Good Hang with Amy Poehler - Claire Danes

Episode Date: January 27, 2026

Claire Danes knows the power of a good wiggle. Amy hangs with the actor and talks about playing a teen murderer on 'Law & Order,' the lasting power of Jordan Catalano, and things that annoy an enneagr...am eight. Host: Amy PoehlerGuests: Mandy Patinkin and Claire DanesExecutive Producers: Bill Simmons, Amy Poehler, and Jenna Weiss-BermanFor Paper Kite Productions: Executive producer Jenna Weiss-Berman, coordinator Sam Green, and supervising producer Joel LovellFor The Ringer: Supervising producers Juliet Litman, Sean Fennessey, and Mallory Rubin; video producers Jack Wilson, Belle Roman, and Aleya Zenieris; lighting director Caroline Jannace; audio producer Kaya McMullen; video editor Drew van Steenbergen; and booker Kat SpillaneOriginal Music: Amy Miles If you want to help, go to www.standwithminnesota.com for a directory of local organizations and mutual aid groups accepting donations. Shop the New Nespresso Vertuo Up Machine exclusively at Nespresso.com. Visible. Start the year with a new way to save. www.visible.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hi everyone, Amy here. I'm recording this the day before our new episode with the great Claire Daines comes out. And it's an episode we recorded a few weeks ago. And since then, so much has been happening in our country. And honestly, it felt strange not to address it. The intention of Good Hang has always been to bring levity and joy and laughs in these tough times. And we're going to keep doing that. But before we start this episode, I just want to send much love to the best people in the world, also known as Minnesotans. What we are all witnessing is terrifying and enraging and illegal, but we are also seeing neighbors helping neighbors. And if you want to help, there is a directory of local organizations and mutual aid groups that you can check out at standwithminnesota.com. Minnesota, you're in our hearts. Okay, on with the show. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. Very excited about our guest today. It is the incredible Claire Daines. I cannot wait to talk to Claire today.
Starting point is 00:01:06 She is such a pro. She's so good at so many things. And I know she's going to be a good hang. And we are going to get into it today. We're going to talk about her big brain. We are going to talk about the lasting effect of my so-called life and how people still love it even to this day. We're going to talk about her stint on law and order and what that was like. And we're going to hear about how she met Basquiat in an elevator when she was a
Starting point is 00:01:32 New York kid. So much to talk about before we do. We always like to speak to somebody who knows our guest, who has a question for me to ask our guest. And we talk well behind their back. And we have a great one today. The incredible Mandy Patinkin. Mandy actor, singer, activist, now podcaster. You can check out his podcast. Don't listen to us out now with his wonderful wife, Catherine, and his son Gideon and Mandy. Hi. Can you hear me? This episode of Good Hang is presented by Nespresso.
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Starting point is 00:02:32 Shop now exclusively at nispresso.com and use code Amy to receive a set of Lumet coffee mugs when you spend $50 or more while supplies last. Hi, Amy. Don't look, Amy, I'm eating something again. Yum, what are you eating? Murray's tuna. Oh, perfect.
Starting point is 00:03:02 And vegetarian chopped liver on Ezekiel cinnamon raisin toast. Wow, that's a lot of flavors. Well, I love the cinnamon raisin, and I eat that because my trainer tells me not to eat this other bread, this is the one he wants me to eat, and I'm feeling good, and so I do what he says. You're a podcaster now. Yes, I'm a podcast. Do you only talk to podcasters?
Starting point is 00:03:29 I can't stand talking to someone who doesn't have a podcast. Trust me, Amy, I know. Right, when you see someone. You're like, what are you doing with your life? It's unconscionable to even think of doing that. It's horrible. So I wouldn't even, even hearing you say it upsets me. So that's not an option. You do a show with, don't listen to us with Catherine, your wife and your son Gideon. And congratulations on that. And they don't listen to me. So it always, the title is always in
Starting point is 00:04:00 operation. How has it been? What have you been learning about yourself and in the process of making it? It's great, Amy. It's just great being with your family 24-7, never. for a break. You know, what more could you ask? You know, be at home, work with them. You know, just like, you know, my son, you know, just can't get enough of his parents. It's just, it's a total joy 24-7. It's just like being in paradise.
Starting point is 00:04:24 Before we get to Claire, just one more time, because I know Gideon will want me to get the logline. How would you describe the podcast? Oh, just in the podcast, to describe the podcast is just a, it's a podcast. It's undescribable. It's just an extraordinary podcast. It has my wife, who I love, I've been with her for 47 years. If I can stay with her for 47 years, you can tune in and stay with her for 47 minutes. And my son, my glorious son, Gideon, it's all his.
Starting point is 00:04:58 And then the one mistake is having me at the table as well. I am such a humongous fan of your work, Mandy. It meant so much to me that I was talking to you today. And we're talking today to Claire Daines, who I know you absolutely love. I adore her. If I had a daughter, it would be Claire. Oh, can you tell me where you two first met? We first met in the rehearsal room in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Starting point is 00:05:27 I believe that's where we met. I think that's where we were, where we had the first re-through of homeland. And I think that's where, I think that was the name of the town where we shot the first three seasons. I'm pretty sure it was Winston-Salem, but I could be wrong. I'm at that age. I don't just look at it. It's the same thing inside my brain. It's just, this wiry, gray, white mess up there.
Starting point is 00:05:51 I'm pretty sure. I know it was North Carolina. Charlotte. No, no, it was Charlotte, North Carolina. So that's interesting. So you met in rehearsal for the first time, and obviously I'm familiar with each other's work. What was your first impression of her?
Starting point is 00:06:06 Well, I knew she was of the highest pedigree, and so I just was thrilled to be with her. And I knew that I wanted more than anything for her, both as Mandy and the character saw, I wanted her to feel safe with me. And I wanted her to feel protected by me. And I wanted her to trust me. And I knew that was a tall order. But we sat down with, with our director to just have our first read-through. And she finished the first scene. And she said something that I never forgot. I just left. She said, well, that was some of the worst schmackeding I've ever done. And I never heard that word smackeding. And I loved it.
Starting point is 00:06:54 And I never heard her say it again because I think she's brilliant. I even thought she was brilliant when she thought she was schmacting. And so she is. she's as good as they come. You know, in the arena, she's a thoroughbred, which leads me to my second thought that I had to offer you. Would you like that or do you want to run this? No, I love, I don't think with you and I that I'm ever going to run anything.
Starting point is 00:07:22 I think, Mandy, whenever you're going to be running it. I can shut up. I know. I heard that you wrote down a bunch of questions for her, which I love because I, too, have so many questions for her. How many you have on that page? I have, I wrote down no, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Okay, great.
Starting point is 00:07:43 No, no, eight. Perfect. I understand why. And you can buy these questions probably. Just go to your website. Everything I have is for sale. But I understand why you have all these questions for her because she is, to your point, thoroughbred is a perfect word, like so incredibly gifted.
