Dinner’s on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson - Side Dish: More with Angourie Rice

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

More of my interview with 'The Last Thing He Told Me’ star Angourie Rice. We get into what Nicole Kidman is like behind the scenes and the differences between working on set in Australia versus the United States. This episode was recorded at Crossroads Kitchen on Melrose in Los Angeles, CA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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The game begins in three, two, one. Ready or not too, here I come, only in theaters Friday. After surviving one deadly game, Grace and her sister Faith must now face off against four rival families, in a fresh round of blood and games, filled with more action, scares, laughs, and combustions. Starring Samara Weaving, Catherine Newton, Sarah Michelle Geller, and Elijah Wood.

Ready or not, too, here I come. Only in theaters, Friday. Get tickets now. Hey, it's Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Here's a little side dish from this week's episode of Dinners on Me. This week's guest was the effortlessly charming and Gowery Rice, who you might know from the Mean Girls movie musical, the Tom Holland Spider-Man, Man trilogy and the Apple TV Plus series, The Last Thing He Told Me, which is now out in its second season. We sat down over squash blossoms and lasagna at Crossroads Kitchen on Melrose for a thoughtful and very, very fun conversation. We talked about the surreal experience of working with co-stars who

make you completely starstruck. And I fill Angowery in on what it was really like spending 11 years on Modern Family. To get back into the conversation, you're pulling up a chair just as I'm telling Engowry about something hilarious my husband Justin said that made me instantly feel very old. I went to go, my husband and I had a date night at Vidyets. You know Vidiots here in L.A.? Oh, yes. Yes.

And it's great. It's awesome. It's in Eagle Rock, I think. Yeah. And we went to go see Magnolia, which is one of my favorite films. He'd never seen it before. Paul Thomas Anderson. Yeah, I've never seen it.

Oh, it's so good. It's so great. It's three hours long ago. Great. And so they get up before and they welcome everyone for being there. And we're so excited. And it was a packed house. I mean, like, there was like a waiting line of people.

Like, when was the last time you saw a film, there was like people waiting outside the theater to come in? Oh, yeah. I mean, a film festival. Yeah, exactly. Melbourne Film Festival people are waiting in line. Sure. But like, you know, for just. But yeah.

It just doesn't really happen normally unless you're, it's like a festival. Yeah. So that was exciting in itself because it was just like people clamoring to get inside this theater. And they made it. of speech before and they were like, you know, we were showing this on film and we have this guy upstairs in the projector booths. He has like 10 canisters of film that he has to like, and you know, you have to get the next one ready before the first one runs out and like, so it seamlessly goes from one to the other. And it's a whole thing that we don't do anymore. Yeah. And then we were,

Justin and I were with a friend of ours and we were talking about how we had just seen this movie. And Justin goes, and they shot it on, um, what do they call it? And I was like, film. It was like such a board. He's 10 years younger than me. He's like, but you really couldn't think of the word. What's that word again? I was like, it's called film. Which is also what we call it.

We call it a film. That's so funny. He's like, but movie tape. I was like now film. I feel like so many movies recently though are being shot on film. Yeah. Yeah. What did you shoot on film?

So it was a, it's a small indie movie that hasn't. come out yet called loser. I just wrapped it just before Christmas. Oh, nice. Very cool. And I mean, so much risk involved, which was exciting,

that like, we didn't have playback every day, you know? Right, that's the other part of it because it has to get processed. Yeah, so you can't go back and see what you've done. Sometimes if we were doing stunts, we had playback, so they can make it happen, but it's like an extra kind of thing.

thing. They have people come in and reenact what they saw. Like, I think I did I pick that up

at the right time? I don't remember. Were there stunts? There were some stunts. Did you do stunts? I did some. I'm not, I don't know.

But you know what? Actually, after doing that, I was like, I think I need to try wrestling in 2026. Really? It just made me,

I mean, I don't wrestle in the movie, but there was something about that kind of like contact, like, you liked it. Aggression.

