Happy Sad Confused - Colin Farrell, Vol. II

Episode Date: July 15, 2021

Colin Farrell loves a good adventure as much as he loves a great part. His latest project, "The North Water" checks both boxes and gives Josh a great excuse to catch up with the Irishman. Of course Josh picks Colin's brain on his role as Penguin in "The Batman" and they even geek out a bit about his comfort movie, "Tootsie"! Don't forget to check out the Happy Sad Confused patreon here! We've got exclusive episodes of GAME NIGHT, video versions of the podcast, and more! For all of your media headlines remember to subscribe to The Wakeup newsletter here! And listen to THE WAKEUP podcast here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Prepare your ears, humans, happy, sad, confused, begins now. Today on Happy, Sad, Confused, Colin Farrell takes us on a dark adventure with The Northwater, plus talk of The Batman. Hey guys, I'm Josh Harowitz. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Well, they don't come much more talented and charming than Mr. Colin Farrell.

This guy's great. I love talking to him. He, of course, was on the podcast. not so long ago. It was definitely pre-pandemic. We talked for Dumbo. That speaks to the breadth of his work right there, from a Disney live-action adventure to the darkest of tales,

a whaling expedition in the 1850s. Yeah, that's the diversity of a career right then and there. But this is a great chat. I love talking to Colin Farrell. He is open and honest and sweet and knows his movies and just checks all the boxes. This catch-up, as I said, the main reason for it was to get the good word out on the Northwater, which is a six-part limited series.

This is based on a best-selling book, best-selling novel, I should say. As I said, it takes place in the 1850s in the Arctic. They shot this for real on location in extreme circumstances, and it is all up on the screen. It stars Colin alongside the very talented Jack O'Connell, and the character that Colin portrays in this, well, it doesn't get much darker than Henry Drax, a animalistic, instinctual, nasty gentleman you do not want to be anywhere with, let alone on a whaling expedition in the 1850s, trust me. But this project is well worth your time. It is on AMC and AMC plus. The first episode, depending on when you hear this, is probably out by now. July 15th is the date

when it premieres, and as I said, it's six episodes in all well worth your time. This was also a good excuse just to catch up on a great number of things. Collins has been busy. He just ran his first marathon. He just completed working with Ron Howard on a film. He teased that he's about to go start working with the great Martin McDunna. They're going to re-team, which I'm thrilled about. They, of course, have worked, let's see, they worked together on in Bruges, in Seven Psychopaths.

And now another film, including, I think he said, Brendan Gleason and Barry Keogh, who I'm also a big fan of. So that's coming. But of course, I couldn't let Colin go without talking a bit about the Batman. Colin stars in the Batman as the Penguin, Oswald Cobble Pot. So yes, there is some Batman talk in this and some stuff I hadn't heard about that I think is going to make some news. So if you're here for the Batman talk, you will not be disappointed. Plus, we talk comfort movies, and Colin chose a great one, a great romantic comedy from the early 80s.

Yes, we're talking tootsie. So this episode has it all. In addition, let's see, other things to mention. Well, a lot of you've probably by now seen Black Widow, whether you've seen it in theaters or on Disney Plus. My conversation with Scarlett Johansson at Florence Pew is up on MTV News's YouTube page. That was a delight. seem to be digging that.

Also got some great response from my extended conversation with Henry Cavill for WitcherCon. Yes, they invited me. Henry invited me to chat with him as kind of like the big event of WitcherCon, which was this kind of deep dive, geeky conversation with Henry about all things Witcher and just his interesting gaming and fantasy. And as I've said before, he's the real deal. He loves this stuff and it shows through in this conversation. and I'm so thrilled you guys seem to be digging it.

