Happy Sad Confused - Jeff Goldblum

Episode Date: June 20, 2016

The one and only Jeff Goldblum joins Josh this week to discuss his admiration for numerous actors, returning to the Independence Day series with the new film Independence Day: Resurgence, and how fatherhood is treating him. This episode is sponsored by Blue Apron and Casper Mattresses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During the Volvo Fall Experience event, discover exceptional offers and thoughtful design that leaves plenty of room for autumn adventures. And see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp morning commute. This September, lease a 2026 X-E-90 plug-in hybrid from $599 bi-weekly at 3.99% during the Volvo Fall Experience event. Conditions apply, visit your local Volvo retailer

or go to explorevolvo.com. DC high volume Batman The Dark Knight's definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio for the very first time Fear I have to make them afraid He's got a motorcycle

Get after him or have you shot What do you mean blow up the building From this moment on None of you are safe New episodes every Wednesday Wherever you get your podcasts Hey, guys, and welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. I'm Josh Harowitz.

You're listening to my podcast, so you're a very smart, wise person, especially smart and wise, because this week's episode is Jeff Goldblum, the main guest, as it were. And we've also got, of course, Sammy's here, as always. Jenna's here. She never says anything, but she's here again. Hi, Jenna. Okay. In case you couldn't hear. That's too much, Jenna.

Hello. And we've got a special guest star via telecommunications technology. It's Ben Schwartz. It's me, Ben Schwartz, everybody. What a lovely surprise for Josh. As it happens, this is just fate. We didn't organize this. This is just the gods saying that Ben wanted to be on the intro and introduce Jeff Goldblower.

This was the weirdest miss call. I talked to the gods, and the gods are like, give Sammy a ring. I bet something crazy would happen. And then I called and Josh was like, oh, please don't put him on the podcast. And Sammy goes, press record, baby. Not at all, not at all. I was just conveying my excitement about you

and former Happy Side Confused guest, Sam Rock while collaborating on a future film. That news just broke. It's very exciting. You just broke just but hours ago. This is amazing. Are you guys going to talk about anything besides having been on the Happy Side Confused podcast?

Oh my God. I remember when I was in that room. and looked at those beautiful eyes. I remember the feeling I felt in my face and my loins. I remember that Jena Norse Sammy were there, but I remember that we were one for a moment, and then he told me he loved me. It was a beautiful thing.

He did tell you he loved you. It was captured on video and podcast form, in all manners of media captured that strange moment. Did Sam tell you? What's your favorite Jeff Goldblum movie? What's your favorite Jeff Goldblum movie? He's the guest on this podcast. I know you already got your eyes off the prize,

but he's the guest on this podcast. Thanks for keeping me on track, Ben. Um, my favorite, okay, I'll say two. Uh, the fly, it for me is basically a perfect movie. And then we talk during this conversation, of course, about my childhood favorite, The Adventures of Bukuru Banzai. What say you know? That's amazing.

I've never heard that before. What? You would love it. Are you kidding me? I'm putting it on my list right now. Would I love it? No, a little sketchier taste. You would hate it.

You don't have the, you don't have the terrible taste that a Horowitz and a Schwartz has. I'm telling you guys. movies that have like gulfilte fish and draodles in there are neither sadly in buckaroo bonsai but it's i don't even know how to describe it sounds like a fake movie if i'm being honest it's peter weller it's john lithgow it's love john lithgow it's sci-fi it's action it's quirky it checks all the boxes guys trust me checks all your boxes so wait i want to do one caveat before we launch into the conversation and poor ben putting up with our silliness here oh poor Before we do that caveat, let's hit a commercial break.

No, no, we don't do that. We haven't sold any ads, apparently. So in this conversation with Jeff Goldblum, the man, the myth, the legend, he's, of course, promoting Independence Day resurgence. Yes, pause for dramatic effect. Thank you, Sammy. You're welcome. A conversation with Jeff Goldblum is an interesting thing in that he is a unique personality.

It's hard to pin him down. You will hear the first 15 minutes of conversation is basically him riffing off of everything that's in the office. You've heard that before in other conversations, but he really takes it to another level. So just luxuriate in his randomness, as I did, because I think that's the way to do it. Because look, it's how often do you get a chance to hang with Jeff Goldblum for 45 minutes, right? You do actually more often than most. I'm living a charmed life. You are.

So anyway, this is a really fun conversation. I know you guys will enjoy it. and independent. Cool. And before we head off, Josh, Josh's phone number is. No,

no, no, no. Wait. Yeah, Sammy, go. Three Jeff Goldblum questions. Oh, my God. One, did you talk about nine months? No. You blew it.

It's a different podcast, Sammy. I need to do the rom-com spin-off. Oh, my God. Of Happy Zed Confused. Number two. What was his favorite toy in the office? Uh, uh, uh, he didn't play with any toys.

Is he, like everybody else, he loves the Michael Shannon imagery in the office. He really liked the Danny McBride painting, but no toys. Number three. Number three, did you hug when he said, like, how was, how did, how did you leave it? Great question. Great question, Sam. Thank you, Ben. What's your guess based on all you know of me and Goldblum?

Well, how were exchanges of pleasantries made? Do you do it like how Jewish family members say goodbye? It's like you hug each other four times and then do like a kiss and then right before you leave again, you go in for another. That's not how the Horowitz is do it. The Horowitz is put the, we all go into hermetically sealed chambers and then we just bump up against each other.

That would be amazing if just then we learned that Sammy says goodbye incorrectly. She's like, yeah, did you guys say goodbye like normal people? Like, you know, you touch each other's butts and they kind of point at each other. Grab each other's genitalia. You licked each other's faces for seven minutes.

Did you guys lick from chin to forehead? Did you say goodbye or did you say goodbye? I will say the greeting with Jeff was interesting. You've hit upon something here in that he walked in and at first he extended the fist. He extended the fist for a fist bump and I was like a little put off by a, you know. You're not a fist bumper. It felt like a germaphobe kind of a thing. But then I think recognizing our shared history, he said, no, no, no, no, bring it in for the hug. We hugged, we embraced. It was a beautiful thing. Wow. You look different after. I'm a changed man.

