Happy Sad Confused - Allison Williams, Dan Stevens

Episode Date: February 22, 2017

On this week’s “Happy Sad Confused,” we find Allison Williams in crisis. The final season of "Girls", the show that launched her career, is airing right now; her new (and first!) film, "Get Out", is opening in theaters this week; and she’s not doing well with the news that Monopoly is doing away with the thimble. So yeah, not exactly earth-shattering, disturbing developments, but still, Allison is ready to let loose in this episode, from her unlikely obsession with "Pearl Harbor" (and Josh Hartnett), to her fear of ventriloquist dummies, to why she can’t bring herself to watch the "Beauty and the Beast" trailer. Speaking of the forthcoming Disney flick, Josh welcomes the Beast himself, Dan Stevens, on this episode as well. Dan reflects on "Downton Abbey," the show that launched his career; the way his Downton character was initially written out of the show; his new critically acclaimed FX show, "Legion"; and why he felt like “a crash test hippo on stilts” making his new movie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Jeep is a registered trademark. FFSA, U.S. LLC. This week on Happy, Sad, Confused, Allison Williams, on the end of girls and the beginning of a film career, and Dan Stevens on joining the X-Men universe and singing his heart out in Beauty and the Beast. Welcome to the show, guys. I'm Josh Horowitz. This is my little old podcast. I talk to smart, talented people, and I'm joined by one in the intro. Look at that. Sammy's beaming. Look at that. Because I was like, and now here's not one. I was waiting for something so nasty.

No. No. It's still a new yearish. Allison gave you good vibes. Alison Williams just left. She's lovely. She's wonderful. A returning guest to Happy Second Fused, Allison Williams.

As I said, she is starring, of course, on the last season of girls, currently airing on HBO, and also making her feature film debut. She's never been in a feature. That's crazy. Isn't it weird? It's a little weird. We've talked about it in the past. We talked about it on this week's show.

You know, she had the luxury of being selective, and she's very type A in a good way. She, like, wants everything to be, you know, up to her standards. And, frankly, the opportunities that came her way in the last few years weren't up to those standards. So she did the Peter Pan musical, which definitely scratched that musical it. She's a big musical theater fan. I think you guys would get along very well. I was like, are we best friends? You chatted briefly in the hall.

I know. It went really well. It went really well, guys. Allison, if you're listening, and she has listened to the podcast. At Sammy Heller on Twitter, you can DM me. I believe I follow you. Oh, I believe. Wow, you're not even, I don't know.

I'm playing hard to get. She's not on Twitter. She's not on Twitter. She's on Instagram. She's on Instagram. She's on the ground. She's on the brand. But yes.

So later on the show, I'll just mention, we'll talk about it a little bit more later. But we have Dan Stevens. Oh, this is like my dream show. It's a good one. Dan Stevens is currently starring on Legion, the new show on FX. from Noah Hawley, the genius guy that brought us the Fargo TV series on FX. And this is, I think it's an eight-episode run. I think we're on maybe episode three or four right now.

If you haven't checked it out yet. If you're a Next Men fan, definitely check it out because it has connectivity to that universe. But even if you're not, frankly, the show plays as just like a trippy kind of weird psychological dromedy. And if you've seen Fargo and you know how great. great that show is you'll, I think you'll dig Legion. And Dan Stevens, you may know from his work on Downton Abbey. I was like, when are you going to say it? When are you going to say Downton Abbey? Look, he's more than that character. He is Matthew Crawley. We talk about Downton Abbey, of course. We talk about his infamous ending on that show. But we'll get to that stuff

a little bit later. He's also, I should say, starring in Beauty and the Beast, which is going to be the biggest movie on the planet in a few weeks. I didn't hear about that. No, really? I'm just Beauty and the Beast also came up significantly in this conversation with Allison because she, when I asked her, like, what the one film was she wanted, like, if any had come her way that she wanted to do, she mentioned Beauty and the Beast, not as a film that came her way, but just as the film she wanted to do that she didn't even get, like, a meeting for because Emma had already been cast. Yeah. I could see her as Belle, though. Yeah, totally. She's got that, like, flawlessly beautiful, beautiful look to her. Gross. That, like, pure perfection thing. Yeah, she's got that.

If you're into that, whatever. What else to report? Any other updates that we should know in the Sammy Herald universe? Allison had blonde hair just now. That was pretty exciting for me. We covered that exciting news. Oh, you do? Okay, thank God.

No, life is really good right now. Oh, good. That's all I needed to hear. Just because of this podcast. After about an hour, things will be back to shit. Just like, yeah, exactly. Look forward to the Oscars of this coming weekend. When do you go out?

I go out, I believe, on Friday. And I'll be on the carpet doing my thing. I'm holding that microphone asking questions of silliness and smartness, hopefully. And look out for all our conversations, presumably on all the MTV platforms, Facebook, YouTube, et cetera, et cetera. Who are you top three people? I haven't even thought about this yet. Top three people you're most excited to see. I don't know.

I mean, off top of my head, of course, Emma, would be great to see. she's a friend of the podcast. Ryan Gosling, speaking of Alleland. I haven't talked to you in a while. I'd be good to see. We need a reunion of you guys. I do need to reunion with the Gosling. Who are the other big nominees that I would want to see?

Maharshala. Meherciala's great. Yeah, and he's, hopefully he'll win. I think he will. I really want him to win. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think Marhershal will win. We'll see, yeah, I don't know.

I can't wait to see on come Monday who is the victor, me or you, in terms of our... Should we do an Oscar pool? Should we, like, do some predictions? Yeah. Okay, we'll get to that after we finish our introduction, where I will prove that despite my job as a supposed movie expert, I know nothing. My job is a non-movie expert. I've never won an Oscar pool. It's really sad.

It's not a smart man. You have strange taste. What? It's not about taste, though. It's about predictions. Okay, okay. On to the first main event, Alison Williams, star of Girls, star of Get Out, this excellent new film from Jordan Peel. Yes, it has comedic elements, but it is really a horror thriller movie.

Go check it out. It is open in theaters this Friday. I can't recommend it highly enough. And we'll see on the other side with Mr. Dan Stevens. Get out. Get out. What are your other podcasts? Like, what do you listen to?

I listen to a ton because I don't listen to music because I'm a freak. All I do is listen to podcasts. Me too. I listen to music in very soon. like specific circumstances and like getting ready in the morning is podcast time yeah so i listen to a lot of interview podcasts like my i wouldn't even call them competitors because they're inspirations as much as they are competitors but like you know the mark marron and the yeah yeah yeah yeah that kind of thing fresh air i mean i mean terry killing it um what are my other

well you tell me what are some that you listen to well right about now i'm very dependent on here to make friends which is a bachelor recap podcast i don't know if you're one of those not one of those I am like the cheerleader of... I'm not judging you, but I'm judging you a little bit. No, you were definitely judging me. But I just love The Bachelor, and this podcast is really good. It's a Huffpo podcast. I'm looking for others that I would actually recommend.

Go ahead, sir. And then I listen, ooh, if you're, if you, how are you with Gore? You must be pretty good with it, right? Yeah, I'm pretty good with Gore. Do you like true crime? Yeah. Have you heard of sword and scale? No.

Oh my God. Okay. You are not going to change my life. think I'm okay. I already don't. Don't worry. Okay, cool. It is true crime and it's gnarly.

It's not. Yeah? Yeah, but it's kind of like it's just the brutal realities of humanity. I mean, I imagine that it's entertainment only because I've been lucky enough for this to not be my reality. Right. It's an escape. It's okay. No, it's not as much.

It feels like homework for someone that may end up having to play someone truly sociopathic one day. Gotcha. You're preparing for your Jeffrey Dahmer. A hundred percent. And I'm just waiting for people to call me. It's fine. It's not like an obvious casting move, but I'm really into the idea of it. Well, hey, after you can get out, you're expanding the horizons.

I hope so. You must remember this. Do you know that podcast? Karina Longworth's a podcast. I think you would like that. You must remember this? Yeah, because a little blend of like Hollywood history, but there's also a lot of crime involved too. Oh, interesting.

She kind of like dissects like a different, like, famous Hollywood murder or something over the course of multiple episodes. Is it all just about the Black Dahlia? I think she might have done that, yeah. Of course she did. It's like the number one Hollywood related. That was like the most disappointing film-going experience for me like 10 years ago because I'm a huge Brian De Palma fan and he did that Black Dahlia movie. I saw it mostly as a Hartnett vehicle because that just contextualizes where I was in my life. What was the big Josh Hartnett like breakout?

It was a Pearl Harbor, which I've seen more than perhaps any other movie in my life. Really? That may not have been his like introduction, but that was for a young girl like the combination of sweaty, Hawaii-tanned Aflac. And, like, that was just more than my young reproductive system could handle. It was really overwhelming. It was 40 days, 40 nights. I remember he was in that one. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

We're due for a Hartnick. I think he had a little bit of a comeback. He was in a penny dreadful, that show on Showtime. Yeah. But enough about promoting Josh Hartnett's career. I'm totally down to do that for this entire podcast. Welcome to the Josh Hartnett podcast. We go very niche here on Happy Second Fees.

We've changed our focus since you've been here last. Yeah, exactly. And I'm very glad to have just. walked right into your total conceit, which is heart and unrelated. No, no. It's good to have you back, Allison. It's really good to be here. I'm really enjoying these new digs.