I was like, I think I need to get something else. Oh, interesting. Do you box? Do you do any of that? I have boxed, but not consistently. Yeah, I do this thing called Rumble, which is like a boxing class. It's like sole cycle for boxing, so it's not really boxing.

Okay. Who do you box with? Just the teacher who's there. I mean, it's truly, I mean, to call it boxing is hilarious. It's like choreography more than boxing. That's great, though. Yeah, but I enjoyed it, yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. There's some, I think also because last year going back to ballet was great, but that's so restrained and poised and, you know, there's so much work that goes into like making it look effortless. Right. And I think, I'm like, 2026, I think I need to be a bit messy. Yeah, it's a year to be a wrestler. Can you imagine?

Can you imagine? I mean, my dream is to do a movie where I have to get really good at something that I wouldn't have otherwise done. Same. What do you want to do? Like a sport or something? No. Terrible sports.

I mean, I feel like I could probably do something if it was like tennis or ping pong. Like Marty Supreme I could have. Yeah. I probably should have played Marty Supreme is what I'm saying. That's, and I've heard that too. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The people are outraged. Yeah.

Yeah. No, I mean, I'm, I, what's skill would I like to do? Like, I don't know. I got, I did a movie called Cocaine Bear and I did my own. and stunts where I had to scale a tree and like you know I had harnesses and like that for me because it's something I never would have done and I like went for a whole day of training and like they had a stunt double there who was like willing to like hop in and at any time and I was like no no I'm doing it and I was I've never been more sore yeah had never been more like okay to like

scrape myself up I was like this is I'm in it like I'm doing it for the art of it so that was like really, I did feel like I threw myself into it in a really great way. And so like, stuff like that, I felt really charged by. Or like a big swing with a, with a character where I have to, like, you know, create an accent or a, you know, um, like I would, I always like, I always thought it would be fun to have to transform my body for something. Yes. Um, you know, sort of like be forced to like push the limits. Yeah. But I'm also like not a super mess. that act. Like, I don't want to... Did you learn all of that stuff? Did you do that stuff in acting school?

Like, the kind of like animal work, breath work, things like that? A little bit. I went to a performing arts academy that focused on musical theater, so it was more about, like, learning a song from She Loves Me than, like, you know, doing breath work. But, you know, I'm getting more of that now. Like, I'm about to go do a play. It's a one-man play in New York about Truman Capote. And so I'm working with my friend Kate Wilson, who is a teacher, Juilliard, and she and I have worked together before. But I zoomed with her yesterday to work on this dialect of Truman Capote's. And, you know, she's zooming in from Juilliard.

So I hear, like, people doing vocal warm-ups next door. And I was like, oh, my God, I feel like I'm back in school. I love that. So stuff like that where I have to sort of throw myself in fully is really exciting for me. Yeah. Have you gotten? I mean, Mean Girls must have felt a little bit like that. Yeah, Mean Girls felt a bit like that.

In some ways, too, like, I did a rom-com that hasn't come out yet called Finding Emily, which I'm so excited for people to see. And that character was, like, you wouldn't think that I kind of had to throw myself into that. But I did, in a way, because I'm quite a, like, restrained risk-averse person. Uh-huh. And that character was so like kind of messy and like all over the place, which I loved. Yeah. I loved to do.

I loved doing that. And the play I did in Australia, I played a character. We kind of follow her from maybe like aged seven or eight up until like aged 16 or 17. So that was also fun to like just get in the weeds of like being a kid and like crawling around and like just scabby. scabby knees and that was fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Love to that. Now for a quick break, but don't go away.

When we come back and Gowrie reveals what Nicole Kidman is like behind the scenes and how she gets past feeling starstruck around her co-stars. Okay, be right back. Reggie, I just sold my car online. Let's go, Grandpa. Wait, you did? Yep, on Carvana. Just put in the license plate, answered a few questions, got an offer in minutes.

