Best Friends with Nicole Byer and Sasheer Zamata - Sasheer Cheered for Tobey's Spider-Man (w/ Paul Feig)

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

Nicole and Sasheer are excited to welcome very special guest, filmmaker Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, Freaks and Geeks, A Simple Favor, Spy) to chat about his upcoming film, The Housemaid, which is in theaters December 19th! Our trio of friends discusses what makes a friendship movie great, a shared past passion for tap dance, and the best piece of test audience feedback Paul ever received.Watch this full video on YouTube and follow below!Follow Nicole: Twitter, Instagram, TikTokFollow Sasheer: Instagram, TikTokLike the show? Rate Best Friends 5 stars on Spotify and Apple Podcasts!Have a friendship question for Nicole and Sasheer to solve? Leave us a voicemail at [phone]‬ or write in at [e-mail] Friends is a production of Headgum Studios. Our producer is Allie Kahan. Our executive producer is Anya Kanevskaya. The show is edited, mixed, and engineered by Richelle Chen.This is a Headgum podcast. Follow Headgum on Twitter, Instagram, and Tiktok. Advertise on Best Friends via Gumball.fm.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a headgum podcast. Hi, Cashear. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good. We have a guest today. We do. We do that sometimes.

Hit it. Oh, okay, yes. known as one of the most stylish filmmakers for his impeccable personal style. Paul Feig is a DGA-winning Emmy-nominated filmmaker who has directed a number of films, including bridesmaids. Bridesmaid. The Heat.

A simple favor. A simple favor. Last Christmas. Last Christmas. Another simple favor. And spy. Ooh, spy. The latter of which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary this year.

He also created and launched his own award-winning Jen Brand, art artin arting stalls Arting stalls Which won best gin Damn And double gold at the 2019 WSWA competition And a cocktail book called

Cocktail Time That's a cute name That was released by William Morrow Paul's next film Lionsgate The Housemaid Stars Sydney Sweeney Amanda Creece

Green Brennan Sclanne Brennan Sclanard Brandon Sclinard and Michelle. Michaelae, I mean, great. This is why she wanted me to do this. Triches. And comes out Christmas Day.

The film is based on the global literary sensation by Frida McFadden and spent 120 weeks and counting on the New York Times bestseller list. We have Paul Vee. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. It's great to be here. Thank you both. It's so sweet of you to have me on the show. I really appreciate you. We're excited. Yeah. Oh, thank you. I'm not as excited as I. This is really cool.

This is really cool. You, um, so this is a show about friendship. Great. Excellent. I have no friends. That can't be true. That can't be true. Yeah. I've loved, lovely friends. Yeah. I do feel like a lot of your work involves friendship, like a lot of, especially female friendship, as far as I can tell.

Yeah, I mean, definitely. I'm, I love the, the relationship between female friends. That's why I think so many of my movie. are about the bond between them and all that, just because I grew up around a lot of girls and women. I was an only child, close to my mom, my next-door neighbors were a family of eight, and six of those kids were girls.

They were my pals. So, yeah, so I just really have enjoyed, you know, being around women who are friends. Yeah, that's really sweet. I like the, like, seeing complicated relationships between women, too, because sometimes it's like, you know. Yeah.

just like very bland or like how does this relate to a man or something like that but I feel like seeing a nuance on screen is like so nice yeah yeah well that you know when we did bridesmaids you know Kristen we were all very much wanting to make sure even though this was about kind of a rivalry between these two women that had never devolved into cat fighting and all that kind of thing because that's you know so many comedies have just reduced women to that level and it's so terrible so yeah yeah it's complicated three dimensional women on screen that's my favorite thing the thing I like the thing I like the most about bridesmaids was just the evolution of an adult friendship because it's like, oh, we knew each other at one place. We've grown apart a little bit. I've made another friendship and I can, you know, have the capacity to hold both of you in the same way. But maybe one of them, Kristen's character was like, no, I don't want that. I don't want anything to change. And I fully get that. And I think that's why, I mean, also deeply funny, but I feel like that's why it resonated with a lot of women. No, it's funny because people refer to it as a romantic comedy. No, it's a friendship movie.

And what I love about the dynamic in that movie is everybody's got the right intentions. Like Rose Byrne's character looks at Kristen's character as kind of somebody who's holding her holding Maya's character back. You know, because Kristen's such a mess when we first meet her. And so she's very kindly trying to move this person, this toxic friend she considers her to be out of her life. And that's a very, you know, very resonant thing. And again, I never like to do movies where, like, the villain is just, he's terrible or she's terrible. They, you know, they're just mustache twirling. Like, everyone has to have the reason why they're doing something.

Even they're doing something terrible. Yeah. In their head, they think they're doing the right thing. Mm-hmm. So we're able to pull that off in that movie. Speaking of people doing things that are terrible, what drew you to this book and wanting to make housemaid into? That was a good segue. Well, you made.

Wow. That was, I'm going to catch my breath after that. Yeah. I mean, well, again, what I loved about this book, this is very different. It's a thriller. And if you know the book at all, and if you haven't read the book, see the movie first, then read the book. When you make a movie based on a book, everybody's like, I got to go read the book. And it's like, no, go, because there's a lot of twists and turns in this movie, and it's more fun to experience them.

But, no, I liked how this movie put these two women together. And we play with these stereotypes right up front. You go, here's the perfect rich lady, housewife, who's kind of, you know, she's goofy and probably not that smart. And here's this young woman who's innocent and, you know, probably not that strong. And here's the husband who's perfect. And then we just turn it all on its head as we go along. And I love doing that. Yeah, I didn't see the twist coming.

I was like, like, whoa. And then it just felt like so jarring. And it's like, I don't know what to expect anymore. I don't know who to trust. See, we knocked you off your game. Yeah. It's like a twist and then a twist. And then you're like, oh, my God.

Yeah, yeah. I just like how we get you to root for everything you should not root for in the first hour. Yeah, then I'm like, well, I can't trust my instincts anymore. And that's what movies do, Sassir. Yeah. They help you to not trust your instincts. There we go. Never seen a movie again.

Just stay home. Yeah. I don't know if you, we can cut this if you don't want this in there. But I did notice there was a little cameo from you in the movie. Yes. What is that from? That's from a movie I did my first kind of studio film I did called I Am David. It was a little drama. And the day we were supposed to shoot, we shot it in Bulgaria.

And when we were supposed to shoot, the actor who was flying in couldn't get in. So I was like, I guess I'm doing it. So funny. Yeah. So it's a movie like no one's ever really seen. And so I like to always try to drop myself into my movie somewhere. And this seemed like, let's just put an old clip in. That's cute.