That is on, let's see, I put it on my Instagram page. Like if you go on Instagram and Link Tree, you can check it out there. Or if you just go to YouTube, search Witcher, Henry Cavill. It's probably the first thing that will come up, that 45-minute conversation with Henry Cavill. What else? Oh, here's the big thing I need to mention. There's a new game night up on Patreon. Brand new game night.

and we have a returning, I was going to say returning champion, he's not a champion, but we love him nonetheless. Sam Hewann returns to Game Night alongside Jamie Alexander, of course, you know from Blind Spot and the Thor films, and Karen Gillen, who we know and love from Dr. Hu and Jumongi and her new film Gunpowder Milkshake. So that's the trio on Game Night, and I don't know what more I need to do for you guys. That's entertainment right there. Forty-five minutes of silly games with Karen Gillen, Sam Hewain, and Jamie Alexander. It is a delight filled with surprises and lots of fun and lots of laughs. Go over to patreon.com slash happy, sad, confused.

To check it out, you will not be disappointed. Okay, I think that's enough plugs for now. Let's get to the main event. The delightful Mr. Colin Farrell joining me from Los Angeles on a brief break in between projects to hype up his new one, The Northwater on AMC and AMC Plus. Here's me and Colin Farrell.

No pomp, no circumstance, but I am very pleased to welcome Mr. Colin Farrell back to the podcast. It's just like totally normal, just two dudes and weird boxes on our screens talking. Yeah, exactly. It's good to see you, man, though. Thank you for doing this.

Life in its most remote form for us. It's privileged to be folk. Yeah, it's strange. It's still strange. I mean, it's nice to see that the world is returning to some sense of normality. But then, of course, there's the evolution of this thing and the Delta variance. And it's just relentless, really, you know. God, what a year it's been.

Yeah, we've been riding different waves. I mean, yeah, here in New York, it was insane at the start. Then everybody gets their turn. LA had their turn. It's been wild. But as you say, we're starting to get back to some kind of real life. It's lovely. When I left here, I just did a film in a.

I just did a film in Australia, and I was there for four months, and that was a godsend because, as you probably know, Australia and New Zealand, really, they did the hard work. They figured out. They just did the hard work, and they did what they needed to do, and there was a sense of kind of, there was a sense of conformity, which is needed, you know, and there was not that people were happy that they had to lock down, not the people were happy that they had to wear masks,

but they did what they needed to do, and they shut it down. I mean, there's a few outbreaks now, but when I arrived into, um the gold coast about five months ago now i remember the first there was two outbreaks there was two outbreaks two cases of covid in brisbane and it was front page news two cases of covid in brisbane and i thought are you fucking kidding me i've had two over in my living room you know back in los angeles so when i left here five months ago this was this place was like many parts of the world was totally closed down people were suffering psychologically as well i mean you know the mental health of so many

people has been put under great strain over the last year and a half, but to be there to arrive in Australia. It was unnerving at first, but it was amazing. We had this really COVID-free experience for four months and then coming back here, about two or three weeks ago, I came back. And it was great to see that the world was, as I say, returning to a greater sense of openness and, you know, a little less fear and stuff. But what a year it's been in so many ways, socially and politically. And it's just been so trying for some people. Yeah, it's, it's, it's I hear you describe the stuff in Australia, I feel like for those of us in the States,

we were watching like the cast of Thor and other things like kind of like living like the old world. Like we were like, we had our like nose pressed up against the glass be like, oh look, humanity can still exist. It was so exciting to see. So I'm glad you got a taste of that. Totally. I mean, to be able to, and it is one of those things where, you know,

unfortunately as human beings, oftentimes we don't appreciate the things that we have until they're lost, et cetera. It was one of those things. I mean, the idea of going and sitting in a coffee shop when I got to Australia and having a cup of coffee was borderline emotional. I believe it.

The first time I saw a movie here again, it was pretty special. Being able to shake someone's hand, give someone a hug when you see them. Holy shit, powerful. So are you in the middle of work right down in L.A.? Where are you at? No, no, no, I'm just back now,

just catching up with life. And I'm only home. It's a quick turnaround, a quicker turnaround than I would like to have, actually. But I leave for Ireland in about four weeks to do a gig with Martin, done it again who I did in Bruges with I saw that listed I was going to ask you if it's it's coming to fruition you and Brendan getting back together yeah me and Brett getting the band back

together yeah I think I think Barry Kogan is going to be in it and what worked with yeah Barry's fantastic so yeah it'd be great man on the shoot on the west of Ireland script is obviously you're talking about marath it's always this way but it's extraordinary and so unusual and I'm looking forward to that but between now and then just home catching up so so the last time we chatted, we were talking about Dumbo. This speaks to the breadth, the fact that you contain multitudes, because now in the Northwater, you, my friend, are playing the animal that men fear. You are the, I don't know, this guy is fascinating. Talk to me. There are different reasons that take on projects. And I very much enjoyed this one, but I can only imagine from your perspective.

