Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade - RE-RELEASE - Paul Rudd

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

Let's revisit SNL experience and technique, career decision-making, and a magical Paul McCartney moment with Paul Rudd. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Prices may vary by location. Paul Rudd. Paul Rudd, who's kind of the ageless movie star of our times. Yeah, there is something weird about that. He's so, he's a good-looking, youthful glow. Yes, and he's funny. He gets to do both. He gets to drama and funny, and I think he's a five-timer over there at SNL hosting.

And obviously he was Ant-Man, but he's in the Marvelverse or whatever it's called. And he does a lot of stuff. He was in friendship, a movie that just came out. What a good time. He comes. He likes to come and have some laughs. And he's excited to meet you. Yeah, you know, I calmed him down.

I go, look, I'm just a person. Anyway, we talk about his career. I remember asking him this question. When did you feel rich? Or what was your first big paycheck, you know? And he had an interesting answer for that. It takes a long time to build up to something that's substantial. Even though you, big movie star, you know, it's hard to negotiate that.

Spoiler alert. It was the Queen Mary. And he has a really cool Paul McCartney story. Oh, that's right. Which you know me, I can talk about anything beatily forever. All right. Let's let him tell it. Here he is Paul Rudd. Five-time. Remember the five-time hosting club? Yeah. We're going to go over a clueless. He launched pretty fast.

Yeah. Halloween 6. I was in Halloween 2. Stacey Dash was in moving. I was in moving. So six degrees or whatever. I read for moving. For real. And you're moving. Yes,

you move a lot. No, I read for the movie moving and they said, you did? You did? And I said, oh, fuck.

For the schizophrenic guy who takes, who goes crazy and takes Pryor's car across the country? Yeah, yeah. You're part. Oh, okay.

Paul, did you read for that part? No, I didn't. You know, I was still in college. I remember when it came out. And it was very exciting, but I never had, You know, I was just still in school. I never, it was, it was a little bit before my, uh, my time in the industry.

He turns down movies right now. That's all you do is turn down movie. Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, my gosh. It's a, it's a, it's a daily occurrence. I mean, all the stuff I'm turning down. They used to call Kevin Klein, Kevin D. Klein. That's funny.

I don't know. That was. That's funny. I don't know they call Paul Rudd, but what I got exhausted. This is quite a resume. I know. It's like, where do you, start. It seems like a dream. If I had a kid come out of college, I would write out.

There's no declining there. It's, yeah, I'll do it. Sure. Great. All quality work. Where do I sign? You know, you produce, you co-write. You co-wrote the sequel to Ant Man. Is that right? Mm-hmm. Yeah, the first one and the second one. No way. Really? Come out now. I didn't write that one, but I did. So they come to you as an actor and then they say, And then you say, well, I'd like to co-write or they offer it? Or how does that happen? No, it just kind of happened. It, you know, when Amman first started, I was cast in that movie by Edgar Wright, who was the original director.

And there was a script and then they wanted to do something else. And then there was another script that they had hired from, they had written another person or another two people, I don't know, had written another script. Edgar left the project. There was another script that came along, and it just seemed like it was a little all over the place. And when we were looking at other directors, Adam McKay came in, and then he and I were talking,

we were talking about what we could kind of do with the movie, and then they hired us to write it, the two of us. So Adam and I kind of hold up in a hotel room for a couple months, and then just really tried to cruise through that. But he's such a great. I mean, you know, McKay. I would say the two of you in a room writing and making your choices, no wonder it was a hit.

I mean, Adam is brilliant. I was not aware, but now I look at all the hits you've had. I'm assuming you had a hand in all of it. Sometimes you're a hired actor, but you just seem like you'd say to Judd Apatel, you know, how about if I do this? I don't know. Well, I think you guys know, yeah, I think we've worked with a lot of the same people.

There does seem to be a lot of improvisation or every, you know, kind of a collective effort on, you know, certainly with the way Judd works. We're all kind of working on things together. Do your Judd. That's all. Ooh. Oh. Okay.

What are the tough of the Largo if you want to come down? It always sounds like he's got a little bit of a, he's a blow his nose. Oh, this is great. I love your idea. This is a bookmarked. I've worked on. I really love your idea. Is that Regis?

It's a little bit... Regis for the cold. It's Judd doing Regis. All my impressions start for Regis. Is shandling. Anyway. Are you ready for this? Did she say what's with the shanley?

My job was that was my Judd as Regis. Oh, as Regis. Just looking at the diaries of shandling. I don't do it. That's my... That's so great. I love that. That's like my Biden always ends with Pirates the Caribbean.

It just makes me happy. It says to people, it's not inflation. A parrot the pirates of the Caribbean. So the idea that your Regis always ends with Shanling. It always ends with Shatatow doing. It's great. That's the kind of, yeah, I'm a bigger fan. Well, Paul, I know Dana's kind of screwing around, but I'm doing an interview here.

Oh, Paul. Okay. Walter Cronkite. Yes. I'm actually, when I saw Ant Man, I don't see all the Marvel ones because part of me is, you know, obviously a little jealous, but some of it is like when you have to, well, when you have to, I can't help it. But when you have to please the whole world, it's a little different than doing an artsy movie or like, you know, maybe even Anchorman or movies that are just to like, this is fun for just comedy fans that kind of like the joke on the jokes kind of stuff. And then when you do something that's for the world, it's probably gets a little water down because, you know,

it's got to be for everybody. And that's just the way it is. And they do well. But when I saw Ant Man, I was surprised that it was, had so many clever moves to it, that by the time it ended, I thought, during it, I thought, oh, this might be a phase. But then it held all the way through and then made me go see the second one and the same thing happened.

And I thought, oh, that's cool. Because this Ant Man wasn't probably one of the ones that was the biggest. ever that they were going to make, but it turns out to be one of the funniest and best ones. Well, thanks, man. For real, for real, for real. It did, it did seem like it was a little, those ones were a little different than the rest. I mean, they were, they kind of existed, even though they were part of that Marvel universe, they existed in their own space, and they were a little smaller.

And, you know, that, the whole thing really is run by Kevin Feige, the guy who does, you know, who orchestrates kind of most of that Marvel universe. Kevin Feigey's actually a pretty big comedy fan and a lot of the stuff that he likes. And I, you know, I got to know him while we were making these. It's really kind of abstract, funny, not, you know, particularly crowd-pleasing stuff. And I remember we were in Atlanta filming, I think it was this, it was either the first or second Ant Man. I don't remember.

But no, it would have been the first one. And Tim and Eric were on tour. And I went to go see him. And Kevin went with me. We went backstage afterward. And he'd never met Tim Heidecker. And he and here's like the head of Marvel kind of, you know, fanboying out on Tim Hydecker because he just loved all the crazy stuff he was doing.