I can't believe how much you've grown. I'm talking to the studio. Clearly, nobody expected that they would actually put any money behind equipment or professionalism. Well, the table alone, like, honestly, is very... Yeah, I picked this out myself. Where's the hat? I whittled it down. Oh, I don't do the hat anymore.

I'm so behind. I'm that behind. You're way behind. I've been in a fucking hole for so long. You're using curse words now. You're not the Allison Williams. I'm blonde now. Everything's different.

How much time do you want to spend on the hair? Little to none, if possible? It's just hair. I mean, but it's different. Oh, my God. It's crazy. Everything's different. No, nothing's different.

I just, you know, yeah, no, nothing's really different. If it's, like the process of it is so stupidly long. It's crazy. It took me seven hours. No, but that's what I'm saying is like a lot of things are happening in the world. And then my hair takes seven hours to change colors. And then it's the first thing people want to talk about afterwards. Were there other possible alterations to your physical appearance that you considered in this momentous period of your life?

Honestly? Face tattoo, Mike Tyson style. Yeah. I mean, I wasn't going to go for the face tat because it's just like too much work to cover. Right. It's a commitment. It's a real commitment. and then also not having any other tattoos,

that's kind of a weird place to start. You'd assume people would, like, work towards the face. Like start on, like, an invisible place, something that isn't even visible in a bikini and then kind of work your way out. But, no, so you're kind of limited. Like, I can't have new face. I mean, I can, but that would be just so obvious.

And I wasn't actually going to cut my hair really short until I hated the way it felt after it became blonde because it just didn't feel the way it always felt. So I just chopped it all off. The actual texture has changed. It has. Have you ever, like, did you have bleached tips? Why do I feel like?

What? No. No. Me? I've had the same hair like for 40 years, literally. I mean, I had had the same hair for 28 years. It's really weird. Yeah, yeah.

But wait a second. You somehow avoided. The frosted tips portion of the NSYNC years. Yes. How? Because, I don't know. My luxurious locks are not to be tampered with Allison. How could you?

Do you not think Timberlake would make the same claim? Well, Timberl? That's not fair enough. Those are like, those are angelic. He has like Cupid's hair. Were you an in sync fan or Backstreet? I was a Justin Timberlake fan and a Backstreet Boys fan. Okay. Oh, interesting. You know, it's a little more nuanced, but. Yeah, I didn't. Okay.

It is what it is. So I can tell you're in an emotionally raw place because girls is obviously coming to an end. The feature career is just launching. You can see this, but I'm just weeping quietly while Josh is talking. That's how he can tell I'm in an emotionally raw place. And I can also tell on Instagram, you're yelling about the end of the thimble on Monopoly. Yeah, I'm just a little bit at the end of my room here. You could be set off very easily right now.

Yeah, and that thimble just really did it for me. Was that your? That is my piece. Like, I don't understand how. Are you a time traveler from the 18th century? Who chooses the thimble? I'm, it will shock you to know I'm not a time travel. But Occam's razor would have suggested that.

So I understand you throwing it out. No, I. A little condescending, but okay. You know, whatever. I liked the thimble. That was my piece. It fits snugly on like your pinky and you can kind of play with it. And it was just quaint, kind of.

And people still use, it's not like no one uses thimbles anymore. Right. They're just not the hot. I guess not. I mean, it really hurt. Have they replaced it with something else? No, I refused. Also, the switchover in the pieces didn't somehow, with some very specific magnetic force,

suck up everyone's thimble. So I still have, how crazy would be if I looked in my... You're hoarding thimbles? What if we all looked in our monopoly, like, boxes at home and realized that our thimbles were all missing? Is that another horror movie? Is it too neat? Is that Jordan Peel's next? Spoiler alert, no.

I wish it were. I'll write that one. Are you a big board game player? Are you a Cards Against Humanity, a set setters of Catan kind of gal? I am a mafia. Oh, okay. Girl. Okay.

Yeah. I mean, I think you'll find a lot of actors really enjoy. playing mafia because it's very easy for us to just, like, completely lie to people that we love dearly and just promise things like our lives or our parents' lives and just throw it all away. So I do want to, we're not even just doing the business at hand because I was telling you legitimately out there, I love your movie, Jordan's movie, Get Out, is his directing debut. It is your feature film debut. It is a thriller, there is comedy in there. I wouldn't call it a comedy, but it definitely has a lot of laugh-out. It's when you need it.

It comes up when you really need a release. I remember when I talked to him for Keanu, he was in the middle of, I think he was about production. And part of the thing he wanted to do was like, and I think it gets under a lot of people's skin about horror movies or thrillers is like you never see somebody act like a human being would actually act. They never do what you're yelling at the screen for them to do. And in this movie, there is that. You get to see some people actually act like human beings. Yeah. And I would say there's actually only one moment where Chris, protagonist, does something that the audience was, because I saw it again last night with an audience, which is, like, quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do.

You're addicted. Give me more. Well, no, because it's a really interactive experience. And it's amazing. And it's amazingly predictive. So, or predictable. So, like, people, I could mouth along with the audience in anticipation of what they're going to say because people react identically every time. And it's really remarkable because that's all Jordan.

He knew exactly what he wanted out of the audience at any given moment, and that's how he directed us by saying, like, we need the audience to feel this way in this moment. And then we'd be like, okay, cool, I think we can help execute that. But I think there's only one moment where people were yelling at the screen, other than just randomly throughout the movie telling him to get out. Everyone was just yelling, like, get out, dude, leave. People figure out what the title of the movie comes from immediately. When they screen, like, girls in front of, like, big audiences, like the premieres for each series. And do people react in the audience as well? Huge.

Like, but that's also, there's so much in humor. Like, I remember in the first episode back this season, there's a bunch of Paul Krogman jokes. And, like, that's a real niche. But for a New York girl's premiere, that went over huge. Like, you know, there's certain things like, you know, there's a Thomas Friedman cameo. Exactly. Exactly.

But it played really well. But, again, that's a very skewed. Yes. But then I saw it two nights later with a group of girls. Girlfriends, we watched it together, and it also went over a really big with that group, so. But I was also there. I don't think I know what it's like objectively, but for Get Out, I sneak into the theater when it's already dark. If they see anything, they see like a flash of blonde hair, but they're looking up at a screen at a brunette.

So they don't even make that association. So I sat next to this couple that had no idea that I was sitting there, and they were just living the movie. Were you just like whispering in their ear or popping up from behind? Like, seeming like a prophet. Like I knew what was coming. No, I just sat and enjoyed it, and, like, it's really, it's really fun to watch people watch it the first time. So, one of the last times we chatted, you came in, you did a fun sketch with me and Will Forte, and I remember you told me off camera, you were really excited. You're like, oh, I think I can tell you this.

Yeah, you weren't allowed to say anything about it, but I took the risk and I told you about it. You can trust me. Yes, no, I know. And you just got in this role. So, I mean, I can imagine why you were excited because I would imagine. and, you know, Jordan is borderline genius, if not a genius. He's brilliant. I think, like, after both reading the script, reading his provisions, shooting the movie, watching the edits, and then now watching him promote it, there's no doubt in my mind.

I mean, I came to a conclusion like a year ago, but it's just been becoming more and more solidified as time has gone on. So what was, give me a sense of sort of how this one came about. Did he approach you directly about the project? He went through, we're both CIA client. We went through my agents, but he was very, it was very flattering. He was basically like, I can't really see anyone other than you in this role. And I just want, you know, I want you to read this, and then we'll talk about it afterwards. And so I read it, and the disclaimer came from my agents that it wasn't a comedy, but they didn't really know how quite how to describe it.

And at this point, no one else was involved other than Sean, who's one of the producers. Like, there wasn't Blumhouse, there wasn't Universal. there wasn't, there weren't other cast members. Like, it was just Jordan. Right. And so I read it and I immediately loved it and felt desperately like I needed to do it, which the aligned situation of someone wanting me to be in something and then me also wanting to be in it hadn't happened yet in my career

in six years of doing girls and, you know, reading scripts and thinking about doing movies. So it was really exciting. And I talked to him, and in the process of talking to him, I just became more and more confident that, like, it truly didn't matter that this was technically the first thing he was directing because he just so knew what he was doing. Yeah. And in your first conversations, did you guys talk about the fact that, I mean, and if people have read about the film or seen the trailers for the film, you get a sense that it operates

obviously on a number of levels. It works just simply as a thriller, but it's also like a good conversation starter. It's about racial politics. And you could just like make a meal of the film in that way. A lot of different things. And that was like the first time I realized how interesting and fun and just in full. the process of making the movie is going to be was from that conversation because we so quickly and easily started just talking about race kind of more generally. And that ends up happening. Like Daniel and I even just promoting the movie find ourselves talking about all of it. And it's not something that a lot of people have a facility, you know, having conversing about. So one of the great things that Jordan did with this movie is he's giving people a way to talk about race that is kind of both unavoidable but also not as difficult as it otherwise is. Because as he's says the way we talk about race is kind of broken. And so why not put it in this context and see if that

works? And so it was, for me, it was a multitude of things that made me drawn to this. Like, I loved the, I loved Rose. I loved the person that I was going to be playing. I loved her relationship with Chris and just watching it shift from an urban setting where diversity is just sort of given to a suburban area where suddenly she's seeing her boyfriend through the eyes of through she's seeing her family through her boyfriend's eyes rather than the other way around and so um that became kind of one of the things that I was really obsessed with but then also I read it like four or five times before I saw everything so then I became obsessed with how layered it was yeah I'm excited to see it a second time oh my gosh when you see it a second time

it's a completely different movie yeah and again we're tiptoeing around a few things here I know I know it's welcome to the process of promoting this movie it's so hard but I mean And I can, without ruining anything, I think for a number of the actors, including yourself, there are ways to play these roles that there are different levels to these performances. Yeah, totally. And that must be both challenging and exciting for you as an actor. Definitely. And as the stakes change, like, also keep in mind, this was my first movie, my first, like, situation where I was introducing a character not over the course of, like, six years or three hours where I was a, you know. you know, the protagonist, and it's a character everyone already knows, like with Peter Pan.