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I think now that, like, when I turned 18, they were like, well, there you go. Yeah, we have to visit less, yeah. Yeah. They're like, we don't have to be there anymore. You do your thing. which is nice but I miss them I like it when they visit they came and visited during season one

and stayed with me in Santa Monica and that was really fun Are you in the same places now or did you move? No, I don't have a permanent place here filming season two I was in West Hollywood I've heard of it yeah Yeah, yeah In a house that was

allegedly owned by Dolly Parton Oh no way So I called it the Dolly House What do you mean owned by like once owned by her or she owned it, like she collects rent? Once owned, I don't think she... She wasn't your landlady. No.

Can you imagine? Can you imagine? Wouldn't that be the greatest? I would be so honored. I loved all I pardoned so much. Oh my gosh. Did you see the... I saw the musical, He You Come Again?

Oh, uh... It was like a... Oh, no, I don't know it. Is this a new musical that she wrote or about her life? It's like... Someone's in it, like, playing her. Okay. I actually don't remember the details.

I've seen the stage adaptation of 9 to 5, but that's... Oh, fun. Do you have a favorite dolly song? Oh my gosh. I mean, Jolene. I do love Jolene. So when I saw the show, this show that I can't really remember much about, what I really remember is that Dolly, it wasn't Dolly,

it was someone playing Dolly, but before she sang Jolene, I was sitting in the front row, and she said, I knew this woman once, her name was Jolene, she looked a bit like you. you and she pointed at me and I was like, me! You were the other woman. I was the other woman. Oh my God. It's pretty special. I would have fainted.

She was amazing. I would have fainted. Yeah, it was really, really special. I've been near her a few times and it's just like, I don't know what to do with myself. Have you ever met her? Technically no. I'm friends with Lily Tomlin. Oh yeah. And so there was one Emmys, it was her,

Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda were all together because they were doing like a nine. five reunion. And the three of them walked in together and you would have thought, I mean, everyone was losing their mind. Yeah. Everyone was like, no matter what level of celebrity you were. Yeah.

Everyone was like losing their mind. Yeah. And because I know Lily, I was like, I'm just going to go over and say hi to Lily and like just like hugging like and then like and I couldn't even get near them. Wow. There was just so many people clamoring. I was like I can't. I can't add to this chaos.

Yeah. Do you get starstruck by people? People like that, like Dolly Parton. It's usually music artists that really, although Kate Blanche is another one who I really, the first time I met her, I was like, gay. Yeah. What about you? Oh, yeah. I think maybe the, I think it wears off if you work with that person.

It's like, oh, right. Like I'm sure like Nicole Kidman, like she's an icon to me. But it does wear off. I was so, yeah. You have to get comfortable with her. Yeah, you have to let that go in order to, like, do your job properly. I mean, of course, if I saw her again, it would, like, happen all over again. I'd be like, oh, my gosh.

Wow. She's such a legend and, like, so amazing. Hey, Winslet, you've worked with incredible people. Incredible people. How do you get over there? It's, it, I don't, I don't know. You just have to set it aside. Did you see Titanic as a kid?

Yes, of course. I mean, did you, I mean, come on. How was that? Wild. My mom? You're playing my mom? So wild. Also, she's in this,

she did this amazing movie with Peter Jackson when she was, like, it was an Australian New Zealand movie. Don't remember what it's called. Anyway, yes, I love her. I love her work so much.

So when I met her, of course, it was like, oh my gosh, what do I do? But she's so warm and inviting. I mean, I think that's the thing, too, when you meet people like that, they know, do they know? They must know that they have that effect. Yeah.

