Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast - Amy Ryan

Episode Date: March 16, 2020

Tony and Oscar-nominated actress (and lifelong Gilbert fan) Amy Ryan drops by the studio to talk about the mastery of Sidney Lumet, the brilliance of Philip Seymour Hoffman, discovering family secrets, perfecting regional accents and portraying Michael Scott's love interest on "The Office." Also, Hugh Hefner hits the town, Clint Eastwood keeps it moving, Albert Brooks stages a "one-man show" and Amy and Gilbert perform Hamlet's soliloquy! PLUS: Slovin & Allen! "Earth vs. the Flying Saucers"! The kindness of Henry Winkler! Neil Simon drops the ax! Gilbert plays a Mexican! And Amy brings her parents to the Academy Awards! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Please play responsibly. hi this is gilbert godfrey and this is gilbert godfrey's amazing colossal podcast This is Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast with my co-host Frank Santopadre. Our guest this week is a Tony-nominated and Oscar-nominated actress and one of the busiest, most versatile, and most recognized stage and screen performers of the last four decades. You know her from hit TV shows like Quantum Leap, Law & Order, Chicago Hope, Homicide, Life on the Street, Entreatment, Broad Street, The Wire. Broad City. He's not going to get through the intro. And, of course, as Michael Scott's goofy love interest, Holly Flax on NBC's The Office.

You've seen her impressive work in films like Capote, War of the Worlds, Before the Devil Knows Your Dance, The Changeling, Green Zone, Goosebumps, Birdman, Win-Win, Bridge of Spies, and Gone Baby Gone, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She's also starred on the Broadway stage in well-received productions of The Sisters Rosenzweig, The Women, The Three Sisters, and she was Tony nominated for her work in Uncle Vanya. Well, she was. And a street car named Desire.

In a career That began at the high school of performing arts Right here in New York City She's gone on to work with Steven Spielberg Sidney Lumet, Alan Harkin, Angelina Jolie, Larry David, Albert Brooks, Michael Keaton. Tom Hanks. And Clint Eastwood. As well as the amazing, and now she's getting her dress.

Let me hold on for a second. I'll do the rest of the intro in a minute. Okay. And Clint Eastwood, as well as amazing, colossal podcast guest, Alan Alda, Steve Buscemi. Steve Buscemi. Steve Buscemi. Steve Buscemi. That's him. Yeah. Because he's a ghost.

Steve Boo says on Halloween, it's Steve Boo-shimmy. And Matthew Broderick. Yep. I fucking hated Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I wasn't in that movie. I thought it was shit. Matthew's a nice guy, but I fucking hated that movie. Jeffrey Tambor. Hal Linden. His name's

Lipschitz. He's a Jew. And Paul Feig, who says I'm his favorite actor in the world and never used me in a fucking movie. So fuck Paul Feig. Paul, if you're out there, fuck you. Oh, and Martin Scorsese is a fan.

Fuck you too, Marty. Anyway, now I'm tired. From this long intro. So I'll have you do the last part. Please Please welcome to the show

an actress... Sounds nothing like you. No, it's good. Of great range. It helped when I did it when I was younger and I could retell this one joke of yours, which was... I was having dinner with my friend Charlie Manson. And he said, is it hot in here or am I crazy?

But I can't read the intro to your show. I haven't practiced that. Please welcome to the show an actress of great range and talent and a woman who does one of the best. Are there any other women who do Gilbert Gottfried? Who does one of the best Gilbert Gottfried impressions in the business? The best Gilbert Gottfried impressions in the business. The delightful Amy Ryan. Beautiful.

Yeah, Cicely Tyson does a Gilbert. In answer to your question. Amazing. She nails it. Amy. I'm living a dream here. Are you exhausted? I'm sweating profusely from laughing. I didn't know laughing could, you know, drench you.

Welcome. Hello. Thanks for schlepping out on a cold night. Oh, my pleasure. I think it's safe to say, Dara, don't you think it's safe to say Amy seems like she's in a state of mild shock? I just love every single second of it. At meeting Gilbert, which is understandable. He has that effect on people.

Yes. You want to tell people how this came about? How Amy's booking came about? Because it's rather interesting. Not that we weren't fans already, but... I still don't know who the fuck you are. No! I leave it to Frank and I sit here and go so Anthony Hopkins

is that your stage name? He's seen Gone Baby Gone we were just talking about it so yeah we were watching that show. We heard about it first and then watched it of... Finding Your Roots. Finding Your Roots.

Finding Your Roots, yeah. And you said one of the first imitations you did was a Gilbert Gottfried. Really, it was the only one. That's my whole repertoire. You didn't do other famous people? I know you impersonated family members. Family members, yeah. Nobody else.

Just my family and Gilbert. That was it. Didn't need to do anything past that. So at no point in your life did you have a bunch of imitations where you said, and if your waiter was James Cagney, it might go something like this. No. No.

So I'll put you on the spot. Oh, okay. If your waiter was Gilbert Gottfried, it might go something like this. Do you want the check? Or do you want dessert? It's pretty good. It's damn good.

We've had some people come in here and do impressions of him. That's in the top three. It's okay. I'm going to keep working on it. Yeah. For a one-woman show. OJJ. Simpson, I once ran into at a party. It sounds like a bit.

And he recognized me and did an imitation of me. This was when he was just known as a football player. Not a convent. That was the most infamous thing he did was maybe a commercial here and there. I never dreamed I'd have so much in common with O.J. So you were, we're going to bring our listeners up to speed.

You were on the PBS show Finding Your Roots in an episode with Sigourney Weaver and her story was fascinating too, but your story turned dark quickly and within the episode you were reminiscing about how as a kid one of the ways

you would crack your family up or entertain your family was with a Gilbert Gottfried impression so Dara texted me and said Amy Ryan

does a Gilbert Gottfried impression we must have her and here you are like that very simple yes like magic you appeared oh my goodness You must have her. And here you are. Like that. Very simple. Yes. Like magic.

You were peered. Oh my goodness. From PBS. Yeah. First time we've ever booked someone off PBS. That's amazing. Yeah. Yeah.

And the story turned dark, as we were talking about before we turned the mics on, with your family. First of all, your first shock was finding out that your great-great-grandfather had married his, or grandmother had married her first cousin. Do I have this right? That would be correct. Yes. So that was shock one. Do you have an arm growing out of your back now?

Just seven toes. Yeah. Yes, they were married. Yeah. Yes, they were married. Yeah. They married. I think he might have married her maybe to protect her honor, as it were. Right. But she was already... I think she was already with child with someone else. Okay. Okay. You say with child back in the old days. Yes. Back in those days. Yeah. But then what happened? She basically left that husband and just left him behind and came to America.

She did. And then she fell in love with my grandfather, my great-grandfather. This was Jenny, by the way. This is Ryan, right? And married him and had five sons and moved to America. And her first son still remained in England, which we never knew about him. Right. And her first son still remained in England, which we never knew about him.

Right. And then the second shock you got was that your great-great-grandfather, William Ryan, abandoned his family. He sure did. Right. And that was a tragic turn. Yeah. Not to open the show on a downer. They found a newspaper article where he said he had to leave the family to go look for work like two hours north somewhere. And then there was this article they found where the brother-in-law said, no, he didn't leave.

He was still here. He just didn't go to work. Just didn't show up for work. He just didn't go to work, yeah. Right. And she was— She was sent to the poorhouse because it was a crime to be poor at that time. Yeah, like the debtor's prison.

That's right. Yeah. Yeah, and her children— Like Dickensian. Yeah, her children were taken away from her, and she died at 47 doing hard labor. Terribly sad. Yeah. So were you, obvious question, were you glad you opened this vault ultimately?