So with girls, like, Marnie was a slow burn, and she shifted over time. And with Get Out, I was suddenly, like, faced with this pressure of, oh, I need an audience to, like, know rows deeply within 15 minutes, within a couple scenes. Right. And that's not something I've ever done before. So I was, like, I really, I worked really hard to prepare prior to going because I also had never done this. I just didn't, I wanted to be really ready because I didn't know what to expect. exactly on this end of it. I'd been a PA on a movie. I'd been an assistant on a movie, but I'd never been in a movie. So now being a veteran of one feature film.

I mean, you've obviously spent thousands of hours now on a set of girls, which I would assume every TV show, especially one that gets to run for a number of years, settles into a groove even had its particular, you know, um, way it works. Was there something specific about the way Lena and Jenny ran that set that that's not necessarily the norm you think on other sets? I need more data still. Because here's the thing. I've been so lucky. And this is partially why I didn't want to just do a movie to rip the band-aid off because I'm really protective of how perfectly the idea of what I do is framed in my mind. So you know, you're not, it's not going to be hundred percent. You're not only going to do amazing films. It's going to be one done at some point.

Of course I know that, but it felt really important to me that the first one be a good experience, more than anything else. If the movie itself wasn't great, it'd be a bummer, but that's okay. But the experience itself really mattered to me. Because the experiences I've had on set are I was a production assistant on Robert Altman's last movie, a Prairie Home Companion. I was Tina Fey's second assistant the summer she was shooting both Baby Mama and 30 Rock. I was the utility stand-in on the pilot of Boardwalk Empire directed by a young, up-and-coming Martin Scorsese. And then I was on girls, and then I did a couple episodes of my friends' TV shows, which were super fun. And then I did Peter Pan, and then I did this movie. And each of those experiences were unreal, and the set feelings were really positive.

And so I've been so protective of that. And then Get Out comes along. It's really risky in a lot of ways. We're going to Fairhope, Alabama. I move myself, my assistant, and my dog, and we get a house, and I just, like, move my life down south. And it was phenomenal. I didn't want it to end. I just find that with that track record, you're next going to do a direct-to-d-D-D-Steagall movie.

It seems like a strange choice. I'm bringing Seagall back to the theaters. I'll sit here first. Don't watch him on demand. He belongs on the big screen. We have learned too much about the martial arts from him. He deserves our attention. Yeah, I have no idea.

Yeah, but that's the thing. Like, what I told to my agents, and I wasn't really kidding, was like, if something comes in that seems too weird for any of your clients, just send it to me. Right. Because I, like, selfishly, I just like to keep myself kind of guessing because I feel like I've done Marnie. I don't, and I did kind of what I think is the best version of her, the one written by Lena Dunham and the girls' writers. So I don't feel the need to play someone in her realm again for a while. You're listening to Happy, Sad, Confused. We'll be right back after this.

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of FCAUS LLC. Do you feel like you dodged a bullet on Fantastic 4? You were in the running for that one. I don't see. That's the thing. I don't know. I guess because then I got to do Get Out and who knows what would have in the butterfly effect of things? I don't know. Like how many things have you gone up for that you actually really wanted that for whatever reason just didn't work out? Well, I can't. The thing that comes to mine most did not even come to me. It didn't even come my way because it had already been taken by someone, but it's Bell.

And I have to say that I'm just getting at a point where I can watch the whole trailer because I am, no, don't laugh. Bell is on my retainer. There are Bell flowers on my iPhone. You can see this. These come from a Bell sticker pack.

It's not a big, like, it's fine. Why are there tears coming down to your face? What's happening? No, no, no, I'm good, I'm good. No, it's like I feel like I am. I am who I am because of her, but, like, maybe that's too much to bring to a role. She was a bookworm. So, she's a bookworm, and that allowed me to feel like reading was cool when I was little.

And aside from a couple of bruises here and there from trying to read and walk at the same time, which Bell can do, because she's animated. And I couldn't do because I was bipedal and just dealing with gravity. I still am, by the way, bipedal. It's not quadruped yet. So I, like, when I heard that the movie was being made, I heard at the same time, either because I was late to the news or whatever, that Emma was playing. Right. And I had this thought where I was like, if anyone has to play Bell.

Sure. It's got to be her. Yeah. You know? Like, she feels like Bell to me. Yeah. And. Did you ever do any production of Beauty and the Beast in any incarnation in your life?

Oh, let me try to remember, like, Summer Camp plays. You sung karaoke? I think I have, actually. I think I was like a dish or something, which I just assumed would be the prelude to me playing Bell later. That's how Emma got it. But, like, for example, the most Starstruck I've ever been other than Julie Andrews, which is, you know, variation on a theme, is when I saw Alan Mencken on an airplane. And yes, I knew what he looked like because that's how deep it is. And for those who don't know, he wrote all the music to your favor of Beauty and the Beast and the Latin and a little mermaid.

So I saw him on an airplane. I was too nervous. I didn't say anything. After I landed, I got in touch with my agents and I asked them if I could get his email. And now we're friends and it's fine. And it's like the coolest thing in my life. Would he also agree that you're friends, or is he trying to block you at every pass? You know, it's weird.

He hasn't returned in my lap? No, I'm kidding. I think he would admit to our friendship, although he'd probably be much chiller about it than I am. I'm just daily every morning I wake up, like, I pop up in bed and I'm like, I'm friends with Ellen Macon. Any other Disney princesses that still could happen? It's really always been bell to me because the fact that one of the first characteristics that we know about her is her intelligence. and, I mean, listen, like, I, I loved Anna and Frozen, but I just think Bell there is something about her, except that once, you know, I'm not going to. Oh, wow.

We're going to really dissect it. Well, there's just, it's a little complicated. It's like, you know, the beast becomes cute and then it's on. But she was kind of into him before, you know? Maybe they've changed it for this new 2017 version, maybe they've realized some. She's like, the beauty is there and... Yeah, he never changes. I'll bring the beauty.

You bring the height and the fur. Maybe I shouldn't mention this, but Dan Stevens was just here. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my God. You okay? What's... No. What's wrong? No, I'm good. I'm good. I'm just going to pour myself some more dye coat and live my life.

Not as Bell. It's fine. But, so that's like that one is really, because I'm just seeing those... And I'm a Bachelor viewer, and they play all the time because of the crossover, Disney, ABC. So that's rough. It's like a trigger zone for me right now. But I'm cool. I'm dealing with it. You know, my, I don't know if this is my brother does a once upon a time on ABC.

I'm sure I can hook you up as any kind of princess you want on that show any time. I'm well aware of this connection. And I've been on a TV series not allowed to be on Once Upon a Time, but that has changed, my friend. So if they're willing, yeah, to have just a princess fanatic. I don't know if that fits into the storyline, just someone that likes princesses. A dark seventh season arc. Were you in the grieving process of the end of your day job? How are you doing?

I'm still in a place where I'm on a group chat with the girls, and we just kind of say I love you every once in a while in a way that feels like we broke up, but we're trying to stay on good terms. It feels really weird. When did you stop shooting? We stopped shooting. That's the thing. We shot until September, and then it's just been.

a normal, like, yearly cycle. So now we're promoting it, and that's why it's been... So it's going to get weird when it's time to go back to it. It'll get weird when it's time to go back. When my body is like, like a migrating bird, that my body's like, okay, time to go to Silver Cup. I may just find myself at Silver Cup for a table read that doesn't happen. Oh, I pity the security guard there that finds you. No, they're going to know.

There's going to be like a corner for girls cast members where they just direct us. I feel like Josh will just be crouched there, and I'll be like, you too. I'm just like, yeah, just felt right, you know? It's just really It's strange But it's a long goodbye Like the experience of rapping the show Even we don't all rap at the same time

Which was very unsatisfying to me I wanted like the entire thing to end Just together I wanted to be able to say goodbye to everybody At the same time So that was really hard And then promoting it is fun Because we see each other sporadically

But it isn't like again Like there's one definite Last moment that we're all going to be together So it's weird but I don't know yet. I don't know. So in looking back, because that's what all this press has been about

is like, you know, a chance to reflect. Yeah. Do you think about, because for whatever reason, that show and Lena herself became a lightning rod for people to like. No. Really?

Yeah. You didn't notice? Yeah, no. It's been real. It's been intense. So, I mean, did any of the kind of weird backlash, the weird kind of, quote-unquote controversies

catch you off guard more than others? The one that tickled me the most was the, the nepotism one just because it displayed like a fundamental lack of understanding about the way the business works that HBO would risk

their money and air time on a bunch of I guess parents who just called the network and said like please please she's so nice 10 episodes won't kill you on Sunday nights it's just it just was funny to us

because we were just like if only that were the way it worked we would be huge celebrities if like a news guy could call up a studio head and be like, here's the deal, Klepler. So that one tickled us. The one that felt most serious and real

was the criticism about the diversity. But as Lena said, like, she just wanted to write an experience that she knew she could write with authority. And the idea of trying to affect someone else's experience made her really cringy, which I agree. I think that would have felt really weird.