And so with her especially, she's like, you know, making sure everyone, like, feels cool and comfortable and we're all in it together and we're part of a team. From what I understand, she's an incredibly, like, down to earth, easy, cool person. Same as you're in Garnerer. I mean, I don't know her very well, but, like, the few times I've been around her,

I was like, oh, she just seems easy. So easy to work with, so easy to get along with. And just very open and trusting. Just so, so kind and so generous. Yeah. In a way that's like, it's very disarming, I think. And I also think that's just, like, with Jen Garner as well, that's just who she is. Like, I don't think she could try to be anything else, you know?

Right. Right. Yeah. Now for a quick break, but don't go away. When we come back and Gowrie and I dive into the differences between working on set in Australia versus the United States, Okay, be right back. One plus one equals more of the greatest stories. Hulu on Disney Plus. Stories about our survivors.

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11. 11. How many years? 11 years, yeah. 11 years? Basically. Yeah. Wow.

I mean, that's like a whole life. It's, I mean, as an artist, you understand this, but like, we don't know what a full-time job is. Like, we don't have the luxury of, like, having consistency. Yeah. And I had it. Yeah. Like, I mean, you know, you don't necessarily get comfort.

because you never know how long it's going to last. But, like, I had a full-time job for 11 years, which is just unheard of. Yeah. Yeah. How was it? Did you grieve that? How did you grieve that? I mean, we finished it right.

Oh, during COVID, right? Yeah. So we wrapped a few weeks before COVID shut everything down. Thankfully, we were able to finish. But it was hard because we were all having to, like, mourn the loss of the show, but in solitary confinement. Yeah. So that wasn't great. Do you feel when you finish a movie or a show, like a theater show,

do you feel the same level of grief or was it just, was it times 100 with modern family? You know, it probably was different with modern family just because I felt like I was really ready to let that person go and like move on. Yeah. For me, it was just, I mean, those relationships. I mean, I've never done a play long enough to have. I mean, knowing someone for 11 years and to go through that type of intense work together,

I mean, you know, we all became very recognizable very quickly. And so there was only like that group of people to really understand what it felt like to be the front-facing version of that show. And so we had a deep connection to one another because we knew what it was like to be part of that. family on TV. And, you know, with a stage production, I mean, you really are in the trenches and you're working so deeply and so intensely with someone. It does feel like a more intense relationship, but more compacted when you're doing theater. But it's a different type of loss, I think, when it, when it ends.

Modern family really did feel like I wasn't worried about not seeing, and I'm sure every show's not this way, but I really didn't, I've never worried about not. seeing the beginning, but they felt so tied to me forever. Yeah. That's beautiful. Yeah. I'm glad that we have that. Yeah. You know, we see each other all the time. Yeah. That's nice. Yeah. You must have also gotten, well, I wonder, like, were you also close with their parents or guardians? Like, that was a whole... I mean, they were always there, yeah. You know, I mean, they are an extension of that family. And specifically, um, the mother, uh, Amy Anderson, who played a, um,

her daughter was Lily, my daughter. You know, I had such, like, I really felt like I was sometimes working as a team with her. Because it was like, what does she mean? Like, you know her obviously better than I do. Like, tell me what the cues are if, like, she's feeling overwhelmed. Like, how can I help? And so, and, you know, to this day, I'm still close with her. You know, we sat, I sat next to Amy, Aubrey's mom.

at one of her school plays. And I was like, I sort of feel like I'm like just like an extension of her parent. Yeah. Yeah. And like her mom like was like we're sitting in the front row. I was like, oh my God, please don't do that to us. Like me or Aubrey. But yeah, I sat in the front row with Amy.

But I, I, they definitely were people who, you know, we looked to as like what are the, what are the cues? I mean. Absolutely. But that's a huge difference between working in Australia. I wonder if it's changed now. but working in Australia as a kid, like your parent didn't have to be there. Really?

Yeah, they would like, I mean, they were a lot of time, but I did a movie when I was... Did you drive to work yourself as well? Yeah, I was like, beep-beam, watch out, guys. Anything's different there. It's fine. On my first movie, my parents were there a lot, but I did a movie when I was...

