Happy Sad Confused - David Harbour, Vol. IV

Episode Date: August 17, 2023

David Harbour is back! And there's a lot to catch up on, from his new film GRAN TURISMO to the end of STRANGER THINGS and his MCU and DC future! [RECORDED PRIOR TO THE SAG-AFTRA STRIKE] SUPPORT OUR... SPONSORS! ZocDoc -- Go to ⁠⁠ZocDoc.com/HappySad⁠⁠ NordVPN -- 🌏 Get Exclusive NordVPN deal here ➼ ⁠⁠https://nordvpn.com/HappySad⁠⁠ It’s risk-free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee! ✌ RocketMoney -- Go to ⁠⁠RocketMoney.com/HSC⁠⁠ 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! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:01:13 I mean, I think because I've hit it for so long, and I've only recently come out. I've only recently. Say it loud, say it proud. I think I'm swinging for the fence. I'm working. It doesn't always work out in my favor, but I'm like going for it.
Starting point is 00:01:30 Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Today on Happy, Sad Confused, I'm Josh Horowitz, and we've got the return of one of our favorites. He's been Santa, a hellboy. He's a human meme factory, thanks to his stellar work on Stranger Things. He's even let me into his bed, but this is a family show, so we're not going to talk about that right now.
Starting point is 00:01:53 It's the star of Grand Tarismo. of Grand Tarismo. It's the one of knowing David Harbor. Hey, David. What's up, John? It's nice to see you. It's good to see you, buddy.
Starting point is 00:02:03 I feel like you've gotten so big now. It's like I can't believe I'm still able to come on your show. I mean, I saw you on the steps of wherever with Tom Cruise just yucking it up. And I was like, there was a lot of yucks. So many yucks on this kind of steps.
Starting point is 00:02:20 No, I reserved time for the people that got me where I am. Bravo. Bravo. It's good to catch up, man. I take it you're in the UK now. We're in a weird time. We're in a weird time just for folks that, for clarity's sake, we're taping this a little early because we don't know what's going to happen with the strike and everything.
Starting point is 00:02:40 Yeah. Talk to me a little bit about, look, an actor's life is such that you don't have control of your own schedule, but this more so than ever. Do you ever get used to that where it's like stuff is pushed, stuff is pushed up and back and forward and whatever, like, you don't really have the ability to stop and start on your own dime. Yeah, I never get used to it. I'm a real control freak, and it makes me, it infuriates me. This, and this one in particular has been difficult, because both my projects got pushed indefinitely as a result of the writer's strike. And, you know, I'm somebody who,
Starting point is 00:03:23 I got into acting because I needed to act. Like, and I haven't acted for, it's been like seven months now. And it really makes me insane. Like I start to lose, you know, it's really important for me to have that expression, to have that relationship to the world. And so to have it put on hold like this has been awful. I think it's been awful for a lot of people because, you know, creativity is just an impulse that everybody needs to do.
Starting point is 00:03:58 And I just think it's been awful. I mean, no, it's been awful for the writers, and it's been awful for all of us, you know, involved in these projects that have gotten pushed. If you want to, you know, use your acting muscles for the next 40 minutes to play like the hornery, out-of-work actor, that's, there's your role. I've given you an assignment.