And so then it was about, you know, making a more diverse group of people that put the show together. Sure. But so that was, you know, know, a major one, but a show that shows four women being like fully real, warts and all, is always going to be controversial because that in and of itself is not something that everyone wants to see. Like, it's amazing to me that people still get mad at our show for not having

like soft lighting, sex scenes with like negliges and everyone's in perfect hair and makeup when they wake up in the morning. Like, if that's what you're looking for, an aspirational version of what life in your 20s in New York is like, this isn't the place for you. And by the way, there's plenty of that. You can find that elsewhere. I'm sure there is. Although I must say, like, in the TV shows that I see and watch now, I see a lot, I don't know if it's necessarily the DNA of girls, but just that general aesthetic. I see it

everywhere. True. Like, insecure feels like a sibling. Right, right, right. Is, um, so beyond binging on, well, it's not binging, because you're watching it clearly every week to week on Bachelor. Sure am, although I'm behind on last night, so if you know anything, you cannot talk. All I know is someone lost their dignity, I'm sure.

That's so reductive. You know, these are women. It could be the guy. I don't know. Well, yeah, well, the show is just so good. It's so good. Let it happen. You're smarter than me. I trust you.

Smarter than I. No, I'm not. I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it. You just sent me up so beautifully for that. Oh, I'm so illiterate. No, that's just an English major. Actually, no, more than being an English major.

People care about that less and less. I know you are. But my grandmother was an English teacher. And so she keeps us on our grammatical. toes. She is constantly correcting us. Me have another question for you, Allison Williams. Ask away.

Is there anything else you're watching? What do you answer right now? So much, a lot. Okay, let me think. I eagerly await, although I don't know when it's going to happen, the return of Atlanta, which was my favorite show this year. I confess, I haven't caught up yet. Everything here is amazing. It is so free. It's like the form of it is so free that you're able to go down so many different

experiences with these characters who you also, I also immediately feel like you know. They spend no time catering to the audience's needs, which I kind of love. Like, no unnecessary exposition. They don't hold your hand through it all, and I love that. I also loved insecure. I love crashing. I've only seen the one episode.

I really liked it. I'm seeing Pete next week. For a six-hour podcast? Yeah, I hope so. I'm going to wear a camel back and a diaper. I'm ready. Mine is easy, please. 25 minutes in and out.

It's so fast. It's too fast. As a listener, may I just say, it goes by too quickly. We haven't even talked about honk yet. Oh, my God, honk. Our legacy. I still have your thank you note. I think you're like one of only like two people ever to write a thank you note.

You're legendary for your thank you notes. Always, always for everything. It's the way it is. You know I permanently, not over that, but over thank you notes for Horizons, donations, I permanently injured my left hand. What? What happened? I got permanent nerve damage in my hand from writing too many notes.

That's not a joke. I have a hand injury from writing. thank you notes. Can you think of them we're type A injury to get? Do you have a staff now to write out your thank you notes? You just dictate. Yes, there's a line of people that I've hired that just sit at desks and write things. No, I still, I just kind of suffer through the pain. I do. I'll get you that. Look at that. How many times have you seen dear Evan Hanson? I feel like that's only the ones, but that's just because of my schedule. I will see it many more times. And I pretty much forced Ben into a friendship with me that is now consensual, but like Alan

Macon, it was aggressive on my part. He's just like, truly one of the most talented people I've ever seen. It's a beautiful show. It's a beautiful show. And he is, that's a tricky character. And in lesser hands, it might not work. And he's just so, he just does it so deftly. I'm really in awe of him.

And the show overall, I mean, everyone in the cast is amazing. But, yeah. Promoting other people's work whenever you're here. You're too, you know, you need to be selfish. Talk about yourself. No, we already did that. I spent quite a bit of time talking about myself. Well, what is coming up? Do you know? Do you have something specific?

I have, for the first time in my life, my adult life, I have just empty months on the calendar. And I'm very sad because those months used to have girls in them. So it's like the worst kind of empty months. But that I think will be really good for me because the last time I had this was when I graduated from college and I had the idea to make the madman music video, which got me cast on girls. So I really like this feeling of needing to prove myself and needing to. To myself. It's really only for me. It just helps. I like one my back's against the wall, and it's either I do it or no one's going to do it for me. That's kind of the mode I'm most comfortable in. And I'm sure that's fine. I'm sure I don't need to talk about that with a shrink or anything. That just seems healthy. But I am really looking forward to it. I have a bunch of things up my sleeves already. I've bought the rights to a book. I bought the rights to a podcast episode. Spoiler alert, not one of yours. I'm so sorry. Is it the episode you were on before?

I just wanted to be safe, man. I just wanted to cover all my bases. And then I'm working on a TV series with my friend Lily over at Jacks. So I'm really excited. I'm working on a lot of things. And I'm also just always doing my work with Horizons and Red. Horizons does summer enrichment programs for low-income kids in the U.S. And then Red does HIV and AIDS work overseas.

Amazing. It's very full and very happy. but it just is missing one very, very big thing. So I don't know. I'm constantly looking at my dog thinking, you are going to feel so smothered by me this summer because I'm just going to hold you against your will and weep into your fur every day that I'm not going to work.

Well, you've got the Steven Seagall film to look forward to at least. I know, and I'm very, may I say, very excited. Yeah, untitled Stephen Seagull, Alson Williams joins. You don't think that Jordan Kiel would put Seagall in a movie. Oh, you're totally right. He'd put him right in a movie. I've told the story before the last time. I interviewed Steven Seagal at a Best Buy once.

That seems so perfect. Was he ready to be interviewed? Were you just a shopper? I blindsided him. He was promoting the geek squad. Yeah. Sorry, I'm drinking Diet Coke. That's the number one good podcast sound, right?

Yeah, great. It was a dark time for Mr. Seagal, probably when my face and the camera just showed up in his face. But we don't want to end on that sad note. We want to end on happiness and joy. What do we do without the hat now? There's no hat so you can just drink your dress. Diet Coke and wander out of the room. Are you going to ask me something zany and that no one would know? What are you putting the pressure on me? Tell something zany. Oh, God, I just thought of something

really. Yeah. I keep a list of these in my phone. Hold on because they come up so much in interviews. Okay. I'll talk amongst yourselves. Yeah. Things like no one would know about you or whatever it is. Do you save those things for like a wait-night talk show stories? I do actually, which is. You keep a running list. I do because I can't like right now, like I'm showing right now, I cannot come up with things on the spot. Interesting Allison Williams list. Yeah, exactly. Interesting things about me.

Let's see. Nope, that's not the right document. Oh, okay. This is actually really, I can't believe. These are just like, I mean, I literally have a list that's like interview answers and tidbits. That's amazing. I would hear everything.

It's too long. I mean, it's really, really long. So there's like interview answers like people dead or alive because people are always asking. So I have Darwin. Like who you'd want to meet or dinner. Yeah, exactly. So I have Darwin and Michelangelo. And like female idols, acting idols, fun facts, least favorite word, awkward dating

moment, fear, bad habits, about privilege. That was about girls, I'm sure, doing girls' press. I've become much more comfortable speaking about my vast amount of privilege. Okay, what's a good one for me to... Okay, for the fun facts, let me see. Let me just. Welcome to the new segment on Happy Second Feus, Fun Facts. Oh, I can type. Oh, sorry, I interrupted your introduction.

I'm so sorry. Yeah, try it again. We don't have time to edit this, so we're just going to do it on the fly. Welcome to our brand new segment, Fun Facts with Allison Williams. Thank you so much for having me, Josh. Tell us a fun fact about yourself, Allison. I type really quickly without looking. I, in school.

Oh, sorry. That was fun facts. That was some letterman timing. Look at you. What else I have? I eat a black and white cookie a couple times a week. Oh, they're so good. Yeah, I have a donut every morning.

What kind of donut? From a street cart, like the street cart donuts where they have like coffee. My grimace is more of that you're choosing to do that. Vanilla frosted with sprinkles. I promise you they are better than any other donut you can find in New York. Too fancy. Dude, what are you doing? It is simple.

It's giant, first of all. It's twice the size of a normal donut. No, no, I'm talking about the small cake donuts. Have you had that a small cake donuts? It's too quaint for me. Too quaint. But their flavor, there's the Trey Leche. Why, I know.

Trey leche is not. You're getting condescending. I can tell the way you're talking to me. No, I'm getting the opposite of condescending because I'm arguing the case for street cart donuts who came from who knows where. You're a woman of the people. Yeah, exactly. I was also the person who this morning at the Today Show was completely starstruck when I saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. And then had to explain to everyone on my team who that was.

I was happy to do so. I'm trying to see if I have any other. that you would love. It's going to be hard to top the black and white cookie. My first letterman, I came outside and there was a homeless gentleman outside, and he asked my publicist who I was, and she goes, it's Allison Williams, and he goes, Allison, I don't know, I'm homeless and I don't have a TV, which I just thought was the moment that I was starting to get a little too big for my britches.

And then that really just, like, brought me down to Earth. And my least favorite word is nougat. I think it's the worst word. Do you enjoy nougat in its actual physical form or just the word? How did you just say it? Nuget. Why is it so fast? I'm a busy guy.

Nuggett. I don't really like the way it tastes, but I don't hate. No, it's not. It makes me, like, feel really weird. I also hate the word pithy because it sounds like you have a lisp. Piffy. And you can't unhear it. Well, that was a pithy nugget of a story, Allison.

