Happy Sad Confused - Jeff Goldblum, Vol. IV

Episode Date: August 29, 2024

Prepare for another wild ride through the mind of Jeff Goldblum! And we wouldn't have it any other way. 4th time's the charm on this return visit talking KAOS, legacy, WICKED, and more! Subscribe here⁠ to the new Happy Sad Confused clips channel so you don't miss any of the best bits of Josh's conversations! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! BetterHelp -- Visit BetterHelp.com/HSC today to get 10% off your first month Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes, 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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Okay, it's official. We are very much in the final sprint to election day. And face it, between debates, polling releases, even court appearances. It can feel exhausting, even impossible to keep up with. I'm Brad Nilke. I'm the host of Start Here, the Daily Podcast from ABC News. And every morning, my team and I get you caught up on the day's news in a quick, straightforward way that's easy to understand, with just enough context so you can listen, get it, and go on with your day. So, kickstart your morning. Start Smart with Start Here and ABC News because staying informed shouldn't feel overwhelming. This is your icon era, obviously, an icon playing icons.

Zeus, the wizard? That's right. I'm no icon, but yes, Zeus and, you know, I thought it was Dr. Zeus. I came the first day with a cat in the hat. I'd done my research. And they said, Jeff, cut, why are you rhyming everything

in that whimsical way? I said, I'm ahead of you. I went further. They said, no, no. It's Zeus. It's not Dr. Zeus, you idiot. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now.

I'm Josh Horowitz, and today on Happy, Sad, Confused. He's a Happy, Sad, Confused, regular. Very appropriately, he is kind of chaos personified, and he's promoting a show called Chaos. The one and only Jeff Gobelm is back where he belongs on Happy, Sad, Confused. Thank you, Josh Horowitz. Thank you so much.

I'm so happy to be with you. Hey, what's your, did we ever talk about, what's your, what's your middle name? Don't tell me. Do you have a middle name? I do have a middle name. Don't, don't tell me what it is. It's not interesting. I don't think so.

Tell me the first initial of your middle name. Just your first initial. You're still in talk show host mode. A. It's A? Wait, just a second. Is it Aaron? Oh, no.

Is it Andy? Is it, Wade? We're going to spend the entire time on this. It's a very basic one, basic. Oh, Alan. Ow. Al Luicious. That basic name, Aloysius. Alvin.

No, Alex. It's Alex. That's the only disappointment of this whole podcast is going to be that moment just now, because I believed in your magic, and it just dissipated. I have no magic. No, no, no. Nor did it dissipate, and I never had it. And I like to play a guessing game of any kind or any games with you.

You bring it out of it. It's good to see, my friend. I always enjoy our chats. I'm not responsible for the next 40 minutes. It's going to be chaos in the best possible way. As you said, you tried to give me a good softball, and I whiffed. I whiffed. I went tangential.

No, now you don't get to plug it. No, you missed it. Okay. That was the window. I didn't joke through it. But chaos, yes. And I am a man of chaos, not necessarily chaotic one thing or another, but I embrace chaos because that's the creative portal possibly.

Yes, yes. Yeah. And Ian Malcolm was a chaotician. Are you trying, is that a version of me? No, no, I'm just trying to gauge what's going to happen. Okay, he was a chaotician, of course. I'm going to lower the volume because I don't want to, I want to hear your delicious tones better. Oh, thank you so much.

Wow, look at this. He's like, you must have read the Jerry Lewis book, complete filmmaker. I haven't. The man who invented playback, though. Well, you're living it. That's correct. On what film did Mr. Lewis? Is it the one that we've never seen?

the clown cried? No. If I'm correct on this. Cinderfella? Cinderfella? Not a professor. I can keep going. No, I believe it was ladies man. It was ladies man, I think.

And, you know, I was going to play that part in the last movie that he did called... I know, I know the... And Kevin Pollock was in it. That's the part I was going to play. His son called Max Rose. Yes. And I was going to play it for a second

before I got otherwise occupied, couldn't do with something else. And so I went to Las Vegas and had a bonding delightful time with Jerry. He was delightful, because the rep was that he could be a little prickly. Well, you know, I mean, I mean, delightful I say for me

because when I grew up, he was a centerpiece of, you know, all those years of the, was it Paramount, where he had Cinderfella and those, I would see the first run of those with my sister at the Leona Theater. And, you know, he was just so, Oh, you know, fantastic.

You know, at the Fountain Blue Hotel, the Bell boy. Sure. He was great. But then, you know, everybody gets a little older and da-da-da-da-da-da. And you saw that last interview that he gave, that made the rounds, you know, a lot where, you know, they ask him. So, is it very different doing movies than TV? No. You know, he was unhappy.

You will never be like that, though. You get more charming and sweet. With each passing here. You're talking about, yeah, you. When you point the finger through. point back at you. You know that. That's always true.

So chaos, so yes. So chaos, we embraced the chaos for creative purposes. Ian Malcolm was a chaotician. And now chaos spelled K-A-O-S is the name of the show. August 29th. August 29th. And I'm just not a dutiful soldier because I'm here to plug it, but I like this show. Have you seen any of it?

I've seen the first few episodes. You did. It's a big swing. I like big swing shows. And this is... I like what you're saying. Big swing in what way? Well, it's a big.

concept. It's a big one to wrap your brain around, I'm sure, from an acting perspective and for an audience at first, but to its credