Jerry O'Connell - Part 2

Summary

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Work in Progress with Sophia Bush

Episode: Jerry O’Connell – Part 2

Release Date: February 13, 2026
Host: Sophia Bush
Guest: Jerry O’Connell

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Episode Overview

In this lively and candid continuation, Sophia Bush welcomes back actor Jerry O’Connell for part two of their conversation, recorded on set in Sophia’s trailer as they wait out daylight for a night shoot. The episode explores the idea of embracing one's status as a "work in progress," diving into Jerry’s unexpected detour into law school, his philosophy on humility, family, parenting teens, personal struggles and successes, and how he finds humor and gratitude in his life and career. Alongside playful banter, Sophia and Jerry are briefly joined by Violet, the young star of their current film, highlighting the collaborative and often improvisational culture on set.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Setting the Stage & Podcast Meta-Moment

• On continuing their conversation (03:35):
  • Jerry recaps that their initial interview session ended abruptly due to Sophia’s work schedule, leading both to reflect with humor on where Jerry’s episode might rank in her podcast’s history.
  • Memorable Quote:
    • Jerry: “So that chat we had, it’s got to be top—”
    • Sophia (without missing a beat): “Dude, we’ve had Michelle Obama on the show.” (03:48)

Sandals, Footwear, and Acting Embarrassment

• Jerry’s “most embarrassing” aspect of his current film (05:17):
  • He bemoans his character’s “principal shoes”—sturdy sandals he would never choose to wear in real life.
  • Both riff on the awkwardness of “free feet” on the internet and men in sandals.
  • Notable exchange:
    • Jerry: “Don’t like men in sandals. Not my thing… I don’t believe men should wear—sandals.” (05:52)
    • Sophia: “That kind of fascinates me.” (06:04)

Jerry's Detour: Going to Night Law School

• Why he went to law school (07:23–09:17):
  • Jerry describes pursuing law school during a career lull and while his wife was busy working. He enjoyed the idea of being around people eager to learn and appreciated the diversity of ages in night school. However, he ultimately dropped out when acting reignited—ironically landing a TV role as a lawyer, likely due to his law school experience.
  • Notable quotes:
    • Jerry: “I dropped out because I realized you can make way more money playing a lawyer on television than actually being a lawyer.” (09:18)
    • Jerry: “Grad school is something people do late in life. Don’t be afraid to do it…” (09:57)

Lifelong Learning & Sophia’s Academic Curiosity

• Sophia shares her own desire to return to school after visiting Harvard (10:07–10:19).
• Jerry encourages her to consider Rutgers since she’s in New Jersey, supporting ongoing education at any age (10:23).

Navigating Success, Slow Periods & Imposter Syndrome

• Sophia asks about Jerry’s methods for handling career ups and downs and imposter syndrome (10:42–11:29).
• Jerry emphasizes show business is a “young person’s medium” and shares that as opportunities became less frequent with age, he struggled with insecurity and learned to accept having “no control.”
  • Notable quote:
    • “I have no control over anything. As cheesy as this sounds, now if I realize I have no control over something, I really don’t worry about it.” (12:19–12:57)

Channeling Obsessive Thoughts

• Jerry mentions channeling any obsessive tendencies (though not diagnosed with OCD) into coming up with solutions rather than spiraling over things he cannot control (13:19–13:28).
• Sophia relates this to her own experience, saying, “I try to obsess over solutions. I think that’s allowed me—” (13:24)

Dedication, Parenting & Humor

• Sophia observes Jerry’s blend of humor and vulnerability, both in family life and in public (18:31).
• Jerry joins in praising humility, noting how acting keeps him grounded due to its unpredictability (22:07).
  • Quote:
    • “You are one job away from never working. You know, I mean, I hate to say that, but like, you know, when you’ve had, like, professional failures, it is hard to get a job immediately after that. And so you have to sort of believe in yourself.” (22:22)

Special Cameo: Violet, Young Co-Star

• Brief surprise appearance from Violet, who plays Sophia’s daughter in the movie; Jerry and Sophia ask her what she’s learned on set.
  • Violet: “You guys are really good at improv. I’ve learned a lot from both you guys… It’s so fun.” (20:30)
• Jerry admits he found it extremely hard to throw a drink in Violet’s face for a scene, especially as he’s a dad himself (21:07).