And he's actually in the second Ant Man. And in the first one, Greg Turkington, who plays Neil Hamburger for those real, deep comedy fans. Deep time. And does On Cinema at the cinema with Tim Heidecker. He's in the first Ant Man. So, you know, there's a big

contingency of On Cinema at the cinema fans, Kevin being one of them. It's, the layers of the onion go deep. That's nice, though, because also those days when you know someone's come to the set

that you kind of know or something, it's always a fun day on the set. Yeah. Did you and Adam McKay ever write something and you said, let's just put it in. They're never going to go for this. And then they were maybe surprised. I remember, I don't know of anything that they went with.

I remember we thought, oh, this would be cool. In the first one, we thought, oh, you know, we were also kind of trying to retain or go with what we read in Edgar's version that he wrote with a guy named Joe Cornish that we thought was great and there's this heist movie. But we put in this idea that's like, what if he does a test run and accidentally fights an adventure. That would be really cool.

And we were laughing about it. And we put it in and we did wind up shooting it. But I think in the second one, we talked about the villain being kind of this thing that went from person to person. We loved the idea of having Nathan Fielder be the bad guy because it just seemed like a really weird choice and funny. Yeah.

But then when you're, and then it would hop from person to person. And I guess when your villain is an invisible gas, it doesn't. they don't really feel like they're going to make that movie. I remember we liked that idea. I think most of the ideas that we had that we really liked didn't get made. Oh, okay.

Wow, we sound a little bit bitter. No, not at all. You're not at all. I do still want to see Nathan Fielder as a villain in a movie. Oh, yeah. That's a perfect choice. Nathan for you. That's the name of the show, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that was great. By the way, I think one of the funniest shows at the last two decades. Yes, I totally concur. So you do Ant Man and you're, how big, so you're already a superstar, I'll just say it, or as big star. I'll say it. Then you're in a Marvel thing.

And how does that, what's that like? It's like your fame went to this other idea, right? The whole thing was and is strange because it's not really, I never saw that coming. I certainly didn't imagine that, you know, years later, I would still be kind of doing something like this. I was never a comic book reader. I was, that was not my world, really. And while it's been, you know, an amazing thing to be a part of, for sure, the whole thing

kind of over time, just it became so much bigger and a bigger thing in my life where I would go outside and people would just yell, aunt man, and that, you know, it's such a great. global thing. That was me. You know, when you go to the airport, I just had this one, I went to Wisconsin. The people that aren't fans, but they have pictures and all these, you know, Funko pops to sign on. Yeah. And they literally like hate me, but they want me to sign everything. And then the second I stop signing, they hate me worse. It's just the weirdest thing that's turned into, oh, my God, I have fans. And then, oh, it took me while to figure out,

these aren't fans at all. They just sign this and get out of my way. They're just, yeah, that's it. That's true. They're like trading baseball cards. And they all hang out at the airport. It's a weird thing. Yeah. And they were at the gate, Dana, in Wisconsin.

I go, I go, I'll sign one each of these things, but what? Which then they hate me immediately. But then I go, just how do you know what my flight is? How do you know anything? Right. And they're like, no, no, no, it's all cool. I go, no, but you're at the gate. And then they, no matter how many times they say, no, they walk all the way down to baggage.

And then they still hold them out. And I go, did I change my mind last five seconds? seconds. And then they go all the way to my car. Then I get mad. That's always weird because I'm not in a Marvel movie. I'm just like, I just, I don't get it. And then you're not, you don't even like me. What are we doing? They manipulate me by saying, you're nicer than Spade. Yeah.

So I just keep going. I am. No, I'm nice to other people, not that. No. I'm nice to, I'm nice to like select. I would imagine there. You get, no, there are fans there. They want you like a Joe Dirt poster or, uh, don't you rack your brain for another one.

Like all that stuff. You, yeah, you get presented with it. Yes. What's that? Emper's new groove. It's a David's animated hit. Yeah. Oh, Paul.

I don't want to over talk about it. But, you know, when we started the, oh. What was it like on groove? Ah, grew. You know who was on it at first with me. Hey, how's it going? Owen, Wilson. You know, we could go to Argentina and go surfing if you want to.

Hey, all right. Yeah. All right. Yeah, there you go. Now, I used. You know what? I work. I love Owen Wilson. There was a moment when you're around him, you kind of can't help but fall into an Owen Wilson voice. He's so different. It reminds me of, well, there's Woody Harrelson, Billy Bob Thornton and Owen Wilson. It just seemed to have this

different frequency the way they're navigating life. They talk weird. They say things different, but they're so charming, you know. They say everything at kind of their own speed, their own vibration. And Owen is a really, I mean, like, he's brilliant. He's a really smart guy. Oh, yeah. And, you know, we worked on this movie together, and there was this scene that we were talking about what the definition of love was to us, our characters. And he kept doing it over and over again. And then the next day, he said, you know, I remember this article.

I read into New Yorker, and it was from like 10 years ago or something, and he had found a copy of it and printed it out. I thought, who remembers an article they read in the New Yorker that was somehow applied to the scene that we were talking about? Yeah. I'm shocked he as a printer. Did he have a definition of love? I'm trying to ask me that.

I'm not sure. Yeah. I think, I think the Owen is, it's Owen and then a door opening. Yeah. Yeah. What does Owen turning into Regis Philbin sound like? You know, are you ready for this? We could go surfing in Argentina.

I sent him a with my phone a little painting that I did. He goes, we got another Baskillard on our hands. He's a big art collector and extremely well read. Yeah. And Billy Bob Thornton is his own other lane, you know. He talked about the 2016 election. All he said to me was, we got some John Wayne shit going on. It's just stuff like that.

Just taking the whole election and distilling it. All right, Dana, I'm going to hit you with some information right now. Okay, ready. All right. This podcast is brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace. And Squarespace is the all-in-one website platform. I recommend when you want your online presence.

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Vanessa Bayer and Joel Kim Booster. The new season of Scrubs, Wednesdays at 8, 7 Central on ABC and stream on Hulu. All right, we got Chelsea Handler. Chelsea Handler, old friend, old friend of the show. I see her out and bowed a lot. Always funny. Just did the Critics Choice Awards.

We talked to her, and she was, of course, on fire, getting left. Yeah, she's a pistol. She's got a lot of energy. She says what's on her mind. Very funny. Never been shy. Never been shy.

We covered a lot. We talk about dating. We talk about stand-up tours, who's filling arenas these days, all the ins and outs of her life. Had a lot of laughs. Anytime you have a just straight-up comedian on, we have a lot of laughs.