Starting point is 00:08:04 And also your story tells me that she also does not take herself too seriously. It's that combination that's incredible to be around. She was a kid actor, you know. And the thing is, as you've known from working with kids, the magic of them, it's literally magic. They sit there, they play, they play with the other kids. And then the director goes action. And they're there with a believability that if you worked at this craft till the day you die, you would never get to be that good the way these kids are.
Starting point is 00:08:35 And she's one of the rare ones that took it into adulthood. And she has that. She just believes. She just believes in a way that is, I'm transfixed. I had to do the least work in my life because all I would do is just sit and listen to her. It can really feel the love between you two. So let's get to those eight or nine questions. You got it.
Starting point is 00:09:00 So the next one that I wrote down... Wait, what was the first one again? Oh, God. I didn't know it was going to be a challenge. The first one. I have no idea what the first one was. What did I say? Okay, okay, forget it.
Starting point is 00:09:13 Look at me. Will you, Amy? I'm so sorry. You start in the middle. Don't even ask me my name anymore. Just please, have a little, you know... Sorry, me, Eddie. Okay.
Starting point is 00:09:24 In Yiddish, it's called Rachmonas. Have some Rachmonas for what you're dealing with here. Regarding her children. I'm very curious because she's married to an exceptional young man, young in my book, and Young in Everybody's book. I would like to know who is better in the family at setting boundaries for the children. Ooh. Is it Claire or Hugh?
Starting point is 00:09:49 Hugh or Claire? Her great actor husband, Hugh Dancy. Now I would like you to ask her something that only she would know. what is Mandy's father's favorite chewing gum? That question seems like what you have to answer to get into an exclusive private club. You are right on the money. And how did she commemorate the answer to that gift to me? Excellent.
Starting point is 00:10:18 Which was one of the great gifts that I've ever been given. Wow. Oh, here's a good one. how often does she feel she pees, she needs to pee before every take or every scene? Love that. It's not a downside. It gives everyone a chance to breathe.
Starting point is 00:10:38 We all know that, you know, there's a rest period coming up. Okay. Okay. That was it. Okay, these are great. These are great questions. And they all speak to what I'm,
Starting point is 00:10:53 learning about her. And, you know, I've known Claire over the years through friends and loved my time, spending my spending time with her. But what I've learned about her is she's a really considerate person. She's a very considerate person. She really considers other people. I think it's what makes her a good actress and human in the world. You know, the gift of that, one of the great gifts of a television series, in my humble opinion, is that you get to be there for a long time and you really get to know each other, and you get to know each other's strengths and also each other's fragilities. And she learned mine. I sort of wear them on my sleeve, but she learned them quickly, and she just took care of me. She knew how to take care of me when I needed holding
Starting point is 00:11:39 and when I needed, you know, and she knew how to leave me alone when I needed to leave me alone time. Beautiful. I know she's going to be so excited that we talked. I don't know if she knows. This might be a surprise to her. I didn't tell her. I saw her recently at a political event for Mom Dani, which I was thrilled that she was there. But I did mention, I hadn't known about this at that point. Oh, that's great. I think she's going to be so, no idea from me. Happy that we talked. Please, take my phone number. I will. I will. I'm going to take your phone number and I'm going to call you for advice on a lot, basically on most things in life. And you're welcome, well, I will. And you're just the dumbest fucking person.
Starting point is 00:12:24 Thanks, Mandy. Take care. Bye. Have fun. Bye-bye. This episode is brought to you by Visible. Got a resolution to save. Kick 2026 off right with Visible.
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Starting point is 00:13:16 And you do talk about this being a number eight. business a lot. Eniogram? Wait, you're pretending, you don't know what the enagram is? I know now because of you. Do you know what your number is? I did it last night. Yes! Don't tell me what it is, I want to guess. I too. You're an eight?
Starting point is 00:13:35 I'm an eight. I'm an eight. I screamed. Oh my God. I yelled out loud. Freaking out. Yes. Claire Dane's just walked in with a balloon. By the way, thank you. These are beautiful. Yeah, you're welcome. A beautiful eight balloon. I'm going to bring it into frame.
Starting point is 00:13:53 Look at that. A gorgeous eight balloon. In reference to the fact that we are the same aneogram number. Well, I didn't know that when I bought the balloon. I just knew that you were an eight girl. Because you do talk about it pretty consistently. This is an intervention and everyone's like, and now you've got the balloon and now shut up about it. It's an atervention.
Starting point is 00:14:17 Oh, my gosh. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. You're so welcome. But I was so excited that I get to be your twin-eight sister. Listen, if you're going to start with Enneagram, we're going to go because I'm very pleased that you're an Aneagram 8. Okay.
Starting point is 00:14:33 That makes perfect sense to me. Does it? I'm very new to this. When did you learn about the? Did you read the descriptions of it and feel like it was you? Sure. But I also worry that I might just be a little impressionable and, you know, kind of absorb and accept and make it work. Interesting. Well, that's not very eight-like, is it?
Starting point is 00:14:52 It's not. But perhaps you've got a wing, you know? You can get a wing on the side. I don't know what my wing yet. I'd love to see what your pie chart looked like. Okay. Like what you actually, what were your big? I wish you had told me you were taking the test because I would have sent a text that said, send me your pie chart, send me here. Okay, I'm sure I can find it again. What's your sign? Virgo. Okay. What are you?
Starting point is 00:15:19 I'm Aries Virgo rising. Oh my God. Like, Claire, run all of the things. Run all the things. Do all the things. Do all the things? Do you find yourself to be like a... I mean, we know each other,
Starting point is 00:15:35 but we don't know, know each other. And I've had the pleasure of being around you a lot, a lot. And a humongous fan of your work, of course. And thank you. And we were very excited that you said yes today. And do you think you're a organized person? Like, are you an organized? I've gotten much more organized over time.
Starting point is 00:15:58 But I do love the container store. I love a container store. So much. A good container will change your life. Jenna, why are you laughing, Jenna? Why are you laughing so hard? And what I love about when I love the idea of figuring out what things What do things mean to you in your life?
Starting point is 00:16:22 Because they actually, it's a paradox. Yeah. They don't mean anything and they mean a lot. They can be really valuable tools. And I think they do carry energy. Like I really do believe that. And they can transport you. They can be little tiny time machines.
Starting point is 00:16:38 Yes. But, okay, of course you're an organizer. Of course you're Virgo. Of course you're Ares. Of course you're an eight. Claire Daines is here. I mean, Claire, if I had a d'clock, I didn't love you already.
Starting point is 00:16:49 I mean, the theme of, I feel like the theme of today is, I've always felt like you and your work were ahead of its time. That's very, very nice. You've always brought me as an artist into worlds that I didn't know I was ready for. You're an intellectually curious person who's interested in interesting things and therefore you kind of, you're drawn to those things, almost like, you know, like the cartoon character when the pies on the window still like I feel that with you. You're drawn to interesting things. I am. That's true. Thank you for saying that. That's actually very, very touching and meaningful that you say that, really. Well, I can sense it from the choices you made as an artist. And, you know, it is like my so-called life and homeland and Temple Grandin and the Beast and Me, like all these projects and the way you,
Starting point is 00:17:40 you're kind of leading us into some new territory always, it feels like, and new territory for you, too, which is very exciting. Of course, you're an Enneagram, eight, you're a challenger. You're incredible. But I'm sorry that we're the best, but we are, and I'm sorry to all the other numbers. But, like, and I just want to say this as we like, or as we get this thing started, finally, which is you have the ability as an actor to stay in your body and be in your brain. Those are two very hard things to do.