You know, you're glowing. Josh, how many people, I know you have to get to this podcast, but how many people do you think, have come in for your podcast that you've met before, but you've had to kind of like not tell them that you met before because you're embarrassed, they don't recognize you? I'd say a good 16%, not that I'm keeping, not that I'm keeping track. Okay. Let me just check his list. Okay. I love that.

I love that percentage. Not counting you, of course, because you, you know of all our beautiful moments. You catalog them. Yeah. You'll have some London wrecks for Ben. You're going to London. Yes. That's where the Rockwell movie is.

Oh, very cool. very cool yes of course you'll offline you guys will offline we'll talk we'll talk later any final thank you for having me josh and sammy and jenna this has been a lovely bonus material for the happy second fuse listeners um enjoy this conversation now guys with uh the one and only jeff goldblum love you josh all right calm down everybody Okay, we're on the record now with Mr. Jeff Goldham talking about our mutual love of New York City. We love New York City. And you and I lived in Chelsea.

You were just saying that you lived in Chelsea. You grew up in the Upper West Side, the Main Street's of the Upper West Side. Yeah, not really at all. What year? Because I filmed Death Wish, I think, on the Upper West Side in 1973. Okay, wow. Where were you? I was, I did not exist yet.

76, I came into existence. Oh, kidding. Wow. Thank you so much. Somebody just brought us in water. Oh, I need to keep hydrated. Absolutely. It's a pleasure to have you here.

We were just reminiscing that the last time we saw each other was in a much different environment, Las Vegas, as its charms in a way, but maybe not necessarily our, might not speak for you, not my cup of tea. Might not be my cup of tea either. I don't know what my cup of tea is. what what tea would that be if it was if las Vegas would be a not not zinger zinger red red zinger I don't know we're more uh something else yeah something throat coat so yeah a nice throat coat do you um yes yes you have something to say no you

i have many things to say but I want you to a list of them I'm not going to just uh pour forth uh for fear of uh offending you or boring you no no well this is part of the goal was to bring you into my weird habit that my weird office Well, that I like, I'd like to talk about that. So this is the first time I've only now been here, you know, four and a minutes, 20 seconds. And so many things, you know, catch the eye. What caught your eye? What do you want to absorb?

Well, let's work in, you know, let's go from left to right, like my indigenous peoples do. I mean, right to left. So there's a child's painting. Is that your painting or your child or your nephew or your niece? This is like a little, again, a straw combs. This is you deciphering what you can about. me, and you've already made your first pivotal error, Jeff. Well, I've not, I haven't, I'm just thinking out loud.

You've made an assumption, you've made an assumption. Well, that's, that was a child spending, maybe it's not. It's not. Oh, it isn't. Oh, that's like Basquiat. It's like a childlike, a sophisticated adult offering. Well, did you do that beautiful thing? That is a, the DMB stands for Danny McBride, the wonderful actor, comedian, uh, painted that of me,

Danny McBride of many, uh, great comedic films. This is your end and, uh, oh, yeah. He did that and that's his style. Does he paint a lot? He went to art school, as I understand it, in North Carolina. And I don't know if that's probably his best work, but it was... His face red. That is beautiful, isn't it?

Thank you. And that's... Well, don't they say, didn't Picasso say it takes, you know, 60 years to it? And then you paint again like a child. There you go. Yeah. He has a head start. 40 plus years in.

He's painting like a child again. Good for him. I like it very, very much. And then I've come... Then we come to this. I like white chalkboard with your... you know, a magic market. And I see New York folks.

So this, Jeff... Yes, tell me. This is a list of folks that, as I understand it, live in New York that I've worked with in different capacities over the years, that... You know, as you know, as you may recall, we did a sketch a couple years ago when we had a restaurant called Goldblum's. Yes, I loved it. I loved it. Do you still have access to that? It'll never go away.

It will never go away. Wait, I have... Actually, I have this here on the wall. This is the menu for Goldblumes. That's the menu. We were funny. We were funny. Don't forget about the Buccaro Bonsai Briscuit.

So yes. So anyway, this is New York folks that in case I have a sketch that needs a brilliant, wonderful performer, I know who lives in New York. That's like your player's guide right on the wall, right? There you know, no kidding. And, you know, we could go through many people, but Lake Bell was, I worked with her early on. And she's now put us on to the Rye method of child rearing. She's a very important figure currently for us because I've got the 11-year. Of course.

old Charlie, and we do something we follow, we cherry pick, but we take courses in and have a mommy's day, which I go to, in L.A. of R.I.E. People can look it up, but it's very interesting, and she turned us on to that. She's a wonderful, interesting person anyway, very, very talented. Can I ask you how fatherhood is treating you? Is it everything it's cracked up to be? I'm not myself a father. It's very personal. I'm sure everybody encounters it differently. It's delightful to me. You're not, you're not a father. But you hope to be one day, I think you imagine yourself.

I'm getting a big kick out of it. He's a, he's a joy and a half. He's really something. I must say, boy, oh boy, when he lays down on your chest and kind of snuggles you and knuzzles you a little bit and breathes his hot breath in your ear, oh my God. It's really thrilling. It's a special thing. It's quite, quite thrilling.

And then a million other things that he does. It's really something. And he's very, you know, he's like a person. I mean, you can make him laugh. He gets jokes. We have funny, not, you know, verb, not a lot of a sophisticated nature. But I think they probably are sophisticated, more sophisticated than I realize, or more sophisticated than I am, he's something like your friend, Danny McBride.

As a huge movie buff, as a huge lover, you must be itching the next few years. you're going to get a chance to expose him to what you consider to be, you know, the seminal works, the works that define. I didn't know where you're going that question. But I like where it wound up. Yes, I am. Yeah, you're tired. Have you thought about that?

Have you thought about the firms that you want to? Not a lot. I don't think about it, but I'll bet as we, well, I'll see what he's interested in. I think one has to, I'm no expert, I'm nothing, but, but I think you have to. And the Rye method actually has a respect. for the child and respects the child's curiosity and his own their own path of interest so like with everything else you know his movie watching if he's interested in the motion pictures at all and he may not be in which case this is far be for me to force it down his throat you know we'll see what he

likes but yes there may be a time i can imagine where i might say well if you're interested in my or even before he can understand what I'm saying, hey, to check this out, you know, kind of thing. Yeah, I like to do that.