On Raising Teenagers & Parenting Philosophy

• Candid talk about Jerry’s twin daughters, now 17, and teenage adventures (23:28).
  • Mentions their experimentation with alcohol, his approach as a parent (“no drinking and driving, no drugs, no nicotine, please”).
  • Jerry shares his personal struggle with nicotine addiction, describing how his wife’s ultimatum and a hypnotist helped him quit after decades (24:23–26:11).
  • Funny, honest moment:
    • Jerry: “I had to pay her $800 cash… I woke up and was like, that was baloney. What a joke. And you know what? I’ve never had a cigarette since.” (25:52/26:21)

Work in Progress: The Big Question

• Sophia poses her traditional closing question: “What feels like your work in progress right now in your life?” (28:07)
• Jerry delivers his answer with tongue-in-cheek bravado, claiming it will top even former First Ladies and Vice Presidents:
  • Jerry’s response:
    • “My work in progress is everything. Everything is a work in progress. My marriage, my career, my health, my relationships with coworkers… It never ends.” (28:28–28:49)
    • “Don’t expect there to be an ending. Don’t expect you to be cured. Don’t expect, ‘OK, I did the work, there’s progress, the end.’ There is no the end. It’s continual.” (29:07–29:17)

Bringing it Full Circle: Self-Improvement & Presence

• Jerry reflects on feedback from his wife about being a “stressful presence” at home, humorously suggesting he’ll ask for a codeword to help him scale back when needed (29:39–30:18).
• The episode winds down with both sharing excitement about their new movie, “Summer’s Last Resort,” coming soon to Tubi (30:25–30:36).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On podcast guest ranking:

  • Jerry: “Top two of Work in Progress.”
  • Sophia (deadpan): “Dude, we’ve had Michelle Obama on the show.” (03:48)

• On sandals and masculinity:

  • Jerry: “Don’t like men in sandals. Not my thing… I don’t believe men should wear—sandals.” (05:52)

• On leaving law school:

  • Jerry: "I dropped out because I realized you can make way more money playing a lawyer on television than actually being a lawyer.” (09:18)

• On acting and insecurity:

  • Jerry: “You are one job away from never working… you have to sort of believe in yourself. And so I try not to think I’m really that important. Really.” (22:22)

• On quitting smoking:

  • Jerry: “My wife said she would not touch me if I smoked and that lasted about two months.” (24:38)
  • “I had to pay her $800 cash… I’ve never had a cigarette since.” (25:52/26:21)

• On being a work in progress:

  • Jerry: “My work in progress is everything. Everything is a work in progress… It never ends.” (28:28–28:49)
  • “Don’t expect there to be an ending… there is no the end. It’s continual.” (29:07–29:17)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:09: Episode pick-up, on-set setting
• 05:17–06:43: Jerry’s “principal sandals” and gendered footwear debate
• 07:06–09:18: Jerry’s journey to and from law school
• 09:30–10:19: Discussing grad school at any age; Sophia’s desire to study again
• 10:42–12:57: Navigating career slow periods and finding acceptance
• 13:19–13:28: Using obsessive tendencies to fuel solutions
• 18:31–19:28: Sophia on Jerry’s parenting and public vulnerability
• 20:00–21:40: Violet’s cameo and improvisation on set
• 23:28–24:25: Parenting teenagers, “Snapchatting your kids,” staying open amid their growing up
• 24:25–27:05: Jerry’s story about quitting smoking with hypnosis
• 28:07–29:17: Jerry’s answer to the “work in progress” question
• 29:39–30:36: Reflections on being less stressful at home; wrap-up with film announcement

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Tone & Takeaways

The tone is warm, playful, candid, and lightly irreverent — full of mutual respect and quick wit between Sophia and Jerry. The episode gives listeners a look behind the curtain on life as an actor, with honest talk about career uncertainties, personal evolution, parenting, and the value of humility. Jerry’s refrain that “everything is a work in progress” echoes Sophia’s core message and offers listeners permission to embrace their own ongoing journeys—no matter their stage of life or career.

