then put it through a blender.” (21:21)

Memorable (and Awkward) Encounters

• The Wrong Lunch Date:
  • The co-host shares a story where Wain sat down at the wrong lunch meeting, confidently making small talk with a stranger who turned out to be the co-host's boyfriend. (22:12)
  • Wain: “You're just like, doing that small talk and I'm just like, wait a minute... we're not people that are supposed to be meeting.” (22:45)

Movie Theater Romance

• First Makeout Movie Experience:
  • Wain: “I think it was during Hannah and Her Sisters... my first real girlfriend in high school... the whole thing was very charged and there was some making out.” (23:49)

Overrated & Traumatizing Films

• On Overrated "Classics":
  • Wain demurs when asked if there's a classic film that doesn’t deserve its place, citing nothing specific but promising honesty:
    • “When I can’t think of something, I’m just gonna be honest and say it.” (24:59)
• Childhood Trauma at the Movies:
  • Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory “just... I was crying and so upset... it’s about kids being killed... I never ate chocolate for a long time after that.” (25:12)
  • Paul: “Some people have the shower [from] Psycho or the shark... I love that it’s chocolate for you.” (25:44)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “First of all, I’m not friends with any couples.” – David Wain (04:23)
• “There are lines in Role Models that I feel like haven’t aged so well.” – David Wain (05:09)
• “The layer of Wizard of Oz that’s in Gail Daughtry is pulling from the collective knowledge that we all remember... not for the Oz heads.” – David Wain (06:46 & 07:09)
• “Warren Beatty is a criminally underrated director.” – David Wain (08:32)
• “Sometimes I get... it’s a funny thing when people come up to me and quote a line that I said in... something 25 years ago, and I’m like, sorry, I don’t exactly remember.” – David Wain (05:55)
• “Everything’s reflected and then jumbled in through a lens and then put it through a blender.” – David Wain (21:21)
• On Willy Wonka: “It’s about kids being killed in this place in the most horrific, awful ways... I never ate chocolate for a long time after that.” – David Wain (25:12)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:00] – Amy on laughing alone at Gail Daughtry
• [04:23] – David’s ban on befriending couples
• [05:09] – David discusses aged (and aging) jokes in Role Models
• [06:46] – Discussion on using The Wizard of Oz as a cultural touchstone
• [08:32] – David on the brilliance of Heaven Can Wait and Warren Beatty
• [11:32] – Wet Hot American Summer: Dad forces golf buddy to watch
• [12:30] – Comedic roots: Woody Allen and formative films
• [17:36] – Moviegoing habits and snacks
• [19:17] – Sundance 2026 screening of Gail Daughtry
• [21:21] – Art imitating life: changes in Wain’s personal relationships and films
• [22:12] – Wrong lunch date story
• [23:49] – First makeout during Hannah and Her Sisters
• [25:12] – Childhood trauma from Willy Wonka

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Conclusion & Takeaways

This episode dives into the wellsprings of David Wain’s comedic sensibility, his abiding affection for the awkward and the absurd, his openness about career misfires and fan interactions, and his nuanced understanding of how relationships—both on screen and off—influence his work. The conversation is peppered with hilarity, honesty, and the unique kind of cinematic love that makes Unspooled essential listening for film lovers and comedy fans alike.

Check out David Wain’s new movie Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Tape in theaters, and look for his Wet Hot American Summer tribute tour!

Transcript

[Narrator/Ad Reader]

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[Amy Nicholson]

Hey, everybody.

[Paul Scheer]

Welcome to Unspooled's Real Confessions, the show where we dim the lights and ask our guests to bear their cinematic souls.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

We're talking about the movies they love, the ones they hate, the films they're embarrassing, that they own, and the reasons you might not want to sit next to them in a dark theater.

[Paul Scheer]

I am Paul Scheer. I'm an actor, writer, and director, and I am friends and have played tennis with our guest today. Have you played tennis with our guest today, Amy?

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

I don't play tennis, period. That looks hard.