I like to do it with Emily, you know, I like to do it with friends. I like to be turned on to things that I've missed because there are big holes in my exposure, you know, some movies and stuff. So,

yeah. Well, it seems because I do remember, like, you know, when we were shooting that sketch, you were kind of killing the downtime between takes and I came to,

with a particular game, which I came to understand that you now do all the time with everybody. annoyingly but I don't I don't I give people a rest here and there but I know the game that you're talking about did I do that on that we did and it was delightful I don't see any downside to it let's show your your listeners so you name it this was it name an actor or a movie go right um Gary old Gary Oldman Gary Oldman so now we have to name a movie that he's been in that takes us to let's see I like the professional oh a lot yeah that takes us either let's say

Natalie Portman or Jean No no let's say um Natalie Portman which takes us to et cetera and then the game goes like that right right we won't bore them with anything else but I love look at that whole list I'm looking back at them still going around your walls

so Ezra Miller is an interesting I like that movie we need to talk about Kevin oh boy that's a scary movie speaking of parents and children boy and the wonderful Tilda Swinton who I crossed paths with on you know the West Anderson movie Grand Rapids Hotel

she's a special special artist in person And Justin Long, I did a play with. I'm going down your list. He's a wonderful guy. He's delightful. A great impressionist, by the way. A great impressionist.

A great impressionist. Yeah, I'd say so. And I'm a sucker for impressionists. What's your, do you do, have a go-to? What's your favorite? Do you do impressions yourself? I don't do any impressions. You just appreciate others fine work.

Yes, I do. You know, who did I did the podcast, I believe, of Kevin Pollock recently. Oh, wonderful. Christopher Walken he can do. He does, wait, who does the best William Hart? Oh, I know. Kevin Spacey, my pal with whom I worked and did a play in London at the Old Vic. Sure.

We did that David Mammon thing. He does many wonderful, as you know, impersonations, including William Hart, who I worked in the big show. I'm fascinated by William Hurt. William Hurt is a brilliant actor who has not been utilized enough in the last, I would venture the last decade. Yeah, no. Well, yeah.

No, no. Boy, he's fantastic. Fantastic. Fantastic. Yeah, go ahead. Yes, Sam Rockwell. Looking at Sam Rockwell. You're listening my favorites.

That's the place where we play jazz, a place called Rockwell. That's what I tell people. You know, just remember Sam Rockwell or Norman Rockwell and look up Rockwell and come here our jazz band. But he's wonderful. We studied with the same acting teacher. One of my acting teachers back here was William Esper. Right.

He always talks about Esper. Yeah, he mentions. He does. Yes, yes, yes. And I love him in everything. I saw him on stage in that Martin McDonough play. done a play, the one after he did the one where I, that I was in, that

Moon Shoulder, no, not Moon Children, no. Pillow Man, Pillow Man. Yes. Yeah. And the San Rockwell was wonderful in it as well as Chris Walken, which brings us to our connection. Me and Chris Walken, we did four movies together, but have never had a scene together, have come to know each other and had... Would the first be Annie Hall? Would that be... Yes, exactly. Annie Hall. I never can remember the, you know, maybe your listeners will, I could name a few others. I might be able to name them, name them all. You mentioned, so I mentioned rather Annie Hall. How has it happened that you and Woody Allen have not

collaborated since Annie Hall? You would seem to be a perfect, you know, he loves to cast people, that kind of approximate a version of that persona. That would not be a far stretch to see what you could do. You're very sweet. I'm a big fan of his. I love him and just, and recently saw him, well, about a year ago now, at the Carlisle Hotel where he plays. And my band was playing there for a week starting the day after his usual Monday and I went and saw him and sat and was asked to sit in and sat in with him a couple of numbers. It was a thrill of a lifetime. Did he acknowledge your past shared history or did he, as far as he knew, were you just another wonderful pianist on the certain stage? He knew. He, his banjo player who had made contact, you know, he's rather

reserved, you know, as you've heard on the on the bandstand too. And his banjo player who had, you know, as we were chatting before said, you know, Jeff's here. And he said, oh, yes, sorry, I didn't say hello, hello. Hi, Jeff, you know, he said. And you want to have him come up? Yes, yes, have him come up and play. And we did. And he said, yeah, it was delightful.

I adored him. I absolutely adored him. Anyway, I'm going to do another thing. Many interesting, well, many interesting. Oh, I love Mark Ruffalo. I'm going to be in the movie in a movie with him. That's right. They're all going to be in the Thor.

Everybody's in Thor. Everybody on the list is in the movie. Thor, I believe. Michael Shannon. Hey, and I see you've got a picture of Michael Shannon over there, skipping across your walls. But I love him. I saw him on stage. What did I see him in? Did I see recently? Was it called, no, it's a couple of years ago. Was it called? Was it the one with him and Paul Rudd? Yes, Grace. Yes, Grace. Oh, I love Paul Rudd. I love him anyway. I loved him in that. And I loved Michael Shannon in that. Michael Sean's a genius. He's a genius. And I've seen him recently in Marla

recommended that I see the movie on the flight over it's on it's right next to you oh my god it's within right here where snake it would have bit me as my dad used to say well I wasn't aware of this movie and this Jeff Nichols with whom I'd like to work I you know I liked his take shelter movie

and I love this midnight special and now as a father speaking of which this movie killed me because Michael Shannon in the most subtle internally rich but externally subtle way, acted out this part of this caring, deeply devoted father, and he had the one line that we've talked about already, he says in the middle of this movie, the sweet child says,

you know, you remember, yeah, says, oh, daddy, you know, don't worry about me. He says, I'll always worry about you. That's the deal. Oh, my God. I thought he was so great in that. That's just wonderful. So I love that movie, but I see on this. this thing, one thing leads to another. Kirsten Dunst, and she was great in it, but she was also great in a not dissimilar part in Melancholia. Oh, yeah.