Starting point is 00:18:12 Oh, my gosh. This is so nice. Claire, you're so smart. This is so nice. This is so nice. But it's hard to balance those two things, body and brain. And that's why I'm obsessed with the fact that you love to dance. I do love to dance.
Starting point is 00:18:27 I love to dance. Me too. And for me, it gets me out of my brain. Yeah. Yeah. Jenks. Yes. And I don't dance as much as I don't dance enough anymore.
Starting point is 00:18:40 I had a good wiggle the other night all by myself in my bathroom. I really needed it. Yeah. And that's where I've seen you probably the most. is on the dance floor. Yeah. Well, our friend, Rashida, is a pretty great dancer. She's had some parties and we've danced in our pajamas together.
Starting point is 00:18:55 Yes. Yes. And I feel like there's been some awards shows where we've been on the floor. Like, we're dancing regulates. What does it do for you? How does it do for your body? Oh, God, it's so funny. Well, because it's my son's birthday today. My eldest son, he's turned 13.
Starting point is 00:19:10 And it's like a superpower I have. I just like a little tiny wiggle in public. He will cross the street. Oh, yeah. It's just, but yes, I can mortify him within a millisecond. And even worse is you stop and go, I'm a good dancer. People think I'm a good dancer. And they're like, mom, please.
Starting point is 00:19:33 Mom, mom, everyone's watching your dance. Yeah. But what does it do for me? Well, I mean, the best is when you enter that like flow state. When you, yeah, when it's when it's, when it's. there's no thought and you're just totally synchronized with whatever sound is coming into, you know, through your ears. I love watching toddlers dance.
Starting point is 00:19:58 You know, when they jump, they do that thing. They do the bouncing thing. That's so true. We all do it. And She's very kind of in her head and dreamy and sometimes she'll do this kind of dance. I'm like, that's fabulous. Anyway, how old is she? She's two and a half.
Starting point is 00:20:16 Okay, I heard something that's amazing. which is that kids from three on, like from three to four, three to five are, consider them like on mushrooms, like hallucinogenic mushrooms because they're like, the floor is lava and like, I'm feeling the music. And they're like, why do we die? And you're like, whoa, you are tripping. And it's so true. That's true.
Starting point is 00:20:37 Oh, she's really fun. You're a real dancer. Well, but never, not like a formally trained one. I had this amazing teacher here in the city, a woman named Ellen Robbins, and she was great. And from the age of four on, I worked with her. I say that, like, intentionally, it sounds ridiculous because I was a tiny human. But she really took every kid very seriously. And over the course of the year, you would work towards choreographing your own piece, and you would choose the theme and the music.
Starting point is 00:21:10 And I was a moth to flame one year. Yes, I was. There was a lot of, a lot of that. Closing up and opening again. Finding your light. Little Claire in dance class at four. You are a New York kid. I'm really always interested in kids that grew up in New York.
Starting point is 00:21:29 What was Soho? What was your version of little kid in New York? It was funky. Yeah. And, you know, a little rough. Yeah. I was born in 79. My parents were artists.
Starting point is 00:21:43 They moved to the Bowery in the late 60s, and my dad's mom, Claire, I'm named after, died when he was a kid. And then I guess he kind of had this money finally. And they bought a loft building with another couple that they still own on Crosby Street where I was growing up. So it was, you know, we had a swing. We had a trapeze. I would roller skate. It's kind of how we picture it was like a roll.
Starting point is 00:22:13 ring to be living. I had some shame about it too and I had cousins who lived in the suburbs and all I wanted was to be in a cul-sac and have like a basement and carpet on the floor. We forget that when we're little. We don't want to be different, interesting. We don't want to be exactly the same. But it, you know, it was, it was also very cool and, you know, Basquiat lived in our building. And, you know, like, yes. Like, did you need him? I did. I remember. him. I remember being really little and he, you know, he was kind of, it was very sweet. Like, he was very charming. Charming. And kind of tender. That's what I remember about him in the elevator. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. That's amazing. You know, Keith Herring was just around and, yeah, but there was, it was also
Starting point is 00:23:04 violent and the mafia still existed. So we were on Crosby and Prince, so just on the other side of Lafayette, that was the different world and felt quite active. Did you become a vigilant, are you a vigilant person or a vigilant kid? On the street? No, in life. Like, was there some hypervigilance that was created because of that? Yes, because of New York. And also I have very, like, funky.
Starting point is 00:23:33 Groovy artist parents. Totally. So I, there was a rigidity that developed. Yes. And like a hyper-observance, yes, for sure. And so you go, and speaking of vigilance and hyper-observants, you were on law and order as a young person. It was. How old were you?
Starting point is 00:23:55 I was 12. Can you tell me about being on law-order? Yeah, it was amazing. It was amazing. And I played a teenage murderer. Yeah, my mom was a prostitute. like high end and her like pimp was grooming me to basically do the same thing but he was kind of presenting himself as a modeling agent and he was you know and I took these photos of me typical law
Starting point is 00:24:29 and order life fair and my mom found out about it and she intercepted and I was furious and I took the scissors from the dark room and stabbed him I think that's what it was got it I would have killed to have been, that was what I wanted to do so about is be a teen murderer. Yeah, on Law & Order. Yeah, I then dated a boy by another guy, a kid, another kid actor. We met an audition who also had been a teen murderer on Law & Order. That was like our cute story. And now Hugh is on Law & Order.
Starting point is 00:25:03 I know. Which is wild. I know. And we have so much good, like, gear, like swag, law and order swag. We have a giant button that goes, dun-dun, that the kids really, really like. And we do have to hide sometimes. That show is, it's just, first of all, it just employed so many actors. And still does.
Starting point is 00:25:25 It's a total institution. I was also very sure the day after it aired, there was like a screening party. It was just like that, like, it was going to be a problem for me to ride the subway. Like, because I was going to be so famous. And, um, it was. It was fine. Everybody was fine. No, it was pretty comfortable still for me.
Starting point is 00:25:49 Now, you brought up my so-called life. How old were you when you auditioned for that? I was 13 when I did the pilot. Dang. And then it didn't get picked up. Yeah. And I'd gone to public school my whole life, but then, like, had made money from these acting jobs and could afford to send myself to private school.
Starting point is 00:26:09 So I went to Dalton. And but yeah, then in the very start of my freshman year, we got this call saying, oh, no, they are going to pick it up. So I was only physically there for a semester and then we were off to L.A. Wow. And was kind of tutored from that point on. Now, I mean, I know you've talked ad nauseum about the experience you had making that show. And it is still so zeitgeisty that show. It's really.