Starting point is 00:04:19 Maybe I will, Josh. Maybe I will. Perfect. Perfect. I want to congratulate you. I saw the movie last night. It's fantastic. I mean, Tom Hanks always talks about, like, movies being binaries. They either work or they don't work. And I don't know if I always subscribe to that, but I thought of that when I was watching this, like, five minutes in, I'm like, oh, this is working? And then it's just like, oh, is it going to keep working? Is it going to work till the end? Then it did. It's really satisfying. Wow. It's like we're the same person. I had that same exact response because, you know, you're shooting it and it was a wild, you feel like you're getting something, but it was a wild shoot in so many ways, which we can get into. But when you sit down to watch a screening of it, it's always so terrifying the first three minutes to me. Because you know that you could either think like, oh, my performance will be okay, but I'm going to have to like, like slog through this thing or or you feel like you're taking care of and there's something about this first it's even just the first shot of the um guy on the on the road like squatted down looking and the out of foot depth of focus being and you're just like the shaky camera a little bit in the sound you hear the wind and you're like ooh I'm with I'm with a filmmaker
Starting point is 00:05:39 like I'm doing a video game movie but I'm making it with the filmmaker and and then you know the titles come on and you're like oh we're in for a ride and then it becomes yeah like there like and i do compare it to your you know your new guy that you love tom cruise i compared a little bit to top gun maverick in that sense of like it has the ebbs and flows of an old school type movie where there are moments of you know stretches of kind of downtime that that and then these arcs that go up real big and I was like are we going to be able to pay off because we have like there's like two big arcs and then the final the final push are we going to be able to sustain that euphoria or are you going to be bored with this by that point and it really does stick the landing in that way and so yeah you're right it was the experience with like is it going to be okay yes you're going to be okay and then is it going to sustain and it does for those that don't know they might know that's title sounds familiar. And I've confessed for months when I heard about this, I didn't know what the hell this was until like recently. So it is not an adaptation of the game. It is actually an
Starting point is 00:06:52 adaptation of an amazing true story of a young man who was excellent at the game and became an actual driver, which is too insane to believe. My shorthand to date myself is it's the last starfighter meets Days of Thunder. Yes, that's perfect. So and this, as you said, this kind of like, It's really satisfying because it is, look, I'm not saying this as a backhanded compliment. They're very familiar tropes to this. This is a familiar kind of story, but it's not often done well. And like even your character, it's like, you know, I've seen that type of character and I love that type of character. I love that mentor that kind of like damaged with a past mentor who kind of like is pulled in.
Starting point is 00:07:37 Do you immediately go to like, I don't know, whether it's, you know, Duval and Days of Thunder or Hackman and Who's, Like, are you thinking coaches and managers and that kind of thing? Yeah, certainly Hackman and Hoosiers is like kind of the, you know, the North Star. But a lot of it is you have to sort of make it fresh and make it your own in a way. I think that the important thing about those characters is not only that they have a past, but that even in the scenes where they're being tough, that they have many layers to them. And I think what was so interesting about the script
Starting point is 00:08:20 when I started to read it was that this Jack character is so specifically one note about not wanting to do this, not wanting to do this, it's stupid, it's ridiculous, right from the top, that I knew that he wanted to do it desperately. Like, there's something where people are like, I'm not getting married. The lady does protest too much a little bit. Yeah, I mean, it's like, be interested in Benedict.
Starting point is 00:08:45 It's like, I'm never getting married. And it's like, at the end of them play, you're going to be married. And that, that to me is the id and the ego, just battling constantly. It's this layered human being that I don't know that is that in vogue anymore. We view people kind of differently now that they are what they say or something. And I find that people. are a lot more nuanced and layered than what they appear to be
Starting point is 00:09:13 and that if you crack them open in different ways, you'll see different things. And so that was, there was an opportunity here to have that trope but to also have that trope be personal to me and to what I like in film characters and what I want to see
Starting point is 00:09:32 more of in film characters. And I'm also a sucker look. We were just referencing Hackman. I was thinking back to that Hoosier's character. There's all these like references to like the past like there's a lived life and there is it to jack's character too that has happened way before this that we don't get all the details but we get enough it's just like hints that enough and for you you probably you know you know what you need to know and for the audience it almost like invites it ignites that imagination about like what that other story was
Starting point is 00:09:59 yes yes you get like you know broad primary colors of it but you don't know quite the ins and outs And you also get some of the, you know, some of the things that come along with it. I mean, it's funny how much work I did on this guy that doesn't quite get expressed. Like, there was, there's something that they initially, it had initially been written as more of a country type guy, but he was into Axel Road. He was into Guns and Roses, I think, in the, and in our version. he's into Black Sabbath. And Neil and I talked about it, and even the costume was very like,
Starting point is 00:10:44 it had sort of like a southerny, sort of John Varvadosy quality to it. And I was like, I want him to wear, I want him to wear these Aizod-type shirts or, you know, but I want him to button them all the way up. It's almost like he has scars or tattoos that he can't show.
