Happy Sad Confused - Caitriona Balfe

Episode Date: May 9, 2016

Caitriona Balfe, the lovely and talented star of Outlander on Starz joins Josh this week to talk about playing Claire Beauchamp in Outlander, Money Monster, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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or go to explorevolvo.com. Don't miss Swiped, a new movie inspired by the provocative real-life story of the visionary founder of online dating platform Bumble. Played by Lily James, Swiped introduces recent college grad Whitney Wolfe as she uses grit and ingenuity to break into the male-dominated tech industry to become the youngest female self-made billionaire. An official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival, the Hulu original film Swiped, is now streaming only on Disney Plus. Hey guys, and welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. I'm Josh Horowitz, and welcome to this week's podcast featuring the lovely and talented star of Outlander and the new film Money Monster, Katrina Balf. I hope that's how you pronounce her last name. It occurred to me right before I recorded this intro, Sammy, who's with me today.

Hello. Hi. That I never actually, you know, when you say hello to someone, you're not like, hi, Sammy Heller. Is that how you pronounce your last name, by the way? It's Heller. You don't know. So I'm hoping I got that pronunciation right.

It's B-A-L-F-E. But what else? No, you were right. It's Heller. Sammy Heller. They were right about it. I wasn't worried about offending you. Got it.

Katrina is our second Outlander star in just a matter of three or four weeks on the show. Of course, Sam Hewan came by a few weeks ago. And it was not necessarily. frankly, my plan to get both of them in. It just sort of happened that way. Sam was in town. I knew I have friends who were very much into the show. And I was like, okay, this seems like an interesting show to talk about it, a person to have in.

And then Katrina's people, I think, knew that Sam was on. It's like, oh, she's going to be around two. And that's how it all happened. I'm just, I'm not, I'm trying to hold it together. So, yeah, so here's, so the context is, and first of all, thank you, those that reached out about the, about the Sam episode, because I got really a lot of great feedback from them back right we want him back right calm down sam people are very excited about it um i know that the show has uh huge fans that are listening right now um that are eager

for you know a substantive interview with these stars and um and sam was not a disappointment and i think uh i certainly um fell in love with katrina in this interview she's she's awesome super smart super fun and um and i and i you know i confess it's not a confession it's it's just it's just what it is. I'm not, I'm not pretending to be an outlander devotee. And Sammy, you are recently an outlander. I watched every episode over three days and my life has changed. This is in the last week, the last few days. Yeah, like as of last night, I caught up to the most recent one. So you're in the fear, you have the fever. It's like, it's, I tweeted about it the other, I'm like at the point of my outlander obsession where I'm watching like montages put to like cold play songs of them on

the internet. And the fact that Sam was here and I wasn't in this headspace yet, it's a waste. It is like Outlander. It's like we, our times have. Oh God, you're doing that. You're now actually comparing your life to the show now. This is the warning sign. I am probably the first five foot one Jewish girl who's going to Scotland to find, to find her husband. Look, as far as I know, I think Sam's still available as far as I know. This could happen. Oh, wow. You just started to blush.

You just turned to each thing. So clearly. Sison, no. You don't know what that means. No, but I've seen it referenced in many a tweet. So hopefully I did it justice. This is not, look, I will tell you if you didn't. I know you will.

I know you will. So I did, I seem to have done all right with Sam. Hopefully I will honor the fans with this conversation with Katrina, which like the Sam conversation is not, it's not centered entirely on Outlander. her whole career and this new film, Money Monster, in which she stars alongside George Clooney and Julia Roberts, and it starts by Jodie Foster. So she's doing some really exciting, cool things. So, but yeah, she's awesome. And I will have them both back because I think we all hit it off, and I think hopefully we can do something fun next time. Oh, my God, you're blushing

going to. I'm like very worked up. Well, guys, I just want to also say very clearly, this is not, I'm not, this is not in competition with Hugh Jackman. He was on a different level. He was, cannot be touched. No, I just felt like you got, like, it's important to Hugh that I make it very clear. That he still knows you're, he's the one true. That's like a spiritual connection. This is just a base animal connection. This is an animal.

This is like, I have to lay down for a little bit. Oh, my God. Okay, well, you can do that after this conversation. That's going to be so good. I can't wait. Also, worth mentioning, I got a really exciting opportunity. to go to the White House correspondent's dinner last week, which was really fun.

It was not a work thing. It was just something I happened to get invited to through my wife, actually. And we had a great time, and we ran into our good old buddy, Tom Hiddleston. On a special day. Well, yeah, so Sammy had tweeted to me and others reminding us that apparently, I don't know how you knew, but it was the four-year anniversary. I have an app called Time Hop. So I had taken pictures at the shoot.