[Paul Scheer]

Amy, you and I got to see our guest's new film, Gail Daughtry, in the celebrity sex tape a little bit earlier than other people. And I have just been raving about this movie. I think it's so incredibly funny. David Wayne, you know him from everything in comedy, from, you know, Stella Waney Days, the State, Wet Hot, American Summer, Children's Hospital, Wanderlust. They came together role models. I mean, he really has carved out this giant slice of comedy that feels incredibly specific to him. I don't think anyone else can make a David Wayne movie. Like, his comedy is such a clear, clean, kind of wild voice.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

Yeah. I mean, I adored Gail Daughtry. Like, I saw it at Sundance, saw it again, wrote a rave review about it. I can even give it the weirdest compliment, which is the second time I saw it here. I had to watch it alone in a room with absolutely nobody else around, and I still laughed, which is impressive.

[Paul Scheer]

I saw it for the first time in a. The first time he ever screened anything for anyone in his house, everyone sitting in front of his computer watching it in uncomfortable chairs. And it was a great experience. You knew from the moment one that they had this great thing ready to go. And this is a collaboration of Ken Marino and David Wayne. They both wrote this together. David directed it. Ken Marino and David, they, of course, worked on Children's Hospital together, but they wrote role models together as well. And what I really find interesting about this movie, first of all, see this movie in a crowded theater, see it with people, because it's got so many great jokes in it. But I also feel like they did something really interesting, which is they kind of put some other people in front of the movie. Zoe Deutch is the star of this film. She's absolutely fantastic. Ben Wang, also, he was the next Karate Kid or one of the new Karate Kids. He was very good in that movie. But, you know, there's a bunch of.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

He's in the Long Walk. He's the guy who's, like, talking, talking, talking, talking, talking. He's terrific.

[Paul Scheer]

And so they kind of populate with some new younger faces. And then every role in this movie is just full of your favorite people from this world that David has created. You know, you have, obviously, Jon Hamm and John Slattery, but I'm talking more about, like, Joe Latrulio and Ken Marino. Just every person that you love is in this movie. It's such a fun one to watch.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

It absolutely is. So should we bring him into our confessional?

[Paul Scheer]

Yes. All right. So, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome David Wayne.

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

We each had an agreement. Yes. To be able to have sex with a certain celebrity given the opportunity.

[David Wain]

Yes, exactly.

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

And Tom went too far. In the back of a bookstore. Yes. Wow.

[Guest or voice actor for ad]

So what do I do?

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

If you are going to continue your relationship with Tom, you must have sex with. With your celebrity crush. So if I want to repair my relationship with Tom, you must have sex with Jon Hamm.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

All right, well, then, David Wayne, I'm going to start off with a hard question. You ready?

[David Wain]

Yes.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

You're friends with a couple. One of them uses their celebrity pass, the other one is pissed. Whose side are you taking?

[David Wain]

Well, first of all, I'm not friends with any couples.

[Paul Scheer]

You make that a very strong thing about yourself, like, you will never befriend a couple.

[David Wain]

But in the hypothetical version of this, I would take Marty's side.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

Anybody named Marty? Wait, what am I missing?

[Paul Scheer]

It's Marty. This is Marty.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

Just Marty. Every Marty.

[David Wain]

I would take Marty, Whoever that might be.

[Paul Scheer]

All right. So, David, your movies are incredibly quotable, but if you could make one quote disappear, one quote that you hear a lot that comes up to you, would. Would there be one that you would just say, maybe I don't need to hear that one again?

[David Wain]

The honest truth is no. But I do think there are. But there are lines in role models that I feel like haven't aged so well. Just in terms of the casual homophobic jabs back.

[Amy Nicholson]

Sure.

[David Wain]

Although a friend of mine just watched it and told me that they thought in the context of what it was, that it works fine. Today. And in terms of, like, that we're not portraying these, these guys as very nice. So I don't know.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, I'll take that. Like, I. I would wonder if you would even have a note on performance. Like, when people are doing, like, lines from the State or anything else, and they're just not performing it the right way, it would get under your skin. Sometimes when people approach me, right, Like, I'm like, oh, well, you're kind of. You're not doing it the right way. I'm, I'm. I'm upset more about, like, at least if you're going to do the line, give it something.

[David Wain]

I think it's more. It's not that it bothers me, but sometimes I get. It's a funny thing when people come up to me and they quote a line that I said in some episode of something 25 years ago, and I'm like, sorry, I don't exactly remember what you're talking about. And they're like, what do you mean, remember? I'm like, frankly, it's been a long life.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

The wizard of Oz, where does that movie rank in the canon?