Starting point is 00:26:37 It was a very special experience. When you were making it, it felt like a special sparkly thing? Yeah, I remember reading the pilot, I guess, before the audition and just having a very profound, you know, experience. And it was really powerful to have some woman, some writer person, so perfectly articulate my internal life. And that was Winnie Holtsman who you mentioned. Olzman who's still a dear, dear friend and just a wildly inspired, hilarious, loving person. And people should know, like, wrote Wicked. Wicked. Yes.
Starting point is 00:27:17 Just this little indie called Wicked. Yeah. Which is basically about, like, teenage girls, you know, and their intimacies and their friendships. Yeah. She's divine. And Winnie was the creator of the show. She was, yes, she was the creator of the show. show and and we were both working so hard we barely saw each other but we were you know in this very
Starting point is 00:27:46 deep relationship um in our imaginations you know uh yeah did you chemistry read with Jared Letto for no no no no he just got hired and then you guys had to kind of get find find the chemistry there was like in the Noxema commercial that was very exciting yeah he was so hot. Oh my God. It was ridiculous. You know, Jordan Catalano is like become... And it's also one of those names. It's always the full name. Yeah. And there was also a character
Starting point is 00:28:17 and the show called Tino that you never saw. Anyway, there are so many... But do you have a theory because you know now with perspective? Like what do you think resonates still with Angela's like...
Starting point is 00:28:33 Well, it's still radical. Yes. I don't think... It's ahead of its time. I think, and it remains ahead of this time. Why? Why? It shouldn't have been made. It almost wasn't made many times.
Starting point is 00:28:47 And it just wills itself into existence. I don't know. It's not very often that we spend that much time, intimate time, with a teenage girl. Yeah. Not really. Yeah. We're seeing the world from her, from inside of her. And really through her vantage point when she's, and she's so earnestly wrestling with big stuff, you know.
Starting point is 00:29:20 And it's, I, yeah, it's just so well balanced and it's so, it's so of her, you know, but it's, there's some zingers. There's some really well-crafted lines. You know, I was rewatching. that moment, the like beautiful moment where that is played over and over again on TikTok every day of my life because it's on my FYP. But of when Jordan comes over to Angela and says, can we go somewhere and you say, sure, and he walk off with him and he takes your hand in front of everybody. And that feeling of being chosen publicly is a big major deal for a young woman and young man. and young man. But why the show, I think, separates itself from others
Starting point is 00:30:07 is also editorially, we know what all the other characters are feeling in that moment. Like, we cut to everyone else's feeling about not being chosen or the wrong person being chosen. Like, everyone's having, feeling like we're feeling everybody's pain, psychic pain or joy in that moment. It's so good. That's a very well-stated. Yeah, it's well, well analyzed scene. I've watched it way too many times. No, and yes, it was, I feel wildly fortunate that that was my entry point.
Starting point is 00:30:53 And you've worked with what I imagine, only imagine, are really some very interesting, complicated, and maybe at times difficult people at a young age. I project on you that you have to like figure out how to be self-possessed and be your own artist and your own, you know, like protect yourself and also be among these like really complicated adults. Do you feel like there was some inner, Claire thing that helped you navigate all that early stuff? I feel like kids are doing that all the time anyway. Not every kid. Okay. You know, I think this is.
Starting point is 00:31:29 I don't know. Also, I remember people, I never felt like a kid. And now that I am a parent and I have actual children, I'm like, yeah, no, I for sure was a kid. There's no way. Do you think you're going to, I sometimes think I never felt like a kid either. No. When I was about eight or nine, I was like, I'm in charge here. I did.
Starting point is 00:31:46 I was like, these people, like, I just remember being like, no, I'm in charge. Okay. My first memory, I don't know if it's real or not. Obviously, no idea. But was pre-verbal. I was an infant. I remember where I was. by my, the windows on our loft on Crosby Street,
Starting point is 00:32:07 overlooking Lafayette Street. And I had been handed to some other adults that I didn't know very well. And they didn't know how to hold a baby. And I remember having, I was like, okay, this is one of those grownups who don't know how to do this. They're uncomfortable. Wow. There's nothing I can do about it.
Starting point is 00:32:26 I'm just going to have to wait it out. Yeah. Yeah. And then I remember my second, my, yeah, Lou Reed. And then my second memory was being on the kitchen island. And I was just about, I just was starting to have some language, but not quite enough. And I was kind of playing charades with my mom. And I wanted to get to the counter, like the other side of the kitchen.
Starting point is 00:32:48 And she was really frustrated. And I felt such empathy for both of us. And I was like, this cannot continue. Like, I really, really need to crack this language thing. because I mean, poor us. This is too hard. Amazing. So, yeah, it was like that always.
Starting point is 00:33:09 And people would say like how, you know, it's so remarkable that you can deliver performances at such a young age. I was like, what are you talking about? I feel like I've been here for this. It's been an eternity. Like 11 years is so many years. And it felt very rich. I was like, I've got enough material for. four lifetimes.
Starting point is 00:33:32 It makes total sense to me because when you're in little women and you're dying. I was like, she's been here before. We had to reshoot that scene. I can't even. Just my side. Because apparently I got too excited about the death rattle. Because of course I read like five stages of dying. I like really studied whatever illness Beth had.
Starting point is 00:33:54 Sure. And I got a little carried away. You rattled a little too much. to Matthew Reese, and he calls me death rattle dames. But Gillian Anderson, the director, lied to me. I only learned this, like, last year, literally. And said that Coke had spilled on the negatives of the film and that we needed to reshoot. Oh, that's a nice thing to do.
Starting point is 00:34:16 But it was really because she needed to, like, calm the death rattle down a little bit. Yes. So that's a factoid. By the time you were 20, you were already in 13 movies. So that's a few moves. That's a lot. I did not know that. Went to school, went to Yale. What did you study there?
Starting point is 00:34:38 I thought I was going to be a psychology major. And then there ended up being like a lot of lab work involved with that. That's not what I meant. Eventually, I think I would have been, I didn't complete my time. And I never had to declare a major. But if I had, I think I would have been. been an English major, which is what I meant. You know, I didn't, I didn't want it to be, the science part was less interesting to me than the
Starting point is 00:35:11 character studies. Do you have a bit of like a sliding doors fantasy that you would be a therapist in another life? Well, my best friend in the whole wide world from the age of nine on is a therapist. Congrats. Thank you. I did pretty well. Best friend of the therapist? I chose, I chose well at nine.
Starting point is 00:35:28 And actually it's really fun. We do kind of play Barbies together with my characters. Like if I'm starting a project, we'll think about it in those kind of formal terms and she'll diagnose her. Yeah, cool. It is actually very handy. Yeah. And occasionally at lunch, like I'll see her kind of, it'll be doodoo do. I see her shift from Ariel, you know, into therapy.
Starting point is 00:35:56 And she'll ask. She'll say, is it okay if I, you know, go into actual formal therapy mode with you now? You'd be like, a dream. Please. A dream. So, yeah. I mean, that. So, okay.