Yeah, sure. It's humbling, and I'll never complain yet again being held on set. Like, what am I going to be? What are they doing with my scene? I have it really easy compared to them. You have gratitude for the people that paved the way for you to be here. Absolutely. Yeah, we don't think about that, do we?

We don't. You'd be good on that show. We were talking about it just now. Dara was talking about it before we turned the mics on. You on that, finding your roots. What do you know, by the way? See, now I have to do an amy ryan imitation give it a shot what do you know gil about your ancestry i started doing her when i was a kid

do you know anything did you do the 23 and me or the ancestry.com dara says sarah's nodding yes you did yeah i know next to nothing but you're all jewish assumedly no i mean yeah part russian or german jew yeah i know russian yeah i always thought my father came from Poland, but with ancestry, they said it was Hungary, Austria. But then the borders changed. Yeah. You'd be good on that show, though. Yeah, I'd like to. Aren't you curious?

Yeah. To do that kind of digging? Sure. Yeah. How did you become aware of him in the first place? Because you hung hung onto that one joke from his act which he may still be doing by the way the one you saw in 1976 i haven't written a new one since uh i i don't know did you see him live or like on a comedian special i my guess it

would be a comedian special probably like like an HBO special or something. Did you do one of those? Yes. Yeah, so I think it would have been something like that. Yeah, yeah. And you still doing that joke? Oh, yeah. That Manson joke?

Yes. I'm still on stage going, hey, how many of you watch Gunsmoke? Are you a fan of other comedians? Being that your husband, Eric Slovin, is a comedian. Yeah. And a comedy writer. Yeah.

So we'll mention him. Yeah. And was an SNL writer. He's an SNL writer. So the comedy duo Slovin and Allen. Slovin and Allen. I've learned being married to him, comedy is very serious business.

If I can make him laugh out loud four times a year, that's like major success. Otherwise it's a huh, and there's a rewrite going on in his brain. But yeah, he's a tough customer. That's how comedians laugh. They cheat you ultimately because they laugh by saying that's funny. That's what he does.

Yeah, yeah yeah yeah in in in the middle of sex with your husband do you ever start screaming in my voice and if you did it would sound something like this. Well, only on the holidays. On the high holidays. The high holidays. So you're a local product. We'll establish from Queens.

I'm from Queens. From Flushing. We've had 300-something guests on this show, and for some reason, most of them have been New Yorkorkers lots of brooklyn people lots of bronx people a handful of queens people so tell us about going into show business because you didn't have any show business in your family no anywhere uh no your father wanted you to he wanted me to come work at his trucking company, which I didn't really want to do. Yeah, no, I'm the first. I think it was just, I really liked growing up in Queens, but I also really wanted to get out of it.

Me too. And my mother and father took us to the theater. And so coming to Manhattan was this quest and theater. And maybe one day you know that would get me out yeah so that was the drive and high school performing arts yeah now laguardia now laguardia yeah did your parents have any discussions like what the hell is she doing Yeah, they, well, my dad more, he didn't, he didn't get it. But he, it was the first job I got, I remember writing down a piece of paper. It was a play, a Neil Simon play. And I wrote my salary down and passed it to my parents. And it was just, you know, equity minimum at the time, stage minimum. passed it to my parents. And it was just, you know, equity minimum at the time, stage minimum. And suddenly I was going to make more than them. And they were very excited to send me off.

Suddenly they were, no, they were very supportive, but it took my, it did take my dad a little longer, I got to say, because it's just, it was very strange and new. We were blue collar family. You get a job and you put a turkey on the table at Thanksgiving. Didn't your sister say to you, your parents were never going to let you go? Yeah. You had to go on the road? Yeah. Was it Biloxi Blues? It was Biloxi Blues.

And then that's when I... In my family, we've used the telephone game to communicate. So my parents never told me no. My dad told my mom. My mom told my older sister, the middle sister. Then that sister comes and announces it like a big plate of bricks right i got it and you do among well you're known for accents and you do a queen's accent you were explaining the queen's accent well that was my yeah that was

that's that's my uh that's my home native tongue. Could you demonstrate a Queens? I would say the Queens accent I had growing up is like, do you want a hot dog? It's everything is one word with a lot of syllables. There's no. Interesting. So, you know, do you want to eat? No, do you?

What do you want to do? It's all all you know and it's also louder which is uh probably uh maybe that's the influence maybe i was louder because i was started with you but yeah i also think there's excuse me i think there's a subtext behind accents like uh as an actor i might ask that of other people. Like, so, for example, I think the subtext in Queens is, you fucking jerk,

is behind everything. What time is it? I don't know. Oh, interesting. It's an attitude behind it. Do you want to eat? I don't know. You hungry?

I don't care. That it's a little combative, in other words. Interesting. What about the Jersey one that you did for Win-Win? How did you, was it so far from the Queens one? I think, I don't know if it came out Jersey. I think that was the one. It probably slid into Queens on a lazy day.

But I think, I don't know. I think it might be maybe not as tough, but someone from Jersey might object to that. I saw you interviewed. You and Giamatti were being interviewed by somebody from Jersey. And she said you guys pulled it off. Oh, fantastic. That you sounded spot on. Of course, the gone baby, gone accent, the Boston accent. That was the challenging one.

The Gone Baby, Gone accent, the Boston accent. That was the challenging one. That I sat with because we filmed it in Boston. I spent every lunch with all the crew guys who were local. And that's an incredible sound. I feel like you can hear like an old Irish accent in it and um mixed obviously with uh an american sound but um but that was that was hard to get but uh but it was fun it was fun to to do now ben ben affleck said that with that movie he said something to you like i just want he he didn't know whether the movie would be good or bad but do you remember what he said yeah he said he it was the day before we started filming and he

said i don't i don't know he said that i don't know if this is going to be good or bad but i know one thing to be true and that's i will get boston. And he and John Toll, our cinematographer, before we shot any of the scenes, they went out and shot a bunch of B-roll footage and just got captured all these just local faces and street images and then handed the actors this DVD and he said, it's your job to fit into them, into this world, not the other way around.

And he was extraordinary to work with. And even watching him work with a lot of the non-actors who he hired on the set, he was so compassionate and really supportive because it was an intimidating scene for them to be in. And if they got it wrong, he kept saying, that's great. Try it again. They'd get it wrong. He said, that's great. Try it again now this this way that's a hell of a movie debut i mean it's a very good movie yeah that holds up very well he got he got boston right in the town as well in the set in his second movie yeah yeah and because it's funny a lot of great actors they get you know when they have to do an accent that's the one thing that's on you know because it's a whole separate talent from acting

i'm not musical at all but i think if there is any part of my brain that hears music it's it's rhythm of speech that's interesting and uh and sounds that way um but i i couldn't like you know plunk out anything on the piano they Well, of course they say comedy is musical. Is that right? The rhythms of it. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Well, it's like I heard that Mel Brooks, when he invites people to audition, he wants them to sing.

I've heard that, too. Oh, really? Yeah. And because when you look at it, you look at, like, you know, the Marx Brothers were all musicians. Jack Benny. What? Jack Benny. Jack Benny.

And the Youngmen. Yeah. Victor Borga. Lots of them. All of these comedians used to sing. Or write music, like Chaplin. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. And may or may not have written music, Jackie Gleason. He would come out with these albums for lovers and we had to believe that he composed the music. Are you musical, Gilbert? Yeah, have you heard me sing? You don't know this show, Amy.

He sang with Neil Sedaka on this show. Yes! Oh, my God. And Tommy James. Amazing. And other people. And do you play instruments? No.

I fiddle with myself. Doesn't count. Tell us about meeting Neil Simon when you took... She's going to laugh And I do it as much as possible You got to keep it in tune Quick Neil Simon

Who would later fire you Yes, he later fired me I met My first audition was for Neil Simon And he hired me for Biloxi Blues. And then years later, I did another play of his called London Suite out in Seattle Rep. And it was a series of three one acts. And when they moved it to New York, he condensed it to like two acts or something. And so one actress played two roles. So I was out. But he wrote me this very beautiful letter in which he said it was his fault, which I don't possibly believe.