[David Wain]

It's not in my canon, really. I remember watching it when I was a kid every year, of course, on tv, and I liked it. And then I really haven't seen it since that time.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

You didn't watch it again. Before putting it in Galdatry, we looked

[David Wain]

at a couple things just to check it, but

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

that's a tribute to how much of an impression it made.

[David Wain]

Well, the layer of wizard of Oz that's in Gail Datri is pulling from the collective knowledge that we all remember from it from whenever we might have seen it. So we didn't want to. It wasn't. It's not like we didn't want to pull the obscure things that no one would know. That's my excuse for being lazy.

[Paul Scheer]

No, I think it's good because if you got too in the weeds, then, you know, then who are you making the movie for? You have to have the general knowledge of it all.

[David Wain]

Not for the Oz heads.

[Paul Scheer]

There's so many. They're at the Sphere all the time.

[David Wain]

Yeah, they're all at the Sphere. And we're not. This movie is not. And I just found out our movie is not showing at the Sphere.

[Paul Scheer]

That really upsets me. And this is why we need to support cinema. We need to get every movie, movie in the sphere. And, you know, but maybe if you had a little CGI David Zasoff, it would have worked because that's how more

[David Wain]

low budget, absurdist independent comedies in the sphere.

[Paul Scheer]

That's what we're saying surrounded you. I think that you have this amazing ability to get great comedic performances out of people that we don't expect. And you've been doing that for years. From back even in the Stella shorts, you would have people that you didn't even associate with comedy giving these performances. In Gail Daughtry, a lot of the front facing cast are new faces surrounded by all these people that we love. Is there a comedic performance that you just love, that you kind of feel is criminally underrated? Like a performer who just delivered but doesn't get enough credit for their comedy

[David Wain]

just from any film?

[Paul Scheer]

In any film? Yeah. If you directed it, then great. But you don't have to be, you know, it doesn't have to be. It could be very much anything.

[David Wain]

I feel it's what, what came to mind is

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

the.

[David Wain]

All the little side characters in Heaven Can Wait. I was just thinking about.

[Amy Nicholson]

Oh yeah.

[David Wain]

Are just so odd and interesting in like, like the Butlers in the House and like. And also just, I just felt like, I feel like, I think Warren Beatty is a criminally undergraded, underrated director and I feel like his choices of casting and those little moments in that movie that I've seen so many times come to mind.

[Amy Nicholson]

Oh, I love that.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

Where's Dick Tracy in your canon?

[Paul Scheer]

One of the best things about Dick Tracy I think we talked about in the show one time is that to keep Dick Tracy alive, like once every five or six years, Warren Beatty has to put on that costume. So he retains the rights to Dick Tracy. And you'll see him pop up in weird places like on TCM doing an interview that is 100% true. I will send you a link to him like only a handful of years ago having a sit down conversation as Dick Tracy. So it's like, oh yeah, I'm still working with this property.

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

Good to see you, Detective Tracy. It's been a while. It has indeed. Yes.

[David Wain]

So what can I do for you?

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

Good question. Good question.

[David Wain]

It's nice to see that yellow hat and coat.

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

I still don't take off my hat and coat. Nowadays you just never know when somebody's going to put you on television. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how Beatty seemed to be so much more respectful of other people's opinions than I had mistakenly assumed that he was. He never expressed any interest in my opinions. And that interview you did with him, Mr. Mankiewicz, is very enlightening. I'm Sorry, I never saw it till yesterday.

[David Wain]

Thank you. Did you tell Beatty you were impressed? What did he say?

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

Well, we don't talk.

[David Wain]

What did he sign?

[Paul Scheer]

Well, he signed to protect it. He doesn't want anyone else to take it.

[David Wain]

Oh, my goodness.

[Paul Scheer]

You will. It is that. That. I will send you that video. We should actually. And it's an odd interview because they're interviewing Dick Tracy, not Warren Beatty about Dick Tracy. Oh, man.

[David Wain]

Genius.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, ask another one.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

Okay. Were you ever the friend who drags everybody to watch a movie and then everyone hates it and turns on you?

[David Wain]

Yes. Well, yes, I've. I've, you know, my favorite, like, you know, go to over and over again movies like Together, the Swedish movie from 2000 or Nashville. There's like certain ones that are definitely not for everyone, but like my absolute favorites. And I've forced certain people to watch them and they're like, okay, can we turn it off? I'm so bored.