I love that. It's kind of fun. Easier for me, too. Yeah, it's like it's done already. Yeah, it's already done. It's already done. It's headed it. Just throw it in there.

So your first movie was a drama. And then how did you get into comedy? Because I feel like you're known for a lot of comedy. Well, I was always doing comedy. Doing that drama was sort of a ill-fated sort of attempt to be legitimate in, you know, filmmaking world and do kind of an awards movie, which I learned a valuable lesson on that, which is stop, don't make movies to try to win awards. Because, look, I'm proud of the movie.

But, you know, it was right after I did freaks and geeks. And so everybody wanted me to do more high school stuff. And I was like, I did it already. And so I thought, this will make me really legit. And then after that, I just kept doing comedy. That's interesting. To me, every movie I do is a comedy, even if it's like a thriller, in that I think all my comedies are actually dramas that are funny. Because, you know, the storyline, the characters, the arc, the importance of the story, the emotions all have to be grounded.

and then you can do extreme things on top of it to make it funny. I love that. I like that, too. But I do think it's interesting that you said that you made a drama to, like, legitimize yourself. Because it is interesting. Like, the award circuit does not reward comedy. Did you notice that? Exactly.

It's the worst. It's so hard. To be funny is hard. Yeah, it's frustrating. But my theory on that is always great comedy looks easy. If comedy looks hard, then it's not funny. Yes. So we have to work so hard to do.

just kind of look like we're just breezy and doing this thing. You know, the example I always bring up is Steve Correll never won an Emmy for the office. I didn't know that. That's actually wild. He won a wild. But he never won an Emmy. He always lost it to Alec Baldwin, who had this very showy kind of role. And I would ask other voters, like, why would you not vote for Steve?

And they're like, well, he just, look, he just shows up and he's just crazy. And it's like, that is not Steve at all. No, that's not easy. No, totally. So, you know, but hey, look, if we could either have awards, or people loving what we do and they go back to it over and over again and it makes them feel good. Let's take the second one. That's true.

I agree. I just watched The Office like two or three years ago, way after everybody else. I was like, wait a minute. You guys, this is really fun. Did you guys know? Did you guys know? I found this new show. That's like my wife.

We always know something is about to be not cool anymore because she's like, I found this singer. She's so cool. It's like, do you mean that person that everybody's been listening to for five years? Oh, really? much like your wife. I'm so late on everything. What's the latest thing that she's into? She's really in a role model now.

So if I have to hear this song, Sally, one more time. And I love it, but gee whiz. I love that. That's so funny. No, she came only a couple years ago and had just discovered Amy Winehouse. Oh, wow. Well, we got some news from me. I know, exactly. Sit down, honey. I got to tell you some.

That's really funny. I really loved freaks and geeks, too. And, um, bingeed it so fast and then it was so sad that there was no more to to watch. Yeah, we didn't make it a whole year back in old network times when it was 22 episodes. He made 18 episodes out of that. Yeah. Very proud of it, you know, I mean, thanks.

Yeah, it was a great show. Yeah, I mean, you know, it was sad that we got canceled, but at the same time, sometimes I go, maybe we were just better off being 18 episodes. That's true because you're like, well, this was great. This is like, actually like, really great work. It didn't jump the shark or anything. The decline. Yeah, we always feel like he got away with something

when something works. I was like, okay. But, you know, people over the years have always wanted us to do a new one. I'm like, I don't know, I just step away. You know, people don't need more of something they love. Like, make that special. Yeah.

There's this whole thing, you know. Hollywood, just people in general go like, I want more. It's like, do you want more? You know, it's like when I was a magician in my childhood. And whenever you do a trick, you know, magic group. So you're and I both went, yeah. We were like, oh, dude.

Not a good magician, by the way. But whenever you do a trick, people go like, do it again. It's like, no, if I do it again, you're going to see how I did it. Right. Yeah. But it's a natural instinct, I guess, to want more. What was your favorite trick that you did? Oh, gosh.

I had, I mean, the funny thing about being a magician when your kid is you just buy the tricks, you know. So basically, you know, you have, you know, these tubes with like the silks can come out of and, you know, rabbits that disappear. in different boxes, not real rabbits, but like painted rabbits on them. So yeah, but I always like to try to learn how to do slight a hand. So I could kind of do it for a while and I've sort of lost the skill.

But that to me is the most pure form of magic because I have friends who are like real magicians. And you've heard a dinner table with them, they'll pull out a coin and just blow your mind for like 15 minutes. I love that. I love when people can do magic tricks, but I also really love when people can play the piano

like at a dinner party. It's like a superpower, right? You're having like a cocktail and they're like, hey, what if I just tickle the Ivers? I'm like, please. Let's have a single one. Here's an unexpected skill. What? I don't know.

I thought we were going to eat. You know what we're enjoying something. What always blows my mind when people can do it is speak a second language. Yeah. I'm always like, and I've tried so hard over the years to learn a second. And I just, it doesn't, it doesn't go in. Our friend Mateo can speak like five. He's a polyglot.

Polyglot, yeah. He knows. I guess either. Everything. It's so nuts. Your brain's wired for it or not? Like, I just, I mean, I had four years of French in high school. Nothing's there.

Three years of German and in college, nothing. We can see Deutsch. Exactly. Yeah. So good. See? We can say things are nice in a lot of different languages. Yeah, I studied Latin in high school, which in my mind, I was like, I'm going to learn any romance language after that.

I didn't. I just stopped with Latin, which is a dead language. and then learn American Sign Language in college, which was great, but then it's tactile, so if you don't keep up with it, you lose it. Yeah, I was going to say. Yeah, so. Well, that's cool, though.

It is cool. I admire you doing Latin because that is true. Yeah. But at least if you go to Europe now, there's certain words you can kind of figure out. That's true. I know the root word of things, but I don't know how to, like, speak a whole phrase. You know what I hasn't heard that the new iPod, you know, that you're... Oh, and translate?

Translate? So like somebody's talking to a different language and it goes in your, it's like, that's crazy. That is crazy. Now, when will it make it so I can speak it? Oh, yeah. We can come out of my mouth. When will that happen? When you get your little iPod chip? Oh, no.

The Tesla chip or? Yeah, gosh. I do have a question. So you worked as a tour guide for Universal Studios after first moving to L.A. I did. I did. I know, back in 1981. Oh.

Did they have the tram? Oh, yeah. We had the tram. and Jaws was there, the Jaws Lake thing. But it was not what it is today. If you go there now, it's all these special effects and all this stuff. It was pretty rudimentary.

And I was working there. It was 81. It was one of the hottest summers on record. And when you were in those old trams, you were sitting right next to the engine. And it was so hot. Oh, gosh. And, yeah, it was kind of miserable.