But I don't keep much memorabilia, but I have that letter. You hung on to a letter? I hung on to that letter. A discharge letter from Doc Simon. It's amazing. It's an amazing piece of paper with his name on it. I love that. We had Marsha Mason here a couple of weeks ago, and we're Neil Simon obsessives. But even he could make a mistake.

That's very nice. So you go on the road with this thing. At what point does it become, do your parents catch on to the fact that you're going to be safe, you're not going to be attacked, this is a legitimate, this is actually a way to, it's a real career. Yeah, there was a... They changed their tune or quickly followed along with it? Yeah, there was a moment, there was actually a really great turning moment, I've mentioned this before, where I had done a few jobs, but my dad kind of kept saying, you know, when are you going to come work for me?

When are you going to come work for me? When are you going to come work for me? And my mother slammed her fist down on the table. And she said, leave her alone. She's doing what she wants. And he never said another thing after that point other than great job. For my dad, he'd come see like Uncle Vanya. My dad had a trucking company in Queens. And he's sitting in Uncle Vanya.

I love that. You know, like poor guy. But he would be so I love that. You know, like, poor guy. But he would be so generous, and he'd say, yeah, really moved along. Really moved along. And that was the best. So they got to see you on Broadway. Yeah, that was the best compliment my dad could give. could give like yeah i i remember there was a story michael douglas said that the first time his father kirk douglas of course saw him in a play what he said to him afterwards was

i've never been so embarrassed in my life wow i never heard that we will return to gilbert gottfried's amazing colossal podcast after this baseball is finally back get in on major league action and swing for the fences with bet mgm the king of sportsbooks log in or sign up to play along as bet mgm brings the real-time action embrace a season's worth of swings with BetMGM, your one-stop shop for all things baseball. BetMGM.com for Ts and Cs. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only.

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Contact a licensed TD Insurance advisor to learn more. Contact a licensed TD Insurance advisor to learn more. Of your parents, was one of your parents, Gilbert, more encouraging or less encouraging? I'm assuming it was your mother that was more open to the idea of show business than your dad. His dad owned a hardware store, so he came from a... There was no show business in the family either. I think both of them were kind of worried. They were. Yeah.

My mother would kind of felt like, all right, this is what he's doing. I don't know what. But I'm sure neither one of them expected much. It was like... much it was like uh because you know when the the minute i had kids i kind of all of a sudden a light goes on in your head of what your parents were doing all those years and now i think of it and think wait going into show business is it's fucking insane it it still is there's not like a a set that i'm not on that there's a moment of like why did everybody get up at five in the morning and come here and invest millions of dollars sometimes three in the morning sometimes three in the morning yeah

it's like at least one time every night when i'm doing when I'm on stage I'll go what the fuck am I doing right now? This is really crazy. Do you ever just leave? Have you ever just walked off? He'd like to. I would love to. I had a show cancelled. There was a mix up with

the club. A show cancelled one of my shows and I was so thrilled i thought you were gonna say you went on anyway you just showed up not me boy oh boy do you still like perform do you still perform late at night like my husband talks about that like people ask him do you miss performing and he said sort of but the idea of being like getting ready to go on at midnight or something, he can't imagine that. Do you think of that? Yeah, that's something where I, when I'm booked, like doing a weekend where I'll have like five or six shows, I will, after I'll do like the first show, in my my mind it's like a prisoner mocking off the days

on the wall i feel like okay that's one out of a rock yeah it's scratched him out on a cave wall yeah but you still there there have to be satisfying moments on stage still. Yeah, like when it's coming toward the end. When they give me the light, I'm always satisfied. You're a puzzle because when you were young, you couldn't wait to be up there and you had an addiction to it. Yes. But over time, instead of growing more comfortable, you've grown less comfortable. Yes. Why is that?

Over the decades. I get more and more uncomfortable as I go on. Do you have stage fright? Sometimes. Sometimes, well, right before I go on, I'll think, I can't do this. And it's kind of like, you know, when you're by the water and you dip your toe in, you go, oh, no, this is too cold. I can't go in there.

And then when you're in there, you're fine. But, yeah, that happens to me. What about when you're doing a play every single night of the week, as you do in the long run? Are they pretty much all become the same after a while or there are nights where you're just suddenly standing up there and you either freeze or you think what the hell am i doing i sometimes i have these it's kind of weird thoughts backs when i'm backstage waiting for my cue to enter i start to daydream about like well what would happen if I went out earlier?

What would they do? What would I say? What's the big deal if I did it? You know, it's just these kind of rebellious thoughts, which I, and I've never done that, but I, my instinct is to sabotage the whole thing. How interesting. But, uh, and then in a longer run i'm kind of amazed that your brain can be thinking about or lines can come out and your body knows where to go in the blocking but your brain can be thinking about what you'll eat afterwards he does that too that is amazing to me because it happens to me all the time. I'll be doing a bit and I'll be screaming, yelling, running around the stage. And in my mind, I'm going like, I wonder if I packed those brown socks.

That's right. Yeah. And I don't know like the part of the brain that compartmentalizes what we've learned by rote, maybe. But we still think as performers we're in it and it's fresh. But maybe it is only rote, memory rote. Interesting. And these other thoughts are coming through. But it's a weird wonder.

And then the minute someone else in the audience disrupts that, then you're off. It's like someone came over and just tipped you off balance, and you're like, oh, I don't know if I know the next line. I think I saw you in Streetcar with Natasha Richardson and John C. Reilly. Yes. And you were Stella. Stella, yeah. Yes, I think I saw that.

Was that Studio 54? I saw that production. Yeah, yeah. That was a good production. Oh, thanks. Do you remember any lines from Uncle Vanya? Like you would recognize them. She could give you a line from F Troop.

He might know that though. He'll call me out. If you remember any line at all from Uncle Vanya, I want you to do it as Gilbert got you. Well, the classic. I hear the end of the play when they've lost everything. Sonia tries to, you know, console Uncle Vanya by saying, We will rest, Uncle Vanya.

We will rest. Surreal. And that's exactly how i performed wow that's exactly how i see there's a there's a chance for you to sabotage uncle vanya suddenly do the last line is gilbert let's talk about something we all know about and love sy Sidney Lumet. Oh, I love Sidney Lumet. Who came into your life or into your career at kind of an early point? Yes. He saw me in Uncle Vanya. There you go.

True story. Good segue. And he said, that's a great Gilbert Gottfried. Gilbert was unavailable for this TV show I'm working on. Did they announce it in place of Gilbert Gottfried? At tonight's performance. Actually, our stage manager was also a Gilbert impersonator. Gilbert can't perform.

Is that true? That would have been great if it was. He saw you in Vanya. How many are there of us out there? There's a few. Sidney saw me in Uncle Vanya and he was working on a TV show at the time called 100 Center Street.

I remember it. With Alan Arkin. And so he invited me to do a role in that, which I did. And then the next season, he invited me to come back and do another role. And I said, well, aren't you concerned that people will know me from the other one? He said, no, you'll figure it out. Oh.

And that, I mean, he loves actors so much. He did. And he really thought you could do anything. And that's the first time I've ever experienced that. And so then I worked with him again on before the devil knows your dad so uh he was he was very parental to me he was very inspiring and um really really uh gave me a huge break well he was an actor so i guess part of why he loved actors and wasn't his father an actor yeah was his father an actor?

What's his father's name? Baruch? Yes, he started out like that. Baruch Lament. He was five years old when he started? He appears in The Pawnbroker. Mm-hmm.