Which brings us to Charlotte Gansboor. And we're back to the reason you're here today. Yeah, that's Independence Day. And I loved her. She worked with, speaking of directors, Lars Van Trier in that melancholia movie, of course, and Nymphomaniac and Antichrist with my paloam to

foe, with whom I've done a couple other things. But I love that. Lars Van Trier He's a wonderful Have you ever met Lars Van Trey? I have never met him But someday I hope to

You know I'd love to work with him If ever the chance permits Kevin Klein and I Can you imagine In 19 In the big chill old years ago Rebecca Hall I love Speaking of that Woody Allen movie

Vicki Christina Barcelona I thought she was wonderful in that Ellie Kemper I see on that list I just my eye espited I just did a little episode of uh kimmy schmidt have you seen it i've seen the second season yes so see the second season i'm like in 10 episode 10 i loved her oh she's wonderful she's going to have a baby she said uh publicly i'm

not telling tales uh christina richard they're not a paul betney i did a movie with him he was a lovely fella she's he likes to wear scarves really takes a certain man to wear he can pull it off he can pull it off i'm sure well he's an international sophisticate and and a ginger he's a ginger. He's a ginger man, of course, as you know. Yes, I've noticed. Even though he's an albino in that Da Vinci Code movies. Despite trying to avoid playing the movie game, we're playing the movie game. We can't help it. We can't help it. Billy crude up. You know, I'm trying to, you know, not to avoid my own, my own biography. We did a play together. That aforementioned. The Pillow Man. He was brilliant in that. Amy Schumer and I just did a little thing in that episode with

that 12 Angry Men. Olivia Wilden. I did an episode of Portlandia together. I love her. So he's that. Paul Dano. Boy, I'll tell you. Speaking of directors,

who I'd like to work with is P.T. Anderson. Boy, I think he's the cream of the cream. Those two, the master is one of my favorite movies of that time or any time. And there will be blood. Geez, he is good. Apparently, PT's re-teaming with Daniel Day Lewis for his next film. So that's something to look out for.

He's having Daniel Day Lewis in the next movie. Yeah, something about the fashion industry back in the 50s. That's all we know so far. Ah, I love it already. The fashion industry, the 50s? That's fantastic. And Daniel Day Lewis, he doesn't appear in every single thing. No, Lincoln was the last one.

That's 2012, so already four years ago. I'll be darned. I admire him terrifically. Well, and then, there you go. Lake Bell, we already talked about Stephen Lang I did something with, was on an episode of one of those Law and Order. you know, criminal intent.

But he was wonderful in, he was in Death of a Salesman. Is that right? One of my favorite plays, yes. I think he was also in, like, the original production of a few good men, if I'm not mistaken.

Really? I think he had, like, the Nicholson role. I think he had the Jessup role. I'll be a ringtale monkey, really. And then finally, Paul Giamatti there,

who's also in the Amy Schumer. Hey, he's a delight. He is a gift on earth. That man is wildly talented with a set of theatrical pipes that can do anything. he plays every instrument in the orchestra there in his little neck and boy what a delightful guy to talk to just like this he can talk about movies and he is he is sweet sweet sweet well there we go i don't want to bore anybody we go we go we go around the room and just now i'm not going to see everything but i see michael shanagan well there we go i like the color of money you know speaking of 20 years hence here we go independence day resurgence is not unlike the nothing like color of money and hustler this 25 years of money between those two is it 25 years in that case so it's 20 years in our case and 25 years in that

case no other connection besides that but it is an unusual thing to be you know stepping in the to the shoes that you wore 20 years ago speaking of which i don't have any clothing that i had 20 years you're not a hoarder that way i'm not a hoarder in any way really i try not to be i'm an anti i discovered my early exhilaration with um just getting rid of the editing and pruning I love to do that. And likewise, my current closet doesn't have much that I even, I don't think there's a thing in there that I didn't, that I had over a year or two ago. Do you keep anything from sets, anything from films? No, I'm not a memorabilia collector.

Nope, noop, nope, nope, I'm not. What about a film, film posters? I would think you would appreciate that on some one would think I've had some film posters. I've given them away. What am I? You know, I'm not going to have a, no. I don't expect it to be your own poster. It's like a hall of Goldblum.

Oh, I see. I would respect that. Oh, well, film, I love the film poster. I don't have many of them in my house, but I do love to go into people's places where they have, you know, the Italian, you know, great big poster of, you know, blow up or something. Right, right. You know, I love to see those things. Hey, guys, time for a message from our sponsor today, Blue Apron. Blue Apron knows that when.

you cook with incredible ingredients, you make incredible meals. So they set the highest quality standards for their community of artisanal suppliers, family-run farms, fisheries, and ranchers. So whether it's Japanese ramen noodles, wild-caught Alaskan salmon, or air-room tomatoes, Blue Apron brings you the best. For less than $10 a meal, Blue Apron, delivers seasonal recipes along with pre-portioned ingredients to make delicious home-cooked meals. I can vouch for this, guys. I have done Blue Apron. I have cooked. for myself. I've cooked for my wife, and I don't cook. So it's idiot proof, guys. You can't go wrong with Blue Apron. You feel so satisfied after making these beautiful meals. It's awesome. Plus, they've got

variety. New recipes created each week by Blue Apron's culinary team. They're not repeated within a year. They're flexible. You can customize your recipes each week based on your preferences. You can choose delivery options to fit your needs. There's no weekly commitment. So you only get deliveries when you want them. Plus, it's easy. Most importantly, it's super easy. Each meal comes with a step by step, easy to follow recipe card, and pre-portioning ingredients that can be prepared in 40 minutes or less. Check out this week's menu and get your two meals free with free shipping by going to blue apron.com slash happy. Guys, you will love how good it feels and taste to create incredible home-cooked meals with Blue Apron, so don't wait. Again, that's blue apron.com.

