Happy Sad Confused - Austin Butler

Episode Date: December 8, 2022

He may just be walking away with an Oscar in a few months. Austin Butler joins Josh to talk about everything from ELVIS and DUNE: PART 2 to how Broadway changed the course of his career. To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to Josh's youtube channel here! Check out the Happy Sad Confused patreon here! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes of GAME NIGHT, video versions of the podcast, and more! Come see Josh tape LIVE Happy Sad Confused conversations in New York City! December 8th with Kumail Nanjiani! Tickets available here! December 19th with Daniel Craig! Tickets available here! For all of your media headlines remember to subscribe to The Wakeup newsletter here! Thanks to our sponsors! ZBiotics: Give ZBiotics a try for yourself. Go to zbiotics.com/HAPPYSAD to get 15% off your first order when you use HAPPYSAD at checkout. ReelPaper: Head to ReelPaper.com/HAPPYSAD and sign up for a subscription using my code HAPPYSAD at checkout, you’ll automatically get 30% off your first order and FREE SHIPPING! EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/happysad Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

D.C. high volume, Batman. The Dark Nights definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio for the very first time. Fear, I have to make them afraid. He's got a motorcycle. Get after him or have you shot. What do you mean blow up the building? From this moment on,

none of you are safe. New episodes every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm going places, but I don't need to travel far to get there. I enrolled in fall classes at the new SLCC Haremont campus right here in my neighborhood. It's brand new with 91,000 square feet of amenities like a STEM learning center and career services. There's so much I can study from economics to psychology to information systems. And I'll save big on tuition with SLCC's low cost.

See you this fall at SLCC in Harriman. Enrolled today at SLCC.edu slash herriman. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Today on Happy, Sad, Confused, Austin Butler, from Tarantino to Elvis to Doom. Hey, guys, I'm Josh Horowitz, and welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Speaking to you today from Across the Pond, I'm in Merry Old England, a brisk, cool winter's day. in London. I'm here for Avatar guys. So I'm very excited, as you guys know by now, I'm a big

old avatar head, avatar nut, avatar guy. What do you call it an avatar fan? A person, a human being, because it's the biggest movie of all time. Anyway, I'm here for Avatar. I'm going to be at the world premiere. I'm doing an interview for MTV, and I may just be doing a podcast for happy say I confused coming very soon. So more to come on that front, as well as some exciting live events coming up in New York City. Some reminders for you guys, December 8th, just a couple days away. Kumail Nanjiani, come on out, guys. We are talking all things. Marvel, Star Wars, and his new limited series on Hulu, welcome to Chippendales. It's going to be a blast. Tickets are available right now. All the info is in the show notes. Plus, we've got Jane

Corden. We have announced that. Very excited to talk to James for the very first time on December 16th. He has a new series called Mammals. We'll be talking about that and also about the end of his late-night run. Next year is his last season as the host of the Late Late Show. So a lot to discuss with James. And then we're rounding out December with a big one, a doozy. Daniel Craig, December 19th at 92 NY. We're going to screen Glass Onion on the big screen and then have a big old career chat with a insanely talented leading man, 007 himself. I am so stoked for this one. It's going to be a blast. So all the information on all or live events is in the show notes. If you want some discount codes, sign up to our Patreon. Patreon.com slash happy, sad, confused.

Okay, let's talk to the main event. Austin Butler, guys, this is one of those exciting conversations where you talk to an actor, where it's just all coming together at the right time. And it certainly is for Austin. He is, of course, the leading man in Elvis, which is the film that came out, I guess, over the summer, but is still going strong and is very much now in the awards hunt. I would be shocked if Austin does not get an Oscar nomination. I would not be shocked, by the way, if he even wins. Some hefty competition in there, and Brendan Fraser and Colin Farrell and others.

but Austin's got as good as shot as any and well-deserved. He is amazing as Elvis. It is a transformative role. We know the Academy loves music biopics, but forget all that. This is just a great performance from a talented young actor who's finding his groove. He is working with the best filmmakers on the planet, whether it's Jeff Nichols right now. He's filming a movie right now with Jeff of Take Shelter and Mud Fame. Quentin Tarantino, of course, on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

And then the likes of Carrie Fukunaga on the small screen. That's going to be a project coming later next year. Denisville Nove. He has just wrapped on the second Dune film. And yes, if you know me at all, we dig into Dune. And, of course, Baz Luhrman on this latest endeavor, Elvis. So there was a lot to discuss with Austin. He's somebody that, another person who, like, I,

got to kind of like go on the ride with a little bit and have known for a number of years and talk to him about much different kinds of projects. And it's just so exciting to see him get all his well-deserved accolades right now. And he seems to be enjoying the moment, but he's also burying his head in the work, which is very cool. So let's get right to it. I should say for context, this was really sweet of Austin. He took time out from a very busy schedule.