Starting point is 00:11:07 he's sort of of the world of the chief engineer, which is like, you know, Rolexes or Taghowers and like, you know, sport coats, kind of European-ish moneyed world. But at the same time, there's an embarrassment there to who he is internally. So there's, and then he listens to Black Sabbath. So his escape and his release is this like crazy metal. Like, as a opposed to something more. And so all those things were very important to me in terms of that past that we don't know about and that I don't want you to know too much about. But I want you to know how it's manifested in this particular world and what can't be expressed. I don't know if I knew this in our many, many conversations, but I take it you are or have been a bit of a
Starting point is 00:11:56 gamer. Like that's actually something that's... I mean, I can't believe... Because I've hit it for so long. And I've only recently come out. I've only recently... Say it loud, say it proud. I know, so tell me this. I'm not, I'm not read... But the response has been phenomenal. The, yes, I have been my whole life.
Starting point is 00:12:19 I mean, I was like, I think I was like seven years old and my parents got me an Odyssey Two system, which you don't even, you're too like young to even know what it was. Okay, so like... I'm a master system guy. Oh, yeah, yeah. This is like, this was like... even pre-Atari, like Calico Vision, all these, and it, it began a lifelong love affair, much to the detriment of my concentration, my homework, sometimes my relationships, this obsession
Starting point is 00:12:53 with this incredible, like, fantasy world that you can go into in those things. But I've always been, I'm very much an RPG type guy. Like, I really like fetishing out on gear. and attributes and, you know, affixes and all to make yourself a little more powerful to kill the monster. And I like, you know, fantasy ideas like, you know, the druid or the sorcerer, whoever it is. Like, I like those tropes because, you know, Lord of the Rings and all that stuff is part of my film life. And it's also part of my video game life as well. rope in friends and co-stars?
Starting point is 00:13:40 Like, have you played... Winona Ryder has never played a video game in her life. I can't imagine. Like, do you broach that subject? Can you hang in my trailer and play... Theoelago with me? Like, me and her in my trailer, like, Winona, come on, come on, catch up.
Starting point is 00:13:55 Like, no, that's not going to happen. You know... That's a devil in the machine. She'd be like, what is this devil in my life? Exactly. He's so confused. And, yeah. No, it's always been such a private thing for me.
Starting point is 00:14:12 I don't really want to share it. I mean, it's like, and it really is my world that I go into. I used to, like, you know, like almost 20 years ago, I played World of Warcraft pretty hard for a while. And I had all these guys, you know, people that I played with online. But you go by your character name and they go by their character, so you don't have any, it's an entirely simulated experience. And I find that, like, I hate, I'm starting to hate the simulation or the technological world
Starting point is 00:14:51 in real life. Like, I'm kind of dropping the iPhone, like, I'm trying to get back into the fact that, like, when I take the subway, I know where I'm going, I'm not just following a blue line on Google math, like stuff like that I do not want to be involved in so that when I go to my fantasy world, I sit down in my comfy chair, I log in, I hook up, I'm involved with all kinds of people that aren't real, even in real life, and I go with them. But I don't really want to sit next to Finn Wolfhard and play with him. As much as I think that would be kind of entertaining, I can't really get into the game if I know that like, you know. It's going to take you out
Starting point is 00:15:29 of it. Yeah, you take me out of the whole, my old fantasy world where I'm a powerful warrior who No. Those kids will cut you down the size metaphorically and literally, and you don't need that. You make me feel bad. Stop it. at 2026 X-E-90 plug-in hybrid from $599 bi-weekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions apply,
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Starting point is 00:17:28 So if you're willing to teach me at this point in my life. Wow. Are you a New York City kid? Yeah. I had a friend who was in New York City. kid I went to college. I know one of those. And she didn't know how to drive either.
Starting point is 00:17:39 And I was like, how do you not, because I was a suburbs kid. And literally by the time you hit 15, because you couldn't go anywhere, you couldn't take your girlfriend to the mall to see a movie without your dad driving you guys. And that is humiliating. So all you do is wait for your license, practice, practice, practice, and then the day you can get your license, you're driving. But yeah, you city kids, just get on the subway, walk around, whatever you want to do. Yeah, I will teach you to drive, but only if we start at the hardest level, only if we start with a stick shift.
