Girl on Guy with Aisha Tyler - girl on guy 191: adam rodriguez 2

Episode Date: June 30, 2015

rejoin adam rodriguez of magic mike xxl and aisha as they talk about changing priorities, increasing scope, simplifying decisions, and not giving a f*ck. plus adam is about to break off a piece of that Cookie.  girl on guy welcomes you to the empire.

This is Girl on Guy. Hey, everybody, welcome to Girl on Guy, 191. Welcome to the show. This is a great show. This is a sensational show. That's all I can say about that. It's a great show that I feel so thrilled to be bringing to you that I am beside myself, beside my very self with overjoy.

The summer is at hand, and by at hand, I mean, rapidly dwindling. I hope you were doing your best to enjoy it in as many ways as you possibly can. It doesn't have to be extreme. to go to Wabita and kick it with Kanye and the other one. But do something exciting. Get some ice cream. Take your shoes off. Run around on the street.

Throw water balloons. Your life is short, my friend. You should be exploiting it in every way humanly possible. I know I am with a variety of things going on. Well, no, all delightful, all very delightful, some of which you can participate in. We've already given out all the tickets for this year's fan appreciation event at Comic Con. if you won, you have been notified. It is possible that some people will drop out at the last minute,

and some people who are down on the list may receive tickets, but for the moment, we are completely all full up. And the event is taking place in a very new venue this year. So every single person that won a ticket to the fan appreciation event will also be able to stay for the live recording of the podcast. And I can tell you now that that live recording will be with Kevin Durand. Kevin Durand, who you may know from a variety of places and a variety of things, He's a very handsome man.

But right now he's starring on a show called The Strain. He was also in the last season of Vikings, which I haven't finished, so I have no idea whether he's going to be in it in the next season. But he's an amazing actor, so interesting, has done so many things. He's a crazy, busy, very prolific character actor. But like I said, you can see him right now

in the upcoming season of The Strain. He was in the first season of The Strain as well, and in this past season of Vikings. And he is going to be our live guest for the podcast at Comic Con. and I'm very excited to make that announcement. This episode of Girl and Guy is brought to you in part by the Art of Charm. The Art of Charm podcast is a podcast that helps you live your best life. The show is packed with wisdom in the truest sense of the word,

helping you become more productive, more professional, how to meet and attract people of either the opposite sex or the same sex, depending on how you get down, and manage all your relationships, both romantic and professional. The show helps you make your confidence more robust, how to get people to like and trust you, how to keep your friendships and relationships fresh and dynamic, how to create a new relationship or N1 if it's time to get out, and how to improve your productivity and time management. But it is not a boring personal growth, self-help podcast. It's fun, funny, educational, energetic, a great listen. It brings together all kinds of interesting personalities, entrepreneurs, artists, thinkers, leaders, and other compelling and dynamic people to discuss relationships, attraction, life hacking, and, success of all forms.

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deserve an extraordinary life. Go to the art of charm podcast.com or find the art of charm in iTunes or Stitcher and start taking your life to the next level. Check it out. All right. This show is a redux. This is a second interview with somebody who I think is a pretty sensational person. And I know that you will too. If you didn't hear his first episode on this show, Adam Rodriguez was originally Girl on Guy episode 147. Girl on Guy 147. And you know you can listen to the entire back catalog of Girl and Guy episodes by going to Girl on Guy.net and clicking on archive.

But I interviewed him about a year ago. He is a great friend of mine. And we've gotten to be very good friends. And not only that, a lovely person and insanely talented as well. And this is the month that Magic Mike comes out. So it's a Magic Mike week because Adam is this week's episode. And then Joe Manganollo, who was also originally on the show. He was Girl and Guy episode 97 back in 2013.

He's back as well. It is an all Magic Mike week here on the show. Magic Mike comes out this week, July 1st. So I know for those of you who know the franchise, you're excited about a Magic Mike XXL. For those of you that don't know it, let me tell you, this is a great movie, fun. It's a road movie with guys.

It's very guy friendly. If you're a straight guy, you will love it. I took some friends to see the premiere this week, and they adored it, and they were straight guys, and they just laughed the whole way through. It's funny. It's endearing. It's just a great guy road movie. It's really a blast. So check it out.

This episode of Girl and Guy is episode 191 with the lovely and talented Adam Rodriguez. It's coming at you. Straight out of the Girl and Guy bunker and right into your face. Okay. Go. I was just going to say, I mean, that's actually becoming the thing that more than anything, as I get older, that I value time. Like, I hate wasting time. Whenever I waste time, it is, that's the only thing that really gets under my skin.

I'm pretty free-flowing, carefree guy. But if I waste time and it was something that I could have actually, if I just would have put a little more thought or been a little more responsible about something and I wasted time, it's like, man, I can. gets under my skin so badly. You become more aware of the fact that your time is an infinite, right? You know, really clear. Like, you know, more like close in age, you and I, and I feel like just recently I started to just get like hyperware. Do you like it? We're drinking my beer from last year, the Rootsdoubt. It's tasty, right? Yeah, very tasty. I did it. It's intense. I did another one this year that's a little different. It's a black IPA. It's coming out in July, so I'll make sure to get you someone to have it. Is that the one you put the chocolate in that is on Instagram? Oh, yeah, that was

when they put the chocolate in. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, oh, you saw that video? Yeah. It was such a fun day. It looked like it. Momfugas made me work. I was like digging the grain out of the...

You're going to put your name on it. You better have having a little blood, sweating tears in there. Like, I thought I was going to be just sitting here looking cute. I'm sweating. But you, and it's funny because it's so cliched, but I feel like cliches exist for a reason because they have, you know, they... Yeah, there's a truth there, yeah, for sure. Midlife shit where you're like, what am I going to do with the next half of my life?

It's not like it's ending, but you're like, okay, I've got half of it. left. Yeah, 100%. What do I want to put my energy into? What have I learned and how am I going to apply this in the most effective way? Yeah, yeah. But we were talking about needing more time and trying to create ways to keep more time in your life, right? Like to, you know. For sure. And even money with that. Like for the longest time, if I could save a buck, I'd go, you know, 20 minutes out of my way to do something. Now I'm just like, and it really doesn't have anything to do with having more money, or maybe it does. Maybe that's not fair to say, I guess.

I mean, I'm obviously better off financially than I was 20 years ago, but I mean, I look at things and I'm going, everything I place a time value on, and regardless of what the dollar value is versus the time, the time is always what's more valuable. Right, right. I even feel like I, well, so here's it, there's two interesting things here because you have a child now, so obviously your time is even more precious. You want to be with her as much as you can. Yes.

And then there's a different kind of clarity about what's important and what's not important, I think. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. But you get so clear on shit. Right. Honestly, that's one of my favorite parts of being a dad now and having that level of responsibility in my life, both to, you know, both to Frankie and her mom. And it's just so easy to make decisions, easier than it ever was before. Really?

Yeah. I mean, for instance, last night we were at the after party for Magic Mike XXXL and for the premier. here and we were out partying and mom was just like I've got to get home I've got to feed the baby I have to I have to you know relieve these beasts that are swelling on my chest and uh and she's like I don't want to go but we have to go and like you know there's a time of my life I would have been like oh man you know right we got to go like I don't want to leave you know like yeah and I probably parties poop yeah and I would have resented having to leave and now you just get to a point where I'm like oh my god yeah it's my family is it's it's

so clearly the very first priority in my life that making those decisions are a no-brainer, and there's no resentment for ever having to put them first. You know, that's a good feeling. Yeah. Yeah. Like it's like a weight, a certain set of weights have been lifted. Totally. Totally.

So here's something interesting that you just said about, like, resenting, like, when you were younger. This is the one thing that I think is, like, maybe in Congress with this whole thing about, like, later in life, like, wanting to preserve your time. is I think when I was younger, I wouldn't have wanted to leave the party because I wouldn't have wanted to miss anything. And now I'm like, I'm not missing shit. There's going to be another party. 100%. Do you know what I mean?

If it was worth seeing, you'll hear about it. Right, right. All right. So you didn't see it firsthand. Who gives a shit? Yeah. You know, I definitely know what you. I feel like that about so many things.

God. I kind of want that on my epitaph, actually. Right, right. You know, P.S. dot, dot, dot, dot, who gives a shit. because it's the truth. Yeah. But maybe that's like one of the other kind of benefits of getting a little older. It's just, I mean, God, this platitudinal sounds like the inside of like a greeting card,

but you just start to realize what shit is important to you. For sure. And you start to really strain all of the other bullshit out. Completely. But you have a better, hopefully you have a better bullshit meter. You have a better, you're better able to evaluate what's bullshit. I hope so. Yeah.

Otherwise, you've been wasting your time on Earth. Get out of here and make space for. somebody who wants to learn. Yeah. I mean, at some point you got to get better at living. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it does remind me of like those days, you know, it'd always be that one day you didn't go to school that some shit popped off and you were like, what? I know, that happened today? What? There was a rumble or there was whatever it was, you know, some teacher did what or some kid that. I used to remember feeling like, damn, why did it have to be the day I wasn't at school? And then, you know, and now it's exactly that. You're just like, yeah. I don't care what the hell happens. I could care less.