It was like four years ago today. So Sammy, if you're a fan of Lockeed and what we've done with Tom, Sammy is in the sketch as the cashier. Cashier number one. Exactly. A great performance. Thank you so much. So, yes, she reminded me on that day that it was the four-year anniversary.

So when I was chatting with Tom, we were chatting for a while, and turns the end of the conversation, I was like, by the way, someone pointed out to me. Someone? Sammy Heller, who you worked with four years ago. And he was like, oh, yes, she playing cashier number one. Cashier number one pointed out to me today. It was four years ago that we did Loki. And he was shocked to hear that and excited to hear that.

And then he insisted, I'll have you know, he insisted that we then do photos of us doing the kind of lokied, like, mustache churling. Wendy was the name of the mustache. Don't pretend like you don't. Of course I know. Of course I know. So that was his idea. And you can see the photos on my silly Instagram feed. So that's the story behind the Tom Hiddleston run in at the correspondence dinner.

But it was, you know, I know a lot of you have seen it or seen clips. but it was a pretty special night to see Obama deliver that amazing speech. Who was at your table, anyone? Oh, I was sitting with, so I was, at my table was former, like, heads of the White House Correspondents Association, so it was kind of old season journalists, but literally right. And, exactly, yeah, definitely, definitely not a seasoned journalist. And then sitting right behind me, like, I'm talking, like, right behind me at the next table was Brian Cranston.

Oh. Yep. And then it's such a weird room. It was kind of amazing. And then, like, like, a table or two over was our good old. Buddy Carly, Carly Kloss was there. Who else was nearby? Did she, um...

We didn't talk, we didn't talk. I decided not to interrupt. You did, like, the thing where you talk with your eyes. Yeah, we did the head nod, that old connection. Unspoken head nod. Yeah. Trying to think, I was trying to find Miles. Miles Teller was there.

I didn't, I didn't get a chance to bump into him. Miles Davis? No, not Miles Davis. Miles Taylor. Oh. Oh. Who else was there? Everyone was there.

Everyone was there. Well, I was trying to, like, seek out that I knew. Like, Emma Watson was there. Taylor Swift. Did you? Taylor Smith was not there. No, incorrect. You're thinking Metball now.

Yeah, yes. Mixing up two ginormous things. Well, I'm thinking of Hittleston. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Yeah, I saw the video. The dance. Yeah, the dance. So Emma Watson.

Emma Watson. I'm trying to think who else. I don't know. Barack Obama. Barack Obama was there. That's crazy. I would say the two people that got the most attention in that room prior to the actual thing, like starting in terms of white people that wanted their photographs with them was Bernie

Sanders and Will Smith. I know you love your Will Smith. I get it. It was like, Will Smith was like the president in the room. You don't get it. No, I get it. Of course I get it. I just, yeah.

I have a bigger reaction to Will Smith than you did. That's probably true. That's what you're talking about. So that's the correspondence dinner in a nutshell. It was a surreal, bizarre night and I shall not soon forget it. Ah, not a night to soon be forgotten. Exactly. Oh, God.

Okay, that's a good segue into this conversation. Oh, my God, I'm so excited. Okay, start it, start it. All right, calm down. Let's go. I hope you guys enjoy this extended to chat with the star of Outlander and the Star of Money Monster. Check it out in theaters this Friday. The amazingly talented Katrina Balf.

Balfi? Balfi. I think it's Balfa. Bulfa. Katrina. Enjoy Katrina. Cat. That's true, cat.

It's true? Yes, you call it. I know because we're friends. Oh, my God. Yeah, you've got some cool shit. A lot of arrested developments in this office. That is, we're often rolling, and I'll explain to you, Kat, that that is a painting that Danny McBride did of me. No way.

Seriously? Yes. That is amazing. My favorite story related to that. I thought you were going to say your three-year-old son. Well, that's exactly it. To name drop for a second, I had Danny Boyle on the podcast a couple months ago, and as he's walking out, he gestures to the painting, and he just goes, how old? And I'm like, I think he's about