But it was also I was, you know, becoming a stand-up at that point. And so it was great training to just be on a mic every day in front of, you know, different crowds. So that was fun. That is fun. Yeah, yeah. Were you always a very performative person, even when you were younger?

Yeah, yeah. When I was five years old, I decided I wanted to become an actor and comedy guy and all that. Yeah, I just always loved it. And my mom was very, she loved showbiz. You know, I grew up in Detroit, but she just loved watching funny movies and all that. And then my dad was a really good recontore. He could tell jokes, like nobody else. Like those kind of long story jokes that normally people start telling us.

me you want to kill yourself say oh boy here it comes but he could just do it where you would kind of laugh the whole way through and then my mom like like I said really silly humor she just like physical comedy and stuff like that do you have a movie that you remember watching as a kid with your parents well I remember watching singing in the rain with my mom and I was so was taken with the tap dancing in it that I immediately said I don't want to take tap dancing classes and I did for about eight years and never learned one time step I had the worst teacher It was at the school where it was like jazz on taps. And I didn't know it wasn't just like hoofing.

And so it was all like phallat ball chain, philat ball change, full out of spin, spin, spin. And it's like, why can't I do a time? I'm so mad to this day I can't do a time step. I'll tell you something. I also took tap for like eight years. I also cannot time step. I can only shuffle up a buffalo.

I think that's what it's called. You shuffle and travel. Yeah, exactly. That's it. That's all I can do. And I can do like, you know, flatball change or whatever. but I can't time step. I feel like the only thing

I can do is time step. Really? Yeah. But I only did he show off. Which we had your teacher. Okay. I guess you had a better education than us. Okay.

Detroit, New Jersey didn't teach. Indiana taught. I just took a drop-in tab class and that's like mostly what they taught us. But that's good. You had a good teacher. I did have a good teacher. I did have a good teacher. I was the only boy in the class of like 10 or 12 other girls.

And in eight years, not one of those women. ever spoke one word to me, never. Oh, no. It was just, recitals, anything. It was just like, I would just come in and stay on there. Because you were a boy? I guess. I mean, obviously, I didn't instigate anything either. Yeah, they weren't talking to you.

They wouldn't tell you either way. Yeah, exactly. But, no, it still blows my mind when I think about it. I could not tell you who was in the class. Wow. Yeah. That's so rude. There were no boys in my class.

And I'll never forget. We had one recital where the song was hit the road jack and I was Jack. That's bad. I was the star. I have pictures. And I remember it as being like a pivotal moment where I was like, I'm the star. Yeah. These other bitches.

They don't matter. This is the beginning of the road. That led you here. That led you here. Exactly. How did you hit the road? Like, what was, how was it? I had a little bindle.

Okay. I wore white little kids. You were a hobo. I was a little hobo. And then they would be like, hit the road, Jack. And I'd shuffle off a buffalo. Please tell me there's tapes of this. No, I wish there was.

My dad bought one of those camcorders and then it just lived in the closet. So there's no footage of me young and adorable. Well, they were so gigantic back then, too. I bought one of those. I didn't bring them. When I was doing standard, I used to bring one of those and I would bring it to the club and tried to set it up and, like, it was so big. First of all, I remember some famous comedians who I won't name were like,

you can't tape my act. I don't want to tape your act. I'm trying to take my app. Everybody got mad. I had to send this up 30 minutes before I go on stage. Exactly. So many parts. Is it rolling?

How long did you do stand-up? I did it professionally for five years and really loved it. And then immediately when I decided I didn't like it anymore, I got out. Because I knew so many people who stayed in and just got angrier and mean to the audience. And it's just like, ugh. But it was fun doing it. Which city did you do it in? I was mostly West Coast.

Okay. Yeah. So I kind of, I started when I was 15 years old in Detroit. I was terrible, you know. And I was so young, my parents had to take me to the comedy clubs because, you couldn't get in otherwise. But then when I got out here, yeah, I went pretty hardcore at it. And, yeah, but all up and down the West Coast.

I never became an East Coast guy for some reason. There was a couple of, like, bookers who would have me all up and down. It was fun, you know. That is a thing about stand-up, though. You have to find the joy over and over and over again. I've done shows where I'm like, I'm being meat. I'm doing crowdwork and I'm being mean. You're like, I'm mad at you guys for being here.

Yeah, it's like, what am I doing? Got to find the joy right here in the moment. Yeah. No, that's the worst one. I would watch these guys just get mean with the audience. You know, my favorite thing was always when they tell a joke and it wouldn't land, they'd go this. You know, those over their head. And I'm like, no, it's this.

They got it and they didn't like it. It was funny. Oh, no, no. They just didn't want it. They don't want what you're serving. They don't think you're funny. And I don't either. Real quick.

We do have to take a break. Let's take a break. Happy holidays from best friends. Okay, so my holiday shopping is almost done, but not going to lie, I'm sweating a little bit. I have one name left on my list, one left to cross off, and it's the same one I have every year. My grandfather, he's the, oh, don't get me anything type. So every year I panic and buy him golf balls? Just a bunch of golf balls?

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Ends January 11th at 1159 p.m. Eastern Time. Oh, we're back. Oh, my gosh, we're back. Oh, what a break. Oh, my gosh. How old were you when you started actually working for TV? Well, I transitioned out of stand-up into being an actor in television. So that was around 1990s.

So I was probably, you know, in my mid-20s. And kind of lucked into some nice roles. The first big one for me was on it. Gary Shanling had a show called It's Gary Shanling show before the at Larry David show or Larry Sanders show and I got to be like a guest star on that that they turned into like a recurring and that was really cool

my first job was on Facts of Life though I played a nerd and when I say I played a nerd I mean a propeller beanie wow you love to see it there you go that's such a funny stereotype because I don't think I've ever seen anyone in the wild in real life totally it's like really

Even at your first job You kind of just wanted to do what they say But it's like, really? Get your image of nerds? Seems a little over the top. Yeah, but that was, you know, that was my... I'll tell you the worst story about that, though. It was an episode called The Ratings game.

This was back when, like, it became popular to be like, he was a one, he's a 10, he's of eight or whatever. And so, you know, they have the warm-ups between scenes. So me and this other poor guy or playing the other nerd are standing there And the woman, it was a party with all these hot guys there. And so she goes, all right, hey, everybody. Let's rate these guys, shall we?

And I was like, I'm out of, and I walked off the set because I'm like, I see where this is going. Hot guy, hot guy. What about him? He's a two. Ha, ha, ha. So. Yeah, that sucks. Yeah.