Right. You know, I was doing what I wanted to do. I'll tell you what happened at my house. I took a nap on the couch. Exactly. I spent my time well doing nothing. That's the other interesting thing too, is I think of, like, especially in my 20s, if I was doing it. And even now, I still have a lot of guilt about doing nothing. Like, it's like latent guilt.

You know, like, oh, yeah, just like, am I hustling hard enough? I'm going to make it and happen. But, like, I'm the other day, and I want to hear, like. For what, though? What's the end, if I can ask you about it? It's a really good question. Yeah, what is? All the people that I'm ignoring in my life are asking the same question.

Well, yeah, because I'm, I'm, wonder like I know for me I was always really clear about that and it's interesting now that I'm getting to live it I'm even more clear about how clear I was uh about what the main thing was for me and and again I mean not to harp on it but it was having a family it was like being a dad and having the time to spend with my family and being able to prioritize them the way I wanted to without feeling like I had to go do something else before I could be with them um you know obviously work takes precedent in a lot of ways in certain situations but not not not completely not completely yeah you know i mean it's more of a means to and then to be able to spend

time with them but so what is that for you what is what is that thing that you feel like you got hustle so hard for to to accomplish like what what what's what's what's the place haven't been talking to my shrink no but no because i just know so many people like this you know and i really do wonder i mean it's you know it's such a great thing actually i mean in a way it's the thing that you know has allowed you to create the life you have but what what what where do you want to get to i mean even if it's somewhere that's not realistically reachable. Right, right, right.

What is that, though? What is that thing? Okay, so, really good question. And the last part you said, I thought, was the most interesting about trying to get to a place as maybe not realistically reachable. I think, I don't know, like, so one thing I think is I think it's important to set, whatever the goals are, if the goals are a family, I think it's really important to set goals for yourself. I don't know.

For sure. For sure. I don't know. For sure. But I think that sometimes it's better to set goals that are beyond, absolutely. Beyond where you think you can hit. Because you're good, if you'll reach past what, you know,

And you'll typically get further than you thought you were going to get. So I don't think any of my goals are like unrealistic, but they're ambitious, for sure. But I'm not going to have kids. So I feel like my legacy is going to be my work. This is like very, this is like really ego-driven shit. But whatever you're going to leave behind, whatever you think you want to do in the world. For sure. And so there's the work first.

I would love to be in a position to have enough money to like really do like. serious charitable work, like, really effective film, not just like I donate every year to blah, blah, but like, could I open a hospital or a school or, like, change some shit? I mean, I'm never going to be Elon Musk or, you know, Bill Gates either, but it'd be great to be in a position

to really make a difference in people's lives with money. That's why I don't, yeah, because I don't, I don't give a shit about stuff, really. You know, I don't. Like, I have all this stuff I need right now. Except for I... It's a really good feeling, though. And it's great to know that that's real.

Like, I'm not like, I got to get a second car. I got to buy a blah, blah. I don't feel any of that, you know. Totally agree. I do want a video game for my office, but that's neither here. Like a video game. Like a cabinet, like an arcade game. Yeah, that's fun.

Yeah. That's fun. So there's that. But I do think, and I'm interested if you feel like this has changed since you became a father, I'm sure that it has in many ways, I do think I have a certain amount of like unman. manageable or unwieldy ambition, just like, and I think ambition has a negative, generally has like a negative connotation, you know, I'm not the kind of ambitious person where I want to, like, step on other people. I just feel like I have, I'm driven, you know what I mean? And I feel like

if I see something that I think I could do, I, I owe it to myself to try it. Is it more about wanting to be heard, feeling like you have something relevant to say and you really want to be heard or is it more that you want to be seen? It's definitely not that I want to be seen. Like, I always feel, I've always felt like fame was just a tool to get you access to better projects. Do you know what I mean? Totally agree.

That was, I don't care about being famous. And I, right now I'm lucky. And I don't know if this has changed for you as well, especially with Magic Mike. Like, I'm very lucky that I can pretty much just be a sinister bitch and walk into the Starbucks and sweatpants and nobody, you know what I mean? Nobody figures it out until I'm gone. I don't have people follow. Yeah.

I don't have people follow me around. I went to the, I don't see Vegas. Okay, I went to Vegas to see my sister the other day by myself. You're a tall, beautiful woman. You're pretty hard to not notice. Out of makeup, little of Ron Jamesie. Okay. So I went to go into Vegas to see my sister by myself, and I stopped.

All alone? All by myself. Wow. I don't have an entourage. And unsupervised. And I stopped in the Starbucks in Barstow. And I went in, and a woman looked at me, and she was like, you look. just like that girl on TV.

And I said, she said, do you hear that a lot? And I said, no, I don't know what you're talking about. She goes, seriously. I'm like, oh, that's really sweet. Thank you. And then I kept looking through the egg salad sandwiches for the one that had the latest date.

And then she said, you're her. And it was like, at that point, I really just wanted to get into the Starbucks, get my coffee, get the fuck. I don't, you know what I mean? I would love to live the rest of my life never having any of that shit. I think some people really like it.

I think there are people who will say they don't like it that really crave it. that really need it. Sure. I would just like to make stuff and then walk around the Trader Joe's in my flip flops.

Do you know what I mean? That's like, that would be ideal. You would want to be like a producer and not the artist. I want to be Steven Soderberg because no one ever recognizes that motherfucker,

right? Like, I wonder actually. I've never asked him if you, I mean, you know, I imagine film buffs, people that know

film, you know, would recognize him. But it's true. I don't know what he, you know, like just to get to make all the stuff you want to make.

Yeah. Right? It's interesting. I saw Greg Jacobs last night. We were stuck in traffic coming up Highland to make a left onto Hollywood to go to the Chinese theater where the premiere was. And about three or four cars back and crazy amounts of traffic yesterday. It was nuts yesterday.

And there was one billion people outside of that fucking theater last night. It was not cute. That was surreal. I mean, it was great for the movie, but it was like coming back out to the party where you're like, I've been sitting in the dark for two hours and trying to get a drink. And there's still like a thousand people out there with cell phones. It was crazy. It was great.

It was great. It was a cool. It was actually, it was pretty cool feeling. That's the biggest movie premiere you ever. Oh, without that was the biggest movie print I've ever been about. It was really excited. And my whole family there was great. They must have loved it.

Your dad. Your dad. He's a character. Oh, he's the greatest. He is a character. Oh, he was so into it. He was having a time last night. My dad is, my father is in the car.

He's like, roll your window down. Roll your window down and say, what's up to all these people? Say, I'm like, Bob, I'm going to say, hey, man. Your dad and my dad should kick it. My dad is like, my dad was here, I took him to dinner. And he's like, where's TMZ? I'm like, not here, dad. Order some noodles, man.

Come on. Oh, my God. Yeah, I know my dad is definitely living vicariously for me. I get a kick out of it. As often sometimes as it can be like, oh, come on. All right. Because they just, I love it. It's generational.

Yeah. The disconnect is generational. And then there's the pride thing. And then I just think unless you've lived this life for a while, you kind of don't understand the nuances of it at all. Yeah, all news is good news in their mind. Exactly. Yeah.

And in his mind, you know, there's a way that he would be doing it. Right. Oh, he would be standing up and standing up the level. He would be down the roof, you know, blowing kisses, you know. I love it. It would have been hilarious. Like Alveda. Exactly.

That's hysterical. But no, just in terms of finishing that last thought up, I see Greg Jacobs walking. He got out. I guess there was so much traffic that he got to. out of his car to walk from the end of the boulevard. And that's probably, you know, you get to do everything you want to do

kind of as a director or a producer and still have that anonymity. It's pretty cool. You know, as long as you're getting to do the stuff that you want to do. It's a little bit of a, like a Faustian bargain, right? Like a devil's bargain. Yeah. Chan couldn't have done that.

No, Chan could never, no. You know, it was like, it was funny to see Greg walking. I was like, God, it's so interesting. It just made me think of that. So I have two questions for you. So the first one is that Foustian bargain

of like, I have friends of mine who aren't in the business and they're like, oh, you know, you're always tweeting. I'm like, I could give a fuck about tweeting. I like if I get to communicate with fans or connect with them in a way that's meaningful. But like, I'm not one of these people

who wants to, like, I don't know. Like, sometimes I'm like, no one gives a shit about what I did today. But it's, you got to feed that beast, I think, you know? I'm just from working. so hard to try and be better about that. But it goes back to my attitude of like, come on, who really gives a shit? What I'm doing right now?

I'm at the airport. Right. You know, having a great meal. I'm standing in front of the Statue of Liberty. Exactly. So shit you could do too, man. Like, it's not. The only thing I think is kind of cool about that is as you accumulate those moments,

let's say it's Instagram or whatever it is. You know, kind of Instagram especially because it ends up being sort of like a photo album. It's almost like a modern day photo album of your life. your life. So there is something cool about it in terms of what it ends up being as you accumulate those moments. But in those moments, I'm just never apt to think like, oh, yeah, let me document this

right now. Right. You know, I'm just in it. I'm just in it. You're trying to live. You're trying to be in the moment. Experience it. Exactly.