Starting point is 00:18:12 I want you with a clutch. I want you in a parking lot, stripping the gears, I want you stalling out, I want you almost hitting other. Yes, this is, this is, this would be, okay. What a great new mini-reality show. We're going to, we're going to white planes, and we're going to do this. So, okay, the, talk to me a little bit about where you are at. Oh, actually, here's what I wanted to do. Before we move on video games, you also, you have Alone in the Dark that I wanted to mention.
Starting point is 00:18:40 Yes. Which I'm very excited because I adore, everybody should adore Jody Comer. Do you get to work with Jody on Alone in the Dark? Not at all. Yeah. And it was so, yeah, it was so tragic that I didn't. I'm really curious to see how it turned out. That whole franchise is such a wacky franchise.
Starting point is 00:19:00 And I'll tell you another dorky thing I'd do is sometimes I'll watch old plays. or speed runs of video games from the 80s or 90s, you know, like King's Quest, like a playthrough of King's Quest, right? Or like Space Quest, all those Williams. The Don Bluth. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But they're alone in the dark has been through such various iterations of, and they've
Starting point is 00:19:30 been terrible. Like in the past, they went through a period where they were really. like weird games. It didn't make any sense. And so it's really fun to like reboot something weird and risky like that. So when I heard it was like Jody and me like it's super cool. But yeah, I didn't get to work with her at all. It was just me and some dots on my face in a room like you know. Had you done the performance capture thing before? How was it? No, I've never done it before. It's interesting. It wasn't full performance Capture, which scares me a little bit, because it was my facial expressions, but I don't
Starting point is 00:20:08 get to tell you what I'm doing in my body. So if you're playing the game and you think the character's doing something stupid with their hands, that wasn't my choice. That's some video game designer thinking that human beings move that way. Yeah, exactly. But there are ways that they do it that's full on. Like, I think that, I think it's Corey Ballrog who does those God of War games. I think he does, like, full-on blue screen studios, actors moving around, grabbing things.
Starting point is 00:20:41 So I've been sort of fascinated by that aspect of it. And if I can carve out a little time, I'd like to do one of those that's more involved, where you actually get to, you know. But this was, it was limited in its scope. And it was fun to do. It was fun to be a part of that. but it wasn't quite full it wasn't full born in that gotcha so okay let's take a moment to take stock on the david harbor career in the it feels like it's like i don't know about you i feel like it's like stranger things started
Starting point is 00:21:10 15 years ago it was like seven eight years ago it's not that long ago since then you have capitalized on your amazing um success with i think six films now okay so we have we have hellboy extraction no sudden move black widow violent night Grand Turismo. I think that's a pretty good batting average. How do you feel in terms of like taking advantage of the opportunities
Starting point is 00:21:34 and leveling up in terms of like the kind of things you wanted to do? Give me a little self-assessment. Yeah, I mean, for sure. I think that you have to you know, one thing I'm proud of is like I do think I'm swinging. Like I think I'm swinging for the fences.
Starting point is 00:21:52 I'm working. It doesn't always work out in my favor. But I've, I'm like going. for it. And I do think that the past couple years have amped up in an exciting way for me. I've also got stuff that, you know, I've started to be able to develop stuff that I like and find out what my taste really is. And, you know, I like stuff that's wacky, that has a real grounded heart to it, real complex characters, but that also has a lay.
Starting point is 00:22:27 of wackiness to it. There's something about violent night that was very appealing in that way. It was like you have this grounded Christmas movie with this heart and then you have this like insane violence or even this, this Grand Tourism where you have this sports movie but it's wrapped up with like a guy in a video game
Starting point is 00:22:47 because I do feel like the modern world like I'm a big fan of the films of the 70s and the 80s. I think, you know, a movie like Taxi Driver sort of can't be beat in terms of character and in terms of your relationship
Starting point is 00:23:05 to a protagonist and what it makes you think and what it makes you feel. But I don't feel like you can make taxi driver today unless you have a bear on cocaine running around in between scenes. Or that's why there's a movie
Starting point is 00:23:21 called Joker, which was essentially taxi driver and the only way to make taxi driver is if you is to put a superhero in the middle. Superhero in the middle of it. Yes, that's exactly right. And so I think that, because there's sort of a post-capitalist Dada-esque quality to our civilization now, where we can't quite ground ourselves when we go into a movie theater. We need a little bit of like sparkles or something.