He had just shot a long day on his new movie. the bike riders with Jeff Nichols and was kind enough to join me from his cold Cincinnati hotel room house, whatever he's renting over there. So I hope you guys enjoyed this. If you haven't checked out Elvis, it is available right now on HBO Max. And yeah, enjoy this catch-up. Me and Austin Butler. Mr. Austin Butler, it's time, man. Deep dive. Look, I've been wanting to do this for a while. It's so good to see you. I'm so happy for everything happening in your life. Thank you. We go way back.

I think back to being in my early 20s doing interviews with you. And I've been such a huge fan of yours. I always love talking to you. Thanks, buddy. I always say it's really fun. One of the benefits of sticking around is to go on the journey with folks at different parts of their career and to see you. I remember seeing you at Sundance with yoga hosers.

I remember seeing you at Comic Con with Shinar and all exciting projects in their own way but then to see like this is what you're digging into right now this is the juicy stuff this is this is what it's all about man so i hope you're i know you're busy but i hope you're taking a moment to enjoy this this crazy ride you're on right now yeah i am i feel so grateful i really really do i um yeah i mean i just came from set right now hence my just trying to keep warm in my freezing cold house in cincinnati um but i uh yeah it's it's been such a cool time right now So we're going to dig into a bunch, a lot of Elvis, but some other stuff too. You're right now, though, I do want to mention you are taking some time out from your busy

schedule shooting a film I'm very excited about. Jeff Nichols, I am all in for Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special, all of it. Not to mention this cast man, can we, can we, can we, can we rattle them off for a second? Jody Comer. Yeah. Norman Redis. Tom Frickin Hardy. Yeah.

And my spirit animal, I don't know if he started because I know he's doing a play here, Michael Shannon, right? Michael Shannon, yeah. The other night, I was watching him act, and Tom turned to me afterwards, and he just said it doesn't get any better than that. It was just, I felt so privileged to just get to, he had this two-page monologue, and I just, we were just sitting around, just watching him. It was, you know, when you watch close-up magic, and you can't see where the seams are,

and that's how it feels when you're watching him. It doesn't feel like you're watching acting at all. It's just a master class. so awesome. So can you hint a little bit about what this is? Have you just started? Like this is as the title. I wrap this next week. Oh, no kidding. Yeah. Yeah. So Mike's already finished. Tom finished last week. And yes, we're almost where the finish line is inside. But it's based off there's this wonderful photographer named Danny Lyons who took photographs of these motorcycle clubs in the 50s and 60s, and he interviewed them as well.

And so it's inspired by their stories and the amazing photographs that he took. And, yeah, so that's basically what it is. Do you ride? Did you ride before this? I wrote a bit, but I trained a lot for this. And so I was trying to train in the midst of doing Dune. and, yeah, so I had a little, you know, we've got an amazing guy out here named Jeff Melbourne who provides all the motorcycles, and so he and I would just go out and we'd ride for six hours

and just go every day, and so we train a lot. Amazing. We're riding old Harleys as well, so it's all like 1965 Harley is what I'm riding. so they're they got drum brakes rather than disc brakes so um so they they're they're it's like trying to stop a train they just they don't want to stop so they're they're tricky in the beginning but but the the skill set that's expanding the last couple years thanks of this diversity of roles is extraordinary i mean we can rattle off all the stuff you had to pick up on and really excel at an elvis i can only imagine what dene put you through to get in shape physically etc for

Doon, now add this. This is like, this is the fun stuff. This is like why actors do what they do. It's, I got to pinch myself every day and just go, this is my job. I get to ride motorcycles all day to day. Or with Quinn, you know, I'm riding horses every day. It gives you an excuse to learn all these things. It's really such a privilege.