And I also realize I take hundreds of pictures and I never post them. Yeah. Never post them. I'm like, oh, this would be good. I snap it. Yeah. And then later, like, on the moments passed. So there's that, but then there's the other thing, like there have been some guys that have been able to, on our side of things, that have been able to get extraordinary success and somehow avoided being cannibalized or cannibalizing themselves by fame.

And the person I thought of, actually two people, but I thought of Matt Damon, right? Like, he's a huge star. But no one's following him around. And I think he probably could just walk down the street. And I don't really know what he's done magically. Yeah, that's interesting. Interesting. Because Ben Affleck could not just walk down the street.

Yeah, probably not as easy. Although he doesn't seem like the type of person that craves that kind of attention either. You know, you know the people out there that need it. That need it. You know, and it's so obvious. And you're just like, man, I guess if that's what you need to feed your soul. Right. Good luck with that.

But, but yeah, Matt Damon does kind of. He kind of, he's like under the radar. He magically walks that line. It is very, very true. You know, I think it's just how you establish your brand of, being early on. Right. I don't think he ever seemed like that kind of person.

No. He never dated that I can recall anybody that was really out there, nobody famous. Nobody famous. And, you know, and that just seems like his persona. I think that's the thing that's so likable about him when you watch his movies. He's, you know, I think Chan has a lot of that same quality. Super like a regular guy. Yeah, like a down-to-earth guy that, you know, yeah, there's a lot of attention on them, but it's not the thing that they thrive on, you know.

And there may be something about chumming the waters, right? Like if you feed the beast a little bit, it starts to face you. And I think if you're in a celebrity couple, that's, we can't help what you fall in love with. But I think if you're in a celebrity couple, like, you just instantaneously screwed. You got to be prepared to deal with that. But even if you make it public, like, I wonder if there's a couple that could date and like just never, yeah, just never show up on the carpet together. You know what it is? You show up on the carpet together.

Yeah. And then your relationship is fair game. Yeah. Unfortunately. Yeah. Yeah, it is. Which is unfortunate. Those are tough waters to navigate, you know, and it's true.

You can't help who you fall in love with. And, you know, there are some extraordinary people that cross paths and they see something in each other and they both happen to be in the same business. In the same business. Sometimes that draws them together because they have the same experiences and, you know. Yeah, it's a tough thing. It definitely is. Yeah, it's a mystery.

Yeah. It's a mystery. It's just interesting to me because, you know, you and I cross paths so. much. And last night was such a specific kind of experience for this business. It was just so specific. And I brought a friend with me who's not, you know, was in the business, but not really in the business and doesn't really care about any of that stuff. And it's just so fun to bring a friend who's not really of this world and then, like, watch them experience things. And it's even different than family because when your family

comes, they're just all about you and you are the biggest star in the world. And why aren't more people taking your picture and so go over there and tie autographs, what's wrong with you? And you're just trying to like get, you know, get to where you're going. but when you bring someone who's just observing, they're really just observing, it makes you more hyper aware of both how mundane a lot of this stuff is and then how stratosphericly weird it is.

Like there's a part of it that's just a bunch of people in suits and then we made a thing and we're watching it and now we're going to go eat noodles and get a beer and say what's up to our friends and people are going to drink too much and like any other office party. And come tell you how great it was and how much they,

loved what you did and it really is I mean it's and it as wonderful as that is there is an element of of it being a strange thing in a way there's like what other job do you do where that happens that way you know and on that scale

yeah there were people protesting the movie across the street did you see that you know I saw some signs I didn't pay much attention to it I honestly didn't something about were they pro-lifers was there I didn't really, honestly, there was so much going on.

I just saw a glimpse of a sign. It wasn't really meaningful in the scope of your night. You know, I just see negativity, and I really just, I obviously acknowledge that it's there because, you know, you have to see it at least, but then just completely tuned it out. Like Donald Trump, you just tune him out. You just can't argue with a fool, you know? There's no way to, you know. It's a waste of your energy, too.

Like, you can't change their mind, but like, why even bother? Why bother? But it's, the people that show up. up now, the people that show up nowadays, my pleasure, I didn't pour you very much water, I'm not very good at it, I was trying on to make a splashy noise. You did it with style. Did I? Thank you. So the people

that show up nowadays to protest Hollywood and maybe they've always shown up, I think, are so interesting. And they always show up, so they always come for the Oscars. They come out to Comic-Con. Really? Yeah, which is... I guess anywhere there's going to be a big crowd, they feel like that... Yeah, or

just Hollywood. Or nudity. but and I won't be able at this point because it's kind of off piece but it's just interesting to me

because we were talking about the scale of the night last night like just I don't think I've ever been to a bigger

just as a guest I don't think I've been to a bigger premiere than that one it was pretty big not in recent times in Hollywood you know

the premiere thing used to be such a massive thing you know I think when we first got started in this business you know

the premieres were huge if you got tickets to a premiere whether you in the movie or not or you know you were going

because it was a big deal exactly I honestly can't remember about going to, you know. I can't. Yeah. The last Avengers movie, but you know, it was like, yeah. Oh, that. Okay, so those big event movies for sure are amazing. Yeah, nothing sense. But it's rare. It's not, you know, before it was anything, you know, the premiere to whatever before was like, was really a big deal. And so it was really

incredible to see the kind of turnout we got last night because I was like, wow, this was, I got to live a moment of, you know, the dream. Yeah, yeah. I mean, and to really be like a, like a seminal chunk of it. Like, you know, just the post. and you guys are so, like, front and center in the film in a way that you obviously weren't with the first one. And I want to talk about that more after I say this one thing and ask you about it, which is so there were these protesters there. What were they protesting? They were, so my, what I guessed, and that was from doing some interviews and people were telling me, like on the other side of the carpet, like when I was being interviewed, they were, this is so ridiculous. I'm sure it's going to be ridiculous. They were protesting. They were pro-life people essentially protesting Sophia's choice not to,

like keep her egg or like not to use her eggs. Oh my God, really? Yeah, that was like that was the link. Like I thought it was just like, we hate nakedness. Like I thought that was what it was about, but this one was like it was about like the whole egg controversy, which is inane and none of their business. No, you know, the thing I don't, exactly.

I mean, that's really what it boils down to. It's like sir fucking real. It's just sad to me that, you know, these people who in their minds are out to do something, just or proactive in the name of their God. And yet it almost never has a positive intention. No. The intention is always combative or destructive or, you know, not walking towards this

light that if you are a believer in these things that you're supposed to walk towards. And, you know, it just always amazes me how the message gets missed. Right. I'm just like, so you took your time out to go essentially shame someone, you know, and throw the equivalent of what would be a stone nowadays at them. Because you had nothing else to do on a Thursday evening. You wanted to get together with a bunch of your friends. You could have gone and fed the homeless.

You could have gone and tutored some stuff. There are a million constructive things you could have done. if you're that angry and you have that much time on your hands, I mean, go to a boxing gym or, you know, or just... Go pet premature babies at the hospital.

Yeah, go do some real shit. Find something productive. Yeah. I actually productive. Yeah. You know, I mean, yeah,

just, I don't, other than that, I don't really have anything else to say about it. I don't even know why I just, I don't even know why I asked you about it. No, I'm actually glad it got brought up because I noticed,

you know, I noticed it, but I really didn't take the time to figure out what these people were, you know, were out there protesting about it. And I think we, without making us seem like, you know, saints, because I think we're all in this business for some set of selfish reasons. And I don't mean like we're selfish people, but like you're in it because it makes you happy.

Yeah, because it makes you fulfill to make art. But I do. Mostly, I mean, for me, I could say, like, I really always just wanted to connect with people. Have a platform to be able to connect with people. I mean, I love, obviously, the feeling of knowing I'm entertaining people and people having a good time experiencing something that I put my time and heart into. But, yeah, I guess those are selfish reasons, you actually. Yeah, I mean, and I guess, again, like, selfish, the way that ambition can have a negative tone,

selfish can have a negative tone. And I guess my point is that there's a joy that you get out of doing what you do, and it's probably innately who you are. This is what you need to do. It's what makes you most happy. But then you are delivering something that gives enjoyment to other people. I mean, there's, you know, again, like I said, we're not, none of us are Gandhi, but the fact of the matters are people on the other end of whatever you're delivering that are really enjoying it.

Maybe on a level, maybe on a finer or more personal level than sometimes we believe. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. When you have people who say this really touched me, this really affected me. That's what you hope for. Those are the moments when I feel like, oh, my God, yes, this is, this was for something. You know what I mean? This is like, and it's actually what I was so excited about this movie was, you know, when it was all said and done.