Starting point is 00:36:12 So I'd wanted to be an actor from the age of five onwards. And then people would tell me, you know, most actors actually don't make that much money. It's a fairly insecure career choice. And continues to be. I had a practical side. And I thought, okay, all right, fine. I'm going to be a therapist. And I'm going to live in the suburbs.
Starting point is 00:36:35 I was going to live next door to Ariel. We were going to share a pool. And we would have two slides in our respective yards that would go into the same pool. I would be a therapist. And do acting workshops, yes, to, like, nourish the soul. And that was my plan for a good year. And I made an actual announcement one night at the dinner table. And I said, look, guys, who am I kidding?
Starting point is 00:36:57 There is no plan B. I am an actor. Money or no money. This is my calling. And my parents are like, uh-huh, sure. I was so serious. It's ridiculous. But I love that person because that person's making a declaration.
Starting point is 00:37:20 And I really meant it. And I went to, you know, I took Saturday acting classes at least. Lee Strasberg, which is in my neighborhood, and I pass almost every day and it's a total trip. But yeah, anyway, so yes. But actually, my favorite class was a graphic design class. Ooh. My very favorite class. And then I thought, oh, maybe if I weren't an actor, I would be a that kind of person, a graphic designer.
Starting point is 00:37:46 I can see that. I can see all these things. Like, what I like love about your work is that it feels, and again, it just, feels like when you're watching you work, that there's just real life that exists in your life. Like, you have a real life? You're a real person? A same real person? I'm trying. And then, so then when we're watching you play people, when they feel like real people, there's just a little bit, you just kind of can't explain it. People have it or they don't, or they feel like they've actually existed on the earth and had a real life. And people that are kind of, um, in a
Starting point is 00:38:24 a different sphere of, I don't know. And there's something that feels like you have taken care of other parts of your life. It was good for me to do that. I really needed a time out. I needed to not have so much responsibility. And I needed to like fuck around a little bit and like get stoned and play Mario Kart. Right. That doesn't need to go away.
Starting point is 00:38:55 That was... That doesn't need to go away. As important as, you know, the work I was doing in class, which was also really, really wonderful. And I also felt, like, validated as a thinking person. I feel like you've spoken about the kind of wonderful things about perspective and getting older. What's the best thing about being the age you are? That it's perfectly okay to have the same breakfast every morning to exercise. size for 45 minutes to an hour.
Starting point is 00:39:28 How's your bone density? I don't know and I should know and I don't lift enough weights. Nobody ever does. We have to lift so many weights. I'm, I like lifting my own body weight. I really like yoga these days, but it's not enough. Apparently you have to lift actual iron. And you run.
Starting point is 00:39:45 You're a big runner. I used to run more. The third pregnancy really kind of put a dent in the running. So people who don't know you had a pregnancy a few years ago. Yeah. Kind of a surprise. Whoa. Out of the blue.
Starting point is 00:39:57 That, whoa. Did you burst into tears like, oh, no, I have to be pregnant again? Totally. Yeah. I called my OB, GYN, Y, N, inconvulsive tears. Yeah. Yes, no. It was a pure, like, it was all meltdown.
Starting point is 00:40:15 Oh, no. Because you had, what, like a 12-year-old or like a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old or something? Yes. I mean, he must have been around 11, 12. 12, yeah. They're five years apart. Each kid, none of this was by design. But, yeah, I didn't know it was physically possible.
Starting point is 00:40:31 I was 44. And actually, Rowan was very hard-earned. I had to do two rounds of IVF. Like, it just was so unlikely. So this is a funny story that I'm going to share about my best friend. Okay. So. And this is Ariel?
Starting point is 00:40:48 This is Ariel. Okay, Ariel. She gets name-checked a lot in these things. Well, she is your therapist. And she's other people's therapist, too. And I would like her to be mine. I've just ruined her career. I'd like her to be mine.
Starting point is 00:41:00 But, yeah, so we had this, like, spa day scheduled. And I admitted to her. And I wasn't coping very well with the heat. I was like, I'm sorry, I'm such a pussy. I'd got to get out of here. Anyway, and so I wasn't going to say anything. And finally I admitted it. I was like, you know, I totally lost my mind last night and just decided.
Starting point is 00:41:22 that I was pregnant. I went down this crazy rabbit hole and finally looked up, what are the odds of naturally conceiving at 44? And they're like less than 1%. And I was like, so that obviously is ridiculous. And she said, whoa, that's really weird. Because I had this dream last week. She said it was really vivid.
Starting point is 00:41:49 And I told people about it. I mean, I didn't say it was you. But I had this dream where I was pregnant and I looked down and I saw my distended belly and I said, oh, wait, but this is a really, this isn't my torso. This is a long torso. This is Claire's torso. You have a great torso. Thank you. But, yeah. She was in, she had this dream where she looked down and saw that she was pregnant, but she wasn't pregnant.
Starting point is 00:42:17 She was in my pregnant body. And then, you know, I had two strong cocktails when we had dinner. And then first thing in the morning hit the CVS and it was just like bold cap blocks, you know. Yeah. For me, the thing would just be like, you know what you know now. You know what you're in for. I, well, that was deeply humbling. Yeah. Because I realized, oh, I am not authoring this thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:42:50 Okay. Yeah. This is really, this is the illusion. Yeah. That I am like driving this thing. Yes. So you had to surrender to it. I really did.
Starting point is 00:43:01 Yeah. Yeah. And then this beautiful girl emerged and she's the best and none of it was up to me and I'm just delighted. Yeah. But she was disruptive. We had to move. It was a thing. It was a lot of work.
Starting point is 00:43:15 Well, it's interesting. Like her origin story will be. I bet will just like naturally be like, you really wanted to be here. She did. And she's psyched. Like she is all about it. She's having a great time.
Starting point is 00:43:30 Unequivocally like into this living business. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it is, that's the thing about, I think about the best and worst thing about late 40s, for me, mid-50s, is you kind of know the deal. So it's like, okay, that's going to be. this and okay
Starting point is 00:43:51 this one's going to hurt or you know there's still stuff to discover certainly but there is a sense of it's amazing to have so much of your life like established and you know
Starting point is 00:44:05 yeah it realized like and set well you've experienced it's basically you've you've come through things and you've made it, made it through something.
Starting point is 00:44:21 Yeah, and there's a lot of, I don't know, power in that and joy in that. And it's also sad because I'm really, really aware of time now. Me too. It's really like the thing I crave. I crave time is my, time is a thief. Yeah. And it's actually, and I'm sure you're this way too, more and more with work or with any project, it's the thing I care about the most.
Starting point is 00:44:51 How much... And, you know, it makes me think about your work on homeland, which was a 10-year commitment. Yeah, yeah. A lot of time. A lot of time. And hard work. Yeah, it was.
Starting point is 00:45:03 Hard work. And we were all over the planet. Like, we were in so many different countries. And I had two kids. Yes. And I was, like, fighting terrorists while deeply pregnant. I know. It was weird.