Yeah, there you go. Nightmare. Throw up everywhere. Yeah, I don't like that word. And it's even worse in, like, I was talking to someone from New Zealand who pronounces it, like, New Ga. Which is even worse somehow. I crack my knuckles, you know. Oh, I have a fear of ventriloquist dummies. And then I also have written here a face in a dark window, which is like, well, Yeah, that's terrifying.

I don't know many people that have that under likes on Match.com. I love being in my kitchen and then just seeing a face in a dark window. Oh, my God, I need to edit this. It's so weird. What a fascinating insight. See, all the insight came from your own list, so thank you for that. Just from the mere fact of its existence. That's true, too.

But also, like, well, could you have predicted of anyone you've ever interviewed the one person that would have that? Thank you very much. You were Dan Stevens. Feels good to be known. Dan. Don't invoke his name again. It's too upsetting. It's like Beetlejuice.

You say it three times. You'll pop up. Don't make me try. We're not going to try. Okay, cool. It's good to see you, Allison. It's really good to see you. Go see you.

Get out, please. Seriously, guys. No, I mean this. This movie is awesome. I'm going to see it a second time, if not more. Yes, I highly recommend a second viewing because it's, it really, I know, I'm sure a lot of people say this, and I'm sure it sounds like I'm just trying to get ticket sales up, but I genuinely like come over to my house and watch it.

Like, you don't even have to pay. It just is different the second time. you see it. There's so much layered into it that Jordan put in so carefully that we all put into our performances that rewards the second time. And it's a fun night out in the theater with the crowd. Yeah, and go to dinner after. Yeah, go to a theater, listen to all the talk and the cheering and the, it's a very communal viewing experience, and then go to dinner after so you can deconstruct it or just call me. I feel like my phone number's pretty readily available. Just give me a call. Order a black and white cookie, get some nugget and just talk the night away.

How dare you? How dare you? Bye, Allison. Yeah, Josh. That was Allison Williams, currently starring in Get Out, out in theaters this Friday. And again, of course, you can always check her out on girls in its final season. Moving on, it's time to talk to Mr. Dan Stevens. Surprisingly, someone never on the podcast. I don't think I've ever even interviewed before, Sammy.

Wow. You were a Doughton fan, yes. I, oh, yes. Everybody loved. Was Matthew Crawley? Okay, I'm sorry, I wasn't a Doughton guy. The heir to Downton Abbey. Okay, well, we got along despite my lack of Downton knowledge.

It's such trash that you haven't watched that. I thought you were going to say the show is trash. No, you're trash. You're trash. I just rewatched the whole series again. Of course you did. And I was still heartbroken. I knew it was coming and I was still like, why?

We talk about his run on Downton and the end of Downton. And we also talk about his feature film career, which is really going very well. He's in Beauty and the Beast opening in a few weeks opposite Emma Watson. He is the beast of the title. He, it's going to be excited to hear him sing and do his whole thing. I was going to say. I didn't even know he could sing. Well, he's of that group that we know and love, the Brits that we love on this show.

He's in the Cumberbatch, Hiddleston's. The Triple Threats, if you will. Yes. And he's friends with all those guys. So it was inevitable that we were going to have him on the show. It's like your dream group of friends. friends to be in. You're just like run around the circle of them. I'm forcing myself

into this group, whether they like it or not. Hey, guys, want to get dinner? Bangers and Mash, anybody? You want to come over? Watch Game of Thrones? I've never watched it before, but I'll start if you want to. I would. But yes, Dan was delightful, and he's currently also starring in Legion on FX,

which is kind of one of the most talked about shows on TV right now. It's kind of part of the X-Men universe, but definitely has its own flair and feeling from the mind of Noah Hawley, who created that the great Fargo show on FX as well. So I guess without any further ado, there's a lot to talk to Dan about because it is his first time on Happy Second Fused, hopefully the first of many.

Hopefully. Let's calm down. Well, hopefully, just so that I catch a glimpse. Yeah, okay. We'll see what we can do next time around. I wonder why you didn't tell me when he was coming. He specifically mentioned that he didn't want you around. I guess he listened to the podcast.

I understand. But we'll make that connection next time. He's a New Yorker, so you guys might run it to each other. Oh, my God. Okay. Here's the delightful, the charming, the very talented, Mr. Dan Stevens. Are we rolling? We are now rolling. Good. Good. Welcome.

We've welcomed Mr. Dan Stevens into the podcast booth here at MTV. Dan, it's good to have you here. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having us. Our pads really haven't crossed surprisingly, except I will say, and I don't expect you to remember this, I interviewed you at the amazing, at the museum Junkett, which obviously is a memorable moment for you, the Junkett. It was. And I subjected you to a game of fuck, Mary Kill, in which I posed Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, and other luminaries such as that. And you looked like you wanted to go anywhere, but be in that room. Wow. That's really, yeah.

I'm sorry. So I just want basically the reason. F-Bomb Mary Kill, as it's known as on SNL. On SNL or today show. Yeah. So basically, I just brought you in here to apologize. us. That's apology accepted. I have a vague recollection of that, of that horrible moment. But we've moved on. We've grown as humans. And I think we've, you know, we're better people than we were

probably back then. You might be me, not so much. If it's any consolation, Ben Stiller hated it even more than you. That's sounds about right. I think that sounds about right. Yeah. Jervais loved Oh, yeah. That's his favorite game. Basically. But it is kind of surprising because I've, I've, Over the years at MTV, I've gotten to chat many, many times with some of your contemporaries. We've had all the Cumberbatches, the Hiddlestons, the, you know, the Red Mains, the Rebecca Halls. And yet you have alluded to my grasp, my friend. Well, what's going on? I mean, and you live here, by the way.

It wasn't deliberate. I do live here now. I've been here a few years. And I don't know. Maybe I haven't been in the right kind of projects that have piqued your interest or I don't know. So I've been chipping away, you know, and it's exciting to be here now. Well, we're making up for lost time because we have not only Legion, but also Beauty and the Beast to talk about a lot going on in your life. Congratulations on everything, man.

I watched the first three episodes of Legion. It's great. Thank you. I mean, I was a huge Noah Hawley fan. I'm sure you were. I was, yeah. I mean, a fan of his books and of the Fargo seasons, and particularly that second season of Fargo, I just thought was so. inventive and strange and but kind of confidently strange yeah and i think that's what attracted me going into legion was like this thing is so epic and weird it needs somebody like noah to be like yeah but it's going to be beautiful you know like he just sort of has this commits to that style like yeah and it's just so um it's sort of from coming from him it seems

so effortless you know it's like yeah this is weird so why not you know well and i think by the time people hear this at least one or two episodes will have aired so you've had a chance to zip your toe in and it definitely does feel like you know i mean i think when people heard about it and maybe didn't associate it with noa or didn't know what he had done you know sure comic book derived marble x-men that you have certain preconceived notions in your brain but i mean i don't know this is like this is a comic book series by way of like terry gilliam more than uh wow yeah i mean that's a great that's a huge compliment i'm a massive terry gillian fan i mean i uh yeah i I think with any show, really, you should be able to come at it without any preconceptors.

So, yeah, of course, there's the Noah Hawley factor. Yeah, of course, there's the X-Men factor. If you want to bring that to the table, great. There's stuff for you there. But equally, I think, you know, it would be kind of elitist to assume that you need, oh, you must have seen Fargo to really appreciate the nuances. It's like, no, just come and watch this show. So it's going to play with your perception, play with your brain a little bit.

And, yeah, it should be a fun, sort of trippy ride, I think. Well, it does feel like, especially if we've learned nothing in the last year or two of, like, again, comic book, quote-unquote properties and seeing, like, what, like, Deadpool did and kind of like to chart their own path. It's like there's a newfound, like, openness to, there are many ways to skin a cat. Definitely. And I think people, it's not that people are sort of bored of the old things. and I think there's still room for the kind of classic tropes of a superhero thing,

and there's that if you want it. But yeah, with Deadpool, with Guardians, you know, opening up a slightly kind of freakyer end of the spectrum, even with Dr. Strange and the kind of... The psychedelic kind of thing, yeah. Yeah, the vocabulary involved, you know, the visual and kind of conceptual vocabulary of like astral planes and these sort of magical realms, which Legion definitely touches on. It's not all about that, but it's... It definitely comes into play.

You know, Astral Plain is big in our world and it gets bigger. And, you know, just to have that sort of out there now in the consciousness, you know, Dr. Strange really, I thought, dealt with that in a really, it was a sort of neat primer in a way for something like Legion where it's like, oh, okay, I vaguely understand what they're getting at. So you're basically saying your old buddy Benedict basically just, like, it was very nice to just sort of like do a little amuse. It's like the prologue. Let's call him the prologue. That small little film helps boost the main event. event, which is...

He's not going to mind me going in that, right? No, it would be fine. So did, so, okay, we talked, Noah, we talked about sort of, that's obviously a big selling point. How did he describe the show to you? Or did you read a script or, like, what was, what's the vocabulary, what's the discussion of sort of, like, the reference points of the show? Yeah, I mean, there were a number.

And I think, you know, the whole project for me came out of a more kind of, it was a more abstract meeting of minds, really. I just met with knowledge to talk about various things. Legion not being that specific at that point. I'm sure it was in his mind, but it wasn't clearly on the table. He was just talking about, you know, we're talking about ideas. I was talking about one of the books of his that I'd read, Conspiracy of Tall Men, which is his first novel.