So, so let's take a second. I, you know, I intimated how much of a kind of a groove you've fallen into the last few years, which is so exciting. The last five filmmakers that you have worked with, and I'm not even talking about the big TV series also that's going to come next year, which just sounds amazing too. Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmouche, Baz Luhrman, Denis Villeneuve, and Jeff Nichols. You might as well, like, write, like, my five favorite,

interesting filmmakers working today. It's like you can't write this any better. I guess my question about that, beyond just like noting that that awesomeness is like it must be really exciting to like give yourself fully to a filmmaker and to have the confidence that you can do that because a lot of actors early in the career they're working with different kind of filmmakers and you must have to like protect yourself to a degree but like everyone I just rattled off like you can feel the confidence that like I can give everything and they're going to take care of me and they're

going to make me look good yeah that's so true it's it's um you know to have trust when you're on set and like Baz was saying something the other day about how he feels one of his main jobs is to eliminate fear you know fear will always be there when you're on set but to but to create a space where you're not you're not afraid of the failing so you can push yourself right to the edge and you can so I mean today with Jeff you know we try to seem so many different ways and I could trust that at the end of the day I could I could go both and just be free, and he's got me. So you're so true about that.

And when you have somebody like Quentin or whoever, and they're an amazing writer on top of that, Jeff is such a great writer. So then you're held by his words as well. Yeah, it's amazing. Is there, okay, so segueing into Elvis, this epic undertaking in all respects, does that fear ever go away entirely?

I mean, yes, Baz is a very comfort. confident, great guy to be around. But you must feel at times like you're out on a limb and just teetering on the edge of greatness or horribleness. I don't know. Do you tell me? Yeah, it's, I mean, I often have to remind myself of that, the intensity of what the fear actually was, because it's, it was such a huge responsibility. And it could have gone so wrong. You know, there's so many traps to fall in. There's the tightrope that you're walking of, of, you know, wanting to have his soul, but then also somehow managed to find all the meticulous things that make Elvis, Elvis. But if you focus too much on either, then you lose the other. So you've got to walk this

fine tightrope. And I really, I mean, I truly mean it. I had that feeling of, if this doesn't go well, I'll never work again, you know, because so much faith had been put in me, you know, by Baz and by the studio and by all these people that believed in me. And so those first, I mean, the first couple weeks on set were incredibly nerve-wracking, and it never fully went away. But once you start getting some stuff under your belt that you feel, that you were able to capture something that maybe you didn't expect or you just feel the truth of a moment, then you end up having a little bit more confidence,

but I really couldn't sleep the whole time because I was just terrified. Well, I mean, that's a very honest and answer that I would expect because, I mean, what you said is very true. Like, it's, and we can laugh about it and smile about it now, but if this didn't work, I mean, look, you're, you're leading a very big movie and actors don't get a lot of shots at that. And if you, if this movie doesn't work, box off.

office critically, we don't know if you get another shot like this, to be honest. You could have a great career in many different respects, obviously. But this kind of career you're having right now, probably not. Yeah, it's true. It's so true. It's so true. I guess you have to just like, you can't let that could just destroy you. That could eat you up inside. You have to let go of that. Completely cripple you. Yeah. And usually for me, it was, it was the fear all the way, It was a fear when I woke up in the morning. It was fear when I'm, you know, leading up to any moment. But once I was on set and I was able to just live in that, then the fear got transferred

into something else. It becomes energy in a different way. Yeah. Yeah, but I mean, I'm, yeah, it was the time of my life. Like I had, I had so much fun. And I look back on it with so much fondness. But that type of fear is something I've never experienced before. Talk to me a little bit about, let's talk about BAS, because Bazz is like no one else.

And to be in his world and his orbit is so special. He makes you feel like the most special person in the world. He was on the podcast recently, and I went over to his townhouse in New York and just to like be there for a little. Is it really? And as you know. Where'd you do it? Were you upstairs in his office space? He gave me the whole tour.