There's the content of this part there, but there's also the adventure of making a movie. And this seems, or TV series, this seems like just an expedition like no other that you could take part in. Yeah, it was. It was. It was. It was really, look, in the 20 years I've been doing this for a living, I've, you know, I've ridden the horses through the desert in Morocco. I've dived in this part of the world. I've done various things in places that I never really imagined I thought that I arrive at, but to be 500 miles from the North Pole and about 300 miles from any civilization

on three ships for five weeks shooting on ice floes and shooting on the boat was extraordinary to be surrounded by polar bear, which we were. I mean, there were polar bear spottings regularly. And it was very humbling and awe-inspiring. And it was also quite hostile. But it was we all of us together,

every now and then you'll find yourself doing films in an experience with people and if the experience is extreme enough just kind of an unspoken understanding that you people that are there at that moment and you alone will have this shared experience that will take you through the rest of your days and this is one of those I mean it was really

it was very moving it was very moving to be somewhere that wasn't in any way poisoned by the clutter of man you know the things that go on and sit cities, you know, cities being primarily, of course, a dream of man and then a realization of that dream with varying degrees of success and appalling degrees of failure as well. All that was gone. It was

just we were at the whim of a very raw and a very brutal and a very ancient nature. And it was really humbling and it was really profound to be there. And I just loved it. And I dream of going back to Svalbard. I dream of going back there. And there's a simplicity to the place that just just allows for so much of your own experience as a human being and your own realizations that you are nothing, you are a speck, and you can't live like you're a speck because you have a wife and you have children and you have to make a livelihood and you have dreams that you wish to pursue. But at the end of the day, our lives as humans, if we're lucky, we get to 80, 90,

our lives as humans are so brief and we are such a speck in the grand scheme of things. And sometimes, you know, to feel that is not to feel, is not to kind of underplay the importance of your life at all, it's to actually be invited into capitalizing on the short time that you have on this planet. And the capitalizing of that short time might just be to realize how lucky you are to make the trip. I say that as a very fortunate person

who was brought into the world in a particular way and has had the experiences I've had. But I think for all of us, for Sam Spruill and Jack O'Connell and Stephen Graham and Andrew Hague and on all the other actors and all the crew as well, we all shared this kind of uncommon experience together up north. And it was really, God bless Andrew, for insisting that we did the five weeks up there.

As far as Drax, the character went, I just never had read anything or been offered anything like it. That was as cruel and that that was as brutal and yet utterly lacked compunction or any kind of awareness or desire to investigate his behavior. He was just an animal of pure instinct, you know, and it was a very different time. in the in the kind of evolution of man as a quote unquote questionable man as a civilization unto himself

and so you know it didn't the piece was very brutal and I was just curious as to how it would all play out you know yeah I mean for those that have seen the trail or a little bits of it I mean it's hard to kind of like give a sense of it but yes it's all on the screen and it's not you know this is not made avatar style in a box as much as I love that kind of stuff too but like but you know imagine being on a whaling expedition in the 1850s, hardship as that entails, and then being stuck on it with maybe like the worst possible human being. It's like being stuck with Daniel Plainview

of there will be blood on a whaling expedition, basically. Yeah. I mean, this guy, as you said, yeah, I was going to say, I mean, you said like he operates on instinct. He embraces his animal instincts. He doesn't seem to... He has a lot of philosophy as well. You know, there's a couple of things there's,

I can't remember the lines, but talking about, you know, laws being just one thing that man chooses, suits him over another. And there's definitely kind of his own little hard-boiled ideology on what meaning of life is and what man's purpose on this planet is. But as far as he's concerned, he's, you know, unapologetically nihilistic, where he doesn't find any kind of spiritual meaning in the existence of man. And it is just man is an animal that has certain desires, certain thirsts, and certain physical, not emotional or psychological, but physical needs.