Yeah, we started laughing the minute we started, and it went all the first. way through. So here she is Chelsea Handler. Chelsea Handler. But back to Paul. Yes, for sure. Who is obviously like almost a cast member of Saturday Night Live. And now you're working with Steve Martin and Martin Short on Only Murders in the Building. Are they fun or are they kind of? They're amazing. Yeah. They're the greatest. I know. That's like a dream job to be on a set with those two guys, right? It is. Yeah. I mean, you know those guys. And it's just so, it's so fun to be in the room with them. And to see them just kind of interacting with each other because obviously they are best friends. They love each other. And it's a series of nonstop insults. But, you know, for someone like me, I mean, I can't think of anybody. I'd be more kind of knocked out by. Steve Martin, for, you know, since.

I think the moment I ever realized people could make a living talking. I was so obsessed with him. I saw him in the 70s. I saw him at the boarding house in the 70s and he was just magic. Oh, man. His stand-up. Yeah, and he recorded some of those albums at the boarding house. Yeah, 300 seats, kind of old and weird.

I could recite those albums. I don't know why. He was the same thing, Paul. I was one of the first ones I locked into. And I just couldn't get enough. Yeah. And I know. And you are the same.

As soon as you start hearing one of those routines, I still remember every intonation, every line. I found that to be kind of true with a lot of people, kind of in our generation, you know, that, and I've talked about it with Judd or some of these other comedians, that those records that he put out, and Steve Martin stand up were so kind of instrumental in forming senses of humor, and everything else. I can't imagine anybody else in my life

that had probably more of an impact. So now, on me. So now to be like sitting in the room with them. Sure. And talking with them, it's amazing. And Martin Short, I mean, I don't think there's a... We've had that fan here on Atlanta. We all give it up to Martin Short.

Yeah. I know. Everyone does. As far as just funny in the moment. No one's anti-Martin short. No. But you got Selena and you got also, I saw a photo yesterday, very photogenic, beautiful Meryl Streep.

So it's her too. So it's Merrill Street. So it's like a murderous row. Yeah. It really is. I know. I still can't quite wrap my brain around it. Yesterday was the first day we filmed and it was kind of a big scene and it was the first

day that we were all there and I was just panicked. I mean, I'm like, oh, don't forget any of my lines. don't, I was... Have fun. Don't try too hard. Don't. Yeah.

I mean, right? Yeah. It's just the pressure. And then, and then, and then when I was leaving Merrill Street, I'd met before, but I don't know really. I mean, I'm so kind of, I mean, I'm like everybody, it's awed by her. She's a freak. She was like saying goodbye. She can't kiss me on the cheek.

And I kissed her on both cheeks like we were in Paris. Yeah. It was so weird. She didn't say anything, but I was so, I didn't know how to behave because I was so, so,

so, you literally, so star-struck. And I was like driving home, and I thought, I kissed both of her cheeks. She, I feel like an idiot.

Yeah. What do I see? Maybe it's because all the, you're nervous, you're classic kissing sketches, which I don't know how many you've done, but they were like electrically funny. And I think you were in the very first one.

and maybe you did it other times you hosted. The kissing family, the vocal checks? Yes. I was in the very first one, and I came back, I did a few of them. Do you kiss at rehearsal or not? Yeah. You do? We did, yeah.

I mean, you really go for it in the... In front of people, you know, live show. But I think... I think so. I think one time I even did it when Jason Segal was hosting, and I came back and just did it. the sketch. I think he kissed me through,

this might have been during dress, he threw me so hard against the wall, the whole set almost fell, like the wall. And he's a pretty big guy, right? He's a very big guy and a very forceful kisser. It's such, there's a little bit of tension around it.

It's irresistible to not laugh, because it's like the characters are doing it. And also, Paul Rudd is French kissing Fred Armerson. Yeah. On camp, it's just, the thing that would always, And this is what I remember the most from it.

And I remember it in the very first one was Fred, always saying, we're Vogel checks. And he was like, look, it's not we're, we're just, we're family. We're just Vogel checks. And it was always such an earnest reading that, uh, yeah, we were rehearsing and I started laughing. And it was, it was the way, it wasn't the kissing that made, I think, us laugh. It was Fred going, Red going, Red will Jax.

Fred has an earnest gear in his comedy when he would do the Californians and the way he sincerely, no, we took the 101. Just the whole attitude is so earnest. Oh, my God. I get that gear that he has. It's so original and funny.

One time, this must have been, I don't know, like 15 years ago maybe. I was at a, it was Bill Hader was having a, birthday dinner. And it was at a restaurant and we're sitting around across the, and across the table, it might have been more than 15 years ago. But Bill, Fred was talking about the Beatles.

And, you know, his love for the Beatles. And he just kept talking about the Beatles. And at one point, I said, so, all right, so now if I want to listen to Beatles, like, what album should I start with? Sorry, asking a question like I've never heard of the band. And then he started saying, like, Like, they're just these four lads. They're kind of mop tops.

There's an album, and he would start talking to me because the guy is the master of a bit. Yeah. He'll stick with it. And I won't talk to Fred for months and months, and then all of a sudden, I'll get an email, and it'll be something about the Beatles. And this is the band that I was talking about. And this has now gone on forever. I still get messages everyone's a lot from Fred updating me on some new things or some things about the Beatles, the band he was talking about that night. he's such a musical comic and his rhythms and we we had him on it once you get going on the Beatles

he knows you know the two time to the eighth time in the middle eight oh yeah yeah he's just he's a musicologist you know ever did you ever see his uh that DVD put out uh drumming complicated drumming techniques with yens heneman yes well i did see his special where he goes around all the different drum kits and plays yeah yeah they had that stand-up special the comedy just for drummers, but yeah, he put out like a drumming, oh, God. Yeah, it was complicated drumming techniques with Jens Heneman. I remember when my son was really little, he was obsessed with it. He loved drums, but I don't think he got the comedy.

The drums are fun, though. Yeah, yeah. But it's such a specific kind of thing that he's doing, and I just, God, I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Well, when I first saw him at the, do the accent bit at the Largo, So he's going around and he's doing New Hampshire or whatever. And he's, the accents are really good. And then he's getting, I didn't realize in real time, he's getting very specific like Bay Casfield.

I'm from Bay Casfield. Like he's making up accents. And it slowly, slowly burns the audience down. When I saw you with Bill Hater and Fred and some of the sketches of that, wow, that's just, that's so much fun to be with those two guys. Oh, man. Was that your first, first time was that? sort of the group was Kristen Wig and those guys. And then when you come back,

is it different every time or it would sort of overlap? The first couple times they were still there. I mean, it actually made it a lot easier because I had a couple of friends on the show. Yeah. And a couple friends that were writers. So I, you know, obviously had always wanted to host the show or somehow be involved. And so the first time I got to host the show, it was a little easier because my friends were, a few of my friends were there, Bill, being one of them.