Starting point is 00:23:46 And I think that's interesting. I want to kind of go into that and find that more and more. And I've been pleased with how that's been, you know, you know, falling out as I go further and further. And some of the stuff that I'm developing now has, has that aesthetic. But I'd like to get to a place where, you know, it's not, I hate to use the word brand, but I like the word aesthetic. Like, when you go to see a David Harbor movie, you know that you're going to be,
Starting point is 00:24:18 uh, you know that you're going to be surprised. Like, you know that you're going to be like, what is going on? And also moved. Yes. I'd like to make that 70s movie that is moving, that is complex, but that also, you know, occasionally you see that bear on cocaine, and you're like, what is going on? I can attest to these interests from personal experience.
Starting point is 00:24:43 So before you follow your wacky muse on some of these other things, as we said, a couple projects are kind of out in the ether because of the strike and other things. So Stranger Things, obviously, is going to be a huge undertaking. Are you talking to the Duffers a lot? Like before this all happened, like, had you seen any scripts? Like, how far long were you into, like, diving into Hopper again? Yeah, before the strike, we were sent scripts.
Starting point is 00:25:09 They're terrific, as per usual. They continue to outdo themselves. These currently on strike writers, called the Duffer Brothers. And yeah, and it's a hell of an undertaking, too. I mean, the set pieces and the things in the scripts that we saw are bigger than anything we've done in the past. You've got to imagine like where it starts, you know, after where season four ended, when you watch us on that hill looking at the you know, ash and these smoke, fire, you know, and we're going to start somewhere after that. So you've got to imagine that the world is a different place.
Starting point is 00:26:02 And, you know, it's great. It'll take a while to shoot, which will be tough since we can't get started yet. But, you know, it is what it is. I mean, I'm excited to go back. I'm excited to wrap it up in a bold, amazing way. I'm excited to, you know, really swing with this character because you know that they're going to pay off these OG characters, 11, Hopper, Joyce, Will, Mike.
Starting point is 00:26:39 You know, they're going to pay them off in big ways because they've lived with you for the past eight years. So have you read the final script then? Have you read the ending? I have not, but I know what it is. Like I know where we net out, and it's very, very moving. That is the term I will use. That is the one word I will use is moving.
Starting point is 00:27:07 I think Winona's in your neck of the woods making beetle juice. So you're going to drop by sets. Oh my gosh, is that shooting in England? Yeah. Oh. Now you give them me. ideas. I mean, what else are you doing with your downtime? Go say, hey. Agreed. I'm doing, you know, I'm doing Zoom interviews with you. That's it, but that's it. But that's it. But that's
Starting point is 00:27:28 it. Um, another, um, thing I'm very intrigued by is Creature Commandos, I wanted to mention, which, so did you know James Gunn? Was this out of the blue? Did you meet with James? Out of the blue. He sent, I think they sent an offer for it. And then I, I, was like, what is this? I think I said, like, what is this? I want to meet with James Gunn to make sure this is like something he cares about and something that's real
Starting point is 00:27:58 before I even read this thing because, you know, you think it's a cartoon, it's for DC, you're like, what is this? And he was like, yeah, let's meet real, you know, and he was really excited about it. He thinks it's one of the best things he's ever written. It's kind of amazing. I think it's been announced, do I play, right?
Starting point is 00:28:20 Yeah, you're Eric Frankenstein, I believe? Yeah, yeah, Frankenstein. And you have some Frankenstein experience. This was meant to be. Exactly. I mean, it's a very interesting take on Frankenstein because it's one of the great things about Frankenstein is he was sort of raised to be this erudite, you know, model of a man,
Starting point is 00:28:37 and he still has this weird inhuman rage and confusion within him. So it was a great character to play. It's very funny. And James is just like such an incredible guy. I've always wanted to work for him. And I suppose in terms of building this universe, there's a lot of opportunity for, you know, these characters to be all sorts of different iterations.