I was in his little elevator. He was like running the elevator in this cramped space with. him and I'm like how did my life I'm sure you had the same experience like how did I get here what is happening and yes no I think we did it downstairs in like a screening room and but it and it feels so of a whole of him talk to me about like the world that he creates the environment that that he very uniquely creates Quentin creates a very unique environment but Baz is also very unique in many respects how would you define that the Baz Hormon experience because he doesn't have a there's no real demarcation between his life and art right you know there's there's this sort of endless

poetry of his existence that is amazing to be around um and so he he really he and and it goes down to even even the space that he created that that was what what we call the dojo which was my spot where I rehearsed and stuff. And so they had an entire soundstage. And when I showed up in Australia, they'd already decorated it. They made it into, it felt like I was in the 60s. And so he just makes it a great, it's just a great vibe everywhere that you go. And, you know, it's not like sometimes you'll shoot and then you walk off set and

then you feel the sort of, it's like you're breaking the fourth wall and suddenly you come back to this fluorescent lit room or something. But with, even the space he creates is that way. But it's how he lives his life. And I asked him about things like, how do you, how do you balance having a life and a family in the midst of wanting to, you know, the obsessive nature with which you create your art? Because that's been something. I've struggled with a lot. You know, it's when you, when you obsessed to the point that I wouldn't talk to my family, I wouldn't talk to, you know, I would kind of just be so, it's all encompassing.

And he said, you've got to bring everybody into your art or they will just fall by the wayside. And so he, he does that with his friends. He does it with his family. He does it with, he's just, it just, you end up getting in the orbit of, yeah, him in that way which is which is really beautiful it also feels like it's like a world of what's like endless possibility and and artistic expression in every way where it's like oh we're going to hang out tonight is j z and leo just going to like be on the couch when i'm like when i walk into his living room i mean that probably doesn't that's probably not too far off from reality right like

oh yeah i mean it's it's wild he'll tell you stories about you know he used to have a film club with David Bowie where the two of them would just watch films together and then take their dogs for walks and yeah I mean he's amazing in that way but I really another quality about him was I never I never heard him say no yeah it was never some people will lead with negative reinforcement he does the complete opposite where no matter who had an idea he would say you know what I like about what you're saying and then he would lead into something that then aligns with the vision that he's having. And he could make you feel like your idea was his idea, even though now you're going along more so maybe with his vision in that way. But that's

what's so beautiful is there's never this quality of anybody feeling like they were going to do the wrong thing, which is wonderful. It's so interesting because, look, you live this for a couple years and now it's the worlds, right? Like you have to kind of give it up and you're always going to have this experience, but it takes on a different life now, doesn't it, where you're seeing it filtered through the eyes of millions of people coming up to you and it's now their experience. Has it changed your perspective on what was once must have been felt very intimate and personal, and now is a different thing, a beautiful thing, but a different thing. Yeah. Yeah, I remember before it came out, even before I saw the film, why, I sometimes,

had moments where I thought, did we get it? Did we? You know, I remember filming it, but I don't, I don't know what the movie is, really. And then when I saw it, and then suddenly the world saw it, it was such an intimate thing. And we were also there in Australia when the pandemic hit. And I stayed in Australia that whole time. And so it was this, it was this world that we created and then and then suddenly now it's it's a it's a thing that people can you know hold on to as their own and um i'm just i i've just been um so moved by how there's there's you know there's an eight-year-old kid that i see who's watched it 17 times and he's wearing the jumpsuit or there's an 80-year-old woman that i meet who you was a huge Elvis fan and now she wants to

give me a hug because she feels a connection in that way. And I just feel really blessed to be sort of included in Elvis's legacy in that way. And not to mention, and I know you're a big movie buff and I want to talk about our interest in where they coincide her or not, but like I was looking at like the top box office of the year. And the top of the top, there's only one movie in the top 12 U.S. box office that is not, and I love comic movies, don't get me wrong, but it's not based on existing IP. sequel Pixar or something

and that's Elvis and that's amazing it's proof that there is an audience still for a big swing of an adult drama that can still play to different audiences as you just said but I mean

that's cool yeah so are you are you now forever forbidden from doing Elvis at karaoke do you have to like your friends say Austin sorry I yeah I

I don't really, I don't do karaoke anyway, really. I get pretty shy in that way, but I think I sort of, yeah, I don't know. We'll see maybe in like 20 years or something like that, but I think it's too soon. All right, guys, let's talk about security, specifically VPNs. Our sponsor this week is NordVPN. By now, I hope you guys know what a VPN is. It's, of course, a virtual private network. It's a service that protects your internet connection and privacy online.