And then, yeah, it's now, it's, it's been an interesting thing to host over the course of several years where, yeah, I think maybe the fourth time or so I went back and was like, oh my gosh, it does feel really different because it's new people. Yeah. Maybe it was 2013. You did, by 2013 had Fred and Bill left? Because that was your next hosting, 2008, 2010. The third time was 2013. And then maybe Kate McGinnon had come in. I don't know if Kristen Wigg had left and you had Kate McGinnon.

Yeah, I don't know whether or not. the third time, the fourth time, Kate was there. Yeah, it might have been, I think maybe, I don't know, I don't remember exactly. Was Keenan Thompson there? Keenan was there when you were there, I think. Keenan is the greatest. He was a child actor on the show and then he just stayed on it. That guy is an MVP, man.

He never stumbles a line. He just doesn't miss a moment. I mean, every single time, the camera will just, like, cut to him. He's got the perfect still expression. He's just so good. Takes a while to get that way on that show because you're waiting for a camera to cut to you like you're in a Jeopardy sketch.

Has to cut to you and you don't want it too early. You're kind of waiting and then you do your face. It's hard. It's really true because there are so many little technical things that it just takes time to learn such as when that camera is cutting to you. You know, those pauses are unnatural. So you just have to learn those kinds of things. That's something I think I over the course of hosting a few times started to pick up because I never, nobody ever tells you, well, this is how you should really read the cue cards.

This is how you really need to wait for that camera. And I was unaware, having not worked on shows really like, oh yeah, when that light goes on over the camera, wait till you see that in your peripheral vision. There's another thing when you do a sketch, Dana, you know this. You get a big laugh at, you know, dress. and then you pause on air and it doesn't get a laugh and you look crazy or because there's nothing there

but you're waiting or you run over it because it didn't get a laugh at dress and you run over your laugh because you get it and you're like oh fuck I stepped on it's horrible and if you think you're on camera for whatever reason

and then your line just doesn't do anything and you realize later you weren't on camera but at the moment it kind of deflates you for a moment you think what did I do different than the dress show it is like trying to catch

the wind. I mean, there's, but, but did you get to a point? It took me 80 shows as a cast member, I think, to get comfortable enough to say I'm consistently having fun. But as a host, you know, what was it like just the second time compared to the first time and the third time? I mean, you feel, you seem incredibly comfortable. I'm not. Is it fake? But you're, you're acting. Okay. I'm not comfortable. Well, you know, the, the first time I was on total adrenaline. And it was so crazy. I remember feeling so exhausted when we finished the dress rehearsal. And then I thought, oh my God, I have to do this again. Yeah, you shoot your load. Now, the first time, I remember that

first time feeling that. It was also really weird for me because not to bring things down, but the first time I hosted was, I think, two weeks or so, almost three weeks after my father had died. So I was in this state of complete kind of, I was grieving, but I was also, yeah, I was also kind of half there, but I was so excited to host SNL. And so it was the entire experience was just kind of out of body. And I remember when it finished, I thought, how do these people do this every week? because it was such a, you know, it's such a sprint and all of the quick changes and running around and then the pressure and the stress and all of it.

The whole thing was wild. I had a great time, but it was such an emotional experience. Kind of a beating too. Yeah. Yeah, you wake up with bruises and things. You don't know how you got them. You know what's going on. Everything's moving so fast.

You're sprinting, you're banging your head. And then they want you to get to a party at two. 2 a.m. You're already done an 18-hour day. Paul over here, what would you like? Did you think? Yeah. And then you...

It's amazing. It's like ridiculous. You go through all these walls of fatigue, but David and I can tell you that being host is generally speaking, so much harder to be a cast member. Yeah. Because you're in everything. Yeah, you're in everything.

And you can be an update. You could be in the cold opening. You do a pre-tape. Yeah. Well, it was very exciting. And then the second time I went back, I think it was the second time, Paul McCartney,

was my, yes, was the musical guest. So I mean, holy shit. It was incredible. By the way, the first musical guest I had

was Beyonce. Yeah. The second one was McCartney. I've had amazing musical acts. So you get to go, ladies and gentlemen, Paul McCartney. So all these dream,

dream state fever dreams. I have a, I still have the cue card. He signed it for me. And he kept that cue card. What would you like me to say on it, Paul? I got a call.

Actually, it was about one in the morning. Bill Hater called me. Hey, it's Bill Hayter. He says, you want to know who, sorry I'm calling so late, but I have to tell you, you want to know who your musical guest is.

Oh, really? He said Paul McCartney. And I just couldn't go back to sleep. God damn. Well, out of, here's your music. I think this is the guy Fred Armisen was talking about. It sounds familiar. You had one direction.

You had DJ Khalid. Out of those musical guests, yeah. Do you have anyone's number? You know what? I think I had Nile Horan from One Direction. He works at Urban Outfitters now. No, I'm kidding.

That's the old spade. I would have said that. No, that's, that's the Hollywood Minute's Spade. Now, that's the old guy. I don't do that. We emailed each other a few times. They were great.

Yeah, how fun. They were super. They were awesome. Cool. And it was so crazy because it was like the height of one direction. Oh my God. How crazy. People were sleeping outside.

And, yeah. And they're mad. You're the one walking out. They're like, where the fuck is Harry Styles? By the way, totally. Yeah, I don't know. It's hard to get to know. We were told sort of between the lines,

don't talk to the host a lot. Like, you know, you don't want to get in their face and you're a cast member. Other than, because it's like, when do you get to know each other during a week? Because, you know, you do read through and you leave and you're sort of separate and you leave. And then in rehearsals,

you're sitting around for a little bit. so you can kind of bullshit about it while you're in between. We're going to fix something, give us a minute, fixing a light. And then you kind of get to know the host a little just because you're right next to them. And then you do this, do this. There's the show, but everything's moving a million miles an hour. Then there's a rap party. And then you feel like this kinship, but you didn't know anyone that well,

but it's sort of a good feeling because you went through this. So the next time you host might be more fun because you feel like you've got a base now with everybody. Right. And you sort of know that. I imagine it's different with every, you know, with every host. Yeah. Because the first time I did it and subsequently second, third time, I mean, I've, I've known people on the show and have been friends with people on the show.

And you do guest spots to, you know. I had done guest spots, yeah, but they're the, the, uh, the idea that's like, okay, well, that first day, they were coming around giving a pitch. And then I thought, okay, well, I can at least go hang out with my friends and talk about sketches. So, you know, you guys know how that week works. And then a Tuesday comes around you and you go out to dinner with Lauren and a few other people from the show. Some hosts will then just go back to their hotel after that dinner. Yeah. I live in New York. So it's like, I just have to go home. But also after the dinner, well, I'm going to go back to 30 Rock and help them right.

Sit with the writers and hang out with my friends and maybe try and come up with ideas. And so I was, I have always been every time I posted in those rooms and trying to, you know, pitch things or help with if people are writing things to kind of go around and get good. That is the fun. You know, you sit on some filthy couch and you shoot around ideas and you're like, this could be on national TV in three days. And it's just you guys are laughing saying the stupidest shit going, what if we put that in there?