40, 41. I love it. Amazing, right? Thank you so much for stopping by today. Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. You got a lot going on. Obviously, the second season is more than up and running. People are loving it. And I'm very excited about Money Monster. I haven't seen it yet. I apologize. They haven't shown it too much yet, but I mean, come on, Jody Foster directing. That's enough to get me in the door. Yeah, it's very exciting. It was such a cool project. It's, it's this fantastic thriller that's set in the financial world and set in the world of high frequency trading. And, you know, it's my character, she is the head of PR for this high frequency trading investment bank. And you get to see, you know, what happens when something catastrophic goes

wrong in that world and what are the consequences and what are the consequences for the everyday man I just I loved that world I've such a interest in economics such not such a massive knowledge but I won't pretend to be an expert either but I mean it's it's smart and cool in that it's you know I was going to say we see plenty of thrillers we actually don't even see that many great thrillers done but it's cool to see a thriller that's set in contemporary times that has something to say that's dealing with some stuff that we're actually dealing with, that has some weight to it, too. Yeah, I mean, it's so timely right now, but also what Jody has done so fantastically, you know, this isn't a preachy movie. It's also a fantastic thriller, and, you know,

it just, it's such a great ride that you're brought on, and you see it, you know, you see it through the eyes of all of these amazing, different characters, but I always love films where when I walk out of a film at the end of the day, I go and I think about it, and I question something about my life or my world. Sure. You know, I think that this does that fantastically. As you can tell from my office, I'm a big old film dork, and I'm also a sucker for films that kind of experiment with the format.

And this, I mean, this is essentially in real time, as I understand it, right? And do you feel like, are you kind of like in your own world, in your own film? Because you're not, as I understand it, even just looking at the materials. You're not on the set with them. You're not in Clooney World. You know, it was so interesting filming it because it was such a different type of beast technically. My first day, we did one of the scenes where I'm in the lobby and I'm being, you know, it's the idea is that that's been fed through a video monitor into the TV screens.

Right. So I had George and Jack in an earpiece in my ear playing this whole scene that they were doing, you know, offset somewhere off site and I'm reacting to that. So there was a lot of that. I kind of went around for about four weeks, five weeks with an earpiece in my ear, just listening to everyone chatting somewhere else. Well, the good news is a lot of people, day-to-day walk around with George Clooney talking to the in their brain and they're just insane. Well, I had Julia Roberts. I had Tinkerbell in my ear, you know. And it was funny, there was a couple of days where I was in one of those, I was next door to them in a studio and

I was behind a green, or in front of a green screen. So they could see me and hear me, but I could only hear them. And they were making fun of me and like having these conversations, but it's weird when you, you know, you have Julia and everyone in your ear and you're like, okay. How did I get to this place? This is awesome. Well, I mean, that's kind of what I want to get to, too, because, I mean, you know, the arc of your career is definitely a unique one. And clearly, you know, Outlander has opened the doors to some very exciting new opportunities like this. Is this where you imagined you would be? I mean, if I talked to you 10 years ago, was this, was this the game plan or what? Oh, God. There was no game plan. So it's probably why there's such a weird trajectory. No, I mean, I started off. I was studying theater in Dublin. And then while I was there, at the end of my first year, I got scouted. And I was given this opportunity to move to Paris, which, you know, when someone offers you to get out of dreary old Dublin, you're like, yeah, I'll do that.

And then, you know, there was sort of this detour that I took for a decade. And, but I, you know, I got to the point where I knew I'd always wanted to be an actor since I was three years old. I've been annoying my family with, you know, various impressions and plays and different things. So that was always the hope was that I was going to go back to it. But I had no, you know, you just, I moved to L.A. and you just kind of get into classes and you've no idea how you're going to get your fun in the door, first of all. So it was a series of lucky events and a lot of hard work and somehow brought me here. So what was the, to my weird little office in downtown New York, sorry about that. There have been greater heights than today.

No, this is perfect. Oh, this is it. This is what you wanted to get into the business for? So what were your invitations? What were the voices you were doing? What was the first? What was your repertoire? I'm not asking.

I did used to do Margaret Thatcher when I was about five or six. I don't know why. That killed? It was just amazing? I don't. Probably not. No. I mean, it was probably awful.

But that was one that I remember doing. Yeah. So, I mean, you know, you talk about, I mean, you had a fully, you know, more than a prosperous career. You had a great career going. I mean, did you find that like when you made the shift back into acting that the modeling career gave you a leg up or did it give you, was there a lot of explaining like, no, no, really, this is what I always wanted to do. I'm not just one of those that just wants to dabble. Yeah, well, you know, I think I was lucky that I had a successful career before, but it wasn't, you know, we always caught. myself and a few of my girlfriends, we'd call ourselves the blue collar models, because we were like, we worked well, but we, you know, we weren't known people. So by the time I went to L.A., I mean, I think it was more just that thing of being like, I'm not a maw, as we call them, you know, model actress, whatever. But I think it also fueled me to like stay in class and work hard and not settle for Hot Girl number two roles, which, you know, in the beginning. beginning, those were kind of the things that I was being put forward for. And it was constantly a battle to be like, I, I'm not going to wear the tight dress and push my boobs up because that's not the girl I am. And so, you know, I don't know, but it, yeah, it worked out.