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months for free that's four additional months for free guys it's completely risk free with nords 30 day money back guarantee the link of course is in the episode description but go over to nordvpn.com slash happy sad and remember to get your discount now You've had the luxury of being able to kind of bury your head in the work, right, since all this has happened. So I'm curious, like, look, and I'm allowed to say this because I have a different vantage point, and I've seen this happen, ma'am. I've seen this with different actors where, and I would count, I saw it happen with Pattinson, I saw it happen with your buddy Timmy Chalamey, where there is an energy around an actor, where it is not, it's just, I don't even know how to define it, but I'm seeing that, I'm feeling that for you. and I'm just curious, like, you're in the eye of the storm, and look, you're in the eye of the storm that's like a house in Cincinnati, so it's not like you're walking in the middle of New York or L.A. So I guess I'm just curious, like, do you still have a sense of what I'm talking about of like the energy that has shifted around you these last few months?

Or are you just so in the work that it's like, that sounds cool, Josh, but I'll take your word for it. Well, I feel it in pockets. You know, I felt it, you know, I feel it at Q&A's or that sort of thing. I really haven't, I've just been working. So it's kind of been glorious because I just, I just, I'm on set and I, and then I've got something that I'm really focused on. It's probably healthier this way, frankly, just like in this period of time, right? You want to enjoy it, but you don't want it to screw your head.

Acting is that way where you're only as good as you are in that scene. So you've got to just put your nose to the grindstone and just work as hard as you can. So it's keeping me from any, you know, from ever, you know, kind of getting caught up in that. Yeah. But it is, I've been surprised actually, like in Budapest when I was there, there's these really sweet people outside the hotel every day that were, you know, they're in Budapest and they had seen a film 30 times or something, you know. And that was actually surprising to me. I wasn't expecting that. Or here in Cincinnati, the same thing.

And so kind of just seeing how that's where I've seen it. I haven't spent much time elsewhere. But I'm going to take some time off after this. I hope you do. Yeah. I know you did pop up, I think, at the Governor's Awards, which is like the place where like everybody comes out. Was that, did you get to meet any?

I mean, look, you've been celebrity adjacent for many years. you know folks you've been around but like what did you meet anybody that night that blew your mind that was that's a complimentary thing Robert downy junior uh we we actually i mean there was pictures that we took together uh but he yeah he came up to me before we were sort of waiting in the line to get on the carpet and he came up and said really nice things and i'm such a huge fan of his work and uh and so that was really surreal and um i got to meet his wonderful wife And then we were on the carpet, and he kind of stepped where the photographers were. And he said, let me see how Butler does it.

And so I did some poses. And then I said, okay, Downey, let me see how you do it. And I watched him and do his. And then he said, get in here. Let's give him our best blue steel. And so then we did our blue steel pose. And we did that. That was, these are the moments that are very surreal to me.

Amazing. So wait, what is your blue steel? Do you have a default look for? I don't know. Yeah. Just, you know, I don't know. just trying to think what would what would zoolander do that's a good default in life that's usually what i'd do on the carpet amazing um his by the way the new doc he just did

about his dad is amazing if you haven't checked it out it just dropped on netflix it's amazing amazing i i heard great things about that i can't wait to watch it so let's talk a little about movies growing up what who helped define what you loved about acting or filmmaking do you remember Did you have a, was it your mom who I know you were very close with? Was it a friend or a sibling? How did you kind of define your own taste early on? It was my dad. Really?

And then I had people when I got into acting who were mentors to me, older people that I was around, that turned me on certain films. But my dad was a huge classic movie fan. I mean, he still is. And, you know, I've talked about how we always had Turner Classic Movies on. It was, I was thinking about it the other day. the first movie I ever I have a vivid memory of being, I must have been like

four or five years old laying on my dad's chest like he was like asleep on the couch and I was I was laying there like sort of laying sideways and watching the good the bad and the ugly and that was the first film I ever remember seeing

so it was that and then it was a lot of like my dad loved De Niro so it was watching taxi driver and Main Street and King of Comedy and Raging Bull and all of that. And then East of Eden was really impactful to me and rebel without a cause. So a lot of those classic films on the waterfront. It's always important to see like, because some of the things you said,

it's like, wait, should a kid be watching it? But it's always important to see it like two or three years before you actually should be watching it. I feel like that sweet spot. Yeah, totally. It's like opens your eyes to a bigger world. For me, I was too young to probably be seeing Pulp Fiction, but I was 11 or something like that.