What if you say it like the juice? I mean, those sketches writing them. You hear in the hallway and you go, this sounds funny. Massive procrastination with anxiety. It's getting low. It's two. Okay. It's three.

At some point, we got to make its decision. And then it's a fury of like, we'll do this, we'll do this, we'll do this. You know? Yeah. But whenever I see people with talent, I'm always in awe of them when I see them start to do their thing. Like Kristen Whig was kind of shy and just like, hey, what's up? And then she just all of a sudden, phew, it's like monster character or something. Super talent.

Did you experience that in a way with different cast members where you're like, like Bill Hader is so shy and Fred Armisen. They're so sweet and shy and soft-spoken when you first meet them. And then they go out there, what the fuck's going on? And you think, how can you be talented? You're quiet and polite. There are, well, those guys are comedy savants. I mean, I don't know how, and Kristen.

I mean, they're like genius. Really incredible what they do. And, you know, I'm always. always amazed. And I'm, I'm such a fan, such a fan of funny people and comedy and people that have been on that show, fans of you guys. And so, like, to, to, to see, to see all of this stuff kind of, you know, in person and then get to do it with them, it's, it's pretty mind-boggling. Yeah. And to see Kristen Wigg, it's, she can kind of, she can do everything. Yeah, to see them in their natural Habitat when they get into a character and they're in a sketch and they're cooking.

It's really fun to watch everybody killing it. Yeah. It's also fun, like you said, when you're kind of in rehearsing a sketch or they're figuring stuff out and you're standing around with everybody. Yeah, that's fun. It's fun to see cast members who are obviously really close with one another, start to do bits. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The king of it. And so hanging out is hilarious. It's a hooy. Yeah. Yeah, we would do that too. Totally. I would try to write people into sketches I just wanted to hang out with. Like, you know what I mean?

Just put everyone in because I know rehearsal is kind of boring. They just have the tape on the floor. You don't know where this is the fucking set isn't even made yet. And then you're just blah. They're like, okay, hold on. We got a lighting thing. And then you're just making fun of each other. And someone's eating in the corner.

And the pressure's off at that point. It's not pressure. You're just trying to get the blocking down. And it gets harder throughout the week. But it's definitely fun. You do Wednesday. And hopefully it lands. Right.

That's the read-through. Right. By Thursday, you run it for the crew and they kind of giggle. There's no sets, first time, second time. But you get a feel for it. We get a feel with the crew. You get a feel of a couple laughs. By the time the dress show came around on Saturday, I was thinking, we got nothing.

You know, it had been beat down. We got nothing. All the rehearsals and all the walkthrough. Did you feel that? Did you feel that? Did you feel that? Did you feel that? No one's laughing anymore.

We depend on the crew. They've already heard it five times. you're like, and then hopefully sometimes at dress, you're like, damn, this is killing. It's really fun, but then you have to not peek at dress. How did you manage that? Well, I just want to try and make my way through. Imagine peaking a dress and not, and not, but that has happened. I mean, there was one sketch that I think like repeatedly kept coming back that I always

liked and it never made the show. And I think the second or third time, I said, look, we try it. We try it. If it goes through read through, it doesn't get on, it's got a stink on it. even if there's no other reason other than someone just read it wrong and they forgot through the accent. And you go, no, no, it's just, they go, nope. The second time read everyone just leans back.

And you're like, don't you fucking take a dive on this one? It's good. And it's hard to resuscitate it. Or if it got on dress and goes away, there's always that, well, there's a reason that didn't get on air. So it's hard to resuscitate it. It went on dress and then it didn't go. But I always loved it.

Give it a chance. Do you want to share with us? It was about the giving tree. I remember it was a dad reading the giving tree to his kids, not realizing that it's so sad. And he starts to spiral out and then, you know, winds up crying and, you know, drinking and the cops come to the house. I mean, it, you know, it just evolves into this.

Even now as I describe it, I'm thinking, no, I see why this thing. What was the kid's name in the sketch? I don't remember where the kids' names were. I'm just trying to do an impression of Lorne, not thinking the sketch is going well at Reed-Thru. I think maybe Bobby Moynihan might have been one of the kids, but maybe a girl was one of the girls might have been named Susie. Susie's sad.

Bobby, Bobby sits back. Bobby, Bobby has a tear. And that's the end. This is at Reed Three's reading stage direction. Right, yep. Yeah, sorry. Yeah, too. And it's starting, you know, like this one's not going to make it.

Yeah, sense memory. Has there ever been, like, for you guys, did you ever do a sketch that, like, was the biggest surprise that it was the sketch killed so hard and you really didn't see that one coming? Is there one that sticks out for either one of you that? Well, I would say, you know, if you want to go, David, from my very first S&L, I'd never done sketch, and the church lady sketch with Sigourney Weaver and Phil Hartman and stuff moved up to the first sketch. And then it really killed. And it really, it shocked me. I'd never had a dress on. I'd done a little bit of the character in my stand-up.

So that was, that was a big surprise. Yeah, I just did one where it wasn't that big of a sketch, but where I was a receptionist and I kept condescendingly talk to people and go, and you are, like, it was like a Hollywood person, didn't really made people explain their credits. And then it was last in the show and got put the first in the live show. And it was Roseanne. Phil came in as Jesus

and there was one of the person but it killed and it was first one up and that's that was rarely happening with me Dana had happened every week but to get the first sketch out was a big one when I did the pepper boy was Sandler Pepper boy it wasn't really happening throughout the week

it wasn't really it did not happen at dress but we both just went for it hard of course we had Farley in there too the ultimate button so that crushed on air enough that Sandler called me at 4 in the morning

just said Carvey, Pepper Boy. That was it. It's hard to kill in a restaurant sketch in the corner. You know, it's not at home base, right? Paul, I mean, you know, you hard to time the laughs. You can't quite hear the audience. Yeah, yeah, you're kind of off to the side.

It's true. And the audience is above you. Where you're doing the sketch on stage makes it a difference, huh? Yes, because you can immediately kind of feel and hear the audience or you're not sure you scored. They're watching it on a 12-inch TV in the audience. You know what I mean?

They're like, oh, wait, because they can't see you. It's a really interesting point that you don't hear about that often, where you're actually doing it physically. Well, I would have to when I got used to this process, I would go to where the set designers were, they had a little map of 8H. And I'd look at my sketch and I'd see it in the corner. And I'd say, could I get this near home base or whatever?

And they go, well, not if there's that in front. What a fucking cheater. They go, not if there's an entrance. So what if I take the entrance out? Oh, yeah, then we can move it here. Oh, my God. No kidding. That's fascinating.