Slash Happy, Blue Apron, A Better Way to Cook. We've got a returning sponsor to Happy Say I Confused today, our friends over at Casper. Casper is a sleep brand that created one, perfect mattress sold directly to consumers, eliminated commission-driven inflated prices. Its award-winning sleep surface was developed in-house, has a sleek design, and is delivered in a small, how did they do that sized box? In addition to the mattress, Casper also offers an adaptive pillow and soft. soft breathable sheets. An in-house team of engineers spent thousands of hours developing the

Casper. It combines springy latex and supportive memory foams for a sleep surface that's got just the right sink and just the right bounce. Plus, its breathable design sleeps cool to help you regulate your temperature throughout the night. And let's talk about cost here because that's so important. Mattresses can often cost well over 1,500 bucks. But Casper mattresses cost $500 for a twin-sized mattress, $600 for a twin, $750 for a queen, and $950 for a king. You can't beat that. Let's talk convenience. Buying a Casper mattress completely risk-free.

They offer free delivery and free returns with a 100-night home trial. If you don't love it, they'll pick it up and refund you everything. Casper understands the importance of truly sleeping on a mattress before you commit, especially considering you're going to spend a third of your life on it. And remember, Casper is in an obsessively engineered mattress at a shockingly fair price. It's got everything going for it. Time magazine named it one of the best inventions of 2015.

In fact, it's now the most awarded mattress of the decade. You get free shipping and returns to the U.S. and Canada. We've got the 100-night-risk-free trial. It's made in America. Come on, guys. It's got everything going for it. Get $50 towards any mattress purchased today. by visiting www.cassper.com slash happy and using the offer code happy. Terms and conditions apply.

So speaking of Independence Day in 20 years ago, that was kind of like your, like, there was a window of period where you were like blockbuster man between that and Jurassic alone. Blockbuster man. Did you read my autobiography? I heard it was greenlit, as told to Josh Horowitz. Ghostwriting it for you. You're going to play Blockbuster Man, the young, the young me. Everything's a superhero film now, even Jeff Goldblum's story. Really? This is, yes, blockbuster. So was that, was that odd?

I mean, I would think, I mean, Jurassic on paper was kind of a no-brainer that it was going to be huge. I mean, it's Spielberg. Even still, yeah, one might have thought, and yeah, I'm sure they banked on it. But I think it did better than they thought even a little bit, I think. And likewise, Independence Day. Did that surprise you at all in terms of the, massive nature of how it took over that summer. I'm always surprised because I'm not particularly focused on that.

I'm never thinking about, hey, what's this going to gross the weekend one? You know, I don't know anything about it. And I happily stay uneducated about that. But yeah, as I gathered early on that it was catching on and it sold a lot of tickets and people seemed to like it, sure. I was delighted and surprised. Were you always open to the prospect of coming back to the franchise? or did it take a little bit of arm twisting?

No, arm twisting at all. No, I don't like any kind of, what do they call that, a Dutch, what do they call that? Indian burn, Indian burn, no, or arm twisting. Don't try to get me in any kind of judo move. If you're trying to get Jeff Goldman in your film, don't resort to physical tactics. It's not going to work. He's got a strong, psychological. My guard is up for, you know, the passive aggressive or any kind of manipulative.

I'm well. We don't need you anymore, Jeff. It's okay. We don't need you. It's okay. Wait, what? Exactly. No, I'm well versed in the, you know, so I don't go for that stuff either. No, I was thrilled immediately when the great Roland Emrich, who did that movie and this last one, said a few years ago now, we've got an idea. And Dean Devlin was there too. We want to take you to dinner. This was in L.A.L. And they did. They said, you know, we wanted, you know, people have wanted us to do this, you know. I never liked sequels, he said. But, you know, there's a read now. I see the technology is. grown and can hold my new vision of what we want to give people. And we think we've

cracked a story that involves your character. And they described it to me. And I was thrilled to pieces. One thing I appreciate about your career and your willingness to do stuff like Independence Day or Jurassic or Amy Schumer or whatever is like, it feels like there's like a lack of pretension or snobbishness. I mean, you'll do theater. You'll do small independent films. You'll do the biggest films on the planet. And it seems like it's all satisfying. in its own way to that did you did it take a while to come around to that or was there ever appeared earlier in your career where you maybe thumbed your nose at blockbust quote blockbuster filmmaking well no not specifically that and i'm plenty snobbish in my own ugly way you know but you know

individual way um and um no early on no this is quite kind of in line with my original the seeds of my original impulse to do this nutty thing, which was that it was a leap into an adventure of passion and, you know, present moment delight. Yeah. That's kind of all that I imagined I might be getting into. And sure enough, it's turned out to be satisfying in that regard. And that's the thing that sort of guides my, is my, you know, has been my ongoing company. us to, you know,

continuing through it. Not a careerist kind of strategic thing. But if you're asking about taste, oh, you know, I'm sure I was, yeah, like I say, I've had a, you know, evolving snobbishness. You know, I have my own, no, the fact is I have my own taste. That's all.

And I do like what I like. And I'm the authority and I'm on nothing. I'm not a critic, but I am the authority of my own experience of a movie. And I can tell you, If I got a kick out of it in one way or another, it made me cry or it made me laugh, or I really was intrigued by it. And that's kind of, that's it.

And there are things that fall outside of that I can hate and dislike and avoid and boycott, which I won't mention. But there are others that I can be just absolutely thrilled by. Give me one or two of the movies you've watched the most over the years, that you've just seen 20 times. That's an interesting question. well there are a couple of mostly I don't see movies multiple times but there are a couple that I have gone back to off the top of my head the dresser

it keeps kind of knocking me out you know that I know I see that they're redoing it I'm anxious to see that yeah Anthony Hopkins and somebody else I like very much playing the dresser is Ian McAllen yes Ian McAllen oh geez I'm actually see that but that original movie, I've never seen it on stage, by the way, but that original movie, it's just touches me, and it's just, I've just gotten a kick out of that. Elephant Man, I've watched

that several times. I've watched Mulholland Drive, speaking of David Lynch. I was going to say, a bunch of times. I've liked some, what are you movies? What do you? Oh, you know, Broadway Danny Rose and crimes and misdemeanors and