And he must be allowed to pursue them at all times without any hesitation or apology. And so to play that character, he was kind of liberating. I mean, he was so dark on the page, I wondered, you know, what it would do to my mood. But it was actually, if anything, and, you know, it is always artifice and it is always fiction. And we always have the knowledge of that. no matter how deep you are into something, there's always at least a third eye that is aware that there's cameras and crew.

And so I was kind of giving carte blanche to experience the dream of this creature. And it was, it was so much fun. I really enjoyed playing them as much as I wouldn't like to have a coffee with him, which I wouldn't or be stuck in a cabin with him or on a boat for months. But it was the cruelty and the brutality

of that industry, of the whaling industry, and the kind of, the kind of complimentary behavior of the men as they're designed in our piece that pursued that as a living. I don't know what Stephen Graham's character says

at one stage where the refugees of civilization, I think, is what he calls the men and that kind of made, if not poetic, made a certain kind of very real sense because there's a brutality that they live in and all around where, obviously, when they're pursuing their livelihood, it's incredibly bloody and incredibly brutal, brutal, and incredibly

inhumane, but even when they're on dry lands, they're living lives that are morally questionable at best. Yeah. By the time you get to set, I'm curious, because you obviously have a bunch of choices you can make in preparation, and then a lot of that you probably often have to throw out the window because it kind of changes in the environment and the other actors and the director, but like in the case of something like this, I know you put on some weight, you obviously have facial hair, you have the voice, there are things that, the accoutrements that make up this character. Do you, do you, do you, do you, does that change when you get on set

like on day one? If Andrew, your director says like, oh wait, I didn't think he was going to sound like that. Are you up Schitt's Creek? Like what happens? Well, I was at a bit of I was at a bit of a loss. I was struggling a bit to find his voice and

and in the book he's I don't know if it's ever because I read the book. I can't remember a few years back now if it's ever to find exactly where he's from. I think he might have been a Yorkshire man so I was going to do kind of a version of a Yorkshire accent and I worked with a dialect coach on that

and then there was this other hodgepodge that I ended up kind of leaning more into but I literally I literally brought Andrew into my cabin on the boat about a week before we started shooting and I said these are the two sounds I was maybe shouldn't admit I feel a bit vulnerable now

oh uncertainty but I literally I didn't know and I thought okay I can I can take a shot myself or I can just put my ego to the side and ask the director to come in and kind of audition for the director in a way I mean obviously I had the part but I auditioned these two different

almost different dialects or different tones for him and we both decided on so that was one kind of very clear stage of evolution for me that was unanswered until about seven days before we started shooting all of the actors did their own individual work as actors do

and then we didn't have too much time to rehearse but everyone was so extraordinary that it just came together. It all felt very natural. I mean, I had done some physical work, of course,

but by the time we got up there, we just, Andrew created such an environment that was so conducive to work and it was all very brutal and very raw and the body was kicking into survival mode.

And we just, the days were long and hard in a really lovely way. You know, we would get up. It would be dark. We would watch the sunrise. 360 degrees. There was no land for hundreds of

miles. We would just see ice caps as far as the eye could see and we would disembark the boat and stand on a piece of three foot deep ice over hundreds of metres of cold, dark water, and we would shoot until the sun started to set, and we would chase the light and shoot until it was pretty dark. And then we were fucked by the end of every day. We're so tired. The body had been fighting to maintain core temperature for 12 hours, and we would have our dinner, and the lads that usually drink, and I'd listen to them upstairs, you know, sober jocks and has happened downstairs and prepare. Keep it down up there.

Yeah. And then I was right beneath the, I was right beneath the bar, which is the cruel irony to that. The ghost of Christmas past, haunting you, yeah. I've seen to be paired down to its most essential. You know, it really was. It was work, sleep, eat.

It was work, sleep eat for five weeks. And I loved it. I don't want to say it was monastic, but there was a kind of a simplicity that was just divine to just inhabit it, you know. And no cell phone service and you're necessarily cut off. no cell phone service, no cell phone service, no emails, none of the usual obfuscations that we live with daily. It was just, all of us were given absolute permission to just really inhabit this world

and to be together and to just really be together and create this kind of communal experience that, as I said, I'll carry with me for all my days. It was very profound. Work, sleep, work, eat polar bear plunge, too. You fit that in there somewhere. Yeah, yeah, you had to, didn't you? You had to. I don't know if I would have had to, but you did How did it go? I think everyone kind of did, man. It was amazing. It was, it was brutal.

It was really, really shocking. I mean, I thought because I was, I was a bit large. And I put on, I would, I had put on the weight very fast. So my concern being somewhat of a hypochondriac at times was, was I going to have a heart attack. So. I would think the, I would think of the added girth would help a little bit. It helped with, I was well insulated. As far as the cold weld, I was well insulated.

But the shock that me poor old ticker experience. as soon as I hit that water, man, it was brutal. I'll never forget it. And yet I almost blacked out. I almost went into some kind of survival mode where I can't fully grasp the memory of it, but at the same time. Yeah, if you look at the video, you're not reveling in the moment. You're not like, let me just hang here. You're like, this is it. See how fast I try and get out of there. See how fast I try and get out. And somebody was, if you look at the video, you see this errant finger come into the shot. And I think somebody was pointing outward and saying, swim out more. And that was no fucking way. I was doing that. I both, I think I might have said, mama, mommy, when I surfaced, it was, yeah, it was terrifying, actually. You know, that was cool. This is your first dip back into the television world, I believe, since True Detective. True Detective, yeah. But there's no difference. There's no difference at all.

I mean, if you want to talk about the first job that I did, my first professional job as an actor, was a TV show called Ballytis Angel in Ireland. and that was one camera on sticks and you'd lift the camera up yourself as the actor and walk to the next field. You know what I mean? It was all shot in rural Ireland just outside of Dublin

and the Wicklow Mountains there and that was very what one would think of 10 years ago or five years ago and one thinks of television. It was a very fast turnover. As I say, one camera on sticks. Now the production values are equitable. You know, they really, I mean, the scope of what we did on the Northwater

was, you know, mostly unparalleled in regard to anything I've done in film. And all one writer and director. It's not like you're rotating through directors. It's all Andrew. It was Andrew, yeah, it was all coming from Andrew. But likewise, on True Detective, that all was born of the brilliant minds of Nick Pizzolato. So, you know, and while there was other directors, part of me wished at times that Nick would have directed all eight episodes. He was so brilliant and had such kind of an understanding of the core of what he was trying to reach.

but that also, True Detective, had huge production values. And it just, there's no difference now. And at the end of the day, as an actor, honest God, man, you're telling a story. And you're just trying to inhabit it and serve the narrative, not even your own character, but to understand that your character is just spoke of a bigger wheel. You're trying to just serve the story. And so it's all the same. Have you watched much lately?

Are you in that zone? No, I started watching the Mayor of East Town, which is really good. Yeah. You know, yeah, there's so much stuff on, man. I mean, you're so spoiled. I find myself starting things. and then the patience one has decreases because if you're not gripped instantly,

you know, it's terrible. There's just so much stuff. I love documentaries. No, I can go down YouTube holes as well. Do you know what I mean? What's the YouTube hole you fall into? I was up to five o'clock this morning watching this dude,

what was his name, Wes Kane? Was this dude doing this 250-mile fucking ultramarathon through Sedona. and the old mining town of Jerome and it ended through Prescott and it ended in Flagstaff over five days and God bless him he bothered his ours

to take a GoPro the whole way and it's on YouTube and it's actually an extraordinary extraordinarily hypnotic 57 minutes but yeah I get on YouTube holes man did you just finish your first marathon by the way? I did yeah yeah yeah that was

congratulations how was that thanks yeah it was great it was amazing it was brutal and it was brutal and I was I was ill prepared to a certain degree and then I was as prepared as best I could in another way but it was it was it was suitably painful how was the chafing? Chafing wasn't bad because I had a nice pair of well fit

and loose shorts on under I had a shirt like this and I had it caught under my armpit but no it was just the it was good you know they talk about when you hit the wall when you hit your lactic thresholds and your muscles are poisoned by lactic acid and I hit the wall at like badly face plants at mile 23. I struggled from 18 but then mile