Oh, yeah. No, I learned all the tricks in the trade. That's brilliant. You got to do it, you know. What about please don't destroy? That group was really good, Paul. You did one called a good variant. I saw it was funny as shit.

They got a lot of different moves in those things. Yeah. Well, you know, we were supposed to do a version of that. Those guys are great, by the way. the fifth time my fifth time i hosted the show was canceled the day of it was the i think it's the only time in s nl history that a show got canceled that day is that the tom hanks with you and well tom hanks was there tom hanks and tina were there because they had come in because they were in the monologue because there was a big five time time yeah and then the show got canceled at about two or three in the

afternoon, but they were already there. So we were trying to come up with a show on the fly. It's really a fascinating thing to see and be a part of. But earlier in that, earlier that week, I was going to do a, please don't destroy video, a version of the good variant. Yeah. But the shoot got canceled because one of the guys got COVID. Oh, same shit. And so they had already had a crew and the camera, everything was set up. to film something that night. So we took a sketch and turned it into a film. And then we filmed that.

And then they showed that during the show. Was it that one or this one? No, it was the one, Home Goods. It was the show. It was the one with 80 and Kate about wanting grandkids and. Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay. I remember that.

Yeah. So that was done in place of the, Please Don't Destroy it. It was COVID closure, right? And it was COVID. Yeah, because it happened. it was that week where the really that Omicron variant really kicked in. Yeah, yeah.

People were. Yeah, everyone thought it was kind of going away and then it came back fucking hard around November, December or something. Yeah, it was, I mean, it was really tense. And that, you know, we were all going through our testing and then that morning, I remember going in and getting tested Saturday morning.

Crossing your fingers. Totally. And I remember I got the results of my test. It came back negative. And I was, just jumping for joy. Like, thank God. Perfect.

And then the whole thing got shut down. Can't do without the host. So you get through and then they shut it down anyway. That's such a drag. Yeah, it was a bar. And that monologue was weird because I hosted for Kimmel once and it was in a house with a monologue with no people. So I said to the crew before, we were rehearsing it.

I go, you can laugh. They go, oh, we're not supposed to. I go, please, God, give me a tiny noise, anything to play off of, just to dart my eyes around, just to make it feel like there's some life in here because just to nothing is too hard. So when you did yours, I could hear a little bit of something.

That must have been crew or writers or something. Yeah, I think that's what it was. And, you know, Michael Chey and Canaan stuck around, but that was it. And yes, one of the crew guys. And so there was some laughter. And Higgins was there. But it was so strange.

It was such a weird feeling. That was one of the crew. of the weirdest most, I mean, just no audience on Saturday Night Live because no audience and also no real rehearsal, no nothing. And for the hours before the show, it's like, well, what do we do? What, I mean, we have to write something and figure out what it is. And I remember Lauren saying, do you have any Christmas, you know, episode that you really like? And I said, you know, I remember when I was in high school seeing Steve Martin talk about, you know, his Christmas wish and memorized it and I loved it because Steve Martin. And so it was great.

We'll dig it up. It's on. It's in the show. Wait, man. You now officially have joined the 70-timer club of someone who does a great lord. Yeah. It is so weird. Whenever you are around anybody, it doesn't matter.

They were on SNL. Yeah. When people start talking about Lauren, they just start going into it. They go right into it. So you spend a lot of time with Lauren because Lauren spends a lot of time with the host and also you get started. You're a friend to show. You're the third Paul. He likes Paul McCartney, Paul Simon.

I love him. I like all the Pauls. No, he's, we love him too. He's, he's an amazing. He's amazing guy. Yeah, nobody's ever done what he's done. Not even close. Yeah.

I mean, 50 years. Are you going to be at the 50th? I certainly hope so, yeah. I mean, I would love to. I was at the 40th, which was, I mean, what incredible. That was a real fucking blast. I remember we had a little running gig. I just had met you that night or something. That's exactly right. Like you right away. And every time I'd go do something, I'd say to you, I'm going to bring you up. It's so ridiculous. I'm going to do Wayne's World. I'm going to bring you up. That's right. Yeah, that was the 40th. But, So with Lorne and your relationship, but do you have any, I mean, I hate to say, hey, I don't any stories about Lorne, but did you ever stay all night at the party?

Or do you kind of, because Lauren will stay till 6 a.m. Do you kind of, Lauren, I got to go or? No, I'll never, I'll never leave early. Okay. Oh, you smoke it out with him, you wait. Especially if I'm sitting at a table with Lauren. I mean, I will, you know, even recently, I went just to, to watch the show. And it's like, I'm at that party.

And it's like the greatest thing. I'm sitting with, I went with Marty and Steve were hosting. And I'm at the table afterward with Martin Short and Lauren. And then, of course, I'm in the middle and I just want to start hearing them talk about three amigosos. Yeah. Yeah. Which, of course, happened.

Yeah. And it's amazing. It's amazing. There are many times that I just kind of step outside of what's actually happening in the moment and say, I cannot. I cannot believe this. You just can't believe it. And there's something, like having it on this show with these guys.

I had it at that table listening to the Three Amigos stories. I had it when I was hosting SNL, and Paul McCartney was the musical guest, and there were many times that week that I mean I couldn't believe what I was seeing. And I had that same thing. I did a, I did one of those, I did a, you know, a Lonely Island video that week.

And Andy and I, they pulled him, Paul McCartney, who did a little thing on it. I love it. And we were standing around the three of us for an hour. And he was just telling us stories about John Lennon and the Beatles and everything. Wow. Now I'm jealous.

I'll tell you, honestly, one of the coolest things I have ever experienced ever was on the Thursday, you know, Thursday for people that don't know, that's when the band really kind of comes in for the first time. And they do their run through. and so we were taking those pictures that they use for the bumpers next to the stage. So Thursday comes in. Thursday happens, the band comes in, and we're taking pictures. And Mary Annale and I said, we're not going to take pictures.

We have to go watch Paul McCartney. So we did. And he performed, I played a couple of songs. And then there was a grand piano on the floor. And he didn't know what he was really going to play. So he just came down and sat behind a piano. and there's maybe, you know, the crew is there. It's probably about 20 people.

And he sat down to the piano and he just started playing the long and winding road. Wow. I got chills. I got chills. I know. And I was standing 10 feet, 10 feet behind him. You know, and I'm just, I hadn't met him. I hadn't.

I was just kind of observing. And I couldn't believe I was in the same room with Paul McCartney. But I was standing behind him and I was looking at his hands playing the keys. and I was looking at his feet pressing the pedals and hearing him sing long and winding road and thinking, oh my God, that's the that's him. That's the guy

who made this. And those are the foot pedals that he pressed that same way when he recorded it and it was it was amazing. It was just amazing and everyone applauded when he finished. He said, oh, thank you, thank you. Then he went into Lady Madonna. And then more people kind of started

coming into the room and Lauren came in and he wound up playing about 10 Beatles songs just for us in the room. Just piano. Just piano. You know, how does he come up with those middle-aids they call them, the change-ups and the chord structure and how it just hits you every time? I'm in line. It's divine.