Hannah and her sisters, you know, good i've seen them a few times uh you know the godfathers the one and two like everybody says they're enchanted they're they're bewitched you know you turn any time you turn them on you just have to you in yeah you got to keep watching them so i can i can keep watching them what else you know on the waterfront i go back to um you know things like that you know for a while it's a wonderful life i would like to see i i've seen that again that's that knocks me out the wizard of oz knocks me out um what's your what's your do you have an elaborate setup at home do you have a home

theater that that uh nothing elaborate no you know just i'm trying to get my home situation technologically in viable order too many remotes i keep threatening when when my helper gets the guy back and he has to tweak something else because something's not working i keep saying i'm telling you i'm going to throw this all out the window one of these days i'm gonna can't i go into a store and buy a TV set that just like I used to, that just reliably is there. It may not be the most, you know, Dolby sense around experience, but you can at least turn it on and off with, for heaven's sake, yes, it's not finicky and all it. It's, it won't do what I tell it. There's so many choices. I'm very happy with Apple TV and, and all that stuff on Netflix,

because now I really do see many more things than I did when I, you know, have to go every couple weeks into a video store or something like that really I'm seeing a lot of things and finding things that I didn't know about and very happy about that but I'm just a sourpuss sometimes cranky so and I don't have a big theater or anything like that so in the bedroom for instance I'll tell you we have one thing now just on that TV they're all different I don't know why they're all different just on that TV we'll be watching it and this thing will come up it says speak now with a kind of a evil evil logo that I now is only and because pretty soon it'll kind of go to this whole other area of you know

what I did what I don't know about it and I have to either put it on pause or say stop it's like voice activated I have to say no thank you stop I don't want to speak don't do anything get away but but but as quick as I can reach for the remote I have to push pause otherwise it'll hear something from the thing and we're lost for the next period of time exhausted just hearing I know I'm sorry I'm like a guy in his front yard get your ball out of my I'm just like an old grouch at this point

get your ball out of my yard why can't any of this stuff work what's with all this new technology um apropov nothing well maybe apropov it depends on my new book aprop of nothing yes I thought it was Mr. Blockbuster

well that's the old well the new actor always update my autobiography you know my memoirs would you ever consider writing your memoirs? I don't think so. I don't know. I mean, why?

If you could ghost it with me or collaborate. I mean, if we could just talk here and someone else can transcribe. That's much better. If I sat down to the pen, I like that much better. You know, yes. Already I've written SCADs today, haven't I? I was going to say, we do this five or six times. We've got to have it.

I'll take 10%. You click most of it. Oh, really. See, you're a little different than me. You're already thinking you're in the financial world. You've got a nose for the bottom line. No, I'm just in it for the fun. I wanted to bring this up on because I have to if you enter my office.

You're scaring me already. No, don't be upset. This is a happy, hopefully a happy subject. Where does Buckerubon's I fit into the Pantheon of your career, how would you consider? Because I... Pantheon means that it's a, is that my Uber? What's Pantheon? How's Pantheon different than...

Than Uvra? It's just more syllables. Yeah. What did Woody Allen mean in Love and Death when they kept talking about pantheistic or... Oh, I love and death so much. Yeah, I love that movie. I love it. You know who knows walking Phoenix knows every line.

from that movie every single line yeah that's good to know because he's a tough guy to warm up to and i feel like this could be a way for me to break that would be the end that would be the portal thank you for that you're welcome that's the portal what what are we saying oh yes bucker was what what place in your heart if any does buckerubanzai hold did it was it meaningful at all at the time or is it only meaningful when crazy people like me 30 years and say it was special to me as a i'm very appreciative i know it has a and as a matter of fact the piece of the demographic of that little pie that come up to me here and there and say, gee, that's my favorite movie, or when are you going to do another one of those? That's the sequel I want to see. They're not uncommonly

of a certain stripe and up my alley, my cup of tea. You're my kind of fella, of course, and others. They're a little bit sophisticated, and I like their taste. I generally do. I like that movie. And of course, it brought me and Peter Weller together. We started to play music. together and then Woody Allen told him did I tell you this story? It was too boring Woody Allen said Oh yeah I know Jeff you guys are playing together You should do what I do have a weekly gig

So that's really why we have this gig now Although Peter has gone off and done many Wonderful things outside the group So but that movie was lovely And John Lithgow I'd like to work with him again I don't think we had any scenes together But boy is he

He's going for it I've gotten palsy with him He's a delightful saint saintly man I love him And, you know, it's what are the whole cast? I like the whole darn thing. Have you heard that? Yes, indeed.

That is coming back to television, apparently. Kevin Smith, the filmmaker, is apparently going to give it a go. I have not heard that. There have been different times I've heard things about, you know, they might do this and that. But no, I have not heard that recently. That's interesting, isn't it? Well, you know, it's in the, somebody could make something good, good, good with it. in some new way

because it's you know it's what it physics and trippy weird things and and it's kind of like Wes Anderson sort of I think was

otherwise he's another person who likes that movie speaking of sophisticates and people have wonderfully interesting taste and taste makers he I think that little

homage at the end of life aquatic was kind of inspired by I think the end of Buccar Banzai where we all to music start kind of parading joining a caravan where was that shot in some

kind of like basin some kind of I think it was like LA yeah one of the LA river you know reservoir basins or something yeah I don't know where we were exactly but how about that so you're you're in the middle of crazy Independence Day shenanigans that have taken you all around the world can you imagine this is the only time I'm sort of a home but I'm not the easiest person to get out of my comfort zone but it's good it's good for me because we were just in Australia, for heaven's sakes, and Dubai, as we were talking about, and then Berlin and London, and now here.

Now, after this, we go to this Thursday. We go to Mexico City. That's the new stop. All the big films do it now. It is, really. I was there, like, for a few days on one of these kind of stops many years ago, but haven't been since, and have never been in another spot in Mexico. Nor have I.

I cannot vouch for anything outside of Mexico City, strangely enough. Really? So you've been for these things. I didn't actually go for work. It was bizarrely enough a vacation. And it's semi-odd because it can be a dangerous place, not to scare you. I'm sure you're going to be safe. It's going to be wonderful.

I'll keep Marlon. Marla is your security. But people have also sung its praises. You've got interesting restaurants and this and that. Yes. There's a lot of love there. And the water is, oh, you can drink. One can drink that we were wondering today. One can drink the water?