And even while we were doing it, we were just having a certain kind of good time that you're like, oh, I really believe that people are going to go watch this and be able to interpret the good time we're having and sit there and experience it with us, you know. I did believe it was infectious and hopefully I'll be right about that but that was really the special feeling about doing this. Well, the friend that came with me last night is a straight guy and I remember

and I was like I loved it the first movie and I was like, you know, I think you're really gonna like this but please just sit through it with me. That was my intrigues. I just, please, I know you think it's not for you. Please just sit through this movie with me. And he loved it. He loved it and he laughed the whole way

through the movie. He was laughing hysterically. It's a super funny movie. The sexuality in the movie, I feel like is really like celebratory and it feels very egalitarian. Like it feels like kind of

to say that the cheese is everybody gets laid. Do you know what I mean? It's not like it's about the guy's getting late about the girls getting late. It's about everybody having a good time. And there were just like these really, really lovely moments in the movie all the way through that felt really grounded and authentic and personal. How much of the movie was scripted and how much was improvised? Because I feel like there were a lot of them was felt like unstudied in

best way like oh this just feels like this is unfolding right now yeah you know um just to give you a little history the first movie none of the guys had more than five scripted lines probably you know none of the guys that that are really featured in the second movie essentially we were background you know i remember getting the script and um you know being told hey there's this this stephen saudderberg movie that came in but you'd be playing a male stripper you know and you're going to be running around a thong dancing and you got only five lines and you know, are you interested? And, of course, my reaction was like, are you crazy?

Of course, I'm interested. Yeah, it's Steven Saldberg. I'm going to be a background. I'll make sandwiches. Yeah, I'll make sandwiches. Exactly. Like, name it, I'm there. And so I think because all of the guys showed up,

knowing we were going to be playing with these, you know, truly A-list players, that we all put a really a lot. of work into developing these characters showing up with these fully formed characters even though we knew you were never going to see much of them right right right um you know and so what ended up happening was stephen would take his time to set up a shot and we would sit back there and the guys would get to talking and different conversations would come up and funny things would come out of those things and you know we were all sort of riffing in character and and these little you know these little tidbits or little pieces of gold would come up and

up and those were the things you actually ended up hearing or seeing in that first movie and there wasn't much of them but there weren't many of them i should say but uh when you watch the movie it's obvious that there was more to be mined from you know from that set going on in the background that set of guys and so um and you built something not to get you off i just remember like feeling like what happened was there was like a depth to the relationships that you felt yeah even when you guys were, when you weren't foreground, it just felt really rich. Yeah. Which was like, it was really lovely because the whole movie felt very rich.

A lot of that was the work that you guys were doing with each other, some of which was seen and some of which was unseen. Yeah. And, you know, and look, luckily there was a natural chemistry there. You know, Stephen and Greg Jacobs, who directed the second film, they've been working together for over 20 years. And their MO usually is to do their homework on the people they're going to hire. And they have a no-asshole policy, you know. And if somebody gets a bad report card, they're not interested in hiring them. And so I guess they've done their homework on all of us. And everybody got a good report card.

We all got invited to play in the sandbox. And so I think, you know, we were one step in the right direction to being people who were going to get along to begin with. Because we were, you know, we were all sort of coming from the same place as far as attitude and our approach to the work and stuff. And so that's what you got from the first one. And then that just, like I said, I mean, that ended up being something to, explore further in the second one. You know, at first movie was really, it was

an exploration of the dark side of this life. It was an expose into the darkness of being a male stripper, how you get caught up in that world, and, you know, what the pitfalls are, and, you know, how you get in, and how you get stock, and maybe you'll get out and maybe you won't. And this second one

was a complete departure, and it was like, okay, you know, these little things that you saw in the first one, we're now going to show the celebration of this life. Why these guys actually do stay in it for as long as they do. It's because of the guys. It's because of the friends that they have

and the good time that they have doing this job that they all love because in a way, if you like to dance and you like to entertain people and you're like making a couple of bucks and meeting girls, like, you know, if you check off all those boxes, it doesn't sound like a bad job.

Right, right. And then on top of that, you're there hanging out with these guys that you love to hang out with. It's just you can see why these guys get caught up. And now this movie's like, okay, you know, this is why we're caught up, but we're also now at the place where we realize it's time to move on. Right. And there was that there. There was like the, that thematic through line of like, you can't do this forever. And it wasn't kind of like overly upbeat. It wasn't Pollyannish. It wasn't realistic.

No. You see the sadness. I mean, in Tarzan's character played by Kevin Nash, you know, there's a scene where we're hanging out with these women, these lovely middle-aged. women that we come upon at some point in the story. And there's a moment there when Kevin really kind of like bears his soul and says how much he wishes he would have a family to go home to. He's been living this life and he's just like. Which everybody's idealizing, right? You know, like getting all this money, getting laid, whatever you want, whatever it is. And yeah. And here's a guy who's been doing this, God knows how long, you know. He is the grizzled veteran of the group. Yes, without a doubt. You know, and so So there is.

I mean, there is that darkness to it all, but the truth is, you know, it is about these friends trying to push each other to grow and make it

to the next new phase of learning in life. Yeah. This is not giving anything away. I don't think you can tell me after I say it. But no, there's just a line in the movie

where they're talking about what they're going to do next. It was just Mike and Ken, and Ken is saying, like, I don't know what I'm going to do next, but I'm still pretty. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Yeah. Yeah. I just... Oh, It doesn't that break your heart? Oh, it did. You laugh. Yeah, you laugh, but you're like, oh.

It's tragic. Yeah. Because you realize this is a guy who was able to trade on his looks, but that's not a permanent strategy. Yeah. Yeah. And there are tons of people out there that are going to have to come to that same, you know, moment in life at some point.

You can, I mean, whatever that, whatever that gift is, whether it's, you know, being pretty as the line was in the movie or, you know, being slick or whatever. Yeah, fit, whatever that thing is. You know, whatever your youth, your general youth. trading on that? Yeah, everything fades. At some point you have to be ready to evolve. This is an upbeat conversation. But it's good. I mean, I think,

because I, there's, when I, I remember talking about the first movie to people who are skeptics and saying, you know, I know this movie looks like it's a stripper movie, but it's, I don't know if I said this year before, this is our Saturday night fever. Totally.

You know, and the first Saturday night fever, which everybody focused on the dancing, that was a really kind of emotionally weighty dark movie about a guy who was young and pretty and stuck, trying to kind of get unstuck with the tools he had at hand. And he enjoyed those tools. He loved those tools. But there were a lot of pitfalls.

Yeah. And it wasn't a permanent strategy. He was trying to strike while the iron was hot, right? Yeah. And the first movie was that was a lot of that, right? About these young guys with not a lot trying to kind of make a dollar out of 15 cents. Had bigger dreams, had things they talked about doing, but you kind of watched it and were like, come on, they're never going to do that. Right, right.

They're never going to do that. And then Mike ends up leaving and sort of, that was a big wake-up call. Right, to the rest of the guys. Big wake-up call for the rest of the guys. It was like, wow, okay, so Mike really stepped out, and he was the best. Right, right. So if he stepped out of this life, you know, if I was Mike, I would never step out of this life. But if he stepped out, wait a minute, maybe I need to really reevaluate this and take a look.

And that, I think, was a big part of the growth for the character I played for Tito. I think Tito was the, the, you know, the, one out of those guys left that actually was like, okay, I am going to, you know, and his own crazy way, I mean, you know, he's not, all the guys are operating with the tools in their box. You know what I mean? Exactly. Exactly.

Yeah. And I wouldn't say Tito's toolbox is completely full. But he's taking what he's got and he's making the most of it and actually, you know, stepped out to try and do something. And I love the scene that we ended up

getting to have in the hotel room. There's just a, a, It's a quick scene. It's towards the end of the movie. It's right before the big dance routines come up. But, you know, there's a moment where sort of reconcile Mike's leaving and, you know, and make it clear that my character understood why he did what he did. Yeah. But those things are universal.

First, it made me think of the scene at the end of Goodwill Hunting where Ben's character tells Matt's character, like, get the fuck out of it. If you're still here. You're still here in 20 years. Yeah. I'm not going to talk to you anymore. You know what I mean? and I think like

that theme of like a group of guys trying to hold on to their summer forever, right? Which is again an impossibility. And then the one person who has the bravery to change his life that feels like a rejection. It feels like a rejection, you know?

Which you know, that's Matt Bowmer's character gets to play that feeling. You abandoned us. Yeah. You abandoned us. But when like when you were growing up and you left, like did, Did your friends feel that way about you? You know, I was really lucky. Really lucky to know or to believe in myself enough to know that whatever I was going to go do, I was going to succeed.

I was going to win. And I didn't even know what the hell that was going to be. And in doing that, I think I naturally surrounded myself with friends that had a similar attitude. Now, of course, you know, you're not going to bat a thousand that. I had plenty that didn't have that attitude. And the ones that I knew didn't and I was able to identify that in, I always spent time telling them, hey, look, man, get it together, man. Right.

I love you, man. You're my friend. But I'm going to do something at some point. And if we're going to remain friends for the rest of our lives, like, you know, it's hard to remain friends with people that aren't on a path to achieving something when you are. And also their energy is resentful. Completely.