There's no, I mean, I'm in that, I don't think, they're the greatest band that has ever existed. They're the greatest band that ever will exist. They are like Shakespeare. They're like Bach. They're like every several hundred years, somebody or something comes along that redefines that kind of beauty. And I think the Beatles are that. They are for me.

God, I couldn't have said that better. That's really well put in. Cheryl Crowe said to us that she thought that Blackbird and yesterday were the greatest songs ever written for her. There's so many. That's the thing. They have so many. And she thought it was, she didn't say it in a heavy way, almost divine.

there's almost something like how did those two guys essentially go to high school together and then find those other two guys and find George Martin and write 100 masterpieces in six years. Yeah.

And then maybe record three of them in one day. Yeah. Remember Dana when he said, we talked to him, Paul, and he said during that get back thing, we were fawning over, you know. The documentary. And we said he came in with,

was it yesterday or? And he goes, well, for that one, he did have long and windy road and he had get back. You know, he was in kind of an upswing. He said, I came with it. And I go, do you walk in like, I got a fucking banger? And he goes, no, you can't. You have to go under and just go, hey, I got it. I got one if you guys want to hear it.

I worked on just to probably just for ego wise, like let everyone go, let us find it if we like it. And I think it was either yesterday or some other monster. Well, yesterday was a little earlier, but yeah, he plays it. Let it. He was, he did, and they love it. Let it be on, I think on, yeah. Oh, yeah. He was playing that.

And then, um, uh, and then my God. When he sits down, he's playing, and he is playing, uh, get back. And George and Ringo are just sitting across from listening and Ringo starts clapping his hands to a beat and they're, and you just think my. And same thing like, I'm, how are we seeing this? This is the first time these guys are hearing this. They don't know what this song is going to be. It's just, it's magical. I couldn't get over that, that, I wanted nine more hours.

I couldn't think what I was saying. Wow. I mean, you know, I, in my age group, I was, you know, watching them in real time, having older brothers. So I was nine when they're on Ed Sullivan. But I love when I hear someone who probably first heard them in the 70s, late 70, after the, because the wave was so high. And by they left, 69, I don't think anybody, even them understood what had happened.

Right. And then people like you come along. and then younger people keep coming along. And we're all trying to figure it out. And Dennis Miller said to me, he doesn't, he can figure out the stones, he can figure out Pink Floyd. Dennis Miller said he can figure out Zeppelin.

And he goes, honest to God, Carvey, I can't wrap my mind around the Beatles, okay? It's too much. I know. It's true. Because they have that thing that you can't define. It's something otherworldly. It's why if you play the Beatles for kids now,

they caught on to them. There's just, it's, it's hitting all of us on some kind of level that is something else. I don't know what it is, but. I'll show you this thing I just got, Paul. I got fucking Lennon's glasses from that photo. Oh my God. Oh, his real glasses? Real glasses from that phone.

Oh, my God. Isn't that six? Damn, David is holding up a picture of John Lennon and he bought the glasses at an auction. I'm just telling the listeners. It was a bit steep. It was a bit steep, but it was because you never see shit like that come along. And I saw it. And I was like, and I called the auction place.

And he goes, well, it's going to go up. I said, I got to try to get in there. And I just got horny for it. I was like, it's too fucking cool because winning your life, Lenin and McCartney. And they had proof it was his. And I said, oh. I used to with a friend of mine at some of the SNL parties. Everyone's really, you know, just cool people are coming to the SNL party.

maybe it's Elton John or whatever. And we used to imagine, you know, what if John Lennon could walk in? You know, we were like, who would just, everyone would just stop. And so anyway, I'm with you, Paul. You mean Fred Armerson and David and whoever else wants to join us. We should have dinner and just fan out on. I mean, there are, like, I can't, I will talk about the Beatles forever. Just once that subject comes up, or if I see a picture,

or if there's some kind of video clip or something. I'm, conversation stops. I know. I love the unheralded ones kind of compared to. We hear Let It Be a lot and hey, Jew, they're brilliant. But here, there and everywhere. Amazing.

For no one. I mean, no reply by John Lennon is one of the most heartbreaking pieces of, and Paul maybe wrote the middle eight. Anyway, back to Paul Rudd, who's a super beetle fan. Oh, I have a question about Clueless. He's been in so many monsters like Anchorman and Clueless. Yeah. When did you make your first million dollars?

Was it around clueless or around after that? No, God. It wouldn't have been clueless. But did that get you paid after that or did it take another five years? No, no, no, no, not at all. I'm going to guess. Let me see if that was 95. Oh, by the way, we came out 95 and so did Billy Madison.

So Clueless, Tommy Boy, Billy Madison. Oh, that was fucking some comedies. My God, yeah. Yeah, I don't, way, way, way later. way late. It might have been like actually kind of around Marvel. Because it wasn't an ensemble one, so they can't pay everyone that much

if you're in a movie with Will Ferrell or Steve Carell or a lot of those. So then when it was Paul Rudd's movie, honestly, I'm just like, I'm just happy to work. Of course. Well, I know. And certainly with those guys, I mean, you know, do it for free. Wet Hot American Summer is a little nugget

That's just that might, I mean, now I don't remember everything about it, but I remember going, this is a cool movie. And we, I try to get that director to do something, I think, because I thought I go, oh, shit, this is such a weird, funny, cool, low budget, well done. You must hear about that one a lot. Yeah, it, it, it, um, I think it was probably partially responsible for me getting cast an Anchorman, honestly, because it was a movie that came out and, and, you know, no one knew it, really. but comedy fans and comedy writers. Yeah. Really kind of took to it. And I loved it when I read it.

It took a while to get it made. No one wanted to make it. But I had met David Wayne and Showalter, and a lot of those guys, they were in a comedy troupe called The State. They used to be on MTV. And, you know, they lived in New York, and I lived in New York.

And I was a comedy fan anyway. And we had some mutual friends. And so I met them and David said, man, this script, if you want to read it. I think I had just done clueless. I mean, it wasn't that long afterward. Wow. And I read it and thought, I've never, like, this is the funniest thing I've ever read. And you never get to really read anything that really makes you laugh like that.

Or I certainly hadn't up until that point. I felt that way with Anchorman too. But I used to keep that script around and just read it for play. pleasure because it was so funny. Also, to get it from the script to the screen, there's so many ways you can screw it up. I'm sure you know this. I've done a lot of comedy movies and some just don't connect by the time you go through all the process and you're like, fuck, where did it go wrong?

