Samm Levine - You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes

Transcript

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You made it with. You made it with. You made it with. Oh, yeah, you made it with weird.

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Yes, you did. You made it weird with Pete Holmes. What's happening, weirdos? Another wonderful weirdo Wednesday here with Sam Levine from Freaks and Geeks. Freaky Geeky, as I like to call it. Also just a delightful human being and a wonderful podcast guest. Filled with wonderful stories, jokes, attitudes and anecdotes. Altitudes. He's great. Let's get to it as quickly as possible. Not too much to plug up top here. I do have a monthly Largo show. If you're in the Los Angeles area and want to see me do Stand up. The last one the day this came out. That so the show would have been yesterday had Bill Burr. Spill Burr. Come on, Bill Burr. Incredible. Always, always, always, always. Great. Go to largo-la.com and look for Pete Holmes living at Largo or hope to see you at those shows. It's always awesome to have weirdos out there. And I have a couple other live dates coming up. I'm going to be in Montreal for the Just for Laughs Fest. We're going to be doing a live podcast there. And I'm also going to be at the Just for Laughs Fest In Cancun, Mexico, November 2nd through 6th of this year. Go to Pollen P O L N E N CO for more on that. That's going to be fun. We'll also be dealing live podcasts after at that as well. And if you like the show, why not show some support and try one of the Pete's picks like Me undies. What? Me undies. Am I wearing blue plaid? Blue plaid Me Undies. Let me ask you something. Are you still trying to make plans with you this summer? As if you aren't booked and busy already, you're going to have to tell them to try again in the fall. You've got pool days, pride parades, bachelor parties, and beach vacations waiting for you. It's a a lot. But thankfully Me Undies wants to make this summer the most comfortable one you'll never forget. Because when you're living your best life, the last thing you want to worry about is butt sweat. A butt sweat. Butt sweat. I heard about Me Undies on another podcast years ago, and Valerie and I both did a complete underwear and loungewear overhaul. My PJ pants. My undies. I love the colorful prints. I don't go for the plain ones. I go for the colorful, fun ones because I'm a colorful, fun guy and I haven't looked back. I absolutely, absolutely love them. So when you're comfy and feeling good, you know you're more present to enjoy all of your summer plans. It's like science or something. Me Undies has the lightest and most breathable fabrics to keep you cool and comfortable wherever you go. I can attest to that. It's a very breathable undy. From undies bralettes and socks to loungewear and swimwear, you can find something for all your plans. Meundies also releases new prints all the time like their limited edition Pride collection. You can match with your partner, your friends or even your dog. Find your ultimate summer summer comfort in sizes extra extra small to 4xL. And Mandy's has a great offer for weirdos for any first time purchasers. You get 15 off for a limited time. If you sign up for their free to join me undies membership, you get 25 off your first membership item. So to get 15 off your first order, 25 off your first membership item and a hundred percent satisfaction guarantee, go to meundies.com weird that's meundies.com weird weird and show your support of this show. Second up, it's been a Pete's pick for the longest time. It is alpha brain. Alpha brain is a nootropic. Nootropic. Nootropic, which is basically a vitamin for your brain. It's like fish food for your noggin. It helps with memory, it helps with focus. In my personal experience, it helps very much with creativity. Whenever I'm doing a podcast like this one or I'm guesting on someone else's podcast, I if I'm writing a script, if I'm doing standup, or if I'm just going out to a party and I want to have full access to my brain, I just take 2 or 3 Alpha brain 15 minutes beforehand. It is not a stimulant. It is probably the thing I turn on people to the most just in my regular life because they see me taking it. I was, I was shooting something today, I popped a couple in that were in my pocket. People always go, what is that? They want to know. And I tell them it's not a stimulant. It's not like caffeine. It doesn't get you all jacked up. It just gives your brain the earth grown nutrition, earth grown nutrition that it needs to function. And what wouldn't be better in your life if your brain worked a little bit better. I don't understand why all people aren't just taking this. It's made my life so Much better. And if you want to try it to see if you like it, if you like it 110 as much as I do, you're going to shit your pants. Go to onnit.com weird. You'll get 10% off everything you see on that page, including Alpha Brain. I like it in the instant powder, which is flavored. I also like it in the pills. Sometimes I just pour the powder directly into my mouth because it gets into my blood faster. That's how much I love it. So go to onit.com/weird. Show your support of the show and see if it'll change your life. Like it did to me. To me. You know that that's a sentence. Like it did to me. Last but not least, Everlane. Boom. I didn't even plan this. I'm wearing my Everlane every day. Just classic gray sweatshirt. I love Everlane. They make some of the best looking, best fitting, highest quality clothing I've ever owned in my life. And I love, love, love how transparent they are with their factory pro practices. They're very ethical, they're very moral, beautiful company. And also they're very careful when it comes to plastic because you may be careful about the plastic you use in everyday life. I know a lot of us are. But it's easy to overlook the plastic from synthetic materials in our closet. Everlane has made it 90% of the way to having no new plastics in their entire apparel, footwear and packaging supply chain. And to combat that last 10% that currently doesn't have quality alternatives, they've created the next collective. That's a fellowship program to boost innovation for ending new plastics in the fashion industry. So that means 100% of their shipping packaging is made from either 100% recycled plastic or FSC certified paper. 97% of their apparel materials containing polyester and nylon are made from certified recycled foam fibers. And more than 1 million pounds of nylon and 9 million plastic bottles have been recycled. Their new fellowship program brings diverse perspectives together to clean up the fashion industry. This year they've given a million dollars in grants to entrepreneurs working to reduce new plastics. So what I'm talking about, they make incredible clothing, but it's feeling looking good and feeling good about looking good. I love supporting them. Applicants were considered based on their long term potential, community impact and collaboration. And each fellow kept ownership of their ideas and dollars to advance their projects. I love their stuff. It's great to have them. If you want to support the show and want to look good while you're doing it, give Everlane a try be a part of the movement for more sustainable clothing. Go to everlane.comweird and sign up for 10% off your first order. That's 10% off your first order when you go to everlane.comweirds and sign up. All right, everybody. Hope to see you in Montreal. Hope to see you in Cancun. Or maybe I'll see you here in Los Angeles. In the meantime, try it Pete's Pick and enjoy Sammy the Machine Levine. Get into it. So many Jews. Somebody thought I was Jewish two nights ago. Don't say it like that. I could be. I could be flavored. I could be flavored. What is the Jewish holiday where they stop you on the street and they go, are you Jewish? I won't do the voice. You know the voice.