No. It ends up dragging you down in one way or another because they just, if their minds don't work that way, then it's hard for them to contribute or even be happy to your success, you know? And you can only try to encourage them to do the same thing for so long until you realize it's futile. And, you know, you've got to move on and put that energy somewhere else. And unfortunately, you know, you do have to leave some people behind. It's just the way it goes. You don't intend to do it. It's not even what you wanted to do, but it's just the reality of life.

Like, you know, and so, yeah, there definitely were some friends that, you know, that I even still see to this day, but they just, you know, they just didn't, they didn't have bigger ambitions and that's cool. Right, right. And they didn't do whatever they did. And, you know, and some of them are happy in their lives and some of them are still searching for something, you know. But that said, I got to say, I pretty much did have and have had an extraordinary group of friends. Yeah. You know, one of my best friends growing up, played pro football for 11 years. Wow. Another one has had a lot of success working in, you know, in the world of marketing and branding.

And another friend of mine, you know, that I met my late teens, early 20s is, you know, has gone on to have a really successful career as a director and, you know, other friends, businessmen, you know, just really, you know, and we've all cheered each other on along the way. Like, just truly have supported and encouraged each other and celebrated each other's victories. and, you know, I think, you know, my dad used to tell me when I was a kid all the time he would say, you know, and it's funny now being a dad, you really start to understand things in a way you didn't before. You actually, for me, I mean, I love my parents in a way that I didn't know how to before I had the responsibility of being a parent. You really see things differently. But he used to say all the time, like, you know, show me your friends and I'll show you who you are or, you know, this whole thing.

And at the time, I was like, man, that's bullshit. I know who I am. And, you know, just because I, and I did. I mean, I had a lot of friends that probably for other people were, you know, I don't know, unsavory characters, you know, who weren't the guys that always, you know, were accepted by the norm. You know, I had something that were, obviously. I always had, you know, a lot of different friends from different groups.

But somehow I always felt most comfortable probably with, you know, those that were considered the misfits or the, you know, the outsiders. And it still kind of happens to this day in my life. But those people can be very compelling personalities. Well, you know, I just find oftentimes they get something that the pack doesn't always get. You know, there's a... There's a strength also to being out on your own.

Completely. There is a strength. There's a... You know, I don't know this word gets overused, but I mean, there is a realness. there's an understanding of what's real, you know. And for me, that trust and honoring your friends and knowing you could count on them was always the thing that mattered more to me than what social set I was hanging out with. Right.

You know, and I did. I found that, you know, those outsiders or those that were considered outsiders, which I kind of always felt like myself for whatever reason, you know, they did. They got that. And I always appreciated that. I liked that. You know, that mattered. That mattered more to me than anything else. And so I feel like I'm getting off topic here. No, it's interesting. You said something I want to ask you back because you said that you were saying you had those friends back then and you have them even now. And I was going to ask you two things. Because I think we tend, especially everybody else, we in this business tend to really hold on to our oldest friends because they knew us before.

For sure. And they know who we are kind of without all the rest. And their perception of us is like completely unmudied by what's occurred since. And I know, I don't know, I'm sure this is like you for your friends. My oldest friends who I've known since I was like 13 could give a fuck what I do for a living. Never ask. Don't care. 100%. Yeah. I mean, they're happy.

They get it. Happy for you. Yeah. They see you winning and they're, they are enjoying the ride every bit as much as you are. Right. Right. You know, they're there with you. Yeah.

They're not worried about being left behind. They're not worried about you ever, you know, leaving them. Yeah. Yeah. Or getting fancy. And if they ever feel like you are. are. They will tell you.

Yeah, they'll call you on your shit in a minute. Right, right. But the reality is I think most people that hold on to friends that long don't have a tendency to get fancy. Right. Exactly. I think you, I think you, you got to pretty much maintain a trueness to who you always been to maintain those kind of friendships for that long.

And so, yeah, you know. So the flip side of that question was going to be. Because we were talking a lot again about this time in our lives, and it's just very interesting to me. That what I found over the last couple of years was I was worried, concerned, something less than worried, interested, interested in whether I was never going to make any new friends. Because most people don't.

Most people get to a place where they stop making new friends. And you worry, am I going to keep having dynamic experiences? My life going to keep growing. changing if I just only have the same group of people around me forever. Yes. I totally understand that. And I think you have to be open to receiving new people because as wonderful as it is and as enriching, it's truly one of the favorite parts of my life, my most cherished things

and, you know, one of the most cherished things in my life are my oldest friends, you know, the fact that I've got these people to fall back on and even if nothing else just to know me, I mean, I don't know if you have any siblings, but, you know, as much as I, my sister and I've had our battles over the years, like, you know, I can't even express how much I love her because I value the relationship, because there's no one else on earth that I could call up and talk about certain pieces of my life that would ever be able to understand them the way she can, you know, you grow up in the same house with the same influences and, you know, same experience almost. I mean, obviously how you process that makes you different people. Right. But there is something. And that love is like so fundamental. It's like just like bedrock like all the way down at the bottom. You know what I mean?

Yeah. It doesn't matter how hard you're beefing, how much you don't even feel connected sometimes. Mm-hmm. You know, but that love is at its core, you know, that's indestructible. Yeah. And I know I was saying one of the one of my favorite parts of my life is having, you know, these friends in my life that that I know I can count on. But you have to. be open to new people because as a person you want to constantly be growing, you know,

and while you hope to push each other as old friends to grow, it's not always easy. You know, you get into patterns and you have things to talk about that. You want to revisit constantly. And so you're not necessarily sharing new information all the time or pushing each other to learn something new to bring to the table. And it's funny doing this movie, actually, really getting to know the guys involved in this movie, I really have made some new close friends and had some incredible experiences. I've really become close with Reed who wrote the movie.

You know, Reed really is he's just a great guy, a brilliant guy, and another person who is constantly seeking new and better information and wanting to learn and expand his mind. And Chan is that way too, and it's why him and Reed click the way that they do. And, you know, the three of us have gone on, along with another group. Reed was sort of the link to a group of other people, you know. Guy Reid went to Harvard, and so some of his buddies from Harvard have been invited to go on these trips. We've taken one to the Amazon for a couple weeks. And we just took one to Iceland a few weeks ago.

I'd dine to go. It was beautiful. I was supposed to go on my hiatus and then I booked a job. Motherfucker. I was telling you about that. I know. But yeah, I know.

It took us three years to get it together again. You know, we wanted to make it a, you know, an annual thing and one thing in another with work. We could not coordinate everyone's schedule for three years. But, you know, just give you an idea of the kind of guys on these trips. I mean, one of the guys is a professor at MIT who's one of the premier scientist, researching to find a cure for MS. Wow.

And another guy is a CEO of a tech company and another guy's a CEO of a beverage company. And but all guys, you know, all guys that are really open to wanting to learn and experience more and constantly be challenged. And so sort of the point of the trips and it ends up working out this way naturally because of the places we choose to go. you end up being put in really what you would normally consider shitty situations, you know, having to work your way out of them, having to be completely uncomfortable and physically challenged and mentally challenged to keep a positive attitude and, you know, and work your way through these things. And through it, you kind of put all of these other, I don't know, all these other things that seem important, side and you end up having these conversations that you get down to things that just blow your mind.

I mean, you truly leave these trips feeling like you couldn't have learned that anywhere else with any other group of people. And so I do think more than ever, you know, and especially because of this group, it really is, it really is important to invite new people into your life. You know, I mean, I think you, as you get older, we're talking about that earlier, you know, you're more self-aware, you've lived long enough to be able to weed out the bullshit and to know what's what. And I think when you recognize someone who has something to offer your life, you know, you should invite them in and have that exchange, you know, because you probably see them as somebody that has something to offer because it's something different than what you know.

And therefore you might have something to offer them as well. And, you know, and that exchange ends up being the thing that enriches both of your lives. Right, right. And then I think you discover in a way that you may not when you've had friends your whole life where those relationships are formed when very young, that you transform in a new relationship in ways that you can't predict. Absolutely.

You end up sharing things that you might not otherwise share because, you know, there's a new person to share these things with that will have a different perspective than people that have been in your life for so long, you know? And because of that, you get new and maybe, you know, more useful feedback. Do you find yourself? more or less trusting though? Like I feel

I think every bit is trusting less tolerant of bullshit. Oh, that's the best way to... That's perfectly articulated. Because I'm more trusting of myself. So I find it very easy to give people a chance. I will trust people, sure, no problem. Because you know, you have a sense of your judgment.