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

Like.

[David Wain]

Or, you know, did you really have to do that? One of my related favorite stories is that when I made White Hot American Summer, my father brought one of his best friends in off the golf course in the middle of the day on a hot day in like the summer house. And he's like, you watch my son's movie. And he sat him down by himself.

[Amy Nicholson]

Oh, no.

[David Wain]

In a room watching like a VHS tape of Wet Hot American Summer. This 80 year old man probably. He's like, come on, watch my son's movie. I'm so proud of him. I'm like, dad, not a good. Why are you making Vic Gelb watch this movie? And he sat there stone faced for 90 minutes and he got up, he's like, okay, well, everyone loves. Likes the love story, I guess. Like, dad, can you not do this again? He's like, okay, okay, okay.

[Paul Scheer]

You have such a distinctive tone, and I feel like it's something that. I feel like you must look back at your, like, the way that you grew up. Was there a film or TV shows that really, like, kind of allowed you to go down this path? Even if it was like, I want to make the opposite of that. Like, is there anything like a touchstone just from your past that you think like, oh, this was kind of more formative than I thought.

[David Wain]

Honestly, I thought this sort of like shameless weirdness of some of those Woody Allen movies really stuck in my bones, you know, bananas and. And love and death, those kind of things. Sleeper where I was just like, he's so odd. And it's so. It just struck me so Funny. And I was like, oh, he can just do that. You know, like what comes to mind is the scene with that Sylvester Stallone is in, I think in Bananas where he just like, oh yeah. Gets caught by like thugs on the subway and then he just sort of like touches them weirdly.

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[Paul Scheer]

you go see a movie in the theater, do you have specific things that you need to be met? Like do you go to a. I

[David Wain]

always get three boxes of Raisinets, a bunch of hot dogs. No, I'm sorry, what do you mean?

[Paul Scheer]

Well, like do you need to sit in a certain spot? Will you not go to like a food service one, you know, do you avoid opening weekends? Do you like seeing movies by yourself? Is there like a perfect movie theater environment for you to watch, you know, a film? Like do you need those snacks? Do you not want snacks? Like you know that, that kind of. What's your perfect theater experience?

[David Wain]

Definitely left movies because I was too close and I couldn't like if I was in the front row or the Second row and I can't see very well. I've left.

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

But

[David Wain]

I would say I'm definitely one of those people that doesn't like to miss the beginning.

[Paul Scheer]

Right.

[David Wain]

So if that happens, I probably won't go. But otherwise, no, I'm not too picky about it. I enjoy going to the film movies more and more.

[Paul Scheer]

Would you eat a hot dog? Would you eat a hot dog in there?

[David Wain]

I do sometimes. I often am very hungry at the movies and I'll lower my normal eating standards quite a bit. And I'll have the hot dog or the nachos or something just cause I need to eat something.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

The nachos are fantastic.

[Paul Scheer]

I had impossible nuggets.

[David Wain]

Yeah. Gross.

[Paul Scheer]

And that was not. It was. Yeah, it really kind of played havoc on my stomach. And they don't normally, but I was like, maybe these aren't being prepared the right way. I don't know. But I did. I was hungry, I had to eat and I wanted.

[David Wain]

What bummer to me though is you go to a place like Alamo, which is supposed to be the answer to all that. And the food there's bad too.

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, it's not there. Like, the only place that figured it out was I pick and they went out of business. You know, it's like sometimes it's too dark and I have to like, how am I supposed to eat this with my hands?

[David Wain]

Well, I went back in New York recently to Angelica, and there they do it right. They have a whole upstairs area with really actual food. And it's great.

[Paul Scheer]

Now. All right, you've screened a bunch of your films, I'm sure, to very different audiences. What is the best screening moment that you've had? It could be in replaying a film. It could be in launching a film. But what do you remember as that moment as a director that you get to have this, you know, what is it? The J. Kelly moment, you know, of your own work.

[David Wain]

Honestly, I think maybe the best one. I mean, there's been some really memorable ones. But I think one of the best certainly was the January of this year. Gail Daughtry at Sundance. Because I was coming back to Sundance after having been there many times, but for the first time, 25 years before, with White Hot American Summer. And it was a different audience in that there was some familiarity with what they were getting before they saw Gail Daughtry in terms of a filmmaker. And it was a big giant, you know, primetime Echols screening. And it was the response. Having not seen the movie with any real audience before was just so Exciting and so thunderous and so unified and validating that I really just. It was really quite emotional.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

Are you nervous before walking out in that Eccles theater?