As far as I remember, it had no ill effects on me. I'm okay. Montezuma's revenge. It did not strike on me, no. yeah and you'll be you'll be i assume off to australia soon enough for more extended period of time for a few weeks you know to do that thor movie that's right this is your this is your year of hemisworths you read my new book that's upcoming that's the one chapter well there's a chapter in apropos of nothing it's called the the year of living hemisworth uh yes yes it is chris

is going to be there i haven't met him delightful another delight you're gonna really you know everybody well that's you've got an interesting of course you've everybody parades past here and they all have to the beauty is Jeff they all have to pretend to be nice to me even if they're not nice people who would not be nice to you you're a you're a dear dear angel you're like a warm custard coconut custard pie left on a sill it's hard to even pass you without um breathing in its comforting and delicious aroma and and snatching a piece to take home hey hey get your hands to yourself come on what no don't you're taking a bite out of me literally that's it's it's

silent. Take it easy. I'm talking metaphorically. Where's your poetical side, Horowitz? Come on. So, um, what was I? Can I ask you about this? I'm curious. Are you, like, are you going to be under crazy globs of makeup for this? Am I going to see you blue? Well, the Grandmaster, I looked him up on Wikipedia. He looks blue to me. Yeah, he was blue. He was blue in that original. I think we're going to do our own thing with it. I'm not sure if it's all decided yet, but you know who the director is. Tyca Waititi Tiki. They said the accent on the first silver. I would have thought Y-T-T-T-T like Waikiki like Waikiki, but it's Wighti-T I think. And Taika, he's delightful. His films are delightful too. Have you seen Hunt for the Wilder people yet? It's really good. His latest is probably. Well, I'm going to see that. But after our little, you know, adventure here, when I have a little time, I got to see that. But I did see a boy and I saw, I loved what we do in the shadows. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, with that lovely his cohort from Flight of the Concord, you know, Jermaine. Clement, I think he says. I'm getting all the emphasis on the wrong syllabas. Hey, look at you. Words are just play things with you. Antics with semantics. That's in itself, an antic with semantic. Does anyone else in your family speak the way you do?

No, no, no they don't. Where did this come from? My mom was chatty, my dad, I think I got a kind of a sense of humor from. My brother, no, my brother, no, Pam. Pam and I share. I have a younger sister. We're sort of cut similarly in our DNA and psychological and maybe verbal DNA. But, yeah, we talk the same language, but no, I've, this is a particular brand of

NIMCampuPri that I've forged. I don't know how. I apologize. Because I would say it's not to the extreme of like, you know, there's the old story that I think Wakan has said over the years where he like eliminates all punctuation from his scripts. Well, I saw that on his, I'm always interested in craft, you know, and I saw him on inside the actor's studio. Yes, I'm very interested. I may have even asked him. Well, that comes from, I think, I don't know, in his case, but, you know, William Esper, who was a, you know,

a student of, in a cohort of Sanford Meisner. Yeah, that was one of the things that they had us doing in the neighborhood playhouse. I don't do it myself anymore. I'm very interested to see what the writer, how the writer punctuated it. In fact, if you do, you know, it's a case-by-case basis. If you do a Cohn Brothers movie, I'm told another couple of guys I'd love to work with. I just saw Hail Caesar, by the way. I love, I love him. I love him. I recommend it how it gets 10 goldblums out of a possible 10 goldblums. And I like Serious Man. Did you see that? Oh, Michael Stoberg. I love that. But, you know, I hear their very, they're sticklers for just like Wes Anderson. Right. For, you know, hey, dot, dot, dot, dot means pause a little bit just like David

Mamet, you know, and the, not and, and, da-da-da-da-da-da. So how did we get the, what were you talking about? We were talking about, wait, wait, put me back on the, the nincompoery, it was the last word I remember. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Ah, no, no, no, Chris Walkin and cutting out that punctuation. So you want to know what those guys have in mind and even how they hear it. I like to hear their line reading. Yeah. Stanislavski supposedly gave line readings. You know, there's nothing, if you can make it your own, and then I'll make it my own and find my own, you know, ways of, you know, hopefully with an inclusion of the character, not always just me and my own, you know, affectations.

I mean, do you want to have a conversation on set, like a long, drawn-out conversation with the director about such things, or by the time you're on set, is it like... I'm different. Well, no, I'm different with different people. I'm a talker and I'm an analyzer, but also not sometimes with some people. You know, we just came from a thing in these... these um publicity tours you're asked to do some acting sometimes uh where you you know do a skid or a sketch and and uh sometimes those are my favorite things you know and and talk about not being

snobby i have the highest regard for all those opportunities and think that they deserve my best effort and um and sometimes i'm happier with how they come out than all sorts of other things and my point is that I can kind of toss them off without much overthinking or over talking or over analyzing and I'm telling you I should learn something from this they sometimes come out like I say

better so maybe I'll do a little less talking as I learn more and more how to get better. We shot that sketch with you I think in about 45 minutes sometimes and we didn't yeah I said yeah what's the what's the I see I get it okay come on you were you were off book though by the time he came there which was I think better than

I think I'm generally the one that needs I might have learned it, but I like that too. I'm no brilliant line learner. In fact, if I need to learn it verbatim, you know, I've got to spend its backbreaking. You've got to spend many hours sometimes, but sometimes I can take a sense of something just quickly. This is kind of one of my favorite things to do, and then just kind of do my version of it. I can oftentimes get it as it's needed, but do something else with it, you know. Is there, I mean, you've, you know, you've been playing at Rockwell. pretty regularly, as I understand it.

In time, I'm not busy every Wednesday. And obviously, you live to act, you love to act. It's not just a job, it's a passion. Is there a way to meld those two things in your mind, or are they two totally separate kind of things? Not totally separate at all, quite integrated. And yeah, it's cross-training for me. I learn from one and then the other.

I think I play that jazz gig as a result of all my work, so-called, on my acting life. You know, I talk a little bit, and I do also, you have you, you haven't come and see them. So you'll see, you know, it's, you know, it has theatrics, minor, annoying theatrics of my own kind in it.