I would have been 14, so it was the movie that I did after the nice guys in Australia. and they just sent me off to work. Like, they came to, they did come to visit. Right. That was a huge difference for me, like working in Australia and the US. Right. Right.

My parents and everyone's parents or guardians were so present. Right. And did you have to go to school when you're on Australia working? It wasn't as strict as it is in the US. Yeah, it's really strict here. Very strict. Yeah, mostly I was just like emailing my teachers, I think. I think that's what it was.

Yeah. Yeah. In between scenes, listen, I'm not going to get to the math homework today since. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. But there was something nice about the structure of the U.S. kind of the way that works of, like, the schooling blocks and, like, you know, you get taken away to the school room. And I think there was something good about that because I could, like, kind of calm down and, like, ground myself with school. Yeah.

Yeah. When you were working in the United States and going to, and you were young enough to have to go to school, were there other kids that you were doing that with? Or was it just you? Sometimes there were a couple of projects I did just on my own. There was one project I did with, yeah, there were a number of us. There were like four girls doing school.

And that was funny too because we were all different ages and all doing different things and at different schools. and doing different subjects, and we were all interested in different things. Yeah, it was pretty funny to just, like, cut, okay, I'm going to go and sit on my laptop now and write an essay, but. I know that's what would always, like, blow me away with these kids that I worked with. Like, they would do these scenes and then go off and, like, they'd be learning to read or, you know, do math or algebra. and, like, I just, and then they, they come back in to set, you know, when we were done with a setup and, like, they'd hop right back into, to being in a scene with us.

It's just, you know, I mean, I would go back to my trailer and, like, scroll on my phone and fall asleep and, like, they were learning. Yeah. It was wild. I listened to your episode that you did with Gaten, who I worked with, and we kind of, it was so interesting hearing him talk about that too about like going to do Broadway while going to school which is like such a different thing right um yeah because when he was in my maze like he would get home from work at like 11 30 p.m. and then like have to go to school the next day that's wild yeah I remember

was it 1 a.m. was it 1 a. oh because he had to drive home yeah oh yeah in josezy I remember there was one movie I did in Melbourne and like I finished school Like one of the drivers was waiting out the front of school to, like, drive me to a fitting. And I was like, I feel so cool right now. You're like, I'm basically Beyonce. This is so awesome. That's so good. Yeah. No one cared.

No one cared. No one cared. No one cared. Anyone cared? Anyone care? Anyone care? No. They were like, not.

No one cared. So funny. That was more from my conversation with Angowery Rice. If you haven't heard our full conversation yet, be sure to check it out on dinners This episode of Dinners On Me was recorded at Crossroads Kitchen on Melrose in Los Angeles, California. Next week on Dinner's On Me, you know him as the creator and host of Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix, and the award-winning mind behind Everybody Loves Raymond, it's Phil Rosenthal. We'll talk about how a kid from Queens turned family dinners into one of the most beloved sitcoms of all time,

and he tells me about what inspired him to write his second children's book called Just Try It, someplace new with his co-writer, his daughter Lily. Dinner's On Me is a production of Sony music entertainment and a kid named Beckett Productions. It's hosted by me, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. It's executive produced by me and Jonathan Hirsch. Our showrunner is Joanna Clay. Our associate producer is Alyssa Midcalf. Sam Baer engineered this episode. Hans Dale She composed our theme music. Our head of production is Sammy Allison. Special thanks to Tamika Balance Kalasney and Justin Makita. I'm Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Join me next week. Hey y'all. I'm Maddie.

And I'm Poodle. And together, we host the podcast Reality Gays. We are two ridiculous homosexuals who love nothing more than talking about reality television and tearing in a new one. So whether it's 90-day fiancé, love is blind, love after lockup, or any other trash TV show about lonely hearts looking for love, your gay besties got you covered, y'all. New shows every week. Follow and listen to Reality Gays wherever you get your podcast.