23 on was was very very very painful I have to say you don't have to sell me on it I believe you the singularity of just preparing for it and the yeah I mean we're all looking for what are we looking for in life I don't know about you man but I assume

all of us are we're either looking for meaning and purpose or we're struggling even if unconsciously under the, under the lack of meaning and purpose. And so what a marathon does is, even if it's just for the three months leading up, or the four or five or six hours it might take or two or three, it just gives you this incredible sense of meaning and purpose, really beautiful. I loved it and I'm kind of fascinated by it now.

So I'd love to do, I'd love to do more. I promise not to get you into trouble, but, and I'm sure we'll talk about it down the line. You've shot the Batman with an amazing cast. But as much as the cast impresses me, I have longed in a devoted fan of Mr. Matt Reeves. His films let me in, which it's impossible to remake that film, but he did an amazing job with that. The boldness to remake this, yeah, the set of Cajonis the man has on him to even, because that was such a perfect, perfect film and a perfect parable and a perfect love story between two children. I mean, it was such a profound experience at the right way. So, yeah, he's obviously very bold.

he obviously has an unimaginably keen technical proficiency when it comes to the advent of technology and the art of making film, not just as commercial endeavour, but as real expression and using film as a canvas and creating worlds like you did, the apes films, which were extraordinary. And yet, of course, as we know, it's such a jaded thing to say,

but it's true unless there's some kind of emotional heft at the core of these things, it doesn't matter how detail the world that's created and it doesn't matter how extraordinary the visual accoutrement may be. And he has it all. He has it all, Matt. He's brilliant and he's driven.

Fuck, he is so driven. And I think he, I get the sense that he, of course, he understands, but really steps into and inhabits the responsibility that he has with a mythology that is as loved and is as important to as many people as the world of Batman is, you know, and he stepped into that and he inhabited it fully

and just an insane engine as well. An insane engine. I mean, the hours the man worked and obviously COVID began to grip the world while we were, and I left London in March and we were stood down for four or five months and then we went back and then obviously Robert got sick and that was like fucking Batman has COVID.

Exactly. Batman has COVID, you know, it's just like, fuck it, it wrong. And so, but we finished it after, I think they were probably from first turnover to last cut. It was probably 12 or 14 months to shoot. And he's cutting it together now. I haven't heard sight and her sound of him. I don't know what

he's up to, but I know he's deep into it. And I'm only in it for five or six scenes, so I can't wait to see the film because it won't be won't be ruined by my presence. I can't see him. Yeah, totally. Like, really, it's a freebie for me. I'll get a little bit uncomfortable for the fucking nine minutes I have. And then the rest of

of it i cannot wait to see how he brought this world to life because the sets were extraordinary the production design extraordinary and then his use of music and sound will be extraordinary and as you said the cast from you know all them robert to Zoe to you know yeah extraordinary cast my one other question on it i'm just curious because like that when that trailer hit like it it took all of us like five times to watch it to even know that was like six weeks of shooting man i know i know it was way early but like we couldn't even like see that that was you in it so So like, can you just talk to like, I'm very,

is that all prosthetics? Is it just like? Yeah, man. Yeah, man. It's remarkable. Uh, fucking hell. Why don't I blank on Mike's names? Mike Marino, yeah,

Mike Marino, who's a genius, who's an absolute veritable genius. And that word is thrown around a lot. But he is a drawing, sculpting, shaping genius. And he created this visage for the penguin. And me and Matt had talked about and talked about. physically what the character's

stature would be. And I had been quite big for the North Water and I didn't want to naturally go big again because I had a few little health things as a result of the North Water and I was just like, fuck this acting thing ain't this important. You know, I leave it to other actors to go that much up and down

and God bless them and I wish them good health but for me I was just like, the North Water, I think that's the last time I'll go up that much. So we decided on it, you know, fat suit, the girth suit. And Mike Marino created this. Look, I only had, as I said,

five or six scenes or seven scenes. And I wasn't quite, I was at the early stages of looking at what I felt I could do or bring to it. And I was at a bit of a loss. And then when I saw what Mike did, the whole character made sense to me. I swear to God, I saw what he did.