I just became obsessed with the writing. I printed out the script. Totally. What about genre kind of stuff? Like, you just finished doing, and I'll pick your brain about that. But were you into comic books or superheroes or Star Wars or all that or not really? I mean, when I was a kid, I remember one birthday. I had a Spider-Man birthday cake.

So I liked I liked Spider-Man and I, you know, I liked comic books. But I never read comic books. Right. I didn't really grow up watching, I wasn't a big comic book watcher, you know, but I always enjoy them when I see them. I know you've talked about, as with many young actors, they put up folks like De Niro, but for the next generation, it was the Caprio and the way he carried himself and the choices he made, et cetera, everything about it. The acting, but also the way he crafted a career. did was was I guess when did you guys because you've connected obviously thanks through quentin et cetera is he somebody that you can lean on can in this very pivotal time in your career that

you can kind of pick the brain of yeah I mean he I'll just say like when I was when I was you know starting around 14 and I'm acting Leo was the guy he was the guy that I looked at and I just thought he's done this flawlessly to be able to transition you know in making Gilbert grape and basketball diaries and then moving forward and Romeo and Juliet and all the films that he's just you see how much work he puts into everything that he does yep and he never it's as though he never takes his foot off the gas he gives it 100% every time I respect that so much about him and it was learning that he you know around the time of aviator he started working with this acting coach Larry Moss and so when I was 15 I wrote Larry a letter and I said yeah I would I would do anything to

work with you and and it was it was a couple years later I did a play in LA and I I finally got to work with Larry for the first time and um but Leo's been you know it's been I've had a lot of really special moments now like like the night that I saw Elvis for the first time he was there and and and he sort of snuck in in the back and then and then we got to see each other afterward and And we, and we just talked for a long, we talked for a long while. And, yeah, it's moments like that that, you know, to be able to pick his brain. And he's just, he's very generous. And he's also, he's somehow, I mean, I'm so impressed with it.

He's remained very humble and knows how, how lucky we are. Right. You know, I mean, that's something he told me one night. And we're so lucky in this industry just to get an inch. And so we are so fortunate and never lose sight of that. And so that type of thing, you know, I think that's what gives you longevity in that way because then you don't take it for granted. Well, and he knows like you do, because he's been acting his entire life. And he was the kid star on the sitcom and everything.

And that's a path. And it's fine. It's great. It can be rewarding in its own way. And I'm sure the stuff on Nick and Disney you enjoyed and you wouldn't trade that in. But not a lot of people are able to make that transition. And it's just like, and it seems from the outside looking in, the pivot point for you. And it's a really admirable thing that you did.

I mean, on paper, it looks like, why wouldn't you do that? But a lot of actors wouldn't is working on Iceman Cummuth and going and making a point of like trying to do theater, trying to do Broadway and taking a, on something like that, does that in retrospect feel like maybe the biggest pivot point in the career? 100%. That changed everything for me. It changed it internally and externally,

you know, in other people's minds, but kind of the most valuable thing was proving to myself. Because the way that I sort of didn't, you know, in the same way with Elvis, I had something that was in front of me

and I an acting teacher who told me years ago they said Eugene O'Neill I mean especially the Ice Man Come with is like

the Everest of theater and I mean it's a four hour play we had three intermissions it's it's it really it's a the subject matter

that the amount of text that you have with it and so I I just saw it as this incredible challenge and so it's proven to myself that

but then it was getting to be in the rehearsal room with Denzel and just see how he works and I mean, he's my hero and he's just so incredibly hardworking and doesn't rest on

his laurels and doesn't rest on if the last night went very well for a certain reason. He doesn't try to recreate it. He's newly alive that night. And there's so many of those things that I learned from him and just you really I know that I'll go back to theater

it really is where you learn because you keep digging deeper every night and you'll have a night where it really doesn't work and you got to go back home and it's so humbling and then you go, okay, how can I see this scene differently? How can I dig deeper into the truth of this? So it was that, but then it was also during that time is when I got the audition

for a Quentin's film. And so I flew back on my one day off to go meet with him. And I wasn't then an L.A. actor. I was the guy who was on Broadway with Denzel coming, flying back on my day off to meet with him. So even just perception-wise, that shifts things. But also, you know, I didn't know what part I was auditioning for when I showed up to meet him.