And Sidney's in Dead End. Yeah. As a little kid with Bogie, right? Yeah. Yeah. But Baruch appears in The Pawnbroker

as this old man who's dying. Yeah. So was that his last film before The Devil Knows You did? Yeah, that's his last. That's his swan song. And I remember there was some, you know, it was an independent budget. And there was some talk that, because Sidney at the time was 83, I think, when we shot this film.

And there was trouble getting insurance for him and afraid there was something about the budget and he came in under budget and under schedule and he was just he worked so fast and he was so prepared and he demanded all the actors be as prepared and as you know like we would rehearse it like a play for a month and treat williams was here telling us about prince of the city and same thing that's how we like liked to work. Down at the Ukrainian Center, like on 2nd Avenue, this big room there. Yeah, I heard he wasn't one of those actors where you did one scene for a week.

He was like one right after the other. Oh, yeah, if you did two takes, that was a lot. Usually it was one take and move on. He said, none of you are that interesting that that we should stay here doing five takes we should all go home to our families oh that's humbling he's like so get it done fast i want to go home so you one of the characters you played on 100 center street was arkin's daughter but he didn't think that anybody would make the connection that you were. No, because, you know, I played a sex worker in a pink wig.

I see. I really fooled them. I put on a pink wig. Well, tell us. We'll talk more about Sidney, but tell us one thing about the great Alan Arkin, who we adore. Oh, God. He's amazing. I remember one time he said, you know, in acting,

all we want to do is be honest and natural and everybody kind of mumbles and they're, you know, whisper. He said, but in reality, he's like, life is so big. You'll be at a restaurant with your friend saying like, yeah, I can't believe I walked into my wife and she left me. Oh, yeah, Can I have the tuna on the side? And you break it. And he's

like, we have to, it has to be bigger. Life is, is so big. So you can afford to be really big in acting. Don't be humble and mumbly and whispery. And you're in your, what, your twenties now? This is a, this is right now. No, no, when you did 100 Center Street. Yeah. And here's Alan Arkin and Sidney Lumet. I mean, my God. And then I worked with Adam Arkin, who directed my Chicago Hope, which got a nice shout out in the interview. You bet.

Yes. We're thorough. We're completists. Yeah. No, I feel very fortunate to have worked with these legends. And I wish I asked more on a set of these people. And I was always just too shy. I was afraid I was going to put my foot in my mouth.

So I would wait for them to drop gems. I did the same with Alan Alda on Bridge of Spies. So many questions I wanted to ask him, and I didn't. But he told stories. We've had him here. He's a great storyteller. Yeah. him and I didn't but he told stories so yeah so so anyway but I regret not having and before the devil knows you're dead was one of those films that in the first minute it had me yeah you know some of those movies some movies you

watch and you go okay when is this is this going to... Well, he plays with time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And originally the script was two friends that do this jewelry store robbery. And Sidney rewrote it to be brothers. And he thought that would just be far more devastating, you know, to watch that bond break apart. It's a Shakespearean tragedy, that movie.

Yeah, yeah. But Gilbert's right. I mean, it hooks you from the beginning. It's also one of the few heist movies that has the heist in the first five minutes. Yes, yes. It doesn't build to the heist. It gives you the heist, and then you see everything unravel. Yeah.

Then the aftermath. It's really brilliantly executed. It grabs you right away and doesn't let go, which is like a perfect film. Yeah. And also you worked with a great actor. Oh, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Yes. Of course.

And you worked with him several times. Yeah. Phil and I, we knew each other from New York, just kind of theater scene. And we did an off-Broadway play together, and then Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, and then his directorial debut, Jackal's Boating. A very sweet love story. Oh, yeah. So sweet. Very sweet film.

Yeah. I miss that man. Yeah. What a, I mean, short career in a way way but what a body of work that he was able to amass in a short time yeah i'll never forget that you know the before i knew philbert uh boogie knights just that gesture of him trying to put that shirt that his shirt was too small he's just trying to like cover his belly with it so because he because he's attracted to Dirk. Yeah, and he's just like... I was like, who is that?

He's amazing. You didn't have any scenes with him, but did you spend any time with Mr. Finney? No. No, unfortunately. By the way, Jack Goes Boating, which now you'll see a second Amy movie, in addition to

Gone Baby Gone. You should see it with her and Philip Seymour Hoffman. It's wonderful. It's a sweet love story. I guess about two misfits, two people afraid of intimacy. Yeah, two people in their 40s. You know, it's funny.

When we were promoting the film, we both would get so many questions like, what happened to her? I was like, she's just a- I was warning the same thing. Okay, but she's just a 40-year-old in New York. That's what happens. Well, she does get assaulted in the course warning the same thing. Okay, but she's just a 40-year-old in New York. That's what happens. Well, she does get assaulted in the course of the movie.

She gets assaulted in the movie, but that's in the course of the movie. Like, that's not some heavy baggage she's been, you know, carrying around that keeps her intimidated from dating in New York. I just think she's, it's just, it's really hard out there. And then when those two meet, you realize there's a lid for every pot. They're just well-matched and they're just mismatched. Like Michael, Scott, and Holly. Yeah. You said something in an interview that was odd, if I heard it correctly.

Okay. If I heard it correctly, and sometimes in a movie, they want a photo of the character, a young photo of the character, and they ask you if you have any young photos. Oh, yes. And you don't like to lie and say all your photos are gone. Thanks for outing me. Yes. I get an email from a, you know, a very eager person,

part of set decoration, that they're, you know, we'd love to have pictures for the set decoration. If there's any pictures that you can send us. And I say, oh, they're all in storage.

I don't want to get, because I gave an old picture of myself for a Larry David thing that we did for Clear History. Oh, yeah. And then it's like me from Queens with hair. It doesn't match the character I'm playing now. And then, although in the Devil, before the Devil Knows You're Dead,

they asked for a picture. And my, one of my oldest friends from high school, Erin Leary, who's now Erin Lopez, she loves movies and gets very excited by all of this entertainment world. And I put a picture of me and Erin at the beach with our arms around each other. And it was one of those shots where they started on it and then panned to the actor. I was like, oh my God. The one time, like a set decoration. She was thrilled. So Aaron is in before the devil knows you're dead. Oh, she is? Yeah.

Okay. She's got a nice closeup. How important was it? I guess the answer is very important. At that age that Sidney Lumet, the great Sidney Lumet, says, you'll figure it out and left you to your own devices. Oh, my God. What a confidence builder. It was worth, you know, all the money in the world.

To have someone of that talent, that stature, Have someone of that talent, that stature, give you the freedom and the confidence and, you know, to do what I only have an inkling of. Like, I think I know how to do this thing. It's instinctual. I can't really put it into words. And he tells me, yes, you're right. How about that? And that, I feel like that was like meeting sydney was a turning point like when i started as an actor i was just psyched to be invited to any

job i would do anything and um then i meeting people like sydney i was like oh but there's another way you know choosing good scripts and choosing good roles. It makes a difference. Doesn't Eastwood work that way too? A little bit quick. Yeah. When I, when I met, um, Clint on set right before we were going to shoot, that's the first time I met him. And the first thing he said out of his mouth was you worked with Sydney and he had a grin. And I said, yes. He goes, so you know how to work fast? I said, yes, I do. He said, very good. And so that's, we did, we worked fast. You getting better at asking questions as time goes on? I asked nothing. With Spielberg, with Eastwood, Tom Hanks? No, he's still not asking questions. Oh my God, I want to ask. You know, I worked with Arthur Miller.

Wow. And this is what I, this is what I said to him every morning. He's like, how was your drive? And then I would sit back and listen to him describe the color of the mountain and the sun coming through the clouds. And that was it. That's funny. I didn't ask him about his plays. I didn't ask him about Marilyn. I was like, I can read those in, you know, biographies.