Yeah. You know, right now I feel like my, you know, my radar is tuned in really well. You know, it's fine-tuned. I'm very trusting of it. So sure, yeah, I'll invite you in. You know, some people take me 30 seconds to figure out or, you know, not at a place of, you know, evolution that I feel there's anything for me to gain from

from spending time with them, you know, or investing time with them. And other people have something I feel is interesting and I want to learn from or share with, you know. Because, you know, there are times when you feel like you have something to offer somebody, even if, you know they may not have something to give back, you know you can offer something that's going to maybe open their eyes to something and maybe give them a chance to to think about something they hadn't before. Yeah. And that's the other thing about having a platform, whether it's celebrity or, you know, or

just being, I don't want to say looked up to, but, you know, there's a certain thing about when people admire something you do, whatever that is, they allow themselves to be open to new information in a way that they might be, that they might not be from someone that they don't perceive as having something they don't, you know? And so I love that, you know, that there might be an opportunity to open someone's mind or to share some information with them that helps them grow

or, you know, move towards the light, as we were talking about before. You know, if I feel like there's something to offer, I mean, I don't know, maybe that sounds no, I think sometimes you... A bit arrogant, like, I, you know, I have something to enlighten with. But you have your experiences, right? You have your experiences in how you perceive them, how you've digested them, how you've digested them,

how you've interpreted them. I even think beyond that sometimes you can interact with someone who makes you, helps you realize there are things you know that you didn't realize that you knew. Of course. You know, all of a sudden, they're in a situation and you go, you know, I know exactly what to do here or what I would do here or what I think would be meaningful for you.

And that doesn't mean you're going around like, I'm an encyclopedia. Yeah, you can't instruct anybody on what to be. You can only share your experience. And if that resonates with whoever you're sharing it with, then amazing, man. And you got to connect with somebody in a way that was memorable to at least one of you, if not both. Right.

You know, and maybe you move things forward. Right. I mean, that's really what it's boiled down to me at this point in my life. Like, am I helping move things forward or backwards? You know, there's a book called Shantoram. And it's written by a guy named Gregory David Roberts, who's really become a really dear friend over the past, I don't know, six years or so. And, you know, it's one of the things in the books that he writes about. And it's, you know, it's about that.

And I can't quote it the way it's so beautifully written. I have it somewhere in my phone, actually. But it is basically that, you know, are we moving towards, you know, are we moving forward, basically, or are we moving backwards? You know, with every action that we take in our life, you know, every single thing we do. Do you say hello to a stranger, you know? And by doing that, did you brighten somebody's day? Did you unlock something in them that might have been locked up for the rest of the day or even forever just by saying hello? You know, and so, you know, I think when you start approaching things that way, it makes making decisions a lot easier.

You know, you don't tie it so much into your ego. Yeah, because I think also a big thing about ego is if your, if your ego is like a dominant element of who you are, you're constantly protecting yourself. Yes, exactly. I mean, people that are ego-driven are really scared people. Yeah, terrified, terrified and very closed off. And we, again, like, I was, we were talking about this time in your life. And, like, I think a lot of people start to close. They really start to close down.

You know what I mean? They start to eliminate and pair away. Yeah. And I have found myself wanting to be more open, even if the consequences might be negative. Because what I realized, what I think I realized, what I may, let me, what I hope I realized was like really all we are is the sum of our experiences right it's not about the stuff you've accumulated it's just about your friendships and your experiences and and that you asked me before what all this was for and maybe it was that was like I just want to have as many experiences as

I possibly can't you get there's so much life to live and you want to do all of it you don't want to say well I've done enough I just like I don't hope it'll never be enough hopefully I never stop being incredibly curious I don't lose my curiosity that's exactly what I pray for to pray. I mean, you know, whatever, hope for. I mean, it's really and truly. If you can hold on to that curiosity, you know, life will never, it'll never get boring. It'll never lose.

It's luster, right? Yeah. That excitement, you know, and it's so funny because it was a time in my life. Even talking about my parents again, you know, there's, you see, you know, you see your parents and, you know, there was a moment in time, and it's funny. I've seen it shift. I don't know what opened it up. Maybe, maybe I was able.

will that contribute to opening that up in some way. But, you know, let's just say my dad, for instance, you know, he eats what eats and that's it. And he's not interested in trying something new or whatever it is. Like, nah, I don't eat that shit. I don't know. I'm like, well, try it, man. How do you know you don't eat it if you haven't tried it? Like, you know, hold on to that curiosity. If you don't like it, you don't like it. Exactly. That's fine. That's one thing. But if you don't even give it a chance, how do you know? Why let something that you might enjoy pass you buy just for the one moment of, you know, I don't know, displeasure. Displeasure, discomfort, discomfort, right? Yeah. But the discomfort could not even be about the food. It could be about your

discomfort with trying new things. Yeah. Apprehension. How's it going to go? Just grow. Constantly, you know. Run towards your fears, right? Like run right towards your fears. My little assistant, who you met a couple of times, my little assistant is 25. He's huge. Six to built like a brick shit house. Like, you know, handsome. He's a little assistant. He's a good look. He has said, like, I've tried more things in the years that I've worked for you than I'd ever tried in all the years up to that point, which was, to me, excited they were saying, like, oh, you meet someone and can you give them an experience? Can you teach them something?

Not in the, like, I'm the mentor, but, like, hey, God, that's great. I'm super excited that in your interactions with me, all this new shit came into your field of vision, right? Like, that's so exciting that I was able to assist. 100%. But you have to be open. You have to be. You have to be open. And then I think the phase after being open starts to become, you have to go out and seek these things. And as you do that, you'll find people that are seeking them too.

I mean, it's sort of how I ended up in this group of guys taking these trips that I'm telling you about. You know, I mean, it was just, it was a thing that I was interested in doing at some point. Reed and I were having a conversation. Reed's brother, Chris Carolyn, is actually a guy who puts together, you know, big trips. Like expeditions. Thank you. I'm like excursions, expeditions. It's the 14% beer that we're treats.

Is that what it is? Is it a 14% alcohol? Holy shit. It's fantastic. End's got the little coffee kick. Yeah, it's nice, right? I feel great. Poor man's eight, Paul.

Yeah, man. Right? And so, um, He puts together these expeditions and, you know, Reed wanted to put one together. And Reed and I were having a conversation. I was just saying, look, I'm a meat eater. And at some point in my life, I'm like, I feel like I owe it to Mother Nature to actually go out and understand what it is to hunt something, you know, and take its life and consume it and really have a full understanding of what that process is, you know, so that I can have a... So it means something other than me getting a package at the store.

Yeah, other than purchasing something that everybody else. did all of the work, you know, doing. And at that time, his brother was planning an expedition to go to the Amazon. And Reed was putting together these guys. And he said, look, you know, we're putting together a trip. Actually, I think you'd love to come along and be a great addition to the group. And, you know, so I did. I went.

I'd never been camping before in my life. Wow. And so this Amazon excursion, you know, expedition was. That's like level 10 camping. That's not like. Like K-O-A campground. And that's kind of been, you know, that's how I've done my whole life, you know, for better or for worse. And sometimes I've paid a price for it.

And sometimes there's been, you know, a huge gain from it. Yeah. You know, I'm definitely one of those people. I'm just, I'm going head first all the way in. And, you know, whatever the consequences or the benefits are, you know, I'll deal with them. You know, when I get there. But that, I just feel like that is such, I mean, you know, eliminating like cruelty from the equation.

That's like how everything should be done. Like there's just this one experience. Like you should be just going balls out all the time. And that hasn't diminished for you becoming a father? That feeling of wanting to just face my fears and run into these things? No, actually. I mean, you know, you do have this concern. I mean, going into this trip Tyson, we were actually supposed to go to Greenland first.

You know, and Greenland, for those that know, is a much harsher climate. Greenland is the icy one and Iceland is the green one. Yes, exactly. And we actually flew over Greenland on the way home and seeing Greenland from the plane was like, wow, am I glad that that's not where we ended up? I mean, we were supposed to take dog sleds and then sleep under the sleds with the dogs at night. Oh, wow, that's hardcore. It was supposed to be hardcore on another level.

And the only reason we didn't do it was that for some of the guys on the trip, it was going to become cost prohibitive. It was going to be really, really expensive. So the Iceland version was quite a bit less expensive, although not cheap, but it was quite a bit less expensive. And, you know, every bit is fun. I mean, we cross-country skied up a glacier. One of the guys on the trip actually is battling MS.

And it was remarkable to see him overhaul. become this, you know, this, this, this disease that, you know, that he's afflicted with right now and, you know, go ice climbing and cross-country ski. I mean, he was so inspirational. Every, every trip, there's somebody that ends up being the MVP and, you know, he, he, uh, he won the MVP for sure because he was just so inspiring, you know, the things he was willing to go and attempt, you know, and that's the kind of group it is. I mean, everybody is just, and that, and again, it's the kind of group that put this movie together. Everybody is competitive, but more than anything, with themselves.

It's not a competition of showing up on set going, I'm going to be better than the guy next to me. No, I'm actually going to come here, and I came here to be my best, to challenge myself, so that I can contribute to this thing, and it can be something bigger than it ever could from just one person being the thing. Right, right. And I just feel like, yeah, you know, you see that, happen. And you see, and I think that's why we love sports so much. You know, you see sports and yeah,

it's great to revere one athlete, but I don't think anybody ever gets more excited than when they see a team playing together. Well, two things about what you just said. The first thing is that to bring it full circle to the conversation we're having at the beginning about like pushing yourself and ambition, I do feel like that's, that becomes the engine, right? It's like, am I bettering myself? Am I making myself a better person? And every day, am I doing better than I did before? Am I constantly, am I never getting to a point where I'm like, well, that's, I've reached the limits of my ability, or worse, even worse than that, I've reached the limits of my drive, my urge, my curiosity. You know, I'm, that, I think.