Starting point is 00:45:16 Did you have a thing? like you liked to do on that show when you saw on the call, she were like, oh, today I get to do this. You know, because like, it was like today, and you know,
Starting point is 00:45:26 maybe it was like today I get to... Well, what was cool? After a while, like, you know, a few seasons in, people knew Carrie Matheson and every, it was almost like an anthology series,
Starting point is 00:45:36 like we would reimagine ourselves every year. But, you know, so a new set of actors, you know, I'd walk into a room and they would like get quiet and be chastened. And I, like,
Starting point is 00:45:45 had this power that, you know, I had earned over seasons, you know. And that was pretty fun. I bet. Yeah, yeah. You know, and never have I ever had that experience in my life, nor will I ever again, even in a fictional realm, you know? But that was, like, amazing to have that kind of swagger.
Starting point is 00:46:09 Yes. Yeah. And what was hard to shoot? Like, was it, like, I mean, just, like, balancing life, I'm sure, and traveling all over because it shot everywhere it shot all over? Especially when Brody died.
Starting point is 00:46:25 Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert. Claire. I remember so it was also like really rough, just really graphic. Like they really went there. Like, come on. Intense.
Starting point is 00:46:37 It was so intense. But like he dies on a crane. I know. But then the crane when we were filming broke. Oh no. So like we were really hung up by that. But I don't know.
Starting point is 00:46:53 It was like landing in a new, because that was in, where do we shoot that? That was in Morocco. But yeah, so the first three seasons, we were mostly in Charlotte, North Carolina, which was standing in for D.C. And then we would make these jazz. Like we would shoot a month in Israel or Morocco or something. Yeah. But then when we had to really redefine the show in a more macro way,
Starting point is 00:47:17 we then became this traveling, you know, enterprise. So we were shooting in Cape Town for half a year, which was standing in for Palestine and Afghanistan. The next year we were, where were we? There was a year in Berlin, then a year in New York, which, yeah, that was kind of, that was actually very strange to be home and weirdly stressful because, like, people expected me to go to dinner.
Starting point is 00:47:44 Like, my friends were like, you're here. Let's hang out. And I was like, I'm working. I am working so hard. I have to get tied up and beat up tomorrow. And then I have to tie someone else up. I can't do this and live my life. There was something nice about being on location and just being allowed to, like, give myself entirely to it.
Starting point is 00:48:00 Because I didn't have any energy to spare. Yeah. That was actually weird. That was the weird, almost the hardest season because I kept like, you know, there was this illusion that I was living my life and I couldn't. Yes. And then where were we? Then we were, I don't even, then it was a full year in Morocco. Wow.
Starting point is 00:48:21 What's Morocco like? Pretty great. I was nervous about spending so much time there, and I grew to really love it. Cyrus went to school in all these places, too. Wow. So he still can't eat cuss-cus because he ate it at every meal every day for six months at this school. That must be very cool for him to have his memories of. traveling around.
Starting point is 00:48:45 Yeah, I wonder what he, you know, what can, what he can consciously recall. I think that he was like five or six. So maybe quite a bit. That he could. Yeah. He also, his first school that he went to was in Berlin and he was around three. And he started to have temper tantrums like half in German. And he was screaming, nine!
Starting point is 00:49:08 Nine! And you'd be like, whoa. Suddenly this like sounds, this is a lot scarier in this. language. And he would, around that time, like when we would come home and we'd be at the playground at Washington Square Park, you know, he would toddle over to other tiny people and say, Hi, my name is Silas. I speak English because it was like not a given that another person would too.
Starting point is 00:49:33 Does he speak another language? Nine. If I could, you know, put a chip in my brain and be able to speak in a different language. Oh, same. That and fly. Yeah, fly. I mean? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:49:44 Yeah. But the language almost feels like it has the same thrill level. And you know what I love about speaking other languages is you have to do like a version, like a funny. You almost have to move your body in your face in a version that feels insulting. It feels stereotypical. But you have to to get the language right. Well, there is that kind of. Yes, you have to.
Starting point is 00:50:09 And if you're Italian, you have to gesticulate or like there's all these different things. Like there's a reason why. people move the way they do, getting back to movement. Yes. I love learning dialects for this reason. Look, I think humans are humans and, you know, it is mostly a universally shared experience, whatever that is. But it's also true that there are real differences and we go, we do like see the world through these slightly different, these different filters. And it does shape us and inform us. And that is also kind of amazing. Well, I'm really into that, those kinds of differences, again, without appropriating them or getting them wrong. But because we are in a monoculture now, everything is the same now.
Starting point is 00:50:53 So now it's like, I'm like, whoa, the way you express this thing or the way you, like, language still feels sometimes like a way of getting into some new little world. Yes. And it's so, like it's, I, I'm, I delight in the ways that we're not the same anymore. Yes. Because everything is the same. Every fucking store is in the same. Yeah. city and it's also kind of sad that we're not I mean that is what we do you and I do and I think a lot of I don't I don't do you keep well you do you do you imagine yourself in a you know as being a different person true but dialects are their own real I mean that's a real that's real acting now look Claire no I can't just I can't just riff though like I'm this u-u-oo-oo-y person if I have a good coach.
Starting point is 00:51:43 I'm all about it. Do you like to improvise when you act or... I haven't had that many opportunities to. Oh, interesting. I don't... I guess in more dramatic stuff it's hard to do, right?
Starting point is 00:51:52 They don't let you. They're very strict about it. Because they're on the crane. They're like, he's up on the crane, you can't. And you're like, just give me, I just want a riff. Crane work is pretty strict.
Starting point is 00:52:07 But no, I don't know. I would be really intimidated by that actually. That seems scary. I feel like you'd be so good. I feel like, that seems scary. I mean, I did one episode of Portlandia, and they did give me pages, and then they disappeared. They were like, don't look at those. Yeah, and I was like, but wait, I learned them. And they were like, oh, sorry.
Starting point is 00:52:28 I should have known there. And they were like, you know what? We're just going to like do it as we want to do it in the moment, and I wanted to vomit. I have no. I worked at SNL. where I realize like, oh, preparation is this thing that people do. No, it's this thing. It's this thing that when people bring it to the process and someone says like, and also let's try this, it's hard to not feel like, wait, wait, what are we doing? Like it's, it is a learned skill to just assume that things aren't wrong if we are not doing what we prepare. Yes.
Starting point is 00:53:07 I mean, I am, I mean, I'm ridiculous. I mean, I'll go to the writer and say, is it okay if I, like, put the comma here rather than there? And I'm like, don't come to me with this bullshit. Like, I'm sorry. But I think actually because I started as such a young age, my socks are still up to my knees a little bit. You know, like there's still that, like, little girl who's just wanting to do a good job. I don't know if that's because I was actually a little, like a literal, literal little girl. Say that five times a time I was when I began.
Starting point is 00:53:39 or maybe that's just in me and would have been if I started at 30. But I don't know. Yeah. You do such a good job. Thank you. You're so good at your job. You are so good at your job. And I love listening to your show.
Starting point is 00:53:54 I listen to it a lot. Thanks. I heard that you love podcasts. I love podcasts. Me too. But you have one of the very best ones. Oh, my God. Thanks.