Summary

You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes

Episode: Samm Levine (July 13, 2022)

Episode Overview

In this ebullient, sprawling conversation, Pete Holmes sits down with actor/comedian Samm Levine (Freaks & Geeks, Inglourious Basterds) for a classic deep-dive into secret weirdness, near-death stories, cinephilia, and the bittersweet “lore” of Hollywood bit parts. The two riff endlessly on everything from breakfast cereal and skydiving to Tarantino's moviemaking ethos and why neither of them has ever finished The Godfather. True to form, their banter weaves smart observations, Jewish humor, and vulnerable moments into a fast-paced, laughter-filled ride.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Jewish Identity and Traditions

The episode opens with a tongue-in-cheek riff about Jewish identity, holidays, and the street-side “Are you Jewish?” question.
- Samm: “There’s a holiday where they stop you on the street and ask if you’re Jewish.” (07:59)
- Pete: “It’s called Nazi Germany. Show us your papers!” (08:15)
Discussion on wedding traditions, like breaking the glass, with Samm explaining why he and his (non-Jewish) wife skipped many Jewish rituals.
- Samm: "I'm not going to do it if I don't know why I'm doing it... There's no single straight answer." (90:56)
- Pete: “I’m kind of tradition envious.” (88:30)
They both reflect on the secularization of religious identities and the meaning (or lack thereof) behind certain customs.