Starting point is 00:29:06 There might be a live thing. There might be a cartoon. There might be whatever. Well, that's one of the cool things he said is that the way he's casting all these projects is like if you're doing animated and they do live action version, guess what? I'm seeing Eric Frankenstein in my Zoom right now. So that's been discussed.
Starting point is 00:29:21 Like if some version of Eric Frankenstein, less beard maybe. That's cool, though. That's exciting. Yeah, no, it's cool. I mean, and you know, you think about, yeah, like what he's done with that Guardian's thing, what he does with character, what he does with different action sequence. It's just exciting to be a part of that thing with someone starting this thing and someone with such a creative brain, yeah, it's great.
Starting point is 00:29:51 And the recording, we, you know, we did a bunch of them, and they're, it was funny as hell. I mean, it's, we were dying in the room. And I'm normally pretty serious. I don't really mess. And we were dying. I mean, it's, it's outrageous. I can't wait for you to see it.
Starting point is 00:30:10 I can't wait for you to see it. Grocery shopping Cho-ching Ordering food Cha-ching Filling up on gas Chaching commuting
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Starting point is 00:30:42 Conditions apply Visit RBC.com are you looking for a movie review show where the critic is at the top of his or her game meticulously breaking down and explaining exactly why a film does or does not work well good luck with the search because we're having fun here on adam does movies each and every week i hit the big blockbusters i cover the streamers and i even toss in some movie news for fun check out the show on spotify on apple podcasts on youtube and hopefully we can do movies together hot I think the last time I caught up with you in person, actually, was coming out of the Guardian screening.
Starting point is 00:31:25 You've probably got some good brownie points with the kids taking them to see that one. Yeah. Yeah, they very much enjoyed that movie. Not as many brownie points as I got taking the stepdaughter to Taylor Swift, though. Talk about points. I saw that the other day. Talk about points, man. How many favors do you have to call in?
Starting point is 00:31:44 Do you get the meet and greet? Honestly, like a lot of favors. You've got to call in a lot of favors. You know, normally, like, the great thing about being a beloved character on Stranger Things is I can call up Madison Square Garden and get courtside to the Knicks. But, man, to go see Taylor Swift, it's like, you know, the amount of... So it was pretty extraordinary, though. We went to Minneapolis because it was the only weekend we could go see.
Starting point is 00:32:15 it. And I love Minneapolis. I love the people in Minneapolis. It's a real music town too, like Prince and, you know, people are there to see the concert as opposed to like Instagram the concert. So it's like a perfect place to see it. And yeah, I mean, I guess I'm not betraying anything. My daughter won't listen to this. It was extraordinary because I did say as we went in, I said something like, you know, if there's an opportunity. to say hello, like, but I'm also very, I'm also very conscious because people, a lot of times people want to meet me and it's, and it can be very difficult. So I wanted to make them, I was like, please, you know.