Starting point is 00:54:01 And it's really wonderful. Thanks, Claire. Really. Speaking of wonderful. Okay. We do a thing on this podcast where we talk to someone who knows our guest. Okay. We talk to Mandy Patankan.
Starting point is 00:54:13 Mandy. Mandy, who I saw the other night. I hadn't seen him for a long time. He said. You guys were celebrating Mom Donnie together. We were celebrating Mom Donnie. I mean, he is his, I mean, you could tell in the show, but I also loved knowing that outside of the show, the relationship you two had. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:54:30 It felt very paternal, very respectful. There was a lot of love there? I love him madly, truly deep. And also he's just an amazing person to act with. How come? Okay. He's very musical. But this was a weird thing.
Starting point is 00:54:50 In the first read-through, we barely met each other. And it just like the music worked. You know, my cadence and his cadence were in really good harmony with each other. And that was like, can't, can't, nobody can take credit. for that. That was just really good fortune. And, you know, I played this manic person. I'm almost like getting into it now that you're saying, I'm thinking about it. So she's like a stone skipping, you know, on the water. And he's, you know, has a much, you know, he has this like low pulse rate. Yeah. As Saul and is so steady and is her ballast and, you know, this counterpoint. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:55:32 Well, he adores you. He calls you a thoroughbred. Oh, well, thanks. He's just a really, really, really good. performer. I don't quite know how he does what he does, but it was also always fun to see him at the gym, the hotel gym, or whatever weird apartment complex we were living in, like singing his Yiddish songs prepping for his tour, like on a stairmaster. Right. It's just, it's, yeah. Also, I just love a big man. Yes. I do. Yes. I love a big man. Sometimes I love feeling small. Like in relationship, do you know the, like the idea of like big and small? No. which is basically like some days you want to feel big and some days you want to feel small. So some days you want to be like, I'm going to get us to the airport.
Starting point is 00:56:14 I'm in charge of whatever. I'm big today. And other times you're like, I want to be small today. And it's like being taken care of, but also can just kind of feel physical. Like sometimes when you're like at, you know, I don't know, you're bossing it up all day at work. You want to come home and feel small and vice versa and being able to have someone kind of do that with you. It's like CEOs who go to the doms. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:56:35 It's a sub-dom thing. So those are all Mandy's question. No, I'm just kidding. So Mandy wants to know or you. No. Okay, so we had 10 questions for us. That's a lot of... We're not going to...
Starting point is 00:56:45 We can't get to the law. That's a lot of questions. This is Mandy had 10 questions? Yeah, he really over-prepared, which is very nice. But also, he couldn't get on the Zoom, and he was eating when he was on the Zoom, too. So it was like mixed messages. But he was so... He was eating the lotkas that he had made with.
Starting point is 00:56:58 He was eating a delicious. The mayor... Cinnamon raisin, bagel, I believe, with some other stuff on it. Okay. And it looked delicious. He likes peanut butter on an apple too. Oh, that's a great snack. That's a great sad snack.
Starting point is 00:57:12 Okay. So he had a couple questions. Okay. Who is better at setting boundaries for the kids? You or Hugh? Oh, goes back and forth. Okay, that's good. So Cyrus wants to wear shorts.
Starting point is 00:57:27 He's like a gaffer all the time. There's a whole thing. You're not on TikTok, I'm sure. No. Oh, congratulations. But there's a whole thing about middle school kids. kids, always wearing shorts. It makes me so upset.
Starting point is 00:57:41 Let it go. I'm here to tell you, my boys are older. Let them freeze their bunnerunies off. Don't say one thing. Don't, ep, don't mention a coat. Okay. So I've said 50 or below, you have to wear shorts. Hugh is more team-s-birus.
Starting point is 00:57:59 Finally, Amy. If you're below, you have to wear pants. Yeah, sorry, pants. Sorry, yes, thank you. And now Hugh is, like, kind of. being more permissive and that number went down to 40. There's a whole, literally a whole scientific thing
Starting point is 00:58:14 about middle school kids waiting for the bus in, by scientific, I mean it's on TikTok. About kids waiting for the bus with shorts. Boys love shorts in middle school. It's a whole thing. Okay, whatever. And they run hot and they're not going to get a cold
Starting point is 00:58:30 from the cold. You know that. And just let them do it. They will grow out of it, I promise. Then they'll become obsessed with like sweats and sleeping and being warm and they'll always be freezing. Yeah, okay. All right. It's just a warm period.
Starting point is 00:58:43 I got that. My family thanks you. Okay. But I actually think that Hugh and I are pretty, we're very lucky, like we're well-matched humans. And I think our parenting styles are pretty level and equal as well. Love that. It's good.
Starting point is 00:59:02 You guys are a really, really special couple. Thank you. He's a very he's a swell dude Yeah you can tell He's a good guy And you can tell you have a lot Like a lot of love And a lot of like for each other
Starting point is 00:59:12 Both those things are important We do And so many children now Yeah So many You're out number Yeah You're out number
Starting point is 00:59:20 Okay Mandy's next question And this now Now Mandy's referring to himself In the third person Sure What is Mandy's father's Favorite chewing though
Starting point is 00:59:30 Oh It's the Black licorice. Oh, I embroidered something for him. That's what he was asking. How did you commemorate? Because he would chew it as Saul. And I think he mentioned at one point that, but I'm forgetting the name of the brand. Did it come like in a tin? Blackjack. Blackjack. Blackjack was the gum. Was the kind of gum. And you made, and you embroidered something. I went, I went hard on the
Starting point is 01:00:00 embroidery for a while. Let's talk about this embroidery. Okay. You embroider, do you, I don't really... There was a point when I embroidered everything around me. I embroidered an umbrella. That was weird. So my mom taught me and, you know, it started because in my 30s I was away from my friends and we were at the... Everybody was having babies and I was really missing them.
Starting point is 01:00:22 And so I embroidered onesies from my friend's babies. I embroidered their name and then an image that related to the name somehow. But it was really more about just... Mewing with them. Embroidery by hand. Yes. Okay. And we started with the onesies and then it just, then it went haywire.
Starting point is 01:00:42 It's a great onset activity. Yes. And I did it a lot more before I had children. And I also found the contrast amusing and enjoyable, like that I would be fighting terrorists as Carrie. And then I would go back to my seat and embroider. Knitting or crocheting? Do you do that?
Starting point is 01:00:59 I went on a knitting jag too. Then that didn't take. So I embroider onesies for, of course, all of my kids, and I have one for Shea, this third child. She's not, she doesn't wear onesies anymore. I've missed that chance. It's okay. I'm confessing. I'm actually confessing to you.
Starting point is 01:01:19 You know, I mean, it's by my bed. What are we supposed to do? I mean, you know. Anyway. You've done it all. Okay. No more. You've got to start giving us.
Starting point is 01:01:27 I don't know. That's what I tell every woman. And then I want to talk about the beast in me. Okay. because I love the fact that you are producing on this, and I want to know what that experience has been like producing. I loved it. It was just really fun to, like, you know, hire people who I admired and trusted.