It's a brilliant novel, you know, that sort of really gets into the mind of a sort of paranoid conspiracy theorists brilliantly. And I love all that kind of stuff. And yeah, you know, we talked about the state of the world and mental health and 60s cinema, British and American, and a lot of music. He's very, very big into his music. And so, yeah, it kind of came out of a sort of smorgasbord of interest, really,

of, you know, visual and musical and literary. And, you know, we both love Borges, you know, his stories and the sort of the weirdness of something like J.G. Ballard. you know, the kind of dystopian, like near-future stuff, that's just sort of, you kind of dancing on the seam of the fabric of reality, really, just like looking ever so slightly into the future and thinking, you know, as X-Men does it, you know, the underlying ethos of X-Men is looking at human mutation and evolution and differences between us, how we treat those who are different to ourselves.

And I think Noah wanted to, you know, he wanted to take on this superhero genre, which is, let's face it, it's a massive genre now, and there's almost an expectation on any actor or filmmaker now. It's like, when are you going to do a thing? And he said, well, fine, you know, let's take this on, but let's look at it from a different angle with a different lens. And also maybe it's not all that violent, you know? It's not a kind of kicking, punching sort of thing.

Yeah, yeah. Not straight away, anyway. No, there's a nice little set. A little bit of the first episode, et cetera. The old punch here and there. There's an explosion or two. But that's not the main drive, you know, and it's not somebody who's, you know, comes into possession of their powers and just goes and, like, hits everything and solves the world by violence. It's, you know, it's taking a different approach.

And I think that's really, that's fundamental to the story. And it seems, I mean, you do have, like, someone like Simon Kinberg as a producer and does have, like, you know, some of the brain trust, it connects to this ex-universe. Yeah, and Lauren Shula, of course, who, you know, exact on all the X-Men movies. And Brian Singer is an EP. And yeah, so there's definitely, you know, you have the X-Men pedigree there. And, you know, I won't get too much away, but there's definitely, there are little, you know, tidbits here and there for the, for the, you know, the X-Men fan to sort of look out for and to engage with. You know, we've got Jeff, Jeff Loeb's influence from Marvel as well, you know. And there's been, you know, such an incredible array of different Marvel TV shows over the last few years.

and we're just another different one, I think. And Legion is a weird bubble in the X-Men Marvel universe, and it deserves a weird bubble of a show, I think. So how many meetings, auditions in the last three or four years have you had about superhero films? I mean, it does come with the territory. I mean, this is the world we're living in. I guess.

I don't know how many exactly. But, I mean, you've done that kind of thing. It's come up. You know, and you've obviously. Have you worn spandex in an audition, damn? No, but I did kind of wear spandex for the beast, but we'll get on to that. We'll get to that. That's a different kind of super here.

Exactly. No, I've never gotten as far in the audition process as to actually put on the spandex, which is probably the best for everybody. For your mental health, et cetera. I don't know. Mental health is, you know, hugely at risk in Legion, and there's no spandex in sight. That's true. Yeah.

So, I mean, I'll talk to me a little bit about, let's go back, if we could because you came in here and you visited me in my office just now. We reveled in our mutual love of a big trouble little China. So I do want to get a sense of sort of like your background and this kind of stuff you were into as a kid. So I know off the bat you obviously have good taste. Thank you. I'm glad I give that impression. What were you into as a kid? I mean, that's such a weird question and it sort of depends on the year, the moment, the day or whatever. I mean, John Carpenter was a huge influence. And I think that movie in particular, and I can talk about that movie forever, by the way.

So if you need to stop and we need to talk about something else, just pull me over. But I think, you know, without getting too specific, there's something about Kurt Russell's performance in that movie, which is so bat-shit crazy. And yet, he and John Carpenter clearly and everyone in that movie, it's just committing to this insanity. and he's clearly having such a great time that it beams out of the screen and as an actor as a kid growing up thinking that I might want to be an actor that's all I've ever really wanted to do

not be Jack Burton necessarily although hey you can do a lot worse never say never you know but to have that kind of fun on screen and to kind of communicate that kind of fun and silliness and fantasy and yet I don't know combine all those sort of action and comedy

and you know the way that he swore. It was just so cool. He had this like, this like baseless bravado. He's like an idiot who's just like plunged into the middle of like an action movie. And just like ridiculous muscle. For a truck driver, that guy is really ripped. I mean, and, you know, there's just so much that's, you know, what's not to like in that really?

Kim Cotral, incredible. Yeah. So, yeah. So, yes, that, you know, those were a huge part of my growing up. I also love like Kubrick movies. And, you know, Kubrick had a huge influence on me and on Noah. And I think, you know, there's a big, there's a big Kubrick influence in Legion. It's no secret.

You know, the institution is called Clockworks. You know, there's a, you know, it wears his references quite clearly on its sleeve. You know, my love interest is called Sid Barrett after the Pink Floyd member. And, you know, that sort of psychedelic influence is heavy. What's your favorite Kubrick film? Ooh, that's a good question. I mean, I can never get enough of 2001, really. I mean...

Yeah, see it on the big screen. Yeah. I think it's like Tom Hanks, it's his favorite movie. He's seen it like 50 times or something like that. I saw it here, actually, with the New York Philharmonic playing the score live, which was an incredible experience,

although there was quite a lot of the subscription audience for the New York Philharmonic were coming along, and I think a couple of them hadn't seen this film by Mr. Kubrick. They didn't know what they were in for. And there was an interval they built in. And I just had this old couple like shuffling down the aisle getting back to their seat

after the interval and the old guy said to his wife he said, well, if you thought nothing happened in the first half. I was like, yeah, maybe you're at the wrong show. The beauty of Kubrick is like

you can be somewhat of an expert because relatively easily because he only did what, like 12 movies maybe, etc. Like you can get through his Uber in a weekend if you really want to. Full metal jacket, I suppose.

It was a big That really left impression on me. And I guess the shining, God, I mean, now I'm thinking about it. I saw the shining on my own too young. I set the VCR one night it was on, and I was maybe nine or something. And it was like a covert thing where, and my folks didn't really know how to set the timer on the VCR. So this was, it involved some like recent, getting the instruction book for that and working out of this thing. You know, it started airing at like 11 p.m.

And I woke up the next morning. I was like, yes, it's on this tape. And then, you know, weeks later I was, you know, left in the house on my own and thought, right, now's the time. I'm going to watch The Shining. And it was like mid-afternoon, 3 p.m. or something. And I was absolutely terrified. It was like the scariest. Because it felt forbidden watching it, but also how just how horrifying and sort of deeply

disturbing it was, I felt like I'd really overstepped something. I should have taken baby steps. Yeah, there's a reason this is on at 11 p.m. on a Friday night. I should not be watching this. And yet I couldn't peel myself away. Yeah, and I guess other things like Lindsay Anderson. the film If had just an absolutely indelible effect on me

and again Malcolm McDowell first role having the time of his life like just an incredible role relishing everything and just looking like he was having the most gorgeous time and I just thought that

that's what a great movie should be it's like watching people who clearly really enjoyed making this for you in reading about you is correct to say that you were now as rebellious too strong a word Is this the Wikipedia kind of entry gone wrong?

I need to go on there and change that to something even weirder. That word keeps coming back. I mean, sure. Like as a teenager, where you were? I'm not very good with institutions. Okay. Which is funny that I end up on leading in one. But yeah, I've always sort of kicked against, you know, kicked against something.

I don't know. I don't know. I'm very into the power of protest. Let's put it that way. Well, it's a good time to be alive for you, though. Yeah, it's a busy time. It's a busy time. We'll keep you too long.

Did acting kind of give you a little bit of a structure, give you a little bit of like a focus for your energies? Yeah. I mean, for me, it was, you know, where do we put this kid who's misbehaving in class and distracting everybody? You know, what do we do we do we do we do we do we do we do we do we give him a role in this group play? Where did you grow up?

Yeah, British schools. Yeah, very arcane system. It's like, I'm afraid. Take him away. I'm afraid, Mr. Stevens, we had to put your son down. It's just too much of a distraction. but yeah no fortunately they opted for the school play

and yeah and I think it was you know it was almost it was almost a punishment and and partly a teacher going oh that's where this this guy needs to be right and so yeah that that started I guess the sort of channeling of those kind of energies

where I was just like I just you know I have this irrepressible orders to kind of get up and do dumb things sometimes And, you know, for other people's entertainment. Who will pay me to get up and do in dumb things? You know, and maybe make people laugh or think of it differently or kind of, you know, I just sort of, you know, I need to do something. And yeah, now I'm sort of doing it a lot. Who, and I referenced some of, you know, your contemporaries, were those people that you knew in your youth, like in drama school, etc?

Or did they kind of like interact a little later? Most of the guys you mentioned, I was at college at the same time as, Eddie Redmayne and Tom Hiddleston, Rebecca Hall, Khaled Abdallah, Egyptian English actor who's brilliant. They were all kind of contemporaries of mine. Benedict I met coming out of college and we were, I guess he'd just left drama school and I just left college or something. So he was a bit older, but we were coming up around the same sort of time.