Yeah, if you get there, it may be time to check out. I mean, we all need a rest sometimes, you know? Yeah, you've got to recharge and, you know, figure out what that next thing that's going to drive you is. But at the end of the day, I mean, if you really are just bored with living and have been for a long time, then, you know, maybe it's just not, you know, you're not digging deep enough. Right, right. Yeah, you're not pushing yourself. We're going to wrap it up, but what, two things.

Strayham. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Everybody has to see this movie to see him, see Strayham. Michael. Oh, my God. He came to play. Another guy, there you go.

He, perfect example. Above and beyond on a next level, to the point where I'm watching it for like a minute, and I'm like, that can't be Michael Strehan. I thought it was just. Just saying my mom said last night, she was like, I wonder if people, that is so crazy. I wonder if people are even going to believe it's him right away until they see the credits. No. And then I lean to my friend.

I was like, is that Michael Strayan? He was like, hell yes, Michael Strayan. It's so. Mike, he's such a great guy. He's such a great guy, man. I actually know him for a long time. And it was so much fun to have him on set. And again, there's a guy, Hall of Famer, knows what it is to push yourself, show up in your best

shape with your best, you know, your best work done before you actually show up on set and just, you know, and make your mark that way by contributing. You know what I mean? Not by stealing. By contributing. Yeah, by just saying, how can I give everything? And that motherfucker gives everything. He gave everything.

Oh, right? What is happening? Oh, my God, man. We were freaking out. First of all, the fact that he could still jump as high as he jumped. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Like, oh, what?

He's limber. Like, oh. Yeah, I mean, he's a freak of nature. That fucker. Yeah. He's so fit, considering how long he's been out of the league. He stays crazy fit. Yeah.

Super, super, super. You know, and again, there's a guy constantly moving towards the light, man. Right. You know, no matter what. I've heard he's super sweet guy, too. He really is. He is a worker. He is a worker.

Right? I mean. Come out of that. So many guys could come out of having the kind of career that he had and just decide to take it easy the rest of their lives and do whatever. this guy is like into real estate, raising twin daughters, you know. Splitting his time between Coz when he's doing the morning show. Every week to do.

Yeah, during football season. He'll come here and do, you know, Fox. Fox and they does something with NFL Network as well, I think. And then he's got the show during the week. A machine. He's a machine. He is a machine. Still manages to be like just one of the greatest guys.

And then you know he's up at four, whatever he is working out for, I mean, because the guy is like, is crazy crazy. It's insane. I mean, he's definitely one of those people. You're like, wow, man. Like, if I can have that work ethic. Right? Yeah.

We all of us. Me too. Shit. I was like eating my buttered popcorn this motherfucker. Motherfucking Michael. Really? People have to go see this movie. The whole thing is so great.

And there are so many moments in it like that moment where you're like, I can't believe this is happening right now. Like that's really what. It's really surprising and delightful. And like I said, you know, I think on the carpet I was interviewed with, I was interviewing with like one of, like a, I mean, the advocate. think. And we were kind of talking about the audiences for the, for Magic Mike, especially the first one, which was kind of like, you know, the quadrants were women

and gay men, which... Or film buffs. I will say, people who have film buffs knew that Steven Soderberg would put out a movie that was worth watching, even if the subject matter was about male strippers. You know, that's a funny thing. I don't think there are many directors out there. I really don't know any

other director out there that could have, a known director, that could have pulled off doing a movie about male strippers and, you know, giving it the point of view that he did, you know, exploring the side of that life that he did to sort of legitimize the fact that we were making this movie about male strippers and still managed to keep it fun, you know, sexy, fun. Without being hokey, without it being Fulmonte or, you know, yes. With darkness at the core. And then also, by the way, the first one was also really funny.

There were a lot of funny moments in it. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, he was able to just like navigate this like narrow line and and kill it. They let that happen. You know, again, Gregory Jacobs and Steven Soderberg, they, they do this amazing thing. And I told them both last night, you know, probably for the hundredth time. But it's hard not to have the kind of gratitude I have for it because it really was the dream. When I started out acting and wanting to be an actor and be in movies because that was the dream at first, it really was because I wanted to be in a creative environment that was collaborative,

that, you know, everybody's ideas were welcomed and appreciated. And, you know, your idea didn't have to be the one that got chosen to be the thing that was going to be done, but you wanted to feel safe enough and secure enough to go ahead and throw these things out there. And, you know, and that is being creative. You know, it's a scary thing when, if you've ever written a piece of poetry or drawn a picture or, or made a movie or done a podcast to actually put it out there in the world and have people listen to it

and either like it or not like it or just to know that you were going to get feedback is a scary thing. And so, you know, you go into these jobs and for years you work and you most of the time work with people that have a set idea of how they want to do something and they expect you to basically fall in line

and, you know, color it however you want to but within the lines that they've drawn. And this was the first job that I'd ever had where you were able to just come in and create and have these ideas and have them be welcomed and you know and their philosophy is the best idea in the room wins

and that's what we go with and I don't care who it comes from it could come from the set decorator it could come from craft service you know but if somebody has a great idea and that's the thing that makes the most sense then hell yeah that's what we're going to do think about what an energized set that is though because again everybody feels safe pitching their ideas is. They know not everything's going to make it in, but you just have people just coming with

their best shit every day. You're truly playing. You know, like it, you know, and they call theater actors players, you know, or actors, I guess, in any show really players. And you and that really is the spirit of it. And you truly got an opportunity to play.

And I think that was what we all came prepared to do on the first movie. And then we actually got the chance to do that in a way that I don't think anybody on that set had ever experienced before. And, you know, that hadn't worked with Stephen and Greg. And for me, it really was.

I mean, it was a dream job for that reason. You know, it really was. You were excited to go to work every day. You were excited to create and to contribute. And you felt part of a team. You really did. You spent so much of your life on a show where you had very little extra bandwidth. Like, you know, and having...

I think that's why I appreciate this the way that I do. Right. You know, because that was not my reality for so long. You feel more creatively free now than you did before? Way more. Yeah. Yeah, way more. And, you know, this experience helped me find that again.

You know, I felt like I felt this excited about being an actor when I very, you know, when I really first began this path. And little by little, you know, you get ground down by the system and the way things work. And you just, you know, you go, okay, well, this is the way. way it is. I'm going to come in and do what I got to do. Punch my card. Yeah, pretty much. You know, I mean, you know, there are those jobs here and there where you really give it a different kind of effort and sometimes you get beat right back down and sometimes you don't. But never, never before did I have this kind of a, you know, place to play in, you know, and then on top of that to be playing with guys on this level, you know, and this is why they're at that level.

You know, they hire people they trust, they're going to come in and do that. They value what they bring to the table and they and they trust enough in those people and in themselves that they can they can let everybody just be free you know and know that in the end they're they're going to get something that's going to be worth putting on film do you feel like now because I remember when you got the first movie I was so happy for you I just remember like I was just like oh god it's just so great for people to see be able to see that he what he can do and that he can do more than what he was given to do yeah and now this is like that on 10. Yeah. I think that's why I went so far with the hair and the goofy attitude and like,

you know, this, this thing. I just, I just, I mean, I felt like it served the character for sure. You know, I've been living at the beach and, you know, getting into the art of making, you know, culinary delights. Yes. That I, that I felt it all suited him. But it was fun to go there, you know, just because I'm like, I don't, I don't know when I'm going to have the opportunity to do this. again and have people that would be willing to take these kinds of chances to let me have this you know muppet looking hair with you know dyed blonde and highlighted and all you know all this stuff um fit though the guys in the movie all of you were very modern versions you were very modern guys I mean I think whatever attitudes or ideas we would have about male strippers what was nice about

the movie is it's playful there's some things that you might assume about male strippers that played in the movie but then a lot of it was like you these young guys who have these ambitions who are reaching beyond your station, maybe even reaching beyond your capacity. Sure. But it felt very modern. Like, you know, your character, like, his yogurt flavors were very, like, you know, molecular gastronomy, which was so fun.

Yeah. And it was. It's like a reach for this guy, you know? But I think that's what, you know, that's what was fun for him. Yeah. He's like... Your dance at the end is just so great. It's so funny.

The movie is so funny. And sexy, too. Like, it's very sexy. The comedy didn't. undermine the sexiness of the movie at all. No, no, yeah. Somehow, it just, it really did. It all, it worked out. I mean, Greg kept a heart going in this movie. There were moments, you know, there's a moment in the kitchen. At the end, I won't say, you know, what sets up that moment. But, you know, Joe's character has a big moment. And, you know, for his character,

there's this breakthrough that's happened for him. And it's a sweet moment. Despite the subject matter, It's very sweet. Despite the subject matter, it ends, you know, and I got to tell you, like, that wasn't necessarily all of these guys are guys. I got to say, all of the guys in this movie are guys. If my daughter came home with any of these guys, I'd be delighted to have them be my son-in-law. Right. But there's this moment. And just naturally, as guys sort of being in this locker room environment, there's a way we could have reacted to that news.