Starting point is 01:01:51 And you have a, I mean, like you said, you've been producing, probably, you've been producing without credit for a long time, and you've been producing and seeing, you've been on sets for a long time, and you're realizing like, oh, I want to, I want to bring my system. here. Yeah, and that first week I was just, I was, I was, I was had a blast. I was really like, I like everybody here. And I realized, oh, right, because, you know, I asked them to the dinner party, right? Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, and it was so nice to, like, I don't know, not be surprised by the home that suddenly I was discovering on the first day of filming. Like, I got to have a say on what that house
Starting point is 01:02:30 would actually be. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. And it was just like a lot of Zoom calls. That's okay. Yeah, right. But they were conversations I wanted to have and be a part of. Yeah. So it's on this next gig, I'm more of an actor for hire.
Starting point is 01:02:47 So you're playing a neurosurgeon and can we talk about the pit? Sure. Because you love it. I do love it. What do you love about it? Well, Noah Wiley. I mean, Noah Wiley. Okay, did you watch ER when it was on?
Starting point is 01:02:58 No. But I would think I was a little too little. Yeah. It was on maybe while I was shooting my soul called life. Is that right? I don't know. Maybe I'm getting that timing wrong. But yeah, I was aware of it, but I didn't watch it.
Starting point is 01:03:11 But no, he feels so credible. And I really think all those hours he put in as a TV doctor have accrued. Totally. And he has a kind of gravitational, you know, gravity now. Yeah, he does this. It feels like he's doing his blocking without thinking. I am so convinced. And, no, and I just think it's also like feels a little throwbacky.
Starting point is 01:03:35 Like it's so nice to watch excellent TV. Love. Love. You've made excellent TV. Thank you. But I enjoy watching excellent TV. It's my favorite thing to watch TV are better than movies. Sorry.
Starting point is 01:03:46 TV's better than movies. I love movies too. I'm a little worried about movies. I really am a little bit worried about movies. Well, they got to get their shit together. I'm just kidding. I love movies. I love it all.
Starting point is 01:03:57 Is there anything that you want? I know you are a big podcast. Is there anything you watch just for like kind of brain checkout fun? Okay. I know you ask this sometimes. So I had a prepared answer. You're the only person that's ever prepared. I want you to know this.
Starting point is 01:04:16 Of course, Claire. But is it, okay, Tim Robinson. Yes. So he has this, there's this one sketch from the show. Which one? Focus group. Incredible. Look, you just got a O.
Starting point is 01:04:29 You just got a O from the... We watch this all the time in our family. Now, does your kids watch it? Well, so all the kids are allowed to watch this. So Cyrus is... So we tuck the little guys in, and then we have like special mature viewing hour. And it started with like The Simpsons. And then it was...
Starting point is 01:04:51 Oh, the Simpsons is always the gateway. Only murders in the building. Omib, which is basically Scooby-Doo, for grown-ups. And it's great. And then he, English husband introduced him to Monty Python stuff. He got really into that.
Starting point is 01:05:07 Yes. But now we've been watching, mostly because of this focus group, his latest show, which is The Chair Company. Yeah, which there was a not safe for work moment. That joke.
Starting point is 01:05:24 I mean, the whole genius of the show is that It takes you in very quickly to places that you are not prepared for. So we're all like cuddling in bed. And then there is this giant erect penis. And Hugh says, close your eyes. Everybody close your eyes. Eyes. We all, yeah, it was intense.
Starting point is 01:05:55 We're still recovering. It was intense. Yeah, but it was great. So we do love that show. I think that, like, what Claire, what I understand why you would like this because number one, I think you are like, I've known you to be a very fun, funny and like comedy. You love comedy.
Starting point is 01:06:14 I do. Yeah. And you have good taste. Thanks. And there's a tiny bit of a disruptor in you that I imagine is fun to watch. Yes. I think you're right. And the other thing that we've been watching is the latest South Park.
Starting point is 01:06:28 Oh, yeah. We should talk about. What? What? they're just saying the thing. Just a chicken and a hen house. No, it's a fox in a henhouse. I didn't get that right.
Starting point is 01:06:40 Chicken in a hen house. Thank you for that. Well, thank you. This was amazing. This was so nice. This was so fun. Birthday present to me. No one's ever brought me a balloon.
Starting point is 01:06:53 Thank you for bringing a balloon. And again, for people that are sick of me talking about the Antigram, I don't know what to say. But let me just read you this as we wrap up and see if any of these. land. These are things that annoy and an anagram eight. Are you ready? Sure. People who talk just to talk. That's very annoying. That is deeply annoying.
Starting point is 01:07:12 And I have a podcast. But yes, people who talk just to talk. Fake people. Beyond. I'm like, I literally, if someone's like, I'm a piece of shit or whatever, I'm like, okay, great. But fake? No way, babe. People who aren't on time.
Starting point is 01:07:30 I have to have some tolerance for that because I am not the same I was late today that yeah Jenna's always the most punctual person and then this one really scratches an itch for me others asserting power in a situation where they have none so I went through a period in junior high where I became like a vigilante and I I would like rough I would like confront the bullies for AIDS hate bullies yeah Really. And I went to the principal's office one time because I like, I hit a bully. I laughed at a bully. That's exciting.
Starting point is 01:08:16 And we talked through it, the bully and I. And actually, we made some progress. And then he was so deferential to me and so, and he would open doors. Like he was really, you know. But I had to stop that because. It was like going on my record. But yes. I mean, so I think I, yes.
Starting point is 01:08:41 Yes. That makes sense that that would be an eight impulse. I have fantasies that I stand up to bullies and that everybody sees it. Like that's my like embarrassing fantasy that I stick up for people in public. So there was a bully in elementary school and I admitted to my mother at one point that like myself soothing fantasy. There'd be a circle of people and this boy and I were at the center
Starting point is 01:09:11 of it and I was just beating the shit out. And I was like, is that okay to have that advantage? It was like, your thoughts are your own. Enjoy them. I wanted a great answer. A nice bit of mothering there. What a nice bit of mothering there. It would have come full circle, back to New York,
Starting point is 01:09:29 back to the apartment. It did help. It was nice. Yeah. I could talk to you forever, Claire. I could too. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Starting point is 01:09:38 It was so fun. Thank you so much, Claire Danes. That was so fun. I could have talked to you forever. And you're so interesting and smart and funny. So thanks so much for that time. And for the polar plunge today, I guess I just want to remind everybody how good law and order is,
Starting point is 01:09:56 especially the first 10 seasons. Okay? Just go back and watch Find Claire as the, young, you know, child maniac. And just go back. And here's a little tip. Whoever you recognize, they did it. So it's a young actor. Just starting out, they're the murderer. So take that tip with you and go check out a little show called Law and Order. I can't get enough of it. And, you know, it's these kind of new things that I'm going to fill you in on when you take the time to listen to the Polar Plunch. So thanks so much for listening. And see you soon. Bye.
Starting point is 01:10:38 You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Polar. The show is produced by The Ringer and Piperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Katz-Belaine, Kaya Zanaris. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.

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