And already I just respected his work so, so much. even his early little sort of character roles in things like atonement. Do you remember? Of course. Starter for 10 he popped up in. Start of 10. I actually was nearly in Start of a 10. It's a long story but I ended up doing a mini series instead. I had a tiny, tiny

role in Start of a 10. And that's where I met all of those guys. Corden, Don Cooper, Alice Eve. And the cast of that movie Yeah, yeah, that's like the big chill of Britain. It is right. It really is. And yeah, and I was sort of, I think I was right up to the

read through and, you know, I sort of met all those guys. And that was one of our, one of our first big things. And anyway, this BBC miniseries called The Line of Beauty came along and it was a role I couldn't turn down. It was just wonderful. And so instead of doing this one, it was like a one or two scene in drag, I think, playing ping pong in drag. I can't say no to this. What could have been, what the world could have had. But I, you know, among that group was there one that was like, okay, this is the, this person's going to be, this is, has such insane talent. This is, this this guy, this gal is going to be the one to watch. Well, they're all very, I mean, you know, very charismatic figures.

I think, you know, Rebecca Hall is an extraordinary actress. I mean, she really has something quite unique. And, you know, it's not been easy for someone of her casting. I think, you know, through her 20s, it was sort of an odd place to be. But now she's really, I mean, just incredible work. Check out Christine this past year. Yeah, yeah. And we shot a very, very.

a very curious little film last year called Permission. Oh, cool. Which, I think, it's probably coming out later this year. But, yeah, it's a sort of strange romantic comedy drama, which is fun. And, yeah, I'm big fans of all of them, really. I loved Eddie and Fantastic Beasts. You know, I think, again, like, talk about, you know, committing to something beautifully weird. Totally.

And he's just, you know, that mating dance. I was just going to say, that scene. It's like, you have to go all the way. You've got to go all in for that. And, but, you know, Benedict and that was Australian, like, they're all doing incredible work. And, um, are you the master impressionist that all these people are? Do you have, because, oh, not of them. I'm not saying of them. Just, just generally, um, give me your best Rebecca Hall impression. Right, exactly, right now. Um, no, I think they're all, they're all quite sort of chameleonic, but, um,

do you have that same kind of gene, you think? Maybe. I enjoy voices and voice work and accents and stuff. I don't really do sort of specific impressions. You don't have your Rickman at, at, at, I'm not going to ship in with the Rickman thing. I'm going to leave that between Hiddleston and Cumberbatch. I'm just trying to create a device of threesome now. Can you imagine?

Yeah. No, they get quite upset if other people start doing Rickman. It's like, they get very territorial about there. They seem sweet, but then. No, I'm not even going to try.

But I love it. This is Happy SAC and Fused. We'll be right back after this. So, I mean, and jumping into something like Beauty and the Beast, which is a scale of filmmaking that few have been a part of, and you certainly, the biggest film you've been a part of thus far. Definitely. Did it feel like, I mean, ironically, Emma, who's quite young, has experience in this side of things. Yeah, thank God, by the way. Did that help the process a bit?

Yeah, I mean, because the process of filming it, I don't know how much you know about the sort of, you know, I was puppeteering this motion capture suit on stilts. on set. So the sort of physical, the body of the beast was captured in the scene. And then we'd do these facial captures separately, you know, a few days later sometimes. And Emma would sit the other side of this UV booth that I was in and, you know, picking up my facial movements. And fortunately for me, I think had it, you know, had it been almost any other actress, there would have been this look in their eye of like, what the hell is going on? What are you wearing? Why are you sweating so much? Why are you so angry in boiling away in this giant rubber?

suit. But for her, you know, that technology has been, she's been at the vanguard of this kind of thing since she was 12 or something, you know, and with every movie that she's done, there's been a new wave of technology coming, oh, we're going to use this to make this crazy creature. So, Daniel Radcoop doesn't even exist. That's a robot. Right.

It's entirely the first, yeah, the world's first CGI movie store. I kept the movie you bought that. Incredible. But the fur is. So lifelike, the Radcliffe. So how did you feel first day on set when you're getting, you're insane? Oh, what do you look like on set? Terrified.

I looked like a crash test hippo on stilts. And I was... The world's most elaborate prank on you. Yeah, right? It could yet be. Maybe they'll just release a cut of me in my big, sweaty, gray, lycra suit. We couldn't afford the final effects. Sorry, Dan.

We just went back. We just thought your face was so funny, so red and angry. But no, it was a challenge, and it was terrifying. But like I say, having... having Emma there to quite literally hold my hand sometimes and sort of, I'd be like, are you okay? I was like, yeah, I'm fine, just a bit hot. Can I have a water?

It was great, you know, and it really did feel, you know, she was a sort of partner in crime in a way because there was such a collective faith on set. I mean, with any movie, I think. It's a sort of... It's an exercise in collective madness. It's like, okay, there's sort of 30 people, 70 people in this room and like trust us, we're going to shoot this thing

and it's going to look like this. And everybody somehow believes it. Maybe one or two don't, but they keep it quiet. And with this one, it was like you have these gorgeous lavish sets based on the ballroom from the Palace of Versailles, and it's all just so lush and gorgeous. And Emma there in a beautiful bell dress, and the lighting is incredible.

And then I kind of stomp in in these sort of modified leisure strider things, you know, in this giant sort of muscle suit and just sort of sweating away. And there was such a sort of a leap of faith for everybody being like, okay, this will be different.

Right. At the very least, this won't look like this, you know? And you have to sing. And I had to sing. So you're singing live on set in that get-up or is it pre-recorded and then they kind of... There's a bit of both. I think, yeah, it certainly wasn't all live. There were

there were a couple of scenes where there's a more spoken quality that we sort of captured in the scene but no there's a lot of studio time with the incredible mr mencken you know who wrote the original sure music and has written a couple of new ones for this one and yeah i mean working working with the hymn was like a once-in-a-lifetime thing as well just this this i mean true musical genius just pouring out you know like a broadway riff you know, and just being like, no, no, no, no, no, this, like this. And, you know, he'd just, he'd be revising the song as we'd be recording. Try this.

Try this bit of genius instead. Yeah, and I'd never really, I guess I'd never been that up close with a composer of that magnitude, really, who can, I mean, he literally breathes incredible riffs. Right. You know, and, yeah, it's, it was a fantastic experience. An amazing ensemble, by the way. Amazing. Amazing. I mean, a really, really nice.

Gregor in McKellen. I mean, that's, I mean, that's a large part down to Bill Condon, I think. And I'd worked briefly with him on the Fifth Estate, this movie with Benedict a few years ago, just a small part. But enough that Bill and I had gotten along. And I could also see that he's just, he's good at bringing together nice people, like nice people want to show up. And, you know, Stanley Tucci wants to come and do a role. You and McGregor, Ian McKellen has worked with him, you know, a couple of times. And, you know, gods and monsters is amazing.

Beautiful, beautiful film. And not only that, like, they got on well enough that they wanted to work together several times again. And that's always a good sign, right? You know, and it's a, you know. He's just going to make you wear that same costume each time in the future collaborations. Please, Bill. It doesn't make any sense to the story, but just do this for me, Dan. Just put it on for all time's sake.

We'll change it in post. He's going to add $50 million to the budget, but I need this to keep me happy during the production. Yeah, yeah. But no, there is something strange about, I guess, going on set, and, you know, you get ready and you look in the mirror and you're like, oh, this, I am the beast, you know, really, I will be, right, guys? You know, different sort of beast. But it's, it's, you know, all of, all of this is, you know, it draws on the imagination. And I think that just, it drew on untold resources of imagination, you know, it's like, I, I, I have to believe this.

And Emma has to believe this. Bill has to be, we've all got to believe this, right? It starts there and then hopefully billions worldwide, Bill. Yeah, hopefully you believe it too. So, I mean, it's been, it's been, it's been. to kind of see the evolution of your career, particularly in recent years. I mean, obviously, most people, many people first saw you in Downton Abbey. And I mean, so, you know, a lot's been written about, you know, your tenure on that and sort of the end of that and your interest.

I think, let's talk just in terms of, like, where you were at in your career when you got Downton. And did it feel like that was a big step for you? And did it, did the, the kind of massive acclaim and obsession would that take you a back? Or was that like, yeah, I've got Maggie Smith, Julian, fellows, this should be something big for all of us. I think the magnitude surprised all of us, including Julian and Maggie, who had experienced something similar in the past, maybe not as big, but they definitely, you know, they've had big moments, sure, before. The rest of us were slightly freaked out, I think, you know, it was just as such a runaway train. And you remember, this was commissioned in 2008.

There was, you know, a big recession happening in Britain. There wasn't a huge amount being made. It certainly didn't feel like a very flush time for the film industry or the television industry. And, you know, there was this show. It was a period drama that wasn't an adaptation of something. So it had a little bit of a fresh flavor. But it was a period drama. Sure.

And we make lots of those in Britain. And I'd made a few before that. And I thought great, you know, and I'd done a few period dramas running up to that and thought, well, I'll do one more and maybe. Give it a rest after this, you know, and Julian pitched me this three-year story, and it sounded great, and we just had our first kid, and I thought, this is fantastic. And, yeah, and then it happened. And, I mean, almost every country in the world, people have enjoyed that show. You know, it's extraordinary.

So, I mean, it's interesting, because you allude to the fact that, like, when you signed on, and it was for, like, that three-year kind of run initially, that you were like, okay, I'll do this one more of these, probably cognizant of the fact that, like, you know, you want to do other things in your career. It's the classic Maverick storyline, one last job on out kind of thing. Yeah, you're the lethal weapon of a... Do one more period drama. And then this thing explodes and, you know, people want more and want more, and you could have clearly

stayed if you had wanted to. Yeah. Do you feel in retrospect that, I mean, that became such a big, obviously, event when you, when you left the show that you handled it the right way that Julian did? Do you have any regrets in terms of, like, Because you've got some flack for it in a way. Sure. Yeah, I think it's always difficult for people to get their heads around why anyone would want to walk away from something that's so good.