And then my acting life, geez, I don't know if I'd be a, I'd be a different kind of person if I never played the piano and I didn't play the piano every day and I didn't love piano. Yeah, so it's, you know, and of course, improvisation. improvisation and I like to improvise my acting sometimes if needed if called upon but that's a very particular thing and quite related you know you listen to the other guy and then what

you do is an answer to you know if you're open uh in your incoming and outgoing you know it's a spontaneous conversation uh before i send you on your way yes sir a couple random questions from an indiana jones fedora uh wait a minute i was looking at that hat because as you know i'm a hat I wouldn't put that on your head that's that's been sitting there for far too long what is it it's beautiful it's not literally the Indiana Jones I mean it's a replica of some sort I kind of love it do you wear hats I don't you've got a fine head of hair you don't need to thank you it's like my one like body part that is not waning in any way I want to like just you know embrace it everything else is

it's not going well really I won't delve into what it's just all going in what do you have a girlfriend of any I have a wife of some kind you have a wife yeah well she seems happy I'm sure as happy as one be in my presence consistently i mean you i'd be i'd be happy to constantly be around you i'd like to be you're welcome anytime you could be like my jimony cricket always on my shoulder or the ghost riding for you what else what are the other duties that uh the duties that uh the duties that the uh the assistant to golden has to uh assistant to call them oh oh well i'm i'm i am all my as i was telling marlin today all my abilities

as a human person besides my specialty of you know whatever i'm doing have atrophy so that it falls to the assistant to do mostly everything pretty soon to even feed me the applesauce i'm sure certainly someone to handle the remotes uh you well i call him a drop of a hat just John. It stopped again. What do I do? I can't do anything. Oh, yeah. And every other aspect of the whole of the household goings on. Oh, yeah, no. I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm nothing. Okay, so I suppose I'm supposed to dig into this thing. Whatever you want. It's up to you. Really? It's two's your own adventure. Okay. So I picked, I don't even know what these are. So I don't even know what these are. So I see it has some words on it. It's a piece of paper. Oh, this is so sweet. I wish I were better at. I love these kind of games, you know. I guess I'm supposed to fill in the play. I wish I were better at, well, we just hit it. We were just talking about, boy, I'm getting chills.

The universe must have been listening to us. I wish I were better at, you know, some of the manly duties around the house, knowing how to turn the, you know, gas off in case of an earthquake and that kind of stuff. Right. All that stuff. You know, and a million other things. You can't all do it all, Jeff. Don't be so hard on yourself.

Okay. Thank you, Josh. See, that's why I want you around all the time. Well, there you go. It's a preview of the kind of the services I perform. I like it. You're in. You're employed. You're on the payroll. I wish I were better well. I wish I were better at everything. I mean, I wish I was barely. Well, there you go. I mean, that's fantastic. Should I pick some more? No, I think that's great. I think that's great. That's enough. That's very, very good. I like that hat.

You're welcome to wear it on the way out. But I think the hat you brought suits you. Ah, this is a nice, this is a nice hat. Nick Fouquet made this hat. Do you like it? It's beautiful. It's wonderful. Thank you very much. How many pairs of glasses do you own? Well, that's an interesting question.

You know, I used to collect and, you know, but I've pruned and edited. Right now, if you go into my closet, I have four pairs of glasses. I think that's it. That's very economical. Oh, yeah, yeah. And I could get rid of bar because these are my go-to right now. I haven't touched the other ones. So they could be, and that's one of my criteria for pruning.

If you haven't used it for a while, what are you hanging on to it for? Let it go and let somebody else use it. That's a little long to put on a T-shirt, but that's something to live by, I think, what you just said for the listeners out there. Yes, yes, yes, that's for the listeners. That's right. The listeners should go see Independence Day Resurgence. That's number one on the list. If it's there, if they choose to, I wouldn't want to twist anybody's arm.

We talked about that earlier. That's not the way to do it. I saw it, and I recommend it if you, you know, I mean, I recommend it. No one, no one does disaster like Mr. Roland Dumber. He knows what he's doing. Yes, I think if that's, if that's what you want to see, yes, he's, he's fantastic at it. He's done it much.

It's, you know, he's put in his 40,000 hours of, you know, he's a eighth degree black gal master at it, and now he's got the new tools at his hands. You may, and we've been talking to press people. I don't think they're pretending when they say, hey, it was everything I wanted it to be. They say, you know, everything I hoped from the friend. I loved the first one. so that's unsolicited you don't take it for me what do I know and I'm otherwise involved anyway you shouldn't believe anything I say anyway but that's what they have said to me

rather you know rather unanimously and hopefully it won't be another 20 years let's not let's kind of rev up the pattern I don't think I'm okay 20 years what kind of part would I be do the judge Herschroll you can do uh thank you I doubt it even I'm not sure uh Jeff it's always a pleasure to catch up to you we could uh until next time until our ghostwriting endeavor begins, until the movie game continues, until a thousand other things get underway. You're a great, great man. It's great to see you, Jeff. Be well. Be well here. It's great to see you. Same to you. Thank you. Thanks, ma'am. Thank you.

Tonight. A pleasure. Tonight, we've got to get, I wish there was that, we could put that in the time capsule. That's fantastic. This has been an Earwolf, 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 and full of legendary figures whose names, still resonate today. Like Jesse James, Billy the Kid, and Butch and Sundance, Sitting Bull,

Crazy Horse, and Geronimo, Wyatt Earp, Batmasterson, and Bass Reeves, Buffalo Bill Cody, Wild Bill Hickok, the Texas Rangers, and many more. Hear all their stories on the Legends of the Old West podcast. We'll take you to Tombstone, Deadwood, and Dodge City, to the plains, mountains, and deserts for battles between the U.S. Army and Native American warriors, to dark corners for the disaster of the Donner Party and shining summits for achievements like the Transcontinental Railroad will go back to the earliest days of explorers and mountain men

and head up through notorious Pinkerton agents and gunmen like Tom Horn. Every episode features narrative writing and cinematic music and there are hundreds of episodes available to binge. I'm Chris Wimmer. Find Legends of the Old West wherever you're listening now.