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For fans of conversations that blend humor, authenticity, and a healthy dose of self-deprecation, this episode delivers wisdom and laughs in equal measure.

Transcript

[Sophia]

This is an iHeart podcast guaranteed human.

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[Sophia]

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[Jerry O'Connell]

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[Sophia]

Hi, everyone, it's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Welcome back to part two of Work in Progress with the lovely Jerry o'. Connell. Now we're sitting at work at Basecamp in my trailer.

[Jerry O'Connell]

We ran out of time. Sophia's driver was coming and asking for her to come, and I came into our hair and makeup trailer and I said to Sophia, oh, God. So that chat we had, it's got to be top.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

Top two.

[Sophia]

You said two.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Top two of Work in Progress. And Sophia didn't even look away from doing her eyeliner. And Sophia said, no, no way. And I went, top three. Sophia went, dude, we've had Michelle Obama on the show.

[Sophia]

I said. I said, that's very hard for me. I don't really have top persons because there are so many different categories of people who come on the show. I said, I put you in the incredible comedian category along the likes of Chelsea Handler, Whitney Cummings.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, my gosh, yes.

[Sophia]

The iconic Jerry o'. Connell. And he was like, I really can't believe you don't just think I'm one of the best. Like, who is? And I said, okay, Michelle Obama, comic guests. Yeah, top.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My top.

[Sophia]

Absolutely. You're in. You're. Yes. You can have it. You can have it. You're wonderful. Okay. We were. We were mid interview, laughing and amused in such a fashion that, as you explained, I absolutely missed my pickup time, which I do not do. But luckily I wasn't. I was actually ready early. I was ready before camera was ready, so we were fine. But I don't like to be late to the van. Currently, we have time to finish this because if you can see from the open door of my trailer, the daylight coming in, the scene we're shooting, it is a night scene, and it is an exterior. So we're literally waiting for dark.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Do you want to know the thing I'm most embarrassed about this film about?

[Sophia]

Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

These shoes that I have to wear, I'm showing. If you're listening to Work in Progress, my character wears these sandals.

[Sophia]

I can't believe you're giving people free feet. On the Internet. I would never.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, yeah. I need that following.

[Sophia]

Oh, my God.

[Jerry O'Connell]

But they're super gross. I hate them. And it really is. Honestly, this is the hardest acting I've done is wearing these around. Like I'm a person who wears these shoes.

[Sophia]

They're your principal shoes. They are very sturdy, responsible, Birkenstock adjacent.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Sophia]

But not as cute as a Birkenstock, I'll give you that.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Don't like men in sandals. Not my thing. Don't believe Mendels. Sorry. To assign gender and to assign footwear to gender. I don't believe men should wear.

[Sophia]

Wow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Sandals.

[Sophia]

Okay. That kind of fascinates me.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry to assign gender.

[Sophia]

It's okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I think women wearing open toed shoes, I think that's a lot of fun.

[Sophia]

Wow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I think I'm just not a man who wears open toed shoes. You never know if you have to run, kick.

[Sophia]

Interesting. Well, then how do you feel about being barefoot? Like you're a barefoot at the beach guy.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Well, if you're at the beach, barefoot is fine.

[Sophia]

I'm just checking because we're shooting at a beach, so I. I don't. I realize. I don't know.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah. I'm not weird. I'm not weird about feet. Yeah.

[Sophia]

I. I do have a question for you because, you know, this is breaking news, friends. You've heard it here. Jerry's foot presence preference, rather, it's a. It's not a typical thing a person would think about something that is not a typical thing, I think, for people in our industry to do, but something I've always kind of wanted to do is a thing you did. You went to law school.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, yeah.

[Sophia]

This is crazy.

[Mint Mobile Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Sophia]

When. When did you make that decision? Why did you decide to then, you know, go to law school but also come back to acting?