Sure. And in my mind, it had always been a three-year thing. And I think the fact that it blew up and became such a success and wanted to continue, it continued to run counter to what I had in my brain. And I just, that never really went away, you know. And I think, you know, in discussion with my wife and my family, it was like, okay, you know, this is a three-year thing. But of course it was a big tear. It was a big decision. And yeah, I don't know.

I guess the shock of the ending, you know, how. The way it happened, the way it was killed. The way it went down, yeah. I mean, yeah. I think I can say there was one other draft. of that moment that was way more shocking

and you could say it now what happened I suppose I can so they he had him the whole family went to the hospital to visit Mary and the baby

and the whole gang were there and it was you know the same kind of moment beautiful new baby and then the whole family was sort of leaving the hospital and Mary was upstairs and was sort of walking out

and I turned to I can't remember Cora or one of the characters and said something like, I've never been happier in my life. Oh, no. Step off the curb and was hit by a grocery truck. I swear to God, that was the first incarnate. That was the first draft.

And, I mean, maybe there were others, but that was the first draft that we were allowed to see as a cast. And nobody knew how it was going to happen. We knew the whole series that somehow Matthew was going to be out. Sure. You know, whether he was going to go hiking in the Himalayas and never come back or something. But everyone in the cast just collectively went, no, no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, no, no.

No, no, no, no, no way. And so there was this sort of very, very quick lobby. And I think everybody felt that that was just too cruel. Yeah. So the one that you saw was the second most cruel that he could come up with. See people that complained, you see what you almost had? Yeah, it could have been so much worse. I don't know how that would have played out.

But, yeah, so, you know. It all worked out for everybody. It all worked out. It all worked out. And it's, you know, it was a lovely show. I had a great time and I left, you know, I left when it felt right for me. And obviously, that's not going to feel right for everyone. It's just said that you burn those bridges that Maggie Smith won't return your text messages anymore.

She hates me. Yeah. She really hates me. I know. You live your learn. Was the first thing you did after that, the Broadway play with the heiress with Chastain? I suppose it was. Yeah.

Yeah. I came over here to do that. And then while I was doing that, Scott Frank cast me in Walk Among the Tombsteads. Right. With Liam Leeson. Which began your yo-yo year of losing and then... Yeah, a lot of different looks and sizes and shapes. And it was a real, you know, I had a good few years and continuing, I guess, you know, a few years of exploration, you know, physical and mental and kind of, you know, trying a number of different genres. and thankfully that's possible. You know, thankfully somebody like Scott had the, you know, the great goodwill to say, well, let's see you, try it. You know, I think too often there's that attitude, you know, within the industry of like,

I've never seen you do this. Sorry. Yeah. Do what you did before. 10% different. Just, yeah. But actually to have somebody, you know, like Scott or like Sean Levy with Night in the Museum who just says, look, I've never seen you, I've never actually seen you do this, but I'd love to see you try.

Right. And we have a safe space here set out for you to try and do this. And so, yeah, you go and dye your hair and grow a very questionable moustache or whatever is required. And just, yeah, and try and explore and see what fits, what people enjoy watching you do, what you enjoy doing. And I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of people over here who've let me do that. And certainly you can't go without mentioning something like The Guest, which came, I think, after welcoming the Tombstones. I think it did, yes. And was, again, a transformative physically and just for your career, I think, obviously.

I mean, whether it was a huge financial film, and it definitely, I think it did fine for what it was. Yeah, it's become what they call a cult hit, which means it didn't make any money in its opening weekend. Hey, John Carpenter had his share a cult hit. Well, this is it, you see, and it was made very much. I mean, Adam Wingard is a huge carpenter nut. I mean, you think I'm into carpetism. That guy just lives and breathes Halloween 3, specifically Halloween 3. But anyway.

And then, you know, he found a composer who had Steve Moore, our composer, he realized in conversation with Adam that Steve had gone and sourced every single piece of electronic kit that was used on the soundtrack of Halloween 3 just as like a hobby. Just like, that's what I'm going to do. I want these things in my house. And Adam discovered this. It was like, you're my guy. So, you know, to have a guy who's not, he's not doing the Halloween 3 soundtrack, but it's all there. It feels like it's an undiscovered tracks from an old John Carpenter movie in a way. And Adam is, you know, very much a disciple of that school of cinema, really, you know, just like really beautiful, beautiful lighting, very unusual kind of set-ups.

And Adam himself is a great composer. He's always on his synth in his house. You go around his house and he's just got like a set of like blue lights on and he's just playing like really heady synth. He's like, Adam, you're right? He's like, yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Just just playing with something, you know. But no, you know, just to find people here who have such a kind of gloriously twisted sense of humor as well, you know, and who enjoy putting that into their projects and performances. and that's been a real treat to me as well.

I think the sense of humor of the guest was something that was as much a revelation to me as like doing an action film or doing something. It was like, oh, I can make this kind of film. You don't make a huge amount of movies like that in the UK really. You've got sort of, I guess Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and like Hot Fuzz and stuff, but even there, it's the joke is that we don't really make those films in England. And yet they're making one. Whereas the guest is, you do make films like that.

here and yet the guest you know it's like you make films kind of like this but not quite as twisted well and it's interesting to hear you talk about the kind of the films and the filmmakers that kind of like resonate with you and the kind of material because like you know you could be doing kind of the more kind of straight arrow leading man kind of thing but like the stuff you've been doing even if it's playing lance a lot he's got like a weird droopy nose and if it's the guest yeah he's got the body of the leading man but he's not the leading man in that conventional way no it's definitely it's playing with those paradigms you know the charm of a character like david uh in the guest you know and we just i think adam just wanted to to to set out and

make the most charming kind of psychopath that you could right come across you know and we were big fans of um things like american psycho where you know you know playing with the with those kind of humor i guess yeah yeah and sort of dancing with that with those sort of ideas um so yeah you know the guy from downtown abbey who everybody expects to be charming mr englishman actually coming in and you know killing your dog it's like it's like what's going on you know um and that's that's that's that's sort of fun that's that's fun to play with is that is that a difficult road to continue to go down are you finding obviously you are finding the material right now in terms of something like legion which kind of definitely fits the bill of what you're talking about yeah i mean legion

it's it's it's so up my street i can't tell you know and and and and so when noah pitched it to me, you know, it really wasn't a tough sell at all. I was like, oh, everything you're saying is exactly the kind of thing I would want to make and also want to watch. And I increasingly, I'm enjoying that sense as well of like aligning my choices and my career with things that I really enjoy and would want to see and make. Obviously, when you start out, you know, you're casting things that are your casting and you do those. And if you're lucky enough, you get room to explore a little bit beyond that. And that's, I guess, where I am at the moment. So I apologize in advance for the transparently click-bait question,

but it's a legitimate question, actually. So then something like James Bond, which any British actor in the right age range gets asked about all the time, and I'm about to do it too. Does that have any interest for you? I mean, as I would expect you or one of your contemporaries people we've talked about, it's probably going to be the next James Bond. That's kind of a crazy things even contemplate, but it's probably true. If they keep making them, then somebody's going to play him for sure. And yeah, I love those movies. And

I'm hugely honored when people sort of bring it up. Is it something that I'm like specifically working towards? No, not really. I just, I'm making the things that I make and if that piques the interest of somebody who's casting whatever, then that's great really. But I suppose

increasingly I just want the things that I'm making to to breed it more in that direction. Sure. You want your James Bond to drive a big rig like Jack Burton and... An Aston Martin truck. That's what James Bond needs. We've never seen that, yeah.

Who knows? And you mentioned the film with Rebecca Hall. We'll see that sometime, presumably, in the next year. Yes, yeah. And yeah, there's a couple of... The ticket, which is a beautiful little film I made a couple years ago with a young Israeli director who lives here in Williamsburg now

called Edo Fluke. It's his first English language feature about a blind man who regains his sight that's coming out in April. Nice. And a very, very different again, a really sort of haunting little film. So yeah, it's an interesting

mosaic of projects we've got coming up. It's nice. And still making your home in New York. I'm glad we have you to count as a New Yorker. Thank you. Yeah, I love it here. It's my favorite city in the world. It's been a great pleasure to get to know you today, Dan. I'm a big fan, and I can tell that you've got, you know, you obviously have great talent, but you also have great taste in film.

And hopefully the next time we see each other, we can do something really stupid or a silly sketch sometimes. Let's do it. All right, then. Congratulations on Legion, Beating the Beast. See you next time, yeah. Thanks. And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused.

Remember to review, write, and subscribe. to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. This episode of Happy, Sad, Confuse was produced by Michael Catano, James T. Green, Mukda Mohan, and Kashamahilovich for the MTV Podcast Network, with additional engineering by Little Everywhere. You can subscribe to this and all of our other shows on iTunes, Stitcher, Google, play Spotify or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts.

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We have Leonardo DiCaprio leading a revolution in one battle after another, Timothy Salome playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget Emma Stone and Jorgos Lanthamos' Bougonia. Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar in The Smashing Machine, Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuis' return from retirement. There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about, too. Tron Aries looks exceptional, plus Mortal Kombat 2, and Edgar writes, The Running Man, starring Glenn Powell.

Search for Raiders of the Lost podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.