[David Wain]

A little bit, but not, not too much. I'm never quite. I'm never so nervous when it comes to screening because the. The main event is already finished, you know, like, and out of my control. So it's not like I'm doing a show.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

You know, has a movie ever made, you think, you know what? This part of my life isn't working. I gotta fix it.

[David Wain]

A movie. Oh, sure. I mean, most rom coms I'm like, oh, I should either be in a relationship or be in a better relationship. That's what comes to mind. But I mean, you do spend a

[Paul Scheer]

lot of your work around relationships, right? I mean, even waney days, you know, back, you know, at the. The beginning of the Internet, like, was about like you navigating, you know, just romantic relationships and they came together, obviously is playing in that field. I think Gail Daughtry also is playing in that field. Like, you know, is, you know, is that, you know, to me, I feel like you attack it in many different ways, though. It never feels like you're getting the same thing. So do you feel like as you are making these movies, it is coming at different stages of your own life where you're like, oh, I'm wrestling with this now.

[David Wain]

Yeah, well, I mean, yeah. And Wanderlust actually evolved during the. During the process of writing Wanderlust, my life changed and I became. I got married and I was like things. And so the perspective of what the starting point of that movie changed as it started to more reflect what I was going through and what Ken was going through. And I always think it's interesting that Wayney days, which is the closest I've ever come to literally sort of using my own real life as a single man as a basis for something was made entirely during the relatively short period of my life when I was married and Zandy was in it and was very much part of making Winnie. Did you know? I don't know, everything's. Everything's reflected and then jumbled in through a lens and then put it through a blender, you know.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

I want to tell you a Hollywood short story that actually involves you. Oh, I don't know if, you know, once upon a time, two years ago, you went to a restaurant to have a business lunch and you very confidently strode up to a person who was also there having a business lunch with somebody. He wasn't sure what they Looked like you guys sat down together, started to have lunch and realized you were with the wrong person. That was my boyfriend. And he came home so confused. He's like, I didn't know what this guy was meeting looked like, but David Wayne apparently walked up to me with such confidence. I bought him lunch and we sat down.

[David Wain]

I totally remember that. That was the weirdest thing. Yeah, you're just like, doing that small talk and I'm just like, wait a minute. At some point, I guess did it dawn on us, like, oh, this is not the. We're not people that are supposed to be meeting.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

I think the other people you're supposed to be meeting walked into the restaurant and looked really confused at the both of you. Until you caught on.

[David Wain]

It was just a perfect storm of like, he didn't. I didn't know what the person looked like. And, you know, same.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

But he said, the way you strode up to him and said, how was your drive? He was just like, well, that's clearly who I was supposed to meet.

[David Wain]

Somehow I got in my head, that's gotta be the guy.

[Paul Scheer]

All right, I have one question here for you. Did you ever. Have you ever made out in a movie? And if so, what was the first movie that you made out in?

[David Wain]

In watching a movie?

[Paul Scheer]

Yeah, watching.

[David Wain]

I've made out on screen in many movies.

[Paul Scheer]

Yes, of course. And we all, like. That's why we're.

[David Wain]

Yeah, definitely have. I think it probably was during Hannah and Her Sisters.

[Paul Scheer]

Oh, wow. Interesting choice. I like this.

[David Wain]

And that was when I was in high school and because the. My. My first real girlfriend in high school was. We were one of those. We were. It was the first time each other. We were both, like, turned on intellectually with each other. Like, we were like. And so we were, like, going to see this Woody Allen movie, like, feeling like adults, you know, and it was just like the whole thing was very charged and there was some making out. I remember.

[Paul Scheer]

I love it.

[David Wain]

I feel like the ultimate takeaway here is that David Wayne is an apologist for Woody Allen.

[Paul Scheer]

And tell us, you know, in your own words, like, well, I guess not on your own. I guess that would be one movie that you like that people say is a classic, that you think is not necessarily a classic, doesn't need to be reevaluated. We've gone through the AFI list. We've taken off a lot of movies. We just feel like, ah, they haven't been great. Is there any movie that you're like, I don't know why people talk about this one More than any others.