And I just went, okay, okay. And I got really excited about it. All that to say that, most of if anyone ever thinks what I do in Batman is a decent performance I'll gladly take

49% of the credit I honestly God I'm not I'm not joking you because there's you know mask work and like young used mask work and certain Eastern philosophies have used mask where it's a very powerful way to allow the shadow to have permission

the shadow that exists in all of us to have permission because you're aware that you're not going to be judged or you feel protected from, you know, the awful rule of judgment that man inflicts upon each other. Well, that's gone. And so the sense of, you know, conventional logic would say maybe with a full face covering you that it would be limiting, that you would feel constricted. It was 100% the opposite. It was so damn liberating.

Amen. It was so liberating. And I felt so free. and I felt like, and I may be proven wrong, I felt like it was impossible to be too big, cut to, Farrell's too big. But like I had such, Mike getting such permission to just explore, you know, behaviors

by the brilliance of the work that he did, Mike Marino. And I mean, if there's a better makeup that year, I don't be thinking about Oscars truly, but he should just, they should just give him the, you know, if there's a better makeup, it's extraordinary what he did. It's extraordinary. Well, I can't wait to dig into it even more next year. But before I let you go, sir,

I did ask you as I've been asking everybody this past year. Oh, yeah, Tutsi. We've needed comfort. I don't know about you. And I've been asking folks, this is very telling and I love geeking out about filmmaking, as you can tell. Yeah, tell me, how did you arrive at Tuesday?

I was saying, you know the way actors are super, the publicists prepare them and stuff. So I was given an email that was the list of just so you know, you know, this is. And there was so many of the films, like Jurassic Park would be on my list. And back to the future would be on my list. my list and any of the Indiana Jones.

And when I think of comfort films, to me, there is a nostalgic element. The comfort films, like I saw other brilliant films like Casino and Long Day's Journey and Tonight and I go, they are not comfort. I mean, casino a little because it's so colorful and Joe Pesci brings such a mad humor to it as well. But for me, comfort films are always about nostalgia. There are usually films that I fell in love with when I was a kid. Yeah.

And with that in mind, Tutsi is. is one that I fell in love with as a kid. And it's one that has stood the test of time and it survives just new. It's just so hilarious. And it's also incredibly moving. And it has a great dig at the actor's mentality and psychology as well.

Dustin Hoffman's extraordinary. Sydney Pollock, the scenes between Dustin Hoffman and Sydney Pollock. I was going to say, that's where we get. They, those scenes, I would just watch over and over and over again. Sidney Pollock, I've mentioned Cindy Pollock. It's one of the great performances. I think generally speaking, Sidney Pollock is like one of the most underrated actors, like not a false move.

Ordinary director that people don't give him the credit as an actor that he absolutely deserves. Yeah. But yes, there are a handful of scenes in this film that I'm sure to get richer for you as you progress in your acting career. Terry Gar, Terry Gar, who was always just a joy, you know, whether it's this or young Franks. Charles Durning is so moving as the father. You know, and even up to the very end when he comes into the bar

and he sits beside with a bar and he goes to give him the rig, give it to me outside, give it to me outside. You know, and yet they make, it's just such a perfect, Tutsi to me is a perfect film. And if I've been asked through the years to, to share a role

that I would have loved to have played, that's been my stock answer. That's a good one. Has any agent ever told you in a meeting, no one will hire you? Oh, uh, Sydney Pollock, for Michael Dorsey. No, I think they have, they haven't given that to me in a second person,

but I think I have been referenced in the third person, probably behind closed doors, no one will hire him. And I think that was, I was very close to that, if not fully there, around 2005, so that's the God's honest, but not in a while. Infirmously, the behind the scenes of that movie is fascinating, because I don't know if you know this. I mean, like, Sydney Pollock and Dustin Hoffman apparently, like,

really did not get along at all. I mean, Dustin has a reputation. I mean, he's an amazing actor, but, you know, he's an intense actor who sometimes rubs directors the wrong way. Do you, you know, we talked about this on the last podcast, but I'm curious, just your general philosophy. Like, I'm sure you've had friction with different filmmakers. Is your belief now that that can elicit a great, a greater end or no?