I'd leave two. I'd be like, I don't want to be rated. Not today. Yeah. Like, I'm already an actor. I'm already like. Yeah, it's not bad enough. Desper for approval.

Right, exactly. In front of an audience? No, I'm going to get out of here. I have a question about directing. I feel like directing is there's so much details and whatnot. Like, I've been in production meetings where they're like, what fork should we use? Oh, God. That's my whole life.

How do you deal with that, or is that something you enjoy? Well, I mean, I understand it because anybody who makes a decision, and if I come on and go, like, why is that here? Then they're in trouble if they think they get fired or whatever. so and I do want to micromanage stuff but there are things like you're like I don't care about that but if you say that then they'll you know just make a bunch of decisions you don't want but it does that that's the assault and it's you know you know your poor spouse basically because you're just in a day with questions so the minute you come home and like hey how's your days like don't ask me anything please don't make me answer any questions but it's fine I love it I mean you know

it's so funny because people don't most people don't know what a director does you know like I had people, you know, they knew I directed the office like, oh, have you met Steve Carell? It's like, yeah, I think I met him. That's a wild question. You wouldn't be on set. Right, exactly. They're like, are you involved in the casting?

Are you involved in the editing? Yes, we do everything. But I love it. It's, you know, I don't miss acting just because I like the, I like making other people look good. It's really fun. And to tell a fun story is really cool.

Yeah. Was there a director you looked up to as you were coming up? Yeah. Yeah, nice is good, nicely done. I mean, there's old directors that I really was a fan of. Howard Hawks was an old director from the 30s and 40s, and he did a lot of screwball comedies,

but he also did like gangster movies and did westerns. And I was like, that's cool. Like, I like the idea of not getting stuck in one genre. So I really loved him. I like Blake Edwards, who did like the Pink Panther movies and all those comedies. Yeah, and just, I don't know, I had a lot of influences, but I was, I was,

really influenced more by, like, comedies that I would see, you know, and I loved all the old, I mean, from Three Stooges to Marks Brothers and Laurel and Hardy and all that old kind of stuff. And then a lot of television really influenced me. Growing up, a lot of sitcoms, I just thought were really fun. All the Norman Lear shows were really great. But, yeah, I just, just a big consumer of comedy back then. I think that's what helps.

I feel like, I think a lot of comedians, like, get the urge to do it because they're just a fan of it. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you start to go like, oh, I think I could do that. But it's interesting how you find your voice, especially as a stand-up. Because you're basically just kind of copying other comedians when you're starting out. And then as you're with an audience, you start to go, oh, they're responding to this. And that was the moment I was actually kind of myself.

Because I was really influenced. Well, I mean, coming up, all I listened to was like Steve Martin albums and George Carlin and Lenny Bruce. But then when I was doing stand-up, I got really influenced by Richard Lewis. I just thought he had the same kind of cadence as the way I talked. and I like the way he processed the world. And so started out kind of copying his thing and then slipped into my own thing. But, you know, it's not bad

as long as nobody accuses you of stealing from somebody. Well, I do think that's interesting that a lot of people don't talk about because when you first start out, how do you do it? I think it's like, yeah, you just borrow from people until you figure out your voice. Yeah, 100%.

Right? I think so. Yeah, because I guess there are stand-up classes. I don't know if there have always been stand-up classes. But yeah, you kind of need to just do it. Yeah, you just kind of throw yourself into the fire. Yeah, and yeah, you probably will mimic someone until you're like, oh, actually, this is what I like. This is my voice. This is, yeah, how I present. Although a few years ago, I got taken to a comedy festival down south somewhere that Richard, that Lewis Black was doing

and he might be down. And there was this thing of like, okay, all these new people are going to do it who want to be stand-ups. I was like, okay, this is going to be terrible. They were all really kind of good the confidence level of all them and their voice i was and i think i think there's so much stand up out there now that there's a lot more to see like i was coming up you just had the big big people and then that was it but now there's so much comedy everywhere but i think it's great because you get a chance to discover your voice and then all the stuff you can do on the internet you know youtube and all that you got to find it so it's really i think it's a good time to to be coming up in comedy i think so yeah because also you can just film your stuff

the phone, not a camcorder, and the edges. Thank God. Just a little smiling. Yeah, immediately put it online and have an audience, have access to it so much quicker than, like, promoting a show, having people come to a club, hopefully getting booked at the club, you know, yeah, it's very different. No, that was always the power that Hollywood and the, you know, entertainment and business in general held over us was distribution.

Yeah. We could do the stuff, although even then it was hard if you had to film something, that was expensive. But, yeah, even if you could just videotape it, how do you get it out there? So, you know, when I lecture to film students and actors and stuff, I was like, you guys have no excuse not to be doing stuff and get yourself. You're right, because you have an iPhone, there's I movie. You can absolutely make a short very cheaply and put it out there. And it's going to look great, too, you know, HD and all that stuff.

I mean, the first movie I did before I am David, I did, I self-funded this feature film for like $30,000. And all the money went into buying 16mm film stock. and processing it. And it didn't look that good. You know, it just kind of was degraded, you know, it just looked like a horror movie or something to what it's supposed to be. It's a rom-com, but you're like,

oh, the lighting's a little wild. It's a little grainy on the screen. Did you study film, or did you just self-teach yourself? Well, I kind of self-taught when I lived back in Michigan with my next-door neighbor that we would just make these Super 8 films. But then I did end up going to USC film school. is when I was a tour guide universal I discovered, I've heard about

USC film school and applied and got in but I don't, you know, as much as I like going to USC film school, I think I learned more when I just started doing my own stuff. Yeah. You know, when I did that movie that I was talking about the $30,000 one, that was just a crash course in how to produce, how to just

deal with everything. I'm sure. Yeah. Yeah, I feel like doing is way more helpful than, I mean, you can learn things and learn how to do the thing that you want to do, but just do it. Yeah. Trial and error, seeing what works, what doesn't work.

I think that's so much more helpful than school. Yeah. Well, failure. Yes. That's the ultimate teacher because he's like, not going to do that again. Okay, screw that up. So let's, you know, learn. Is your wife your best friend?

Yes, she is. I love that. Will you tell us how you met? Oh, I certainly will. Well, she was my manager. Oh. But before that, we had, unbeknownst to me, well, actually, I was going to say, when you brought up hit the road jack

that's kind of how she first became aware of me because I was working with this this guy from my film school and we put together this trailer that I was going to be the star of this movie and he was going to direct him and so we filmed this trailer and in the in the trailer

for one scene there was kind of a takeoff on cocktail and you know with the Tom Cruise throwing the bottles around and so this juggler we hired to play that well that juggler is one of her clients So he showed her the trailer. She's like, who's that guy? Yeah, because she liked me.