And, uh, well, I think that with that, it was just like, uh, there weren't many cooks in the kitchen. Yeah. And it was, it didn't, it didn't, it, you know, had a very small budget. No one was really paying any attention. And we filmed it at a summer camp. And it was people, everyone that worked on it, I think. we all had similar sensibilities and we found the same things funny.

It was like meatballs or something, yeah. Yeah, it was like a singular voice. And I remember Zach Orth, the actor, a friend of mine that was working on the film, halfway through, said, I don't know if this movie will ever come out. I just want to get a copy of it, you know, a very good sign. I just wonder, you know, when I'm looking at these notes here, you know, studying your career, it's quality. I mean, I don't see any evidence of you.

taking a role because you needed the money or something? It just seems like there's a consistent theme with you. It's all the way through. You did living with yourself, you executive produce, got a Golden Globe nomination where you played opposite yourself.

All kinds of quality work. So were you ever tempted? Like, have they backed up the brink truck for commercials? I mean, but commercials are totally fine. I would do any commercial if anyone's listening right now.

In the 90s, you weren't supposed to do them. Taco Bell, sorry. but have you gotten stuff where because of Paul Rudd, you know, the industry, the image that you're like, I'd like to take a lot of money. It's just not for me. You know, you're at that point now where you have to navigate that. Well, yeah, I think that I'd say through the, you know, majority of my career, I've always tried to make as many decisions. If I had the luxury of making a decision to, you know, to have it be some, an artistic decision and never trying to do. do anything for the money. That's usually good. Sometimes you have to.

I could certainly point you to a couple on that resume that I'd say, well, that one I kind of like, okay. Well, we'll ignore that. No, I would say not. I would say of the decisions that I've made in my career, 97 to 98% of that has been because I really thought it was something I wanted to do. had the potential to be something fun or interesting or something I would want to see. And I tried to always have that kind of be my guiding light.

When I was in my 20s and 30s and I wanted to be an actor, I really also went a different kind of way. And I would always think of bands that I really liked. I always think of music always seemed to kind of be the North Star for me, more so than other actors or acting careers. I would just think of musicians that I liked. And I liked lots of cool indie musicians. And I thought, well, would Tom Waits think this is cool?

Would he do this? Would Elvis Costello do this? Would he make this decision? And it seemed like all the things that I liked were artistic decisions made by people who I admired. And so I really tried to kind of follow that path. with comedies that you know i think with wet hot american summer and then when anchor man came around those were two things i really really wanted to do um because i felt as if more than anything else i'd

ever read up until that point it spoke to uh me and my own kind of what i thought was funny um and i really wanted to be a part of that um and and i think that that then turned into working with judd over and over again. I didn't see, much like the Ant Man thing, I didn't see that lane coming. I did not expect over the following many years to work with a lot of those guys again on a lot of comedies. It's still, it was the most fun. It still is. But it's, it was always, I think I was always following that. Like, this would be fun. I think this is funny. I really like these people. I like these actors. I'd love to be a part of this. So, Wow. I think you're twin, the two lanes that explain this. One is what you just said and the other of never losing a sense of awe and wonder of this remarkable good fortune we have to be in show business. And you know, you meet people that get bitter or kind of angry or whatever, you know, rather than just like, I can't believe we're able to actually do this on any level, you know? I mean, right now I'm working.

I think that all the time. You know, even it's like you're in the middle of some scene and you're just going some improvisation about farts or something. You think, I'm at work right now. This is like, okay. Before we let you get back to your other job. So you label things. Kevin Neeland told me you love a P touch, which you make labels.

And you love to put label. A P touch. And you put labels on everything. You have one? This is my fall right. That just organizes your brain to get it labeled. These are my AirPods. And by the way, it's my second case.

That's why it says number two. That's hot. All right. So that's, are you of with your wife and you, are you the tidy one or or equally as far as having the kitchen clean and stuff like that? Well, she can be, she's pretty clean. She'll, you know, but I think that. there's a, there's a level that I will take it that is maybe a little. Yeah, I'm kind of the same.

A little to Gene the anal retentive chef. Yeah. Do you have any other secret, secret show business dream? I mean, would you want to get to a Gary Oldman like playing Churchill kind of thing or, you know, or a Scorsese movie where you're a gangster or just whatever it comes? I don't know. Yeah. You know, I don't, I don't necessarily. in terms of like a type of role. But I mean, I would certainly like to do things I haven't done

and work with many people that, you know, like great directors like Scorsese and so many incredible directors. If Tarantino wanted you in a film, would you take the call? In a heartbeat, for sure. That's a good plan. I got obsessed with the last one, once upon a time at Hollywood. Oh, my God. I saw it so many times. It's so good. Yeah. He's great. What an amazing director. Yeah. Yeah, I would jump at the chance. Cohen brothers. I mean, like, there's so many,

there's so many. That you're just going to say yes. Yeah. Mike Lee. I mean, there's some of the great directors. Most people, I think probably wouldn't think of me

for some of these things at this point. But I would love to do more kind of versatile, you know, dramatic roles or whatever. But I don't know. I've also haven't really tried to, for better or worse, guide my career by thinking,

well, I just did a comedy. Now I'm going to do something really dramatic. I think other actors probably do that and it might be smart. I just think like, oh, that'd be fun. Yeah. Doesn't always sync up perfectly like that. No. No.

And that's the other thing, too, is that people always say, well, why did you choose this? And why did you choose that? And I want to say, well, you know, you don't always get to choose. There's a bit of whimsy to it. Jack Palance told me that once. They got all the parts. It's all about the parts. and if you get the parts, Spencer Tracy got took that part.

I didn't get to do that part. I don't do a check plans. That's an old reference, lost on younger viewers. Not at all. You start doing some one-arm push-ups right now. Oh, yeah. All right. Well, thank you, Paul.

Thank you. You're a fucking stud. This has been really interesting and enjoyed it very much. Yeah. So I feel like I know you a lot better than I did after the 40th. I know. Well, this is the great thing. When I see you at the 50th, we're going to really have a lot of

to talk about it. And I'm coming up. If you bring me up on the 50th, I'm coming up. I'll be so excited to see you. I'll kiss you on both cheeks. Yeah. And then go, what did I just do? I'll be dating as plus one. Paul, thanks, buddy. Very cool of you to come on and talk. Thanks for having me, guys. I appreciate it. Stay a lot of Steve and Marty. And I've never met Merrill

Selena. Tell her I love her. I will tell her. Hey, guys, if you're loving this podcast, which you are, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app. Give us a review, five-star rating, and maybe you can share an episode that you've loved with a friend.

If you're watching this episode on YouTube, please subscribe. We're on video now. Fly on the Wall is presented by Odyssey, and executive produced by Danny Carvey and David Spade, Heather Santoro, and Greg Holtzman, Maddie Sprung Kaiser, and Leah Reese Dennis of Odyssey. Our senior producer is Greg Holtzman, and the show is produced and edited by

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