Sure. Biographies. But hearing him describe his drive through the Berkshire Mountains, maybe that's unusual. What was it like sitting listening to Arthur Miller? I tell you, he's a tall drink of water. He is a beautiful, he was handsome, like very sexy, tall, big man. handsome like very sexy tall big man so it's he's it's also like you know you're you just flustered to be in his presence but um honestly it's surreal I it's it's uh I so much so many moments that are like that I picture myself, I'm still this girl from Queens, trying to come to Manhattan.

And maybe it was a wild dream, but you don't expect those wild dreams to come to fruition. You're still in touch with that. That's so refreshing. Oh, yeah. Listen, I'm very starstruck at this moment. I'm not taking this lightly. Spielberg Schmielberg. How about that, Gil? I've heard you say when you meet these people, too, you try to remind yourself, meet the person, not the personality. A friend gave me that

advice good advice and and i think i i do i do try to uh keep that in mind and i and i try to i try to sometimes i get recognized on the street for the office and i try to give that back to people because i know that maybe they're feeling a little nervous so i right away i say oh tell me your name you know i i try to be somewhat friendly and move on you know but um but uh that's nice because it's important to them yeah yeah that that encounter the celebrity encounter is important somebody said that in a previous podcast i'm trying to remember remember it's there it's there it's it's your 300th time of of signing that autograph. It was Henry Winkler.

Yeah. Gave that advice. Wasn't it Henry Winkler? Gave that advice to- It sounds like Henry Winkler. Yeah, gave that advice to Jeffrey Tambor. Remember, meeting fans, remember it's your 3,000th time, but it's their first. Is Henry Winkler the nicest man in show business?

Next to Gilbert. Next to Gilbert. Yes, we had him. He was on one of our early shows. He's a doll of a guy. Winkler is bordering on Mooney. He doesn't just say hello. He goes up to you and goes, you are the most wonderful person I've ever met in my entire life.

He's the real deal, Henry. Yeah. I think Alan Alda and Henry Winkler may be the two nicest people that I've met. He's so spectacular on Barry. He is. I love him on that show. He's great. That's part of why we decided to do this show.

There's an actor late in life. He's known for these things, following him around his whole life, Fonzie. Right, yeah. And then you get to see him in Arrested Development, and then you get to see him on Barry, and you realize, like you say, Gilbert, the older actors are just as good as they ever were. You see the guy's range come out. Yeah. These things he can do.

Because it- You know. they ever were you see the guy's range come out yeah these things he can do because he didn't know we used to have shows like uh love boat and fantasy island and these people would pop up either where you didn't know them or you thought they were dead years ago that's right and then you go wow they're really good yeah i Yeah. I love Boat and Fantasy Island. That was my, whatever night that was on, that was my lineup. Fantasy Island? Oh, I love those shows. You know Gilbert's going to have to do his tattoo impersonation.

I'm so eager, I stumbled over the word. Yeah. Oh, I could do a tattoo and scent of a woman. Ruby Villachez, and scent of a woman. Your name Daphne. I know that because you're wearing Chanel number five. And you have a southern accent. Hoorah!

You can get bread outside New York today like this. It's too alkaline. Hoorah! Amy is doubled over. Too alkaline? Have you ever seen anyone do Herbie Bielich's? I have now.

No need to see any more after that one. That was amazing. What play were you doing with Arthur Miller? A play of his called The Ride Down Mount Morgan. Now, do you remember any lines from the Arthur Miller play? Don't make her do Herbie Bielicz. No. I actually don't.

Should I pretend I do? Yeah. Tell us about what- I was driving down Mount Morgan with Herbie Villachez in the backseat. Sorry.

Is stand-up something you'd ever attempt to do, by the way? You do have great comic timing. Not on your life. Not on my life, huh? Not on my life. No, I couldn't imagine that. So, you know,

my husband was working on Night of Too Many Stars. Uh-huh. Gilbert did that show. Okay, so, yeah. So, you know, so there's the phone bank

and, you know, to call in and... Robert Smigel's show. Yeah. Yeah. And... So anyway, he...

I got so distracted by this chair I don't know why it's just a chair it's just a chair and there's nobody in it I'm just trying to be very quiet

okay so anyway so Night of Too Many Stars and Sully Sullenberger the pilot who landed the plane in the Hudson was on

the phone bank and he plane in the Hudson, was on the phone bank. And he was in between the calls. There was a bunch of other comedian friends of Eric's and Andy Blitz, I believe it was. And Sully had said, so let me get this straight. Like you do stand up and you write your own material and you just go up there with like no script? And he said, yeah. And Sully said, oh, I couldn't imagine doing that. I wouldn't have the guts.

Wow. How about that, Jill? Now, anyway, that to me, like, not that I want to fly a plane on the Hudson, you know, land a plane on the Hudson either, but I feel that way about stand-up. There's no way. I admire it. I don't know how it's done, but it's not for me.

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Tell us about Two Comic. In addition, you're working with your third comic genius today in Gilbert. But how about that, Gil? Yeah. Albert Brooks and Larry David. Oh, my gosh. Albert Brooks. I was in his film looking for comedy in the Muslim world.

And I was brought out to Los Angeles. I guess it was maybe for like the last audition. I put myself on tape here in New York and then I went out and met him. And there was only just a scene. He wouldn't give me the whole script. And in his office he said, I'm really sorry I can't let you read the script because if it gets out there, it's going to end up on Curb Your Enthusiasm. If it gets out there, it's going to end up on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He said, but I'll tell you what.

I'll read you the scene that precedes the scene that you auditioned with. I said, oh, that's great. So he comes out and he read the scene and it was funny and I started laughing. And he's like, you like that? It's good? I said, it's very funny. Okay, let me read you another one. And he read another scene and another. He ended up reading the entire script for me.

Wow. While you sat there. I sat on the couch in his office and he stood. And it was amazing. Like it was this, it was a one man show of Albert Brooks. Wow. He is, he is a funny man. It's a fun film.

You had a small part. Yeah, I did. But it's a fun film. had a small part i had yeah but it's a fun film yeah i haven't seen it in a long time but um yeah i love that part when he walks by the taj mahal and he's too busy like he misses he misses larry david i called yesterday because uh yeah i knew you worked with him. And I was hoping. He doesn't remember me. I was hoping he'd remember you. And I was hoping there'd be some story where he tried to have sex with you.

Oh, God. Unfortunately. Fortunately. Yeah. I was hoping there'd be a story like, Fortunately. Yeah. I was hoping there'd be a story like, you know, Amy Ryan.

Amy Ryan. She's on television. But unfortunately. No story there, yeah. Sorry, I dropped my questions I had questions for Amy from listeners and the paper

fell in the hole I'd say it's like the dating game we're gonna take a slight break because Frank's question fell in the hole.

Is that Kevin coping? I guess so. Where are two draw buttons, Frank? Hang on, I have them here. Thank you, Dara. Gilbert will insist I leave this in. Oh, man. The Larry David movie is funny too Clear history Yeah clear history

He had a small part but it's funny It's like a long bizarre curve episode Yeah it is right And it just dawned on me If I'm related to Bernie Sanders I must be related to Larry David Oh yeah we found out Before it just dawned on me if i'm related to bernie sanders i must be related to larry david oh yeah we found out before we turned the mics on that that uh that amy had done her her family tree her genealogy and found out she was distantly related to bernie sanders

which is bizarre so so yeah so so then you're related to Larry Davis. And he doesn't remember me. By extension. I got a couple of questions here from listeners. Okay. We call this Grill the Guest. Sean Patrick Little, I love Amy, and I just want to know how the hell to pronounce her real surname. That would be Jivinkowski.