Because here, I'll explain this. She, her perfect man back then would be Jerry Lewis. So you know she wasn't looking for like a hot guy. But a funny guy. Exactly. So, yeah, so then we kind of were parties at the same time, but I didn't know who she was. and she would come up and talk

and I was like, oh, that girl's really cute but I don't know who she is and she was like so like, you know, aggressively kind of being friendly because it was like, huh, who are you? And then finally when I did a movie as an actor called Ski Patrol and I thought I was going to be a big movie star

from that and I had these managers that were pretty high end at the time and I came back and they immediately fired me because they thought the movie was ridiculous, you know? And so, okay. So then... That's so harsh after one movie. Yeah, really harsh, I know.

Oh, yeah. So, but then one of the guys from the movie said, oh, I have a friend who's a manager, and I met him to meet with her, and it was her. And so she managed me for about two weeks, and then we fell in love. And she continued to manage me for four years after that, but we didn't tell anybody. Ooh. So we were top secret. Scandalous.

Scandal, I know. And now we've been married, we together for 35 years, married for 31 years. Wow. That's so wonderful. I love that. That's such a long time. I know. It really is.

Also, you must work well together because I feel like it's tricky sometimes to be in a partnership with someone, like a romantic partnership with somebody and also work with them. Well, yeah. That's what I always say is I fired her

and proposed to her on the same day. Because it's kind of like, I don't think. Bad news and good news. Yeah, exactly. Guess what? Your commission just went up. But no, she's great. And honestly, because, you know,

before that, I was only in a couple relationships before that and they're both with fellow actors and it just was too hard because you know we're in competition so if I'd come home and say oh I got this job then suddenly she'd be like oh you're cooler than me is like oh so you had to hide

stuff but having your manager become your wife we're both going for the same goal which is to make me successful exactly so it's perfect for a guy with the big ego And she's in the business But not doing exactly what you're doing

Which is really nice Yeah, exactly Gets it Totally Yeah, not competition I guess Yeah, yeah So that kind of It's the greatest

If you marry your rep It'll be great You're in here first Do you share movies with her Before they're like Absolutely finished Does she like give you notes

And stuff or Well I share the script with her Once I'm happy with it Or if the project I'm considering because she's really populist. She's got a real populous taste. Which you need because I don't want to make movies that people aren't going to see, you know,

or the prestige films. I have no interest in doing that. But then once I have it, I make her wait until I've got a cut that I'm really happy with. And then I'll bring her to a test screening so she can see it with a big audience because I'm really about fresh eyes.

Like, you know, somebody knows something then. But like somebody who doesn't know anything about her very little, you're going to get a pure response out of it. Yeah. Has she ever given a thought on something that actually made you change something? Oh, all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely, especially in the, you know, trying to figure out what project you do next or even casting things. I'm like, I'm thinking about this person. Like, no, not that person. You know, what about somebody like this? Like this? Like, that's a better idea. Yeah. That's great. And he's going to have an outside perspective, too, because like, like you said, she's a consumer. Yeah. And you want somebody's opinion who's like, yeah, actually, I want to watch this kind of movie. Yeah, yeah, she just, she doesn't want to watch any heady movies or anything like that.

Not that she's, you know, not smart, but it just kind of, she goes, that's my, my relaxation is watching stuff. And I love that, you know, because, you know, there's certain projects you sometimes get all like, oh, this will be so, you know, we'll win awards. Again, back to the awards thing, like, don't do it. You know, obviously, bridesmaids got nominated for two Oscars. Do you think any of us thought we were going to get two Oscars for a movie where somebody shits in the sink? No. That's why it got nominated. There you go, see, exactly.

That scene truly is so funny. And it is a seat about shitting, but it's like not nasty. Well, the reason that scene is funny is because Kristen screws up. She's trying to compete with a richer person, takes them to a restaurant, and passing it off as a great restaurant, is a shitty restaurant. And everybody gets food poisoning from it. And it's her not admitting that everything's going wrong. So it's the comedy is her going, nobody's sick. I think everybody's fine.

Cut two throwing up all over the. place but that's why I think it's it works really well it's so funny test screenings I don't know anything about them what's the dumbest thing you've heard from a person at a test screening oh my god well here's the thing with test screenings they used to always be they would hand out pieces of paper people write on them now they hand out like phones and you so do it electronically and I hate that because I used to love getting the written thing because you see depending on the person's handwriting you Whether do I take this seriously or not.

Some people literally, I mean, it's like a caveman is just like scrolling on this thing. No, my favorite thing was when I did a test screening for this movie, I did. It was a family film called Unaccompanied Miners. And it was a bunch of kids trapped in an airport over Christmas. And going through the things, one was from like eight-year-old boy said, the only thing I said to what, it was gay. All right, there you go. Thank you, eight-year-old boy. Who probably would have beat me up

When I was a kid Yeah This is not for you actually That's so It's gay That was gay Got it Here you go

That's so funny But I love test screenings I live and die by test screenings You know It's really That's the only way To really know how your movie's working And I don't do friends

And family screenings Those are absolutely worthless Oh wait why Because they're your friends They're your family He's like, oh, so great, wow, we loved it. And you're like, all right, because I've been screwed by that a few times going, we got a hit.

And then you put in front of a real audience, you're like, okay, this didn't work at all. But I like it. My whole thing is I've got to make sure that my movie appeals to the broadest possible audience. And I like it. I want to please people. I don't want to put in something that nobody else thinks is funny that I think is funny. I mean, you'll always put in a couple for yourself. But that's about it.

I've ever snuck into a theater of just, like, people watching your movie just to see how they would react? Yeah, well, that's my favorite thing about movies is the opening weekend. We'll drive around and like, you know, this is my movie. Can I go in and come in to the back? And sometimes it's terrible. You walk in and there's nobody here, you know, like three people. And, but that was the most exciting thing with bridesmaids was because we were predicted not to do well. Wait, really?

Oh, yeah, all the predictions. And even that morning of the tracking and they did a midnight screening the night before that didn't do well at all. Because like, of course, who's going to go to a wedding movie at midnight on the Thursday? and then as the day went on and suddenly we were going up and up and up and Melissa McCarthy and her husband Ben were at our house having dinner and I'm getting these texts

I go like we're going to the arc light and so we go and sneak in the back and the place is just packed and rocking and that was really cool that is really cool yeah that's why I'm so happy that this new movie The House Made is in theaters

because my last three movies have been streamers and it's just you miss that fun you know I can't go right I can just go stalk people's houses are they watching you're just in the like in someone's And they look like, do you like it? So she has heard me say this so many times. I really do think there is something magical

about watching a movie on a big screen with a bunch of strangers. Totally. And like there's community and like you're all laughing. And I just think it amplifies what you're watching in a really beautiful way. Well, it's also why I always say this is why you love certain movies

and you watch them over and over again because you have that one experience and that is implanted in your brain. Not only do hear the movie, you hear the laughter that you heard when you first saw it. And that's why it's so much harder to get a comedy going on a streamer or to get people to love it because they're not having that same experience. Yeah, I agree.