And I hadn't seen any material. but when he hands it to you and you're doing eight hours on stage on Saturday, you know, it kind of, it's like lifting weights all day and then or working out with a weight vest and then you take it off and it makes everything else a little smoother. I mean, look, it's it's hard to pop off a screen when you have the likes of like, you know, Brad Pitt and Leo on it, but you make more than an impression in that film's text in your few scenes. he shot a lot of that movie like is it was there was there a lot more that you shot

were there other scenes of texts or was that basically what we saw in the finish film yeah we shot a lot more in the car you know that the car scene was was I'm trying to remember now what other stuff we shot he did shoot a lot more of other things but particularly the car I remember there was there was things that I love that we got to do but you know that was also my first time shooting on film

and so being in the car and hearing the the sort of purr of the film and Quentin doesn't watch on a monitor so he's right there just watching you and it was so special no cell phones allowed right the whole thing you give him up yeah

yeah what's the mantra like why do we do this because we love making movies how great is that so great and so true it's a good reminder so true When I last spoke to you, you were about to shoot Dune.

And I think Timmy and everybody, I think they just wrapped. I think that the last day was, I think, today or yesterday. Amazing. So this movie exists or it will exist. I couldn't, I could not be more excited for you. So excited. So, look, I'm not going to try to get like the spoilery stuff. But just in general terms, first, can you just tell me, like, how it happened?

Like, did you, did you have to audition or did? You know, miraculously, no. I, I, I just, uh, Deney was in town. I was in L.A. at the time and, and, uh, and Deney just asked to meet for coffee. And so we met, we met for coffee and we really hit it off. And we, uh, we just talked a lot about how we like to work, you know, and, um, we talked about the, you know, the part and how I, I would approach. and that sort of thing, and then he said, you know, I'm going to dream on this. And then he called

me a week later. And he said, I would love for you to join me on Aracchus. So that was, that's a good moment. Yeah. Can you say anything about what the prep was, like what the approach was to a character? Like, Fade is a, it's kind of a son of a bitch man. That guy's, he's a tough, tough cookie. Cunning counterpoint to Paul in many respects. Yeah. I mean, I, I, how much am i allowed to say um i mean i i will say i i trained i trained a lot for four months both both just to get my just kind of for whatever may be thrown at me you know uh you know just to get my my body into a place where i could be a sort of physically imposing presence um and And then trained a lot in Budapest as well, once we kind of knew more of what was going on.

And, yeah, I don't know how much more I'm glad to say. We haven't seen the look of it yet. Are we going to be, do you like the look that you arrived at for this character? I think it's going to be, yeah, it's going to be great. Okay, one last thing. Let me ask you this. Just working with Timothy. I'm just curious, who's so bricking talented.

I adore that guy. I don't know if you knew him prior to this. Yeah, no. We never met before. We bonded immediately. I really love him a lot. And I've been a huge fan of his work. And then, you know, getting to be out there.

And there weren't a lot of people our age necessarily. And so we stuck together. And yeah, he feels like a brother. now and we had he's he's a he's amazing i really enjoyed my time with him amazing well fair warning i'm going to be pestering you with questions the next year every time i see you we'll talk and and then i'll keep finding out more and more little drips and drabs you can give me just give you a little bit just tease you a bit i can take it um can you uh can you leo we took been talking about leo and timmy said this that the advice that leo gave him was no

superheroes and no hard drugs it's good advice it's hey did he give you the same advice and where are you where are you at i'm not going to ask about the drugs i mean that's a no-brainer but the uh but superheroes is that like i mean he found a path where he didn't have to do it he found his own path he really did and and you know i'm sure there's a there's a way um you know i thought what patins did with with the batman was i i i thought i he was fantastic and um and there's there's many elegant exciting ways of doing that yeah um i'm i'm really just i'm driven by filmmakers and by characters you know so uh yeah that's that's that's what's what's driving me right is there look we rattled off the recent filmmakers you've

worked with is there i don't know who who have you been obsessed with in recent years like who's is it the same short list everybody would have like who yeah i mean Paul Thomas Anderson is the top of the list for me. You know, I just, that would be my dream. I adore him. Magnolia, I've seen probably more than any. Magnolia is epic. Punch drunk love, you know, you just had Adam on.