[Mint Mobile Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Sophia]

And were you ever caught in a pair of sandals whilst at law school?

[Jerry O'Connell]

No. Never sandals at law school.

[Sophia]

Just checking.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I, you know, I was acting, and then it got very slow for me. Acting. And my wife was very busy and we just had two children. We have twin daughters.

[Sophia]

Yep.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And they were about one. And I applied to Knight Law School at an accredited law school in Los Angeles called Southwestern Law. It's good law school. It's in that old Bullock's Wilshire building right there.

[Sophia]

Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I had always wanted to go to grad school. And I was like, oh, well, while my wife is working, I'll apply to grad school. And I was like, what do I Apply to, like, what kind of grad school? And I was like, I mean, the only thing that interests me is, like, law school. Like, I didn't want to go to English. I didn't want to study English. I didn't want to study film.

[Sophia]

Wow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I just wanted to. I was like, let me just go to night law school. Let me see if I get in. So I took the LSATs, and I applied to two night law schools in Los Angeles, and I got into one, and I went to night law school for. For. For a year. And then. And then what? I. Ironically, it's funny, I had a. I had a TV show that was canceled abruptly.

[Sophia]

Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I was like, that's it. My. My career's done. Like, it's over. I know, but. But you know how it feels.

[Sophia]

It's jarring every time.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And so then about a year passed, and I started to audition for TV shows again, and I got a TV show for cbs, ironically enough, playing a defense attorney.

[Sophia]

Oh, my God.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I think they. I think they hired me. A lot of it had to do with. They were amazed that I was. That I was in law school.

[Sophia]

They were so funny.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, it was. It was funny.

[Sophia]

Okay, so.

[Jerry O'Connell]

But I'm a. I'm a law school dropout. I. I dropped out because I realized you can make way more money playing a lawyer on television than actually being a lawyer. But, you know, I might go back.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

School is really fun for me, too. I want to say what's really fun about school is a. You're around people who want to learn, which is fun, you know? And by the way, the fun thing about night school, I thought for sure I was going to be the oldest person there.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

I wasn't.

[Sophia]

I was, I would say, in the middle.

[Jerry O'Connell]

In the middle.

[Sophia]

Wow. I love that.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Grad school is something that people do.

[Sophia]

Yes.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Late in life.

[Sophia]

Yes.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And so don't be afraid to do it if you're like me and an oldie and like, oh, God, I don't want to be the. I don't want to be the oldest.

[Sophia]

I've been thinking about that a lot lately. I was right before the holidays in December, I went and spoke at Harvard, and I was on campus doing various things for two days, and I just was like, I want to go here.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah.

[Sophia]

I want to be back in school. I miss school.

[Mint Mobile Advertisement Voice]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You know, if I can make a suggestion, you're residing in New Jersey now. Rutgers is like, an incredible school. It's right there. And you'd be like, anything. You're Smart. And it's like, you're gonna find something and be like, yeah, you know what? I'm gonna study that. And you could.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Call them up and go.

[Sophia]

You know, it would be very cool when you talk about, you know, pursuing a passion when work was slow. It strikes me as a really proactive thing to do. You know, I. I like to be a proactive person. And also, sometimes things feel really hard. And I'm curious, when you think about the times when success felt easier and the times when success felt harder, how. How do you grapple with that? Like, are you a person who experiences imposter syndrome and says, well, I gotta get over it because I gotta live and move on? Or do you have sort of more specific, like, tactics and tricks to get you through things?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Being in the entertainment industry is. Is really all I know. So it's all I can speak on.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And it's crazy because when you're younger, you're busy all the time. It's just. It's a young person's medium. Like, they're the ones who are in demand the most. There's the most amount of roles for the ages of 20 to late 20s. You know, it's just. It's what they make. They make young people. Young people are in tv, you know.

[Sophia]

Right.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So that's when you're in the most demand. It's funny, when you get a little older, you feel. And. And there's not as much opportunity. I'm not saying, you know, I'm happy with the opportunities that I've had, but there's not as much, you know.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

You do.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Like, I did start to panic a little bit. I don't know if it was having kids. Definitely insecurity, I think mostly feeling like I had no control of something. And now that I'm older, I've come to terms with. I have no control over anything. I have no control. I. As cheesy as this sounds, I. Now, if I realize I have no control over something, I really.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

Don'T worry.