Or like a thriller and like seeing something scary, like incomplete darkness. Yes. Like, ah! Yeah. It's, yeah, I feel like everything's more, it's amplified in a theater. Yeah. Than just, like, on your laptop or on your couch. So you're just distracted at home.

You can escape. Like, all about movie theaters, you can't get out. You can, but then you're really like. like making a big move to leave, you know, but we have you. And when putting, you know, the streamers that I did, the movies, it was, you have to grab the audience in 30 seconds or they could turn it off. So you don't, it's, it, I like starting a movie really big, but at the same time, takes some, you know, five minutes for people to get into the characters and all that.

And so with a movie, at least we have you trapped for, like, if you're like, just hate the movie so much, you'll leave after 10 minutes. But you still give us 10 minutes. And so that's really nice. Yeah, I saw spy in theaters, and that was so fun. So much fun. Also, Jason Statham, hoo. Oh, the best.

What a dream? He is. He's so funny. He really is. What was it like working with Jason Statham? I love him so much. He's the best. I love Statham so much because my wife and I were such giant Statham fans.

We watched every movie he did, no matter how good or bad it was. He's so good always. and I was like maybe I'll have tried to get a general meeting with him you know because you can do that as a director you know I'm like hey I can movie star can come to see me and so lined it up but then I was really nervous because like I don't know I've seen him he's so tough and all this I'm like is he going to be mean to me is he going to beat me up like what's it and so they're like that would be so funny he came in and it was like pop pop pop it's all real I would exactly what you're looking at oh my gosh would be kind of kind of cool to get beaten up by Jason Statham. I'm going to get beaten up by anybody. But they came in and they go like, you know, Jason's out in the lobby and I'm in my office like, okay. So I kind of walk out and he's reading a magazine.

He looks like Jason's tape. And I'm like, Jason, hey, Paul, big smile. I'm like, oh my gosh, you're nice. And yeah, and then he was just, he had the best time doing it. It was so much fun because we'd write ridiculous jokes for him. I mean, a lot of those jokes for him were written on the set. Yes, there's like a blooper reel of him doing the all. Yeah, so you see that, me feeding him these jokes.

It's so funny. Oh, no, totally. Because I would feed him a joke, and he just burst out laughing, and then he'd do it, and he'd get halfway through it and start laughing, and then you do it the second time and just nail it. Oh, my gosh, you have to watch it. Because it's very, he's like, ha, ha, ha, and then he's Jason Stathel. Exactly.

And it's really wild to watch him, like, walk in, and then just like, like, he kills it. Oh, I love Jason Statham. He's so cool. Well, he went to me when I first cast him, always like to have the actor combined just kind of read through the script just to see what they're going to do so he came in one day he's like so how should i play this i'm trying to be funny as it like jason this is the most serious movie you've ever done he's all right got that and he's reading through and every line destroys so either the ones i go like leave don't even look at the script

again i'll see all the sets don't rehearse don't do anything you're perfect oh that's interesting i like that don't rehearse what you've done is great because i feel like sometimes as an actor or you'll prepare something and people will be like, oh, okay. And you're like, well, I don't, oh, you said, oh, okay. So, do I change things? What do I do? Like, like, am I fired? Yeah.

We had to go to a break. It's a break time. The way you did that. Oh, boy, do I need a break? And do I need a break? Happy holidays from best friends. Okay, so my holiday shopping is almost done. What? Not going to lie. I'm sweating a little bit. I have one name left on my list. One left to cross off. And it's the same one I have every year. My grandfather. He's the, oh, don't get me anything type. So every year I panic and buy him golf balls? Just a bunch of golf balls? I don't even know if he loses that many golf balls. But this year, I have hope. Macy's great gift sale is happening right now. They have 10 days of curated gifts for every type of person, including your own personal

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Break me off a piece of that. Kit Kat bar. There we go. It's your new sponsor. Well, hopefully. It is now. We just sang it. Yes.

Send the check to best friends. And Wells Fargo is just like, who's best friends? Which friends? So you've gotten to work with Melissa McCarthy a lot. What's that like? She seems like. fun. She's a terrible question. What is that fun for you? Good.

It's like a junket question. Exactly. It really is. There's no thought. No, no, but she's great. I really love Melissa. You know, you know, being all comedy people like we are, when you find somebody who has the same sense of humor that you do, it's like a gold mine. And we're just so in sync with, you know, we did four movies in a row together. And yeah, we just kind of read each other's minds and kind of go like, we don't want to do that. That's too much. But try this. And, you know, And then she'd surprise me with a joke and I'd surprise her with stuff.

It was really fun. It was very nice fluid working environment. And you mentioned earlier that you were getting dinner with her. Are you guys like actually friends outside of work too? Yeah, yeah, we're pals. I mean, I haven't seen her a lot recently because she's off working and I am off working, but we keep in touch all the time.

Yeah. Start to send each other birthday gifts and stuff like that. That's sweet. That is sweet. How do you stay connected to your friends as a person who works so much? It's hard. I mean, I, you know, I think like all of us, you start with a lot of friends

and then you weed it down and now I'm 63, so we've weeded our friend down to a pretty core group of about eight people, I would dare say. I say that's a good number. It's kind of great, you know, because we just, every, there's nobody you don't look forward to seeing, you know, and that's always the worst one. It's kind of like, oh, do we have to see this person? Right. So everything's relaxation with that way.

So, yeah, but we have great friends and we're all very geographically. across L.A. So nobody lives close to anybody else. So it's always, you know the friendship's strong. And you go, sure, I'll drive all the way over there. I'll drive to the west side. When I moved from New York to L.A., Nicole was already living here for a few years.

And she was like, if you live more than 20 minutes from me, I will not see you. And so I literally looked in places like 20 minutes around her. That's hilarious. And I did that. There you go. And I really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Isn't that nice?

And now you live at Max Dibald. If you go any further, my God, friend. You're right on the board. My God. I'm on that. You have one of those things that draws a circle and you put a map down just within this. Yeah, like, I'm okay in this area. Go away.

You're right. A block outside. At a dinner party, what are you serving? If I'm cooking, you're saying? If I'm cooking, I'll do a roast chicken usually, I know, which is really good. I'll do risotto. I'm very good risotto. I do like a risotto.