And, you know, I got to meet recently, and we've been seeing each other around. Yeah. I'd sort of have a fan boy moment with him because Punch Drunk loves one of my favorite movies of all time. I was just talking to him about that, the scenes with him on the phone with Philip Seymour Hoffman. And he somehow, Phil, who's, of course, like, one of the five greatest actors of the last hundred years. And somehow Adam is, like, almost outacting Phil in those scenes and he's just meeting him. It's just remarkable. He's so good in that movie.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I could go on and on about PTA. Yeah. But I... Have you met him yet? Or has he...

Have you crossed him? Yeah. And he's so lovely. And I met him because Gary Getsman, who did Masters of the Air. right is the inspiration for yeah like a phrase so so i was very fortunate to get to meet him through through gary but um yeah you know what else i i just saw the other day was trying to love sadness oh it's on my list that's on my pile over here i need to watch it yeah what reuben listening is doing i'm just obsessed with him it's so good um you got to tell me yeah like i will text me afterwards let me

know what you think i'm really curious to pick your brain about that one i will um but yeah um so you're i'm always fascinated look i'm catching you in the middle of the shoot like what do what is life like now i know you're towards the end of it but like if i wasn't talking to you would you just be going straight to bet like would you turn on a movie like how do you and i guess it's different on each project but like what keeps you going in the middle of the shoot what do you like during a shoot you're talking about like how you weren't so great with like figuring out family and everything like can you have friends and family in your life when you're shooting or is that just off limits at this point in your life i have a hard i have a hard time so i have to i have to make it a conscious

thing yeah it's got to be it's it's like i've got to create a structure where on my day off you know right now we're shooting six day weeks so tomorrow's my day off so i've got certain people that are at the top of my list of family and friends and even if it's just sending a text usually I'll FaceTime on that type of thing keeps me grounded in that. I do watch a lot of films, you know, and I find I'll go through periods where I don't because I'm only focusing on the scripts and on maybe something that's purely for inspiration for a particular scene or something. But every time that I, and right now I'm in a period where I'm watching a lot of films

and I just get so inspired by it because it reminds you of why you do what you do. And because, you know, it can, especially right now, I've been flying back to L.A. every weekend, you know, and on those flights loading up on the, on the flights catching up on everything. Just, just doing press. And then I fly back. So I usually try to sleep on the flight, but I, but it's, it's that thing where you can get exhausted, you know, you kind of burn the candle at both ends. Yeah. But every time I watch a film, then I'm, I'm pumped up and I'm really excited. and just love watching movies. So I'll let you go on this. We were talking about fear early on. I don't know if there's fear involved,

but you're going to be hosting Saturday Night Live soon, man. There's so much fear. Yeah, I've picked a lot of people's brains about it already. You know, when I was trying to decide if I was actually going to say yes to it, because it just felt so much easier to just go, no. No, you know. But I watched SNL. with my mom almost every week when I was a kid it is it's such a I feel so uh I don't know

just honored and and and kind of amazed that that I'm even in that space and but I've I've loved it for so long so I asked the first one of the first people I asked was I mean I asked Timmy about and then I asked Christopher Walkin and Chris just told me you got to do it and so wait how do you No, Chris. Oh, Chris Malkins is the emperor. Oh, my God. He's the emperor. He loved it. He said more cowbell. Just give him more cowbell. A cowbell. And yeah. So I, yeah, so I eventually, yeah. Now, once I sort of committed to that, then I've just been so excited. And we've got the yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a huge fan of theirs. I'm ready to just, you know, I was so shy when I was younger. And I still am. But now I just have tools to sort of deal

with it. But I would break out of my show when I would make my grandma laugh or my mom laugh and just do silly voices and faces and just, uh, so I'm kind of like it's, it's, you know, it's going back to that. I feel like it's going to be like one of those like Adam Driver moments where like we've never seen this side of an actor before. I can't wait. Just give yourself over to it. Enjoy it. Like we said, like the bottom line is you're super talented. And look, if you can pull off four hours a night doing Eugene O'Neill, you can handle 90 minutes of you'll be you'll be good yeah it'll be fine it's gonna be amazing um again man i really appreciate it i know like you're you're a busy dude and i really appreciate you making the time but this was

one i was so excited for you you're you're so amazing in this movie man i'm so happy for you and and like i said it's just like i feel like my my my faith was validated i was like that guy has something and then here we are so thanks buddy you're a good friend and i really love talking always. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, 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. Okay, it's official. We are very much in the final sprint to election. Day. And face it, between debates, polling releases, even court appearances, it can feel

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