At least it wasn't hot girl number 10. You started the hot girl number two, so you didn't have that far to go up. No, you know, in the beginning, you take what you can get as well. Exactly. Exactly. My ulterior motive for having you here today is I'm actually going to Dublin for the first time in a few weeks on vacation. So if you want to just give me the 101, what do I need to do? What do I need to avoid? Probably cleanse your liver now in preparation.

Fair enough. Okay, done. Bring a lot of wet weather gear. No, Dublin's a great city. It's a very small city. You'll walk around and also get out of Dublin. Yeah, that's the plan. Truthfully, that is a fan.

We're going to be there. My wife and I are going for five days and we're just starting in Dublin and then we're going off. Yeah, Dublin's fantastic. But you can do that in two days. And then I would get in a car and go see. the countryside because, you know, I'm a country girl. That's, that's where it's at. So what's the hidden gem that I might not find in a guidebook that I should?

Well, it depends where you're going. I mean, I used to always spend most of my summers in Dunnigall, which is one of the most beautiful parts of Ireland, but anywhere carries beautiful cork. I mean, once you go coastlines, you can't go wrong. Yeah, you're spoiled. I mean, if you end up in my town, Monaghan, you might have, like, taken a wrong detail somewhere, but. So what is, what's the hometown like? What's it known for? What is it known for? I think in the guidebooks, it says if you're here, you're probably on your way to somewhere else. We're like a small border town in the Midlands, which, you know, yeah.

We're known for Patrick Kavana, great Irish writer. Okay, okay, okay, that's where he's from. O' Stony Gray Soil of Monaghan. Nice. You burgle the bank of my youth. That will tell you a lot. That's what he said about it. What else are we?

Yeah, that's about it. So does that explain to a degree, again, the opportunity at, whatever age it was, when Paris came calling it, it wasn't necessarily like you were dying to become a model, but, oh, wow, this is a way out and way into cool, interesting, on charter territory. I had, I'd been to London before. You've done that. So you're superworldly is what you're saying. I've gone to London once.

Yeah, I mean, we didn't, growing up, we didn't go abroad. So I was itching to get out of Ireland and travel the world. And when that opportunity presented itself, I kind of, I think they literally came, the woman who was in the office that I met her, she was like, well, would you like to go to Paris? I was like, when? And so I think I was, I think it was a week later. Wow. And it's weird, you know, because when you're a model, they just give you this piece of paper and directions. And I mean, I was 18, but I hadn't a clue.

And they were like, so take a bus from Paris airport, go to this address. And so I, you know, I'd never been in France before. I barely spoke any French. And I had, like, bad high school, terrible French. But I got off this bus and I go with my massive suitcase to an office. And they take my suitcase and they give me another piece of paper with addresses on it. And they go across to the metro station, get your cart du ranch, which is your metro ticket. Right.

And go to these three appointments and be back here by six o'clock. And you're like, sorry, what? Who? I'm not a functional adult yet. I don't know who told you that I was a real person. I mean, it's terrifying. And at least I'm European. I mean, you know, there are girls coming from Russia who are like 14 in doing that.

And you would meet them sometimes crying on the subway. And you're both like, you know, sharing tears and addresses and trying to figure out your plan to Paris, you know. But it was definitely a good education. Did that mature you in an aggressive sort of way? Like, once you were in it, then did you find that you caught up quickly and kind of? Yeah, you have to. I think if you don't, bad things happen. No, you know, it was a great education.

I mean, I became quite worldwide pretty quick. And, you know, after three months, I was living in Japan and I was there for like three months. And that's a whole other world as well. But it was an amazing opportunity. I mean, there's definitely things that I think should change about that industry. But I also think it's an incredible experience to have gone through. Okay, well, last thing, since you bring it up and then we'll get back into the lucre acting career, what would you change? Like, hey, you are the high priestess of modeling. You're the

queen of modeling. You can change anything about the system. I mean, I don't think people under 16 should be doing it. I really don't. And I just think there should be more safeguards. I think that, you know, the acting world is a perfect example of how it's done well. You know, they're, I think SAG and I think everyone in the acting world, they look after people and there's safeguards in place, and that should be the way it is. Don't have them a piece of paper and tell them where to go. Don't trust them. Find your way. You'll be fine.