How do you say it? Jivinkowski. Jivinkowski. Jivinkowski. How do you say it? Jivinkowski. Jivinkowski. Wow. Just like it's spelled. Just like it's spelled. And what made you change that? It's already an Amy Jivinkowski and sag.

Here's one. Was it Gilbert's dulcet tones that first drew you to your wonderful impression or his raw sexuality? Both. That was Michael Barrows. Michael, you should know better. Of course it was both. Here's an office question. Molly Kessler, did you keep anything from the set of The Office?

Any keepsake? I have a Dundee award. You do? Yeah. That's cool. Let's talk quickly about The Office because our listeners would be upset. You got the part because you were in The Wire,

essentially. I believe so. Paul Lieberstein, who I actually, Toby, I knew Toby a long time ago from a sitcom called the naked truth that starred taylor leone uh yes he was one of the writers and i was on it for a season or two and then years later we he we lost touch but he was a fan of The Wire and then was writing for The Office and then I believe that's how I became part of The Office

and you had worked with Steve as well briefly so briefly it's hard to really say Dan and Dan in real life that's where I first met him what tremendous chemistry you guys wound up having

yeah I really care for that guy. He's such salt of the earth, just great actor. My wife and I watch the show over and over again and we think it's only 15 years old but the things that you probably can't do

as easily now that you were doing on that show. I mean, it's really an edgy show. Yeah, well, first of all, everybody in the office states everybody else. Does that happen? But I mean, even the thing where you're first introduced around and Dwight is pranking you and tells you that Kevin is slow in the brain. Yeah, that's right. And the wonderful scene with the vending machine.

That's right. All of that would... Really? You might be written up about. Even in 15 years, look how comedy has changed. Yeah, yeah. You know, I was asking a friend of mine the other day who's a stand-up, and he was writing, he writes on a show, and he's in his mid-40s,

and he was saying there's so much that you just can't, so much is off topic, not off topic. Off limits. Off much is off topic. Not off topic. Off limits. Off limits. Thank you. And I said, well, do you, have you changed your thinking or are you just keeping quiet about it? Like, are you afraid to get in trouble? But he said, like, a lot of the 20-year-old writers in there are just like, you can't make jokes about, like, mentally handicapped people or you can't make jokes about women or you can't make jokes about dogs. So, and he said

probably maybe half of it i'm thinking yeah i guess that was messed up i shouldn't have done that but the rest he goes no i'm just keeping quiet about it it's interesting because it's a show that was created before me too yeah and there's a you know there's this michael michael is you know in many ways a harmless character but he's he's incredibly sexist oh god yeah and lascivious i mean there's just comedy on that show you guys know what i'm talking about that would be difficult probably more different of course there's always talk of a reboot yeah you know well unless you know and then it becomes a period piece like this is how we used to behave back then right you know right do you find gill in your comedy things that bits that you could do

15 years ago that that never got there was never an objection to them but now yeah but but because the climate has changed yeah you feel yourself going into something that you feel like well wait a minute i just did this last week it killed and now like people will start to get nervous you feel a tension in the room i wonder if that's cyclical i wonder if it'll bounce back eventually you know um i tend to think everything is cyclical but um yeah but i and then i wonder too is like part of the nerves because people are recording everything now like you know it's like some clubs they lock your phone up but like you know um you know but yeah i don't know it's that's that's your world are people taping you are people pulling their phones out yeah that

they are i i always see in the audience there'll be like a white light will go on. I always hate that. And now it's like it used to be, it's a club. It's supposed to be wild and wrong, what's going on. Now it's taken out of the club and broadcast, and it's like, oh no, we're too moral for that. Can you get those little pouches that they put phones in put phones yeah i think more and more they'll have to do that there are certain comics that are making that mandatory now yeah the phones get collected and because they don't want you know whatever they don't want to bid out there either yeah you know or if they or if they step over the line does your husband miss any part of that i

know he's writing now he wrote yeah you guys did an hbo show together oh yeah high maintenance yeah does he miss performing does he think he does yeah yeah um yeah uh he i mean if it was years ago but he you know he and leo got together to do kind of a like a charity event and but i remember they were they were they were writing something and had nothing and they had to walk out the door because the show was starting in an hour and and i i was so scared for him i was like what are you gonna do he's like i have no idea he was just head in hand like in agony and i was like you're really gonna go out on stage with nothing he's like yeah and he came home late that night he's like how'd it go he's like we killed that's like how does that happen like how does that happen where

you you really don't know and that they could pick it up again too yeah they're well not performing as a team for so long yeah i i leo's definitely that's eric's first wife you know that's the longest relationship he's been in i I'm second. That's funny. It's true. I don't know if I said it on mic or off mic before, but the Falconer is a sketch that they wrote for SNL, which I love. Yeah. Funny guys.

Yeah. A couple of other quick questions from listeners. And then I got a question for you about Gilbert that you're going to love. a question for you about Gilbert that you're going to love. Chance Pryor, also an Office fan. Why was Holly and Amy not in the Office finale? Obviously because you had moved to Colorado.

Oh, yes. Why? I thought there wasn't – I believe they didn't need me there. I thought it was for the cast regulars. And I lived in New York at the time. And I had a small child and going out there to be in a quick scene seemed, I felt like they were writing it as a favor to me and i was like it's okay like you know you guys can you you know the original band can be together it was nice when when carell came back yeah for that for that last episode yeah the show is him there's a sweetness to it yeah two two moments and then i want to move on to the gilbert question that he's gonna love two moments for me on that show for your character. One is the one where Michael gets lost and you know, somehow know instinctively that he's on the rooftop and you go and find him. It's a really beautiful moment. And the other one is when he's being

abusive to you for Jan's sake. And then he holds the baby and doesn't feel anything. This is a very romantic moment. Oh, my gosh. And he comes into the office. Do you remember this? I really don't, to be honest. It's not bad because it's great television. You know, my daughter just started watching The Office.

How old is your daughter now? She's 10. Okay. Which is weird because a lot of these, as you say earlier, like these inappropriate jokes are going over her head, which is good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'll catch up that scene. Look for that scene.

Okay. You'll know what I'm talking about. Yeah. It's really – because it's a show that is also very sentimental for all the edgy comedy. Yeah, yeah, it is. I feel like I never had luck on a traditional like four camera sitcom like landing the rhythm of that kind of comedy wasn't easy for me and then

I remember when I saw the the English version of The Office I thought well maybe I could do that that's more character based like these these people are pretty, you know, they seem very serious to me and the situations they were in. Yeah, but it'll stop and break your heart on a dime. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. This is the question about Gilbert because it keeps coming up. As an actor, do you think, are you of the opinion that he could play a dramatic role? Absolutely.

Why not? absolutely why not well now I've got an erection listen Paul Thomas Anderson get him direct you in something. Oh. He could do anything.

Interesting. Yeah. What do you think, Gil? What do you see yourself playing? We don't have to go as far as Shakespeare or Arthur Miller, you know what what was the thing that that what what's his name Frazier did on stage was he kingly Kelsey Graham yeah I would like to do the definitive King Lear and I don't know any lines from it what What I want you to do right now, and I'm going to say you agree to it. Okay.

Okay. I want you, as Gilbert Gottfried, and I know you don't know the words, but I know the words, so I will say them to you. And so this will be Amy Ryan Amy Ryan Amy Ryan as Shylock in

Merchant of Venice okay here I'll come over I'll whisper you're gonna whisper the bard sweet words in my ear. Okay, I'm going to whisper now. As only I can. Do you still have your erection?

And I'm standing from 10 feet away. Yes, you are, Gilbert. And she knew. Yes, you are. Okay, so you're Shylock. Okay. He mocked my losses. This is you whispering?

Yeah, yeah. That's a stage voice. A stage whisper. Stage whisper. Okay, what? He mocked my losses and thwarted my gains. He mocked my losses and thwarted my gains. He mocked my losses and thwarted my gains. And why?