[Jerry O'Connell]

About it and really just try to, because I do. Have we talked earlier about, like, having. I'm not diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, so someone told me I'm not allowed to call myself that. But if I have obsessive thoughts, I try to. I try to navigate them towards solutions like that.

[Sophia]

It's how I feel about my sprout.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I try to obsess.

[Sophia]

I can't control it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I try to obsess over solutions.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I think that's allowed me, you're allowed to obsess about this?

[Sophia]

No, I'm not. We'll be back in just a minute, but here's a word from our sponsors.

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[Sophia]

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[Jerry O'Connell]

What do you have to lose?

[Mint Mobile Advertisement Voice]

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[Sophia]

You are a very dedicated person I've come to observe. Like I watch the way you talk to your kids. I watch. I watch the way you are a family man. They're clearly so comfortable coming to you, telling you anything. You are. You are at once like their safe person. And also you manage to make light of things. You keep things funny. You, you have this really interesting blend of humor and real vulnerable honesty in Your life. And you do it in public. You know, you. You do it on social media. You definitely did it on the talk show. That's exactly what we have to do as actors, even though we're not playing ourselves. Do you think you're actually both self deprecating and really confident?

[Grainger Advertisement Voice]

I think.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I really. I try and live my life with humility. For sure.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I try not to think I'm. Yeah. We gotta call him in. Get in here. Come on.

[Sophia]

Hi, guys.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Violet, get in here.

[Sophia]

We're finishing our podcast.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Come here. This is the star of our movie.

[Sophia]

Say hi on our. On our little video feed.

[Jerry O'Connell]

This is the star of our movie. Have a seat right, right here. Mom too. Get in here. Mom's important.

[Sophia]

Say hi to the people. Hello, everyone.

[Jerry O'Connell]

This is your microphone. This is very.

[Sophia]

Oh, my God, I love this. Wait, now you're. Scoot this over, Jerry, so you're still in frame. I meant the iPad, not your body. But you can do that too.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah. Wait, this is the star of our film. This is Violet. What have you learned from watching from. What wisdom have you gotten from myself and from Sophia.

[Sophia]

I don't know. I mean, she's like, you guys aren't wise.

[Jerry O'Connell]

How have we blown your mind?

[Sophia]

You guys are really good at improv.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

Oh, okay.

[Sophia]

Like really good at improv. I've learned a lot from both you guys. From improv. It's so fun, you know?

[Jerry O'Connell]

I'm gonna take this moment to say what I've learned from Violet.

[Sophia]

Okay. You share your microphone.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I've learned. I've learned that if another actor throws a drink in your face in a scene to, you know, to be. To not like, be visibly upset about it and be okay and realize that that's great. I had to throw a drink in Violet's face yesterday. And I. I want to say it is the hardest thing I've done as an actor. I just had so much trouble. I don't know if it's cuz I have daughters. I had so much trouble throwing a drink in a 14 year old's face.

[Sophia]

Okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I love that.

[Sophia]

And I was like, no, it's great. It was a team effort.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

We both did it.

[Sophia]

You guys, actually, you made the accidental spill look very, very naturally accidental.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

Great.

[Sophia]

You did great. Proud of you both.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You're such a great actress. Thank you. It's so fun working with you. It really is. Sophia and I have worked with young people for years and you have a real talent.

[Sophia]

Thank you, guys. Thank you. You're a special one, kid. Thank you, guys. Thank You. I just want to clarify. She is my child. In the movie. You are soon to be stepchild. She's.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

We are.

[Sophia]

We are. We're special babies.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

We are.

[Sophia]

Yeah. It's okay.

[Jerry O'Connell]

All right. Get out of here.

[Sophia]

Thank you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Let me finish my interview.

[Sophia]

Have you guys seen what's up?