Yeah, I'm the guy that stands it and stirs it for 45 minutes straight. So, almost got to do it. Yeah, exactly. And I'll roast vegetables, that kind of thing. But I try to be healthy. And, yeah, but one of my best friends is he's like a gourmet chef. And so when you go to his house, I mean, he cooks for days and all these things he's prepared. There's a million different dishes.

I'm like, we used to be in competition. And then I was like, you win. I'm done. You're getting the roast chicken. Every time you go over. Oh, that's not. One New Year's Eve, I made finger food, which was Mac. and cheese and lasagna, and everyone was

like, what fingers? What are you talking? Technically, you could do with user fingers. You don't want to. I don't know why I told everyone it was finger food. I don't either. Well, I mean, you hold a fork with your fingers, I guess. Yeah, there you go. Fingers are involved.

I kept saying, I was like, finger food will be there. Finger, finger, finger food. I found the way to make people really happy at a dinner party is to serve stuff you know. normally get to eat like hamburgers and hot dogs and stuff like that yeah yeah you know one of my friends uh who's in the business too occasionally we get to dinner go out and he goes like let's eat like we're not in showbiz tonight and you totally get that like normally have to be

all healthy and stuff like let's just eat something shitty and I love that that is nice it's what I did mac and cheese and lasagna finger food can't go wrong who's the friend that you've had for the longest. Ooh. Probably my friend Rob, who we were stand-ups together. Well, then I was on my friend Mike back in Michigan, who was my babysitter. So I actually, I would dare say probably that's the longest, but then now that we don't live in the same area, we don't talk as much, but we still keep in contact.

But yeah, Rob, we met in the comedy clubs, and we were both starting out, you know, on open mic nights, and he's great. What drew you to Rob? I thought his act was really funny. He was very kind of Andy Kaufman-esque Like he would do a thing where he'd like play a record And then like lip sync to it But it's always really funny

And so I just I kind of you know Again finding somebody go like I think we have the same kind of dumb sets of humor Which is really fun So yeah We've always stayed in contact Yeah that's so nice Yeah that's how I found this year

I was like wow she's so funny I want to talk to her more Nice and when did you guys meet Like 15 years ago Wait 16 years ago Oh Wow.

It's our sweet 16 year. Oh, look at us. Give me a car. And where was that? Was it here? It was in New York. Yeah, we were doing improv and we were doing a show together, but we hadn't met before the show because it's improv.

You don't have to really know each other. He's not better to be surprised. Yeah, surprised by these people. She was just so funny, and I was like, wow. Was it UCB? Yes. Nice. Yeah.

Yeah, our teacher, like, put a mashup group together, and that's how we first met. And then we kept seeing each other, but, like, We never had a class together, but eventually we were like, we should perform together. And, yeah, it was pretty magic. It was, like, pretty instant. We were like, oh, this really works well. Like being on stage, she would say something. And I was like, oh, I knew she was going to say that because I have this.

I want to say this. Yeah, it was truly, truly magical. Yeah. And we've been together ever since. And I've never said, give me a break. I was hoping you were going to transition. Our new sponsor Yeah, it's nice when you can meet like-minded people

Especially ones that make you laugh It's like so important Well again, yeah, comedy is the most specific Of all the art forms because, you know, I would say with movies Everybody can agree what's scary, what's sad, what's thrilling, what's all this, but nobody can agree what's funny Yeah, yeah, that's true I think it's so much harder to make people laugh

Like cry or be scared Because I think I don't know For some reason people feel like cynics They like they don't want to laugh Yes I found that this Like when we were promoting

Bridesmaids People really hostile Towards our trailers And but they would always go like I'd hear all the time Oh clearly all the funniest jokes Are in the trailer Everybody thinks you're trying to hoodwink them

When you're doing comedy And I think it's because I think for years There's been enough Kind of bad comedies On top of the good comedies that people paid a lot of money going in and they're excited and then it doesn't work.

But now it's just hard to get just a straight-up comedy made. And I kind of get it a little bit because people need more stakes like in their entertainment and comedy. Like old-time comedy can be very just joke-joke-to-joke. And that's fun. I love those kind of things.

I love those old movies. But the movies I do, I always want to make sure, like I said earlier, I want to have a heavy emotional core that's going to drive things through and a good plot that drives you through. And then you hang all the comedy on that. Yeah.

Do you also think people are so harsh on bridesmaids because there's so many women in it? Well, I mean, it was funny. A lot of people thought we were making fun of Melissa's character in the trailers. So a lot of people were coming out, oh, those plus size woman and you're making all these jokes about it. It's like, no, no, wait, just see the movie. Like, she's the hero of the movie. Yeah. You know, but it just, I don't know, people are ready to be offended by and

suspicious about a lot of things in comedy and I'm not Mr. Anti-Woke or anything I also you know anybody who gets on this thing well you can't do anything in comedy more I don't agree with that just trying to make people laugh I don't want to do comedy that makes people feel shitty about themselves or makes one group of people feel bad about themselves but you know it's just I think people are just on edge

a lot lately yeah I think so too yeah and I sometimes when I'm like doing shows or sometimes when I like go to a movie and I'm like I'm like laughing at things and people aren't because I think people go to see things and they're like yeah totally make me laugh and it's like maybe if you just had a nice time and we're open to things being funny you'll you'll you'll have a nice time and you will laugh yeah but that's exactly it well it's what it's why you have to make sure that all the do test screenings and make sure all the jokes in your movie are good because my editor who did bridesmaids had this thing he called

the angry villagers syndrome and it's basically people you know, we like to assume, okay, people are coming in like, okay, let's see this, but they're kind of, I want to have a good time. And so the first joke comes, you go like, that's not that funny. But okay, maybe the next joke will be funny. And then the next one's not that great. And you add up enough of those and then they want to burn the village down, you know. So that's why you have to make sure that it's all really good.

But yeah, people, I find that. Well, also there's just something about funny. Well, a lot of comedy now is kind of hidden in horror movies. Yeah. You saw weapons, right? Yes, very funny. Very funny. The end of it?

Oh, boy. in a theater in Palm Springs with like two other couples and that, you know, the whole last act where, you know, the kids are chasing her around. I'm howling with laughing. And these people are looking at me like, this is a serious movie.

I was like, you guys, it's not serious movie. I'm telling you. All you have to see is Aunt Gladys and you know, this movie's not serious. But it's great. I mean, I love that Zach Greger is, you know, a comedy guy. Like a lot of us in comedy are now moving

towards thrillers and horror and all that because you get to elicit the reaction from an audience so you get from a comedy, but then you get the extra reaction of scaring them and having them jump and then they're going to laugh too. So it's kind of catnip for all of us.