What's the worst that could happen? So, okay, so prior even to modeling, give me a sense again, you alluded to this at first, but when did acting, when did performing even enter into your brain in a semi-serious way? I mean, from a very early age, I was always in youth theater. I think it was probably about seven when I did my first play, which was Oliver. and I played Mr. Bumble, so that goes to show you how tall I was compared to all the other kids my age. Why I was the guy, though.

I still haven't figured out that part. I don't remember why I was... Is there video? Is there photographic evidence of this? No, my God, I don't think there is. You've burned it all. But, like, you know, growing up in Ireland, there is kind of a rich local theater culture there. And so, you know, I did the pantomimes

and all of those things and school plays. And my dad, he was a guard of sergeant, which a police sergeant. But he and his friends, they used to do these comedy skits. So he was part of a comedy troupe. So I guess in some way that's where I got it from. But I remember being about 10 or 11 and filling in for the woman that was part of their group a couple of times if she was away. So which was probably really odd.

But she played the accordion and I could play the accordion. So I would do this one thing. You have all these hidden talents. Margaret Thatcher imitations, accordion. You could start a variety show. I mean, accordion screams, cool. Accordian and Margaret Thatcher, what a girl I am. That's the one friends very early on.

Hey, come on over. I'll play the accordion for you. Why was I hanging out with my dad and his friends? I just don't get it. So when you come back around, what's the first, what are the first jobs? What's the first time back on camera when you were? Well, my very first job was Super 8. Right.

And I played Dead Mom. Dead Mom, number one, at least. Yeah. Hey, the whole movie hangs on your character. Yeah, well, you know, it was a really great opportunity. I'd met with, I'd auditioned for it and JJ, you know, was, he was like, yeah, you know, you've got the role and was very great and sort of went to bat for me and sort of changed my visa over, which was great for me at the time. And I went to West Virginia where they were filming and I was there for about a week. But I, you know, worked a lot with Kyle Chandler and JJ also did.

some of the stuff on Super 8 and it was an amazing experience for my first job and that was very cool and then around the same time I then got a web series called H-plus which was it was a really cool project. It was a Brian Singer produced that. John Cabrera and he was the writer and it was a really cool project and we went down to Chile for a month which you know for a web series is not bad. Yeah. And I worked with some great people and it's funny I have some very good friends and that Hannah Simone was on that, and that was her first job, and that was my second job. And she went on then to do, you know, a new girl, and Mir Arison is on it, who's now on the blacklist. Right.

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Stream replay only on Go-90, a free mobile entertainment app available on iOS and Android. Go to www.replayseries.com to watch the first episode of replay right now. Did you feel like you were rusty at the time? Did it come back to you? I mean, did you feel like, okay, I've got what it takes or I need to catch up with my peers that have been doing this for the last decade? Well, at this point, I've been in L.A. about a year and a half. And so I'd been in class, like, solidly for that year and a half, which is my little return to college. You know, I felt green and nervous, but I, you know, the beauty of it was, these were both jobs that were kind of nice, easing into it. And I learned a lot on them.

And especially the web series, I mean, H-plus, I learned so much on that job. And it was such a little family unit as well, that it was such a great experience. I mean, we were all like, how are we ever going to replicate this? Like, for our first jobs, this is like such a great feeling. It's probably never going to be like this again. but I've been pretty lucky that everything I've done has always had, like, great crews and people have been really nice. Now, did you feel prepared once the opportunity of Outlander came around? Did it feel like I'm ready for this, or this is going to be a ginormous kind of leap, and this is going to be a major challenge?

I mean, I was so naive. I hadn't done any TV at all. I'd never done a guest star, and I probably hadn't worked for about, for about, eight, nine months before I got that job. I mean, I was definitely at the point where I was like, what am I doing? Am I going to be able to pay my rent? And, you know, all of those things are like, am I deluding myself? Like, what is this all about?

And so I got the job, but there was no time to think about it. I mean, it was, but I, you know, I think I've always had this inner confidence or delusion where I knew that I loved doing it. And I knew that it was what I'd always wanted to do. So therefore, ergo, I hoped that that meant that I could do it, you know? So once we got to Scotland, I mean, I got cast on, they announced my casting on a Tuesday, and by Friday I was in Scotland. Crazy. So you didn't have time to kind of melt your brain about it.

And then we had two weeks once I got there of, well, there was no clothes for me. So the poor costume department were just, I was in fittings every day. And they were like sewing up. Yarned, whying. Exactly. Between that and there was some dialect coaching because obviously I was playing someone from England and it was quite an RP and then there was, you know, some horse riding lessons because I also fudged at that that I could horse ride.