[Jerry O'Connell]

What was I saying? I was saying. Oh, yeah. That I'm. That I. Yeah. That I. That I try to.

[Sophia]

Humility.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Lead with humility. Mostly because it's funny. Acting has really taught it to me.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And in the sense that you're.

[Grainger Advertisement Voice]

The.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You are one job away from never working. You know, I mean, I hate to say that, but, like, you know, when you've had, like, professional failures. Okay. It is hard to get a job immediately after that. And so you have to sort of believe in yourself. And so I try not to think I'm really that important. Really?

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It is funny. I have daughters, specifically one daughter who's getting into the entertainment industry.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So it is fun to see someone. She gets a lot of auditions just because there's a lot of roles for teenage girls.

[Sophia]

Really.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I really hope it's. It's fun to sort of give her the tricks of the trade, you know?

[Sophia]

Yeah, it's really sweet. It's really sweet. Do you think. You know, I think about this a lot. You're, you know, your kids are teenagers.

[Jerry O'Connell]

17, and they got wasted last night. They went to. They have fake id. They went to a bar.

[Sophia]

Steve, I can't tell you everything.

[Jerry O'Connell]

They told it to me. They got. I. I haven't talked to them, but I think they got drunk because they wouldn't answer my Snapchat. I Snapchat with them. If you want to talk to a teenager girl, download Snapchat.

[Sophia]

They have fun filters if they're your teenage.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Grainger Advertisement Voice]

Not.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Not strange teenage girls, 100%. But, you know, what can I say? Like. And, you know, some of the parents are gonna read this and be like, you should punish them. You should come down on them. Just like, no drinking and driving girls, you know, like, please, like, if it becomes a problem and we're starting to do it too much, you gotta let me know, you know, Obviously, no drugs. No drugs. Hell no, you know, no nicotine, please.

[Sophia]

It's so addictive.

[Jerry O'Connell]

So addictive. You know, I struggled. I struggled with nicotine for decades. Struggled with it. Had to get hypnotized to quit. Yeah. Haven't had a ciggy in, like, 14 years.

[Sophia]

Good for you.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Also, my wife said she would not touch me if I smoked and that lasted about two months. Had. And by the way, no contact. My wife said, I'm not touching you anymore until you quit smoking.

[Sophia]

Wow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I thought it was a joke. And then after, like, two weeks, there was no physical contact.

[Sophia]

Wow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

After about three and a half weeks, I.

[Sophia]

You realized it was serious. Game on.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I was like, I gotta do something. And I tried to quit and I couldn't quit.

[Mint Mobile Advertisement Voice]

Wow.

[Sophia]

And then you got hypnotized.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You know, I knew a girl who had quit smoking, and I called her up and I said, how did you do it? And she said, I'm going to give you the number of this lady. And I went to see her and I had to bring a photo of my children and my wife. And I sat down on her like. Like, wow. What do you call those beds? Those chairs?

[Sophia]

Recliner.

[Jerry O'Connell]

A recliner. And she put headphones on me and there was like, spa music. And she was like, I'm going to count to 10. 10, 9, 8. And I fell asleep.

[Sophia]

And when you woke up?

[Jerry O'Connell]

When I woke up, I was like, I had to pay her cash. When I woke up, I was like, it was cash.

[Sophia]

Like, how much, though?

[Jerry O'Connell]

You want to know?

[Sophia]

Yeah. Like hundreds of dollars or thousands of dollars.

[Jerry O'Connell]

This was 13 coming up on 14 years ago. I had to pay her $800 cash.

[Sophia]

$800 for each hour?

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah. No, I don't know how long. I don't know how long it was. I don't know how long it was.

[Sophia]

But it's a good gig if you can do it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I woke up and I was like, that was baloney. What a joke. I can't believe I just gave some old lady 800. What a waste of money.

[Sophia]

And you've never had a cigarette since.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I walked in my car. I got in it, I had a pack of. Sorry to give them a plug. I don't want them to be a sponsor of the show. Marlboro Mediums.

[Sophia]

What a random cigarette.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Well, I didn't want to. Lights were too light and reds were too heavy. I'm not, like, not an addict. Mediums were just right. Got to my car, put the ciggy in my mouth, brought the lighter up.