I think any time, I think anyone that says that there's a, look, one of the beautiful things for me about what I do for living is that it defies any kind of quantifiable way of, of recognizing how it should be done. Yeah. As an actor or director, each director has their own different style, their own different aesthetic,

their own different means by which they go about capturing their story on film, whether it's Mark McDonnor or Jorgas Lantamus or Ron Howard, who just worked with it, Terry Malagher, they're all so extraordinarily different. The only thing they share kind of is a goal and how they go about that is different and as an act of me

I never come in and say I like to work this way or like to work that way I don't want to do that I don't want to fall into a habit to be honest with you I mean look inevitably you fall into mannerisms and habits anyway but as much as I can save them off the past the better and one of the organic ways for me to do that this isn't the reason

I'm sharing what I like to do it's just an organic kind of byproduct and a helpful byproduct but just organically I just love going to work and and doing it the way the director wants to do it. I really do. I like, so, you know, I think Woody Allen, when I worked with him,

he said, good morning, Ewan, on day three to me. I should, I'm fucking, I'm not even joking. Morning, Ewan. And so, you know, I, we didn't rehearse a second. He didn't even know who I was. And then, you know, Mark, I'm going to go to work with Martin now. And Martin and me and Brendan and Kerry and Barry will do two or three weeks of rehearsal. like theater.

We'll get into a blank room with a table and a kettle that we can make cups of tea and we'll talk about the script. And then there's every permutation in between. Some directors that like to do games, some that like to do commercial. I just love to go off the director and see how that experience plays out.

Well, the breadth of the filmmakers you've worked with, again, we alluded to this last time and you just mentioned, you just worked with Ron Howard. I believe you're now attached to a Todd Solon's film, which sounds, I mean, he doesn't work that often, so that's thrilling. I'd love to work with Todd.

Have you ever interviewed him? He's beautiful, man. Todd, no, never. Yeah, he's lovely. Doesn't work enough, so I'm thrilled he's getting back on the horse. That's great. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it'd be great to work, Rachel again.

And by the way, you know, good word out of Cannes from your film after Yang. So that back then we'll talk out for. He's, he's, oh, my God, fucking cats. The cats are taking over the barrel. Oh, God, I'm all these two. How many cats are there? Two, and that'll be it. Yeah, brother.

Prince sister, Mia and Murphy. No, but yeah, Koganad is a very... Did you see Columbus? I did, with John Cho, right? Yeah. Yeah. Cogunat is very special, and I loved working with him. Loved to working with him. I mean, he runs about as gentle and quiet and softest set as I've ever experienced, you know?

Fantastic. Well, a lot to talk about in the coming years months. Yeah, brother. I'll be around. I'll have a chat. Thank you, buddy. And thank you for geeking out on all things, the Northwater, which sounds. like, you know, it's all on the screen, but it sounds like there are just as many adventures off screen. So people should definitely check it out. It's a six-part limited series on AMC. I look forward to our future chat, sir. And if you guys have not ever seen, Tutsi,

what are you doing with yourselves? Oh, man. Classic. Cinematic brilliance. I told it to my sons as well, and they dog it big time. I love it. I love it. Thanks, buddy, as always. Really appreciate it. 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. American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences, decades or even hundreds of years after they happened.

On the infamous America podcast, you'll hear the true stories of the Salem witch trials and the escape attempts from Alcatraz, of bank robbers like John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, of killers like Lizzie Borden and Charles Starkweather, of mysteries like the Black Dahlia and D.B. Cooper, and of events that inspired movies like Goodfellas, killers of a flower moon, Zodiac, Eight Men Out, and many more. I'm Chris Wimmer. Join me as we crisscrossed the country from the Miami Drug Wars and Dixie Mafia in the south, to mobsters in Chicago and New York, to arsonists, kidnappers, and killers in California, to unsolved mysteries in the heartland and in remote corners of Alaska. Every episode features narrative writing and

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