2. Lottery Wealth and the Good Life

Pete floats a thought experiment: if you were anonymously worth $300 million, would you still do the things you love?
- Samm admits he’s a “man of leisure”—the type who wouldn't go stir-crazy taking it easy (22:25).
- Pete: “That is the movie Office Space. You’re Peter, man.” (23:07)
- Samm: “I am capable of doing very little in a day and being very okay with that.” (23:19)
Leisure days for Samm involve watching three baseball games with zero guilt or need for more activity (24:28).

3. Hollywood Anecdotes – “Lore” and Getting Cut

Samm’s Jobs (Ashton Kutcher/Steve Jobs biopic) anticlimax: He auditioned for one smallish role, improvised, and ended up with a “numbered” bit part that was cut down to one line on the fly. He requested to go uncredited—only to see his name in the credits on an airline years later (39:05–50:12).
- Samm: "I'm a big boy. I've been cut out of plenty of things." (44:15)
- "I thought, I should probably go uncredited in this movie, what with my one line of dialogue..." (45:02)
- On seeing it years later: "I forgot I was in that movie... I had a moment in my seat on this plane." (48:39)
Similar “lore” from being unbilled in Lost and the mid-level Hollywood experience.

4. Movie Love and Cinephilia

Samm’s cinephilia is deeply rooted; both parents and his grandfather were movie nuts with extensive collections. He grew up with cable TV in his room by age eleven (55:29).
- "My parents loved movies. They had an enormous collection... I was brought up with a love of cinema." (56:44)
The “first movie that opened the world”: A Clockwork Orange at age 11 or 12, which transported him and shifted his view of what movies could do (58:18).
- Samm: “I did not think a story like that could be told in a film.” (58:54)
Pete shares how Good Will Hunting similarly moved him—“snapped him into reality” at 17 (64:24).
- “Sometimes when I’m pitching a movie, I’ll remind people—do you remember what it was like … you watched a movie and it actually snapped you into reality?” (65:05)
Discussion on what makes “the best” vs. “favorite” films, with Samm naming The Godfather as “the best,” and A Clockwork Orange as his favorite (68:03).
- Samm: “Anything goes with favorites. No one can touch your favorite.” (67:15)

5. Near-Death Experiences

Samm details two times he almost died:
1. Drowning in Mexico During Filming: During Club Dread’s shoot, a night swim where Samm, a weak swimmer, got caught in an undertow and nearly drowned—saved, in part, by a lucky wave and crawling to shore (74:04–81:33).
  - “I'm fighting for my life in water that I cannot handle.” (79:14)
  - Pete: “We go from don’t die to don’t make someone else uncomfortable.” (81:00)
2. Solo Skydiving Malfunction: Took skydiving past tandems, and on his first solo jump, his main chute malfunctioned. Samm troubleshoots his malfunction at dangerously low altitude before the chute finally fully opens (101:11–110:35).
  - “I look up, and I immediately identify what the malfunction is, and I’m trying to fix it ... I gave it everything I had … then it goes—pop!—and now I’ve got it.” (109:48)
  - He continued to skydive, reaching 11 solo jumps, before a rough landing sidelined him (112:18).

6. On Not Having Kids & Secular Worldviews

Couples' decision not to have children: Pragmatic, selfish, undramatic ("We want to eat nachos in the sad world by ourselves." 116:18)
Samm is an agnostic/atheist who won’t claim 100% certainty either way; likens it to Penn Jillette’s “infinite possibility” viewpoint (118:49–120:17).
- “Much in the same way that no one can prove there is 100% a God … you can be 99.9, you can’t be 100.” (118:49)

7. Tarantino, Acting, and “Because We Love Making Movies”

On the Inglourious Basterds set, Quentin Tarantino famously motivates the crew between takes by saying: “Because we love making movies.” (as explanation for re-doing great takes; 125:54)
- Samm: “He’s never allowed himself to forget his childlike exuberance of love of cinema ... he gets to do at the highest level.” (127:11)
Reveals Tarantino’s backstory for Brad Pitt’s Aldo the Apache's scar (lynching gone awry after intervening against racists), and his directorial method—authenticity above all; he'd rewrite scenes on the fly if the actors' energy changed (131:12–140:21).
- “He needed something authentic. And if we couldn't get to the authentic thing he wanted, he'd find the authentic thing we could do, and he'd make that the scene.” (140:34)
Reflections on being cut from scenes (“I got Steve Jobs’d”) and how big ensemble movies are made longer and edited down (133:07).