[Sophia]

And you just didn't want it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And I know I wanted it so bad. No, I couldn't light it. No, I. I swear to you. I swear to you. I am a real. I've never been hypnotized for anything else. I know. They do, like, everything. Sugar.

[Sophia]

Wow. I kind of want to do it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Sales.

[Sophia]

Sales.

[Jerry O'Connell]

If you're in sales and you need to be motivated. Because I sent you another buddy of mine who was a. Who was a. Who was like a chain smoker. I told him what I did, and he went to go get hypnotized.

[Sophia]

Wow.

[Jerry O'Connell]

He said he works. He works in corporate sales, he said.

[Sophia]

Made him better at sales.

[Jerry O'Connell]

The hypnotist said to me, if you ever want to come in for sales, let me know. Now he goes in for sales.

[Sophia]

Stop. Wow. That's insane. Okay, we've been called to set. I had two more questions for you, but I'm just going to ask you my last and favorite question to ask everyone, which shouldn't be a surprise, because it is also the title of the podcast. I want to know at this stage, whether it's work or parenting or coming up on 20 years of marriage or some other goal, going back to law school. What. What feels like it's your work in progress right now in your life.

[Jerry O'Connell]

This is going to be the best answer to this question.

[Sophia]

I can't wait.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's going to be better than Michelle Obama.

[Sophia]

Wow. It's going to make you the number one.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's going to be better than Hillary Rodham Clinton. It is going to be better than Kamala Harris. Vice President Kamala Harris, all podcast guests.

[Sophia]

This is why he's saying this. If you've been living under a rock.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My work in progress.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Is everything. Everything is a work in progress.

[Sophia]

Fair.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Everything fair. My marriage, my career, my health.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

My relationships with coworkers.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Everything is a work in progress. It never ends. It never ends.

[Sophia]

It's true.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It's so funny. I'll say professionally, as an actor. A big thing they say to actors is you must not have to audition anymore. Of course. It never ends. No, it never ends.

[Sophia]

You just go up against better people. That's how you know you're moving up. You just go up against better people.

[Jerry O'Connell]

It never ends, man. Don't expect there to be an ending. Don't expect you to be cured. Don't expect. Okay, I did the work. There's progress.

[Sophia]

That's it.

[Jerry O'Connell]

The end. There is no the end. It's continual.

[Sophia]

Well, that's the goal, right? I mean, if. If it's the end, you're dead. So I would. I would much rather continue working on evolving everything, practicing more patience. Sure. By the way, look how nonchalant I was about sprout, but I'll sprout.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I mean, I talked to my wife while we're traveling and doing this film.

[Sophia]

Yeah.

[Jerry O'Connell]

And my wife was like, I think I said this earlier. You are like a stressful presence in our home. I'm not kidding. I actually thought about me, like, saying that out loud to you. I need to go home and be less of a stressful presence. It's something I have to, like, really, like, think about. I'm gonna say to my wife, like, tell me what I'm being. Tell me when I'm stressing you out. Tell me when I'm stressing out.

[Sophia]

You know what? You just need like a code word. Like you need a phrase.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

Sprout.

[Sophia]

Or she. I was gonna say, like, hey, six. Like, take it to a six. Okay, you're at a ten. Take it to a six.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I thought you said six. I was like, what? Okay, four.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

Pick a number.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Sophia told me. Sophia said this.

[Sophia]

That is definitely not my advice. Jesus H. Guys. This is why he's fun to improv with. And we have to go back to work.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Yeah, let's go make a movie. It's called Summer's Last Resort.

[Sophia]

It's going to be on Tubi this summer.

[Jerry O'Connell]

Really enjoy Tubi.

[Sophia]

It's so fun.

[Jerry O'Connell]

You're blessed.

[Sophia]

Well done.

[Jerry O'Connell]

I hope we do it again.

[Sophia]

We're going to first of many.

[Xolair Advertisement Voice]

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[Jerry O'Connell]

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[Sophia]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.