Starting point is 00:32:57 Yes. And they said, she's leaving on a plane right after this concert. And I was like, oh, then, you know, and we sat there for about 30 minutes of the opener and then a woman came out with a letter and it was, you know, addressed to me and, you know, addressed to me and my stepdaughter and it was a handwritten letter on a particular stationery and it was like I've never seen my my stepdaughter speechless and it was like that's the Willy Wonka ticket that's the and she did say in the letter at one point I'm gonna I'll give you a wave from the stage and at one point like during the beginning of one of her numbers she
Starting point is 00:33:41 did turn to our little booth and like And my daughter just like, you know, I mean, she's a force of nature. I had, I really didn't have any idea because it's not really my, you know, my, my thing was like Madonna. Like when you're a kid, music is so, and like I saw Madonna concert. I saw Guns and Rose's concert. Like I saw. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:05 But seeing her perform. Now you're, now you're, yeah, seeing her perform for three and a half hours. It's, was it that long? It's like 45 songs. It's I've never seen it she barely leaves the stage. I don't know when she pees It's ridiculous. She's a force of nature Amazing. For a guy that's not working you have a lot of things to talk about coming up. So thunderbolts which obviously again is kind of in the ether right now Where are we at like are you in again is that in your head right now? Do you have a script to work off of or like how how
Starting point is 00:34:40 Excited or what are you thinking about thunderbolts at this point? Yeah, I mean we were I think gonna go And then I think they did want the opportunity to change some stuff. The interesting thing about Marvel that's so great about them is they do rework stuff. Even big production, like Black Widow, the entire third act was reworked as we were shooting, which is incredible. And so they just want that freedom. The script we have is really tight and really great. And our director, Jake, thinks it's great, but they just want the freedom. They don't want to be stuck in the middle of a shoot and then having to go like, you know,
Starting point is 00:35:14 You know, we can't rewrite this. Do you have a good handle on where Red Guardian is? And are you happy with kind of the role he plays in that team? I started working on it already. And it's, you know, it's like phenomenal. It's hard, again, it's like hard to talk about these projects because I sound like such a dumb idiot. Because all I say is like, that's great.
Starting point is 00:35:35 Script is great. But it's true. Like I'm blessed to work with like the duffers who write some of the greatest scripts on television. and this, you know, these Marvel writers who are writing incredible epic stories and they're, you know, letting the Red Guardian do stuff that he's never done before, that relationship with Yelena is like we get to go into that more and it's, you know, funny and satisfying in a real emotional way. Yeah, it's just, I'm just really blessed with these two amazing projects that are. aren't shooting.
Starting point is 00:36:13 I just hope you get a scene with Harrison. I just want to see you and Harrison Ford mix it up a little. Me too. All right, let's end with the happy, say, I confused, profoundly random questionnaire. Some random questions for you, David, that hopefully you haven't covered before. What do you collect? Do you collect anything? I do collect, oh, God, I just confess to you the, like, video game thing.
Starting point is 00:36:39 I do collect Warhammer like figurines yeah you and Henry Cavill I know I know I didn't even get there first Henry Cavill got there first you guys should compare Warhammer
Starting point is 00:36:55 figurines and the internet would just implode that sounds wrong in so many ways what's what's the wallpaper on your phone that sounds like you don't have the iPhone do you have the iPhone anymore or no
Starting point is 00:37:08 I just recently got it back just because I got to take a trip where I might need an Uber very quickly. Got it. But the wallpaper is my stepdaughters when they were very little. But it's also, it's in black and white because I learned how to turn my iPhone in black and white so it's not as entertaining. Soon you'll be rocking the flip phone. You're going backwards? words. I was, I had the flip phone for like four months. I love the flip phone. Yeah, I'm, I'm ready to go back. Last actor you were mistaken for?
Starting point is 00:37:48 Last actor I was mistaken for. Um, last actor I was mistaken for. Oh my God. Okay, this is hilarious. This was like five years ago or something. I was in a best buy. And somebody was like, oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. I love it. the newsroom. And I was like, thank you. And they thought I was Jeff Daniels. They asked the conversation when I really, they thought of Jeff Daniels. I was like, wow. And then I texted Jeff. I was like, somebody just thought I was you. And he said, I'm sorry. What's the worst note a director has ever given you? Oh, God. I mean, it all sort of blends together. my mind but it doesn't even have to be a specific yeah it's usually just notes that are like be funnier they're like just like funnier just like can you do it like a little funnier like a little lighter because usually when i'm very serious i'm funny but directors on set don't always
Starting point is 00:38:52 see that and so they'll be like just a little funnier well and they always use the other take but it's always the worst note and i'm always like this is gonna you're gonna hate this but i'll do it for you who okay when when you're texting somebody when you're actually using your iPhone and getting texts, what celebrity name drop for a second that pops up on your phone that you text still makes your brain explode? Like, I know this person,
Starting point is 00:39:17 I text with this human being, how is this my real life? I don't want her to know this, but I'll tell you, as long as you promise not to tell her, Scarlett Johansson. She's like a good buddy. Like, we hang out and everything.