Classic, classic. See, that means you're a true actor if you're lying about your resume. If I have the, yeah, the classic I can horse ride. Of course I can. It was also just so busy but we had John Dahl, who's this amazing director. and he was the director for the first two blocks. And so, you know, we had a couple of rehearsals and things. But the great thing about John is, like, one of the first things he said, he was kind of

like, I'm not here to tell you how to act. Like, you guys have been cast because you know what you're doing. Right. Which I was internally going, really? You're like, uh-huh, sure. So John's style is very laid back and just let you do what you want to do. Right. Which I think also was probably the best thing that could have happened to me because it made me,

sort of have that confidence and it made me just be like okay well you know what you're doing yeah because you don't want a director who's putting you on edge on the first day being like prove to me that you can do this because ostensibly you've proven it by getting cast and yeah I mean I think stars

and Sony probably were a little nervous I mean they did get a they did get an acting coach for me but she lasted about two days what happened well she was very micromanaging and I you know I did feel that thing of like either

let me get on with what I'm doing. You know, you don't want someone getting you in your head. Was she like line readings, like adjusting, like, minutia like that? Would she just come in after every take and just comment on what I was doing? And it was like, I don't want to know. Like, you know, unless there's something really wrong, like, don't make me aware. I'm in the scene with someone. You're killing any spontaneity that I could possibly get, yeah.

So that had to go. Such a free Madonna. Hey, it's for the process. It all worked out. So I just had salmon here a couple of weeks. ago, a really disgusting man inside and out. Not a good person. So rude.

People don't talk about it. Such a huge ego. But kind of, I mean, kind of fun that you guys have been able to go through this experience together in that like, you know, he wasn't a name person at the time either. And to kind of, I would think, you know, a shoulder to lean on and to kind of be like, this is insane. Isn't this insane? And to look across.

I mean, having that sounding board and being able to be there for each other as friends and, you know, very early on we were both down in London getting our hair destroyed and we went for this big long walk him with this bright red mop and me with a poodle perm and it was you know we sort of just were like okay like we're about to go into this crazy experience together and like I think you know we were both I think we both are quite similar people in a lot of ways and I think we were both like right well let's just make sure that we always check in with each other and you know we got each other's back so and we have you know it's been a bonding experience for us but it's been so important to be able to have that you know as we're going through this whole new experience together being able to be like is this okay should we accept this right is this not like what do we think about this and yeah it's important you know have you i asked him the same question um the second go around on the second season new things that you've discovered uh working with him a year plus in that you didn't realize at first um you know i just think the whole experience has deepened um

you know, character-wise, also our responsibility has gotten larger in a way, you know. Are you talking about outside of the show itself in terms of just like carrying the name of the show out? Well, I think the first time, you know, we were filming in such a little bubble the first time and nobody really cared what we were doing. Or you didn't know better that they cared, yeah. And so there was a real, there was a real innocence to it and that was great and it sort of let it be its own thing. And I mean, now we just have more responsibilities in terms of, like, you know, the workload is bigger and you have more press and all of these things to do. But coming back again, it was like, all right, well, now that we've done that season, you know, how do we preserve our characters and, you know, fight for certain things? It's just, you know, you also realize where you have a little bit of power, where you don't, what those negotiations are.

And that's everything from, you know, fighting for writer, you know, fighting for character pieces or. or you know how you're treated in the grand scheme where how the crew is you know all of those things and well and in a way I would think you're almost trying to replicate that bubble in a way and throw all the other stuff away and it's pretty easy to replicate a bubble when you're out in the highlands it becomes its own bubble yeah but yeah you know we're totally immersed in it which is nice you know it's like you don't have too many distractions right in the middle of nowhere in Scotland do the fans come out in the most remote of regions can you still spot them I mean, it's crazy.

I don't know how they find us. We're all, like, we're convinced that there's some tracking device on some of the, like, the crew vans or something. Because, well, we have this one group, the outlandish bakers. They will literally come to the middle of a mountain with baked goodies, sorry. As devoted fans go, you could do a lot worse. I mean, how bad is that? I mean, you know, people have crazy fans. We're like, yes, stop baking us goods.

That's so horrible. But, no, it's great. And, you know, also in Scotland, you can't really lock down places. So if we're filming in a town or whatever, you know, there's a lot of people who come around. But they're really respectful and polite. And it's quite nice. It's nice to know that people care. Yeah, yeah.