Yeah. And do you like that? Do you like me? I love it. Yeah. Yeah, so much fun. I mean, I just like, I like affecting an audience. You know, it's funny when we do our test greetings,

we record the audience, you know, their laughs, but also we now use night vision cameras so we can watch them as a group watching the audience. And I'm always amazed, because I'm a very interactive, like, viewer. I'm just always, oh, I'm moving around. And so many people just sit there. Like, no matter what happens, they're just like, and I was like, God, but then you'll see there's other people in the crowd who are reacting.

Like, I love you people. Yeah. Like, everybody else is so jaded of like, yeah, show me more. I don't know. You know, like, it's the emperor, like, thumbs up or the thumbs down. Yeah. Like, just have fun. So the more, the crazy of these movies, the more fun you can have with them.

Definitely. We saw Madam Webb in theaters after people were like, it's the worst movie. And dare I say, I don't know. I had a really fun time. There you go. Like the first weird thing that happened that was like, what? Someone in the audience was like, wait, what? And then we were all like, yeah, baby.

It felt like we're like, we're now a community. Yes. Enjoying this together. And we were all just talking out loud. We're like, huh? I love that. Well, the housemate gets that when we have, you know, our audiences, they really get interactive with it. Especially in the last act.

They really go crazy. Yeah, it's fun. I'm very. I also, I just feel like I react to a lot of. things and movies. I'm like, I'm like shrieking in my, in my sea and like putting my, my jacket on my face. And I feel like sometimes I'm with people who are like, you're doing a lot. And I'm like, but I'm enjoying it. Yeah, exactly. Well, my wife's a big like head head hider, face hider. I'm like, watch, watch. You're missing all the good stuff. We saw the last Spider-Man

movie where there was three Spider-Man's and Andrew Garfield got applause. And then Toby McIreire got no applause, but so she went, Woo! I was like, oh my. It was so... Come on, people. He's the OG. It was so funny.

I couldn't believe it. I feel like I enjoy movies with you because you react so much. We watched ballerina in theaters and you had your coat up and you were like, ah, ooh, ah. I love it.

I'm very active. You'll be my favorite audience member. Yes, yeah, you'd be like, she's doing a lot. She's doing, she's so great. She knows what she's in for. I watched a guy throw up in our audience once. Yeah, for no reason, just on a sudden this guy that leaned over and threw up.

I was like, wow, that's interesting, okay. Was it on a joke or was it just at a joke? He just was random. I think he was just sick, you know? Because I was hoping to be like during one of the more disturbing parts, but. At that point, you got to go home. Yeah, exactly. I think he kind of did.

I was like, if I was around him, clearly I would leave. Like, what's worse than that smell? Oh, God, that's tough. Maybe he has a thing where, instead of laughing, he throws up. Be sure to sit by him. God, that's gross. Also, toxic masculinity, I came. I gotta watch this.

I know. I'm going to bar. Gotta keep going. I showed them. Do you own sweatpants? I own, like, workout pants, but only when I do my morning walk. I really love. love the response. You were just like, ah, well, yeah, I guess. But that's what

pansed technically. But you always look so clean and nice. Well, thank you. I just, I love, you know, old Hollywood and you see those pictures of the directors and they're in suits and ties. And I don't know, I just, I, it's something I've always enjoyed. I like it. I like it too. It's inspiring me to dress up more. Mm-hmm. I should. Yeah. I always wear a striped shirt and jeans. You look great. No. That's your style. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Have your style, you know. I was like, oh, yeah, you can have personal style and it can be different than other people. I would dress up for tests in college

because I would be like if I fail. At least I look good doing it. And it does have put you a different mentality of like, okay, like I'm prepared, like not just like mentally, but also like physically. I feel more prepared when I'm like put together. And when you say dress up, I'm envisioning you in like a.

a pencil skirt and a blazer. No, not like that. Oh. I guess like maybe like a button down and like nice pants or like a nice skirt or something. I like this. Yeah. That's funny. Yeah.

Well, true. And focus is a director too. I like the ritual of getting up in the morning putting on a suit. If I rolled out of bed into sweatpants and onto the set, I'd be like, hey, what's going up? You know, like not focused. Yeah. There is something about that.

And also for me, I'm in charge of a lot of people. So it feels disrespectful for me to show up, you know, dress like, you know, garbage. So, you know, because I always say, if I got onto a ship and the captain was wearing sweatpants, I'd get off the ship, you know. I didn't think of that. It's also a top-down thing. People see you showing up ready to work. They're like, okay, we are also ready to work. Yeah, and they really respect that.

I have all these crew guys come by, hey, man, I think it's great. You always dress up for us and stuff. So it's nice. That is really nice. Yeah, that is nice. I like that. Yeah. Step it up, everybody.

Yeah, everybody. Step it up. Step it up. Marry your reps. Marry your reps. Can't represent my Kit Kat. Well, this was really lovely. This was nice.

Thank you so much for coming. Thank you for having me on. It's so much fun. I love seeing you guys. Yeah, I love seeing you too. And your movie's so great. I really was shocked at every turn. And I can't wait to also see it in theaters

and everybody else being like all the gaps and everything. Yeah. You'll react a lot. I will react a lot. And I feel like. like you react on second viewings of things too. I do. And that's fun. Even though I know it's coming. That's fun. I like that.

Even better. Truly, thank you so much for coming. Thank you so much. Do you want to, when does it come out? Come on Christmas, right? Well, actually, they moved it up a week, so we get extra, an extra week of the holidays. So December 19th. December 19. Yeah, get ready. Head to the movie theater.

Get in the theater. Get in the theater. All right. Well, bye. Bye. Best Friends is a production of HeadGum Studios. Our producer is Ali Khan. Our executive producers, Anya Khan of Skaia. The show is edited, mixed, and engineered by Rochelle Chet. Hi, I'm Nicole Byer.

Hi, I'm Sashir Zameda. And this is the podcast, Best Friends. And we're here at HeadGum. So this is just a podcast where we just talk. Yeah. We're best friends. Yeah. We talk.

And then we have a segment where we answer questions and queries. So audience members can ask questions about friendships and we can answer them to the best of our abilities. Yes. We are professional friends. Subscribe to Best Friends on Spotify, Apple Podcast, PocketCast, or wherever you get your podcast and watch videos on YouTube. New episodes drop every Wednesday. That's the middle of a work week. I was deeply unhelpful to you during that whole.

thing. I'm really sorry. I felt the support. I was so okay. I was trying to be supportive. Yeah. But I was like, I don't know, reading seems pretty hard right now. It's a lot. I think you did good. Thank you so much. You're welcome.