Starting point is 00:39:30 But every time it comes up, it's like, Scarlet Johan's, you're just like, what? She can text her? Emojis, gifts. Does she have a good texting game? Yeah, she's all right. But, you know, like all of us, it can sometimes be a little coy.
Starting point is 00:39:44 I mean, we're all busy and stuff, too. So it'll be like, you know, like a day I'll go by. And then at, you know, 7.30 in the morning, you'll get like a big block of text. Right. Oh, okay. Can't be more coy than the elusive Winona. So use our favorite. That one, that one is like the block of text will come like three months later.
Starting point is 00:40:02 And it'll be like, you can't even read the whole thing. It'll be like all these references from old movies, days she's thought about you and why she thought about you, things she's seen you do, and her favorite Law and Order episode that you've done, still. She loves dolls. Loves that episode. I love it. I did get, I got a random, out of nowhere video from her involving Wallace Sean, and there was no context to it. And I was like, is this an error? Is this a, what?
Starting point is 00:40:34 No, anyway. that's purely it's for you um what okay if you were to host a podcast what would the topic be have you contemplated do you're the last one i remember we once talked about this you were asking me about podcasts and i was and this was like a years ago and i was like yeah i don't know i just don't see much money in it and then like the next day the smartless guys like sold their podcast like a billion dollars i feel like everybody has a podcast now i hate it but but if i were to do a podcast It would be on the, um, the, uh, the, uh, the banya. The banya?
Starting point is 00:41:13 Yeah. What's the banya? The banya is the, uh, Russian, Ukrainian, Eastern European bathhouse. Oh, I see. That is like, uh, you know, place where people commune and get together. And it would be, the podcast would probably be the banya. And it would be like me without a shirt, like occasionally, like, like feeling sweaty. and then occasionally dipping myself in super cold water.
Starting point is 00:41:37 Amazing. Not a metaphor again. This is real. All right. Finally, in honor of Happy Second Fused, actor that always makes you happy. Al Pacino. Movie that makes you sad.
Starting point is 00:41:51 In terms of endearment. That's kind of my go-to too, too. Yeah. And finally, what food makes you confused? Um, a doll. Oh, the Indian, like, lentil. Is that like a, yeah. Like yellow doll. Is it the color? Consistency? Both. It's just confusing. It's not bad or good. It's just confusing. That's lentils, huh? Hmm. Is it soup? Is it for old people? Sure, I'll have some. All right, well, get this man a bowl of doll. He's got a big day of press going.
Starting point is 00:42:35 Congratulations, man. As I said, this movie really works. I was so entertained. People are going to love it. Grand Tarismo, you're excellent in it. They found, like, the only young actor that's taller than you. I was amazed. It is incredible.
Starting point is 00:42:47 Watch the most scenes, watch me look up at him. I was like, this has never happened in screen in the history of film. I looked it up after. I'm like, what am I looking? What is this? Yeah, he's 6-5, 6-6? Yeah. Yeah, he's super tall.
Starting point is 00:42:59 You watch him fit into an LMP too. It's hilarious. Amazing. Honestly, everybody should check it out. I look forward to seeing you in person. Hopefully the strike ends soon and we can all get back to work. It's good to see you, buddy, as always.
Starting point is 00:43:13 You too, man. 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 pressure to do this by Josh. Are you looking for a movie review show
Starting point is 00:43:37 where the critic is at the top of his or her game, meticulously breaking down and explaining exactly why a film does or does not work? Well, good luck with the search. Because we're having fun here on Adam does movies. I talk to you like we just got done seeing a movie together, giving you the pros and cons, and I'm digging in the trenches in the mud and muck
Starting point is 00:43:56 on streaming services, telling you which films are worth your time. Each and every week, I hit the big blockbusters, I cover the streamers, and I even toss in some movie news for fun. Because this show, as Adam does movies. I'm obviously Adam, I probably should have led with that. But perhaps I have led you to check out the show on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts, on YouTube. And hopefully, we can do movies together. Hoo-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho. Hot.

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