The alternative is not what you want. No. When I tweeted about you coming on today, Sam weighed in in terms of what we should talk about. Oh, what did he say? One simple word. He just said, Eddie. Why does he want me to talk about my camera? I swear he just wants to paint me as a crazy cat lady.

It's not happening, Hugh. So you're not a crazy cat lady. I mean, I have a cat. Is the Twitter account run by you or anybody you know? No. I mean, this is the thing. And I'm like, stop talking to this person. Perpetuating this insanity.

I think she has two Twitter handles, by the way. There was three. I think somebody's stepped away. With not insignificant followings, by the way. We were actually joking about it over dinner last night, me and my friends, and we looked at it. one of my friends, Donal, was disgusted because she had more followers than he did. It was so good.

I was like, you're such a loser. My cat's got more followers than you. So is the cat always close by? Is the cat within a block of us right now? No, she didn't come to New York this time. She's been here. She originated from here. I got her in a deli in Brooklyn.

Do they sell cats and deli's in Brooklyn? No, she was giving away per thing. Her and her brother, I used to live in South Williamsburg. And so one day I was going home And by the way, because I tried to adopt a cat From Petco or wherever And because I was a foreigner They wouldn't give me a cat

Which you know Xenophobia, run ramp And tear in New York I apologize on behalf of Petco So I was walking home one day And there was a Puerto Rican lady Who was always around our neighborhood And she was like, hey lady, you want a cat

Like what? And she had two kittens in her coat And I was like, are you giving me these? And she was like, no, no, the deli. And I was like, okay. Sounds like an elaborate scam. You're lucky you're alive. It was like the deli on the corner of my block.

Okay. So I know. So I went into the deli and I'm like, hey, I hear you have some cats. And they took me in the back room and there was, lo and behold, there was four kittens running around. Have you were nothing from your early modeling days? This sounds like a horrible early modeling story. I went into the back of the deli. They said, here's the cat.

I know. Yeah, naivity. It's stupidity more like. But not a crazy cat lady. Just simply there's affection for. Yeah, but she started in Brooklyn and she moved to L.A. with me. Now she's in Glasgow. Okay.

But she did come to New York, how she got to Glasgow. She came to New York when I was filming Muddy Monster. For a week, I had to share a hotel with her, and that was a disaster. That didn't work. She ran the place. It was her hotel room? Well, they don't, they're, you know, they're very attached to their surroundings. They don't like it when there's constant noise and they're on the seventh floor and they don't know what's going on.

There's a lot of, yeah. Let's just end at the end. So where is home now? Obviously, you're shooting a great portion of the year, but what do you consider home? I have a beautiful suitcase. Can you fit into it? I probably could. I don't know, actually.

You know, I guess L.A. still sort of feel. a little bit like home, but I sort of bounce between L.A. and New York and London when I'm not in Scotland. So, I don't know. Is that relatively comfortable? Again, I guess given the background of the modeling lifestyle, you probably were on the road a lot anyway. Still would be nice to have a place to Yeah, it's weird. You know, I bounced around for so long for about 10 years. And then when I moved to L.A., I was so sedentary for about five years or four, I suppose, four years. And that's, I think that's why that still feels very home to me. But now being back on the road. I enjoy it. I enjoy traveling, but I definitely am itching to, you know, to grow some

roots somewhere. Come back to New York. You're welcome, welcome here anytime. Have you, does theater, for instance, like, intrigue at all? I would love to. Yeah. No, definitely. I, you know, it's not something that I've done since I was like a teenager, but I think if, you know, any actor, that's kind of a huge part of, of the feeling for acting is like that live interaction with an audience and being able to tell a story from beginning to end over the course of one night and then repeat that and see what that experience is like, you know, I would love to. So what is the, I mean, you're limited in respect to the commitment every year to Outlander, obviously, which again takes up a good portion of time and you're clearly making the best

decisions possible and Money Monster is clearly a good one. But like, is there an ideal kind of an experience you're looking for? You mentioned theater. I mean, obviously film, but like a type of filmmaker type of role. I mean, what's kind of like in your head of like what you're itching to get to do. I mean, for me, it depends on the story and the writing, I think, is where you start with. I mean, obviously there's a list of directors that I would love to work with and Woody Allen's probably right up there. Nice.