And why? For I am a Jew. For I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Poor Amy. Hath not I? Hath I not Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew eyes.

Oh, hath not a Jew eyes. Yeah, okay. Oh, my God. One more time, please. Yes. Hath not a Jew eyes? I like how you do that. I am a contaminant.

Hath not a Jew eyes? Dimensions? Emotions? Dimensions? Emotions? If you prick us, do we... If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us...

If you tick... He doesn't say tickle. Yes! Yes! Do... If you tickle us. Do we not laugh? Do we not laugh?

Are we not warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter? I literally can't breathe. He's found his role, Dara. This is it. We don't need Paul Thomas Anderson. No, you donerson no you don't need i can coach him on this it's fine shylock hilarious oh i just want to talk about gone baby gone again what how did your folks feel about you getting nominated for an academy award and how and what was it like to go oh my god they were they were oh they were they were so proud um and um they got to come along oh you took your folks yeah and and and eric my husband

who i was only dating for about eight months at that time, but I was like, you know, do you want to come with me? But listen, if our relationship isn't going to go further than this, I really don't want to look back on this event in 10 years and wonder who's that bald guy I'm sitting next to. To which he said, I wasn't losing my hair then. But anyway, but Eric joined and my parents. But my dad, my dad was getting really wrapped up with the competitive part of it all. Interesting. And started to have opinions on, you know, who was better than who. And I was like, oh dad he was getting really upset that

Ruby Dee was gonna win he didn't think she deserved it my dad was also like early stage dementia and I thought oh my god is he gonna say something is he gonna shout if when they don't call my name what do I do and so I told him before the show I said dad I just want you to know I know I'm not winning and he said what I said they they tell you in advance and I it's not it's not going to be me um it'll be Ruby and I said because she's the oldest and the most experienced body of work it'll be Tilda because she's the most creative and takes the biggest risks. It'll be Kate because she's the biggest. She's talented, but she's the biggest Hollywood star.

Good blanchet. Yeah. And he's like, oh, okay, okay. So maybe I jinxed myself. You won everything. It came true. You won the LA Film Critics Award, New York Film Critics Award, Boston Society of Film. You won, I think, I counted, like 25 awards.

They don't send you anything. You don't get a certificate, a plaque? No, you don't get a certificate or a plaque. Nothing? Not even a letter? No, not even a letter. Wow. No, but that's okay.

And yet you're stuck with the Neil Simon firing letter. It keeps me on my toes. All the other stuff will become too complacent. Yeah. And you can count on me, another terrific little movie. Oh, that's a great film. Yeah, Kenneth Lonergan's film. And as Gilbert was alluding to, he did insult Matthew Broderick when we had him here.

Oh, and how did that go over? Yeah, I mean, he was very nice. He was very patient about it. But I fucking hated Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I think that character's an asshole. He was very nice about it. And he's a nice person. He's a nice person.

I don't know him too well, but just to say hi. Speaking of, by the way, Philip, before I wrote this down, too, Philip Seymour Hoffman's part in Happiness. You know this movie? Todd Solon's movie? Oh, yeah, yeah. That's another heartbreaking part. Yeah.

Yeah, like um i'm forgetting the character that he plays in uh in boogie nights but that is that is some oh and chris cooper is in that too i think in in happiness is chris cooper in happiness i think so he's definitely playing uh you see i I got... Oh, he may... Maybe I have him confused with another actor. Are you thinking of Dylan Baker? That could be. That's the father.

The father. He's the father. That's Dylan Baker. Yes, Dylan Baker. Chris Cooper did play... Thanks for the segue, because Chris Cooper did play Amy's husband in Capote. With Philip Seymour Hoffman.

With Philip Seymour Hoffman. Yes. Yeah. What do you do when you're playing a real person like Marie in Capote. With Philip Seymour Hoffman. With Philip Seymour Hoffman. Yeah. What do you do when you're playing a real person like Marie in Capote? Do you do research into the person? Do you feel like you have a responsibility to? A little. I mean, that woman wasn't, you know, there's no, actually there was one little clip of

her walking down Fifth Avenue with Truman Capote. I think he brought her to a premiere or something. And she was just, you could, I thought this woman is wonderfully and rightfully so starstruck. And I thought that was kind of interesting. Yeah, she was with Capote, by Capote. Yeah, but here her neighbors were just murdered but she's also on top of that really excited to have truman capote in her house yeah and i just that little clip of her walking um down fifth avenue she's just a little like

pep in her step and i read that capote made her some kind of arrangement i'll send you an article oh please there was an article in the new yer. Do you know about this, Gilbert? Well, of course, that was the way that the film was, that Bennett Miller approached the film, was to not pull punches on Capote's opportunism, his naked opportunism, and how he kind of manipulated Perry. But I'll send you an article from The New Yorker that supposedly she was, that Capote struck some kind of a deal or made some kind of an arrangement with- Perry, but I'll send you an article from the New Yorker that supposedly she was, that he, that Capote struck some kind of a deal or made some kind of an arrangement with. Oh, amazing.

I'd love to see that. With Marie. And I'm forgetting Chris Cooper's character's name, but I'll send it to you. It's fascinating. Yeah. And getting back to like the accents, it's like there are some actors, if they're doing an accent or a character in a movie, if you go up to them at the lunch table and they're playing an English character, you say, hey, the lunch is good today. And they go, oh, yes, it's quite wonderful. They do. They do. They do.

What about when a character drops their accent in the middle of a movie, like Kevin Costner in Robin Hood? Yeah. It just stops. It just stops. It just stops. It goes from Brit to Southern California. It seems like some halfway through the movie they go I'm tired of this.

I don't think it works. I did that in The Wire actually. I started like in real earnestness trying to do a Baltimore accent in the first couple of episodes. I was getting that like whoa and down the ocean and then I just got a little lazy.

That was it. I did it for got a little lazy that was it that was it i did it for like three episodes and that was it when jack jack wharton was in problem child and he said watching the movie he said in some scenes i'm southern is your ear now sufficiently trained that you can watch a movie and say, that accent's way the hell off? Or is it only if it's one you've done? You mean for myself or watching any movie? Yeah, watching a movie and saying, I'm not buying it.

Yeah, there's a lot that I don't buy. I think Southern accents are the most abused. Like people usually just do a generic Southern drawl. And I have enough Southern friends who like who rail against that, you know, they go to like a generic southern sound or an American hard R thing. It does impress me how easily British actors slide into American accents, though. Well, I wish we had more of their television here growing up and Australian television. Because I feel like all our shows were uh over there first um i think that i mean for myself i'm saying like yeah so sometimes when i'll hear an english actor do an american accent and i don't know the actor's english i'll go i he's got some kind of speech defect. You know, it's like something there. Something that's not there.

But then when it's real, like Idris Elba on The Wire, I didn't know he was from England. I had watched the first series before I joined in the second season. And then when I met him on set, I mean, I was just gobsmacked. I was like, what are you talking about?

This is like English. Because I saw him in The Office before I ever saw him on set, I mean, I was just gobsmacked. I was like, what are you talking about? This is like English. Because I saw him in the office before I ever saw him on The Wire. So he was using his own accent. Have you been asked, you've been in a million films, Gilbert. Have you been asked to do an accent or a dialect? Yeah. And I did it as convincingly as the other actors. Which one?

What was that? I was in a movie called Bad Medicine. Oh,ly as the other actors. Which one? What was that? I was in a movie called Bad Medicine. Oh, that's the, yeah. Where I was a South American. And in one part, I have to tell Steve Guttenberg, old shoes must be black because he has to wear black shoes. And I have to say in a Spanish accent, and I watched it, and it actually comes out as, old Jews must be black.