Yeah. that would have made the scene something completely different. And yet there was this joy in it and the celebration that was so, it was so much more meaningful to do it with heart than with, you know, with testosterone. But you guys stayed men in that scene. And that was what was so great about it was it was both kind and sweet and affectionate and very, very masculine.

And what was so funny was it was such a sweet moment. And my friend who's straight, who's like, I can't say it on the air. But he repeats one of the things that the guy says in the movie. And it's filthy. But somehow that was sweet too when it happened. It was like, how did that out? I was like, oh, my God, that is what he just said.

No, it's a testament to Gregory Jacobs. I got to say, because the director is just such a warm, beautiful guy. He's like the nicest person. And his goal at the end was to have people be sad to say goodbye to these guys. And he said, you know, he kept telling. by the end to like just so happy. Go ahead. Sorry.

No, no, that was it. Yeah. Like, in the end, he wanted people to have such a good time and just to, you know, to warm hearts, essentially, like, to the point that when the movie was over, you were kind of like, oh, hey, I want to see, I don't want to say goodbye to these guys. What's going to happen? Yeah. And it was moments like that that he managed to maintain that sentiment.

And it's beautiful. It's really great. All right. Last question. And then I wonder if we have a, if we, we can dig another. self-inflicted there's got to be something that happened

on the set. There's got to happen on set. Almost everybody got a hurt on that movie. We were all in pain. Right.

We were all hurting. Yeah. I know Joe like tore his bicep. Joe tore his bicep. Kevin's body, you know, after 30 years of pro wrestling is just like broken

in ways that people could never imagine. Yeah. For him to get in the kind of shape that he got in at 56 years old. Wow.

You know, I guess he was 50, when we were filming it. But I mean, if I could look like that when I'm 55... Seriously. I think he looks better

in this movie that he did in the first one. Yeah, for sure. His legs were crazy. No, I mean, and he still looks like that. He maintained from the movie. He has not given that up, you know.

He's something else. He's really something extraordinary. You should have him on sometime. I would love to have him on. Fascinating guy. God, I would love to have him on. I think that'd be incredible. Fascinating.

I hear about his career, because I've never had anybody from that world on the show. That'd be amazing. You it really would be. I mean you the stories Kevin's got stories for days okay for days. Are you gonna help me help me get him? Yeah I totally I would love to help you out. I'd love for people to hear his stories because he's just he's become you know a really a really dear friend of mine. You know I absolutely love him. You know he's just really something special. So I mean he he was beat up. I mean he's just beat up in life. You know his neck is messed up knees everything. You know, Bowmer is just a G.I. I don't know. He's never going to...

His body's just like, you know... That flexing motherfucker. You know what I mean? He was super flexible. Everybody was so flexible. I was really upset about that. I was like, I know some of these motherfuckers are my age. Why are they so flexible?

I can't see... I know, I can't cross my legs anymore. I mean, I don't work on it, though. I don't work on it, though. I don't work on. I don't know why I'm pissed that I'm not flexible. But, you know, Chan, Twitch, I'm trying to think, like, yeah,

everybody was, you know, Chan's back was really messed up towards the end of the movie actually. His back was really messed up. My back was bad. I've had some, you know, serious back problems throughout my life. And I was definitely a little beat up, you know. Everybody was.

You know, you're doing dance rehearsals. Over and over and over and over again for weeks at a time. And, yeah, you know, at some point your body just, you know, starts to break down. Have you recovered? Yeah, I have, actually. I know what I have. I've also recovered all the fat that I have on my life. body before we started the movie.

It is time to dial it back in. I got to get ready for cookie, man. Oh, yeah. When do you start that? A couple of weeks, I don't know, about a month and a half. You're going back right in the beginning of the season, right? Mid-August. They actually just started filming.

I come in in in episode five. Excellent. Yeah. That's going to be so big. I can't wait. So big. I can't wait. I can't wait to hang out with Taraji again.

Yeah. You know, just. That show is like, that shows the Jurassic Park of television. It's unbelievable. Yeah. Really. I mean, there haven't been ratings like that. What are they calling enough?

Jurassic World. Yeah. Jurassic World. Yeah. There haven't been numbers like that on television in at least 10, 12 years. And doing that where it got bigger every week, I think it's never happened. No. Never happened in television.

I think they got 22 or 24 million people. It's fucking crazy. For the finale. Yeah, it's pretty, it's a phenomenon. Well, I'm going to let you off the self-inflicted wounds print unless you have something. Thank you. I know. Self-inflicted wounds, you know.

Oh, man. Self-inflicted wounds. I'll tell you a funny story. Oh, no, I told it on the talk the other day. Did you? The Harvey Kytel story on the set of Popland. Oh, yeah, the set of Popland. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I heard that one. It's a good one. That's a good one. I mean, it was a self-inflicted wound. That was an overly ambitious. Ambition. Yeah, ambition inflicted wound. Yeah, exactly.

That's a good one. That's a good one. No, I'll have to wait until the next time. I'll let you off the next time. I will. I will. You did one the first show. I'll let you off the hook for this one.

What I will say to you is what I said to you last night, which is how excited I am for you. You see people in this business and you want your friends to win, and then when you see them winning, it's just a fucking joy. The movie is so good and you're so good in it, and then you're going to be on this huge TV show and you got your little baby girl. It's just a joy to see it happening.

It's a joy. It's a good time for you. That's the thing also that I am finding is happening with me at this point of my life is like there's always always people who are kind of stratospheric from the beginning and they're doing great it's not that you do or don't root for them but they're doing

great but when you see your friends just plugging away just grinding and they're good and then some great fucking shit happens and you just get so fucking excited so that's that I'm just happy for you and and such exciting like as an observer it seems like it's a really exciting time in your life

it really is I'm honestly the the best time yeah I don't think ever been happier. Yeah. Yeah. It's great seeing your friends. Thank you so much. I know how you feel.

That's how I feel about my friends. I mean, that's the beauty. Yeah. I love you. Thank you. Yeah, I love you too. Thanks for me in the show. That was Adam Rodriguez.

I mean, what a great conversation. Just personal, interesting. We talked about the movie, obviously, but we talked about lots of things. And he is one of my favorite people in the entire world. I really do feel that way. You know, and I don't care if it's the entertainment business. It's exciting to see people that you like happy and engaged and fulfilled in whatever field they've chosen. And I find as much satisfaction than as I do in my own successes.

I feel like you just see people and they're grinding and they're talented and they're hardworking and they're lovely. And then something good happens to them and you just want to fucking just kick a puppy. You don't want to kick a puppy. That's terrible. Why would you kick a puppy? I just made my apolloja within the apolloja. I apologize for saying kick a puppy. Never kick a puppy unless it is a stuffed puppy and not real.

Like you could kick a stuffed animal puppy. That's fine. That hurts no one. But the point is you're so excited you don't know what to do with yourself. And so you might feel the urge to kick a puppy just because, you have so much energy inside you, but never kick a puppy. I think that's the lesson for today, my friends. Never, ever kick a puppy. This has been Girl on Guy. You guys are the greatest. You know what to do. Come follow me from me online. My handles are Aisha Tyler, Girl on Guy, and Courage and Stone.

Oh my God, we are working so feverishly on formulations for Courage and Stone, all of which tastes delicious. We have so many delicious things. We don't know what we're going to launch with first, but July will be the year, will be the month of booze for me. And by the way, if that's not a real thing it needs to be. After Comic-Con, the weekend of July 9th, I will be headed to Tales of the Cocktail, the weekend of July 16th, which is the big bartender and spirits convention in New Orleans. I will be celebrity bartending and several events around town. And when I'm not celebrity bartending, I will be celebrity drinking. So if you are at Tales of the Cocktail, can find me and say hi. I am there representing Curgeon Stone and also my own highly developed love of the Tipple.

So I'll see you there. And then after that, I will be getting into my work. criminal minds and we'll be shooting that all during the hiatus for girl and guy, which will start at the end of July and go through until September. So during that period of time, if you aren't already a premium subscriber, now is your chance to avail yourself of Girl on Guy back episodes. Right now, if you have never subscribed to the premium, to the premium episodes, and you do it, you will be getting 37 episodes of Girl and Guy, which should more than tied you over through the holiday through the hiatus. between season four and season five of a girl and guy.

So many opportunities to listen to so many great episodes. So do not despair if you're worried about the hiatus from the show. 37 luscious chunk-filled episodes await you. But when you become a premium subscriber with lots of incredible people who you will love listening to talk. So that is available to you. Avail yourself. Avail yourself, my friends. You are my army.

You are luminous. You are dazzling. You are foxy. and you are a Legion. I'll touch you on the next one. Late. Girl on Guy is a production of Hot Machine, blowing shit up since 2009.