8. Favorite Deep-Cut Movies & Trivia Brain

Samm’s affection for the “bad” film Freejack (Emilio Estevez, Mick Jagger) and ability to recall minute movie details and trivia—“That’s how my brain works. I remember everything in the movies.” (124:26)
Pete marvels at Samm’s encyclopedic memory, emotional connections to movies, and their contagious energy.

9. Hardest Time Samm Ever Laughed

The hardest he ever laughed was at a Friars Club street joke, which he still tells himself to cheer up:
- “Help me find my car keys. We’ll drive out.” (punchline of an old blue bar joke; 145:58–147:54)
- Samm: “I laughed so hard I’m crying at the table.” (145:47)

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

On leisure and the good life:
- Samm: “Some people retire … and they don’t know what to do. … Not me. … I am capable of doing very little in a day and being very okay with that.” (23:18)
On “Jobs” Movie Lore:
- “I thought, I should probably go uncredited in this movie, what with my one line of dialogue… It’ll be one of those weird things that makes it a little more special for me.” (45:02)
- “I forgot I was in that movie … I had a moment in my seat on this plane.” (48:39)
On the power of movies:
- “I did not think a story like that could be told in a film.” (Samm, on Clockwork Orange, 58:54)
- Pete: “Sometimes when I’m pitching a movie, I’ll remind people—do you remember what it was like … you watched a movie and it actually snapped you into reality?” (65:05)
On traditions:
- Samm: “I'm not going to do it if I don't know why I'm doing it ... There's no single straight answer [to the glass].” (90:56)
- On breaking the glass: “If even one person who stepped on a glass did it for that reason [superstition], I’m not doing it.” (92:15)
On almost drowning:
- “I'm fighting for my life in water that I cannot handle.” (79:14)
On skydiving malfunction:
- “I tried one last time, gave it absolutely everything … then it goes—pop!—and now I've got it.” (109:48)
On atheism and uncertainty:
- “Much in the same way that no one can prove there is 100% a God… you can be 99.9, you can't be 100.” (118:49)
On the Friars Club hardest laugh:
- Samm: “I laughed so hard I’m crying at the table. … Help me find my car keys, we’ll drive out.” (145:47, 147:54)

Timeline of Key Segments

07:59 — Opening, Jewish holiday riff, Mr. Rogers impressions, docking jokes.
13:50 — Steve Jobs/lottery wealth & the “curse of too much money.”
22:05 — Doing nothing/leisure days—baseball and happy solitude.
39:05 — The Jobs movie “being cut” story, Hollywood lore.
54:00 — Samm’s family movie history; seeing A Clockwork Orange at age 12.
64:00 — Pete’s Good Will Hunting moment.
74:00 — Club Dread drowning incident, followed by the skydiving story at 101:00.
90:56 — Wedding traditions and breaking the glass debate.
118:00 — Secular worldview, atheism, “99.9%” certainty discussion.
124:26 — Samm’s deep-cut trivia brain; love for Freejack.
125:54 — Tarantino set stories ("Because we love making movies"), directing style, Pitt’s character scar.
145:47 — Friars Club street joke—hardest time Samm ever laughed.

Conclusion: Episode Vibes

The episode is vintage You Made It Weird: riotous, rambly, and full of warmth, with Pete and Samm swapping stories both absurd and sincere. It’s a conversation about why comedy (and movies) matter, why sometimes being “cut” from something can be a badge of honor, and why the best weirdness is often the truest. For fans of comedy lore, personal mythologies, and the secret handshakes of showbiz, it's a can’t-miss.

“Help me find my car keys. We'll drive out.”
– Samm Levine (147:54)

“Because we love making movies.”
– Quentin Tarantino, via Samm Levine (125:54)

“No one can touch your favorite.”
– Samm Levine (67:15)