We can rent this and see this. Yes. Old Jews must be black. What was your character's name in that movie? Like Hector Santiago? We can rent this and see this. Yes. All Jews must be black. What was your character's name in that movie? Like Hector Santiago? Oh, Tony Sandoval. Tony Sandoval.

Yeah. Isn't Hollywood crazy? You wouldn't be cast. You wouldn't get that. You know something? You can't take that part now. That's right. You can't take that part now. She's right.

think that's you can't take that right you can't take that part now she's right when i watch movies and i thought you know the fun of movies was watching an actor be like mexican in one movie asian and another and french and another and it's like to me that was part of the whole surreal peter sellers yes yes play all those different Peter Sellers couldn't do that nowadays. He wouldn't be allowed. No, no, no. But I suppose it wasn't much fun for the Mexican actor at home watching that movie or the Asian actor. Let me get a turn. Or Charlton Heston. The Mexican actor watching Charlton Heston play a Mexican in Touch of Evil. My favorite Mexican accent was, I think it was a Mr. Moto film.

So you got Peter Lorre as Chinese. Yeah. And he's interrogating a Mexican antique owner played by John Carradine. owner played by by john carradine and to hear john carradine as a mexican before we wrap this is my favorite headline that i found while doing research uh the headline writers cracked me up this was in reuters it was an article about you and the headline was amy ryan is much more than a drug addicted mom. I'll send you that one too. Tell us about lost girls and worth,

which are two projects that are, that you're coming with. Both are very heavy, both very heavy. I would love to find a comedy after these two films, which I had a great time making, but, but as you say, they're both very heavy. I would love to find a comedy after these two films, which I had a great time making. But as you say, they're both very heavy. Lost Girls is on Netflix in March. And it's about the true story of the Gilgo Beach murders that happened out by Jones Beach 10 years ago. by Jones Beach 10 years ago.

And it centers on this woman, Marie Gilbert, who I play, whose daughter had gone missing. And when she went to the police on Suffolk County and got no help and was actually ignored and dismissed, she just kept getting louder and louder and demanded that an investigation keep happening. And then they ended up finding 10 missing sex workers and kind of unearthed a serial killer. I remember the story. Yeah, which is still unsolved.

It's quite maddening. And Worth is about 9-11? Maddening. And Worth is about 9-11? Worth is about Michael Keaton and I play the commissioners who were in charge of the 9-11 Victim Fund Commission. So it's a very heavy topic. But I was drawn to that film for the idea of people who actually were forward-moving in those days after the attacks, like, and went back to work.

I know you famously went back to work after 9-11. Nice. Nicely done. That could have gone the other way. That was amazing um i you know after i i remember a couple of days after 9 11 my friends and i we were i lived in the west village at the time and it was it was when like you know keep businesses going and you know and we were just sitting in jeans and T-shirt, you know, you know, let's go out dancing. Let's go. Let's go do it. And so we went up to 14th Street and got out of it. I don't know why we took a cab from the West Village, but we got out and we go to this club and there's the Red Rope.

And it's literally September 14th, maybe. 14th maybe and just as we get out a limo door opens Hugh Hefner gets out Pamela Anderson and then some other ladies they all get in a formation like a someone's going to take their picture and Pamela they they all have the same pose and Pamela gets to stand next to Hugh and they go in the club and we go to follow and the red rope clicks shut wow and we get all this at like you're not getting in this club and I was like that was amazing that was an amazing sight and I'm like and what are they doing here in New York like three days after you know but then yeah then, what might they have? Yeah, it was the roast. It was at the U Hefner roast that I did the 9-11 joke. That's right. So I was trying to get in that club that night.

I couldn't get through the rope. It was a strange, strange time. So I'm going to recommend, as we always do to our listeners, we used to do those Thursday episodes where we recommend movies. We'll send this to you because we did a whole short thursday episode and then after a while the devil knows you're dead after a while to show how hard i work on this show uh frank would say do you have any movies to recommend i'd say nah can't think of you made it to 29 weeks yeah and i i remember one time you called me and said do you have a movie and i said no nothing and he goes what's on the background i said i'm watching earth versus the flying saucers

it's a very fun science fiction film the special effects were done by ray Harryhausen. And you said, well, could you say that? And I think we did. But we did a 30-minute episode all about Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. Thank you. And I want to recommend Win-Win with you and Giamatti and our friend Jeffrey Tambor. And Beautiful Boy, another good movie that you and Carell made, which is a very different kind of thing. Yeah, I think people who were fans of Michael and Holly

were very upset to see us in this heavy drama. I would imagine. A very, very good film. Can you do the Hamlet speech? I'll help you. Can you? Gilbert Gottfried as Hamlet okay

she's gonna kill her voice come whisper again to me to be or not to be what is that laugh it's like air going out of a balloon. Give it to me one more time, please. To be or not to be. That is the question.

The question, whether it's nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune. Or to take arms. Or to take arms. Against the sea of troubles. Against the sea of troubles. Against the sea of troubles. And by opposing, end them. And by opposing, end them. Will you guys do the gin game together? Will you tour in a two-person?

How about Mr. and Mrs. Bridge? You know that one? Yes about Mr. and Mrs. Bridge? You know that one? Yes. Oh, my gosh. Wasn't that Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward? Well, I think it's only right that it's next to Amy Ryan and Gilbert Gottfried. Natural follow-up. Will you let your daughter watch a Gilbert Gottfried movie since she's watching The Office?

She's 10. I'm going to start off with his comedy. Here's how your mother was raised. You start with his stand-up. She must have watched Aladdin as a child. Yes, yes.

Aladdin was her second Broadway show and then the movies. So, yeah. Well, I'm exhausted and you must be. Did you have fun coming and being silly with us? Oh, yeah. It was amazing. Thank you.

Well. Okay. Hatch Gilbert got you. Don't make her work again. She'll close the show. Is that mic even working? It is. I set it on.

Okay. Poor Amy. Hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried. Hi, I'm Gilbert Gottfried. And this has been... And this has been... Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast. And this has been Gilbert's...

I have a little too much guttural sound there. Too much slam? Too much guttural. This has been Gilbert's... What is it? Gottfried's... Gottfried's... What is it?

Godfrey's. Godfrey's. Amazing, colossal podcast. With my co-host. With my co-host. Frank Santopadre. That's harder than Jim Kowski. Yeah, it is. Frank Santopadre.

Close enough. It is. Frank Santropadre. Close enough. And we have been talking to. And we have been talking to. Is this going on your reel, Amy? The lovely and talented. The lovely and talented.

The lovely and talented. The lovely and talented. And she took her sweater off at the beginning of the show. But I had a t-shirt on underneath. Yeah. I'm gonna try, I'm gonna work on your laugh when I go home. I'm going to try. That's hard. Our guest, the lovely and talented Amy Wright. Thank you, Amy.

Thank you. You are the sport of sports. One of my favorite episodes. what I mean I took you to an intimate restaurant then do a suggested movie there's nothing left to talk about let's do horizontally

let's get physical physical I wanna get physical let's get into physical Let me hear your body talk, your body talk Let me hear your body talk Let's get physical, physical I wanna get physical Let's get into physical Let me hear your body talk. Party talk, let me party talk.

I've been patient, I've been good. Tried to keep my hands on the table. It's getting hard, just holding back. You know what I mean. I'm sure you'll understand I'm a boy with you We know each other mentally You gotta know that you're bringing out

The animal in me Let's get physical, physical I wanna get physical Let's get into physical, let in, you party dog You party dog Let me in, you party dog Oh, let's get physical, physical I wanna get physical Let's get physical, physical I wanna get physical Let's get into physical Let me hear your body talk

Your body talk Let me hear your body talk Let's get animal, animal I wanna get animal Let's get into animal Let me body talk Body talk Let me body talk Let me body talk Let me find it all Let me find it all