[David Wain]

Give me a second. Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

Tough question.

[Amy Nicholson]

I know.

[David Wain]

So take your moment. I know there are. I can't think of them.

[Paul Scheer]

Okay, that's fine.

[David Wain]

I gotta be honest. Listen, I got, you know, when I can't think of something, I'm just gonna be honest and I'm gonna say it.

[Paul Scheer]

I appreciate it. And that's fine. We can pass on all this.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

I'm just gonna throw one more.

[Paul Scheer]

Got it.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

What movie traumatized you as a kid?

[David Wain]

Oh, no question. Willy Wonka. That just. I was like crying and like so upset whenever I thought about it or whenever anything reminded me of it. And just like the whole thing. And I remember people being like, why? And I'm like, what are you talking about? It's about like kids being killed in this place in the most horrific, awful ways. And she gets blown up like a blueberry and one guy drowns in the chocolate. And I was like, I never ate chocolate for a long time after that. I still don't like Hershey milk chocolate for that, I think, because it sort of brings that up.

[Paul Scheer]

Some people have the shower with Psycho or the shark, you know, in the beach. Like, I love that it's chocolate for you. I'm glad Amy asked that last question because that is so.

[David Wain]

Am I?

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[Narrator/Ad Reader]

this episode is supported by FX's the Shards, a seductive drama from executive producer Ryan Murphy. Set in 1980s Los Angeles, the series follows a group of glamorous, deeply entangled high school seniors drawn into a life of wealth, beauty, parties and excess. At its center is Brett, whose reality begins to unravel when the arrival of a new student coincides with a series of mysterious murders. FX's the Shards, now streaming on Hulu.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

Well, that was lovely getting to interrogate David Wayne. He's a slippery fellow, don't you think?

[Paul Scheer]

He is.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

He is indeed slippery. Yeah.

[Paul Scheer]

I mean, look, he. He's got. I like that he came to the table with very clean, no wishy washy opinions. And I also will side with. With Marty. Is that who we're siding with?

[Amy Nicholson]

Marty?

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

Yeah, we're all siding with Marty. You and June don't have that, do.

[Paul Scheer]

No, we didn't. No, no, June and I do not have that. It's not a conversation that's worthy of even having with anybody. Like, no, there's my wife is my past. That's it. That's my past. I'm happy to have it. I don't want you to think of anybody else because if either of us ever said anything like this, we would wind up working with them and then it would be awkward, even if we're not going to consummate it, but it would be awkward. So I feel like, yeah, this is a game that we don't play.

[Co-host (possibly Molly Reynolds or Harry Nelson)]

And that is the kind of answer you give if you want to stay happily married.

[Paul Scheer]

That is right now, by the way, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass is out in theaters. Make sure that you look out for it. But also, if you want to see David live, you can kind of see this amazing thing that he's been doing. He calls it the. The Wet Hot Tribute Tour. It's basically live music and like a tribute to wet hot American summer with songs and clips and memories. It's everything. He is going to be all over the place, especially on the east Coast. So check out davidwayne.com to see where they are performing and you can even get his album. That's right. He's not just a director, he is also a touring musician. So there you go. And make sure you check out our substack each and every week to go a little bit deeper on the movies that we talk about here. It's always free. So join in the conversation.

[Amy Nicholson]

Unspooled is produced by Amy Nicholson, Paul

[Paul Scheer]

Scheer, Molly Reynolds and Harry Nelson.

[Amy Nicholson]

Sound engineered by Cory Barton, music by Devin Bryant, episode art by Kim Troxall, show art by Lee Jamison and social

[Paul Scheer]

media production by Zoe Applebaum. This is a Rome production. See you next week.

[Amy Nicholson]

Bye for now.

[David Wain]

I'm not giving up. I am selling the building. The final season of FX is the Bear.

[Paul Scheer]

The restaurant is flooded.

[David Wain]

Everything's either gonna be okay.

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

No, stop.

[Narrator/Ad Reader]

Or not.

[David Wain]

We are outgunned and we are outmanned,

[Impersonation of Dick Tracy (voice actor or performer)]

but we have each other.

[David Wain]

FX's the bear, the final season, all episodes now streaming on Disney.

[Ad Reader]

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