You know, if that could ever happen, that would be amazing. But it's, you know, I think that it's hard for me to say what I want to do because I think until you read it or until it's presented to you, you don't know. I mean, obviously I want a long. career. So for me, it's more about choosing roles that are interesting and smart and that hopefully will give me longevity. And, you know, I would like to try a lot of different things. So variety as well, you know. So since you mentioned Woody and I'm the cliched version of a born in Bret New Yorker, I mean, like it's in my DNA and he was actually on the podcast,

which was like the biggest thrill of my life. Can you imagine? So what's your Woody Allen? I always ask this of Woody Allen fans, like what's your favorite in terms of comedy or drama? or the mix of the two, what's your high watermark? I mean, interiors is probably one of my favorite. In terms of the comedy, it's super fun. Yeah, it's really fun. No, but I just, the female roles in that. Diane Keaton, she does that one scene in the chair

where she's talking to her therapist, and it's just like a masterclass in acting. And then Geraldine Page, like, oh my God, she's so incredible in it. And just because it looks so beautiful. But also Manhattan, I watch over and over and over and over again. I mean, I, that's probably my, like, when I'm not feeling the greatest and I want to, like, fall asleep to something that's beautiful. It makes me feel good.

That's kind of a sad ending, though, in a way. But the Gershwin comes up and always right in the world. You're okay. It's just like that surge of music. But it's also, like, the intro to that. Like, as soon as I put that film on, I'm just like a little kid again. I'm like, oh, we're going to go with this, you know? Nice.

Before I let you out, I do have this weird Indiana Jones Fedora with some. random, silly, stupid questions. Oh, let's go. Grab a couple? Yeah. Dig your hand in, see what fate has in store for you. If I get asked where I want to go to back in time. They're not Outwander themed, at least I hope not.

Oh, cool. Best vacation you've ever taken. Ooh. You know, years and years ago, and this is sad that I'm saying that that was my best vacation because we're literally going back about 15 or 16 years ago. But I went trekking in Nepal. all. And that was probably, it's stayed with me for a very, very long time. I love that place. Yeah. Amazing. I'm going to say that one. Want to try one or two more? Yeah.

I'm like making such a mess here. No, it's good. It's sound effects. You're our own fully artist. What can you eat a ton of? Uh, sushi. I probably have many times. Um, yeah, or, or, or, you know, the sweet and salty popcorn. Nice. Yeah. What's the thing on the craft service table that you cannot resist? You look there and you're like, oh, no, they put that. What's craft services? We shoot in Scotland.

Sorry, I forgot. Starz has some money, no? Oh, God. We need to, like, talk to them about it. Yeah, like, okay, so craft service in the U.S. What I love about craft service in the U.S. are the breakfast. Those Mexican breakfasts, like Mexican burritos, breakfast burritos, oh.

So good. But you need a nap after a morning breakfast burrito that I feel like. I don't know. I was doing a film down in New Orleans. I think it was like escape plan. And they had the best like morning catering. It was like breakfast burritos and then fresh juices that you would make yourself. And it was just like. Well, that's because also Stallone probably needs like 6,000 calories every morning just to keep the metabolism going that man. I know, I know. I once saw him. I mean, you have more experienced, but like I was on set of one of his films. And in between takes, he was just like flexing like, they were like bowling pins just to keep like the,

blood flowing into his massive arms. He wasn't doing that when we were working. It's funny because it was like we spent a day on the beach with, I spent a day on the beach with him and Arnold Schwarzenegger, which was probably one of the most surreal days of my life. But they were, the funny thing was they kept doing this joke about, you know that documentary aristocrats? Yeah.

And so, but they kept going, aristocrine. And it was just like, just all day, this was their joke and they would like do the click fingers and the two of them. It was just like the weirdest thing, but so funny. That's the debut of your Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger hybrid imitation. Next time we'll get you to do the Margaret Thatcher, one-act show, the one-woman show. It's been great to catch up with you today. Good luck on Money Monster. I can't wait to check it out, and you don't need good luck on outlander. It's already getting a gazillion people watching every week. But we'll take it, though. Okay, there you go. Good luck on that. Thanks for stopping by today. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.

Hi, everybody. This is David Gregory, and I want to tell you about my new podcast, The David Gregory Show. It is that easy to remember. And it's me talking to all sorts of really interesting people, getting them off their regular script into deeper, more personal conversations, like Ariana Huffington about parenthood. I think especially for mothers, they take the baby out and they put the guilt in. Or Bravo TV's Andy Cohen on being less afraid. Look, I'm a single gay dude on a late night talk show. If I can't overshare, who can't? We'll have a new program every Friday. So go to iTunes, Stitcher, or whatever your favorite podcast app,

and download the David Gregory show and eavesdrop on really cool conversations. Thanks for listening. This has been an Earwolf production, executive produced by Scott Ackerman, Adam Sacks, and Chris Bannon. For more information and content, visit Earwolf.com. The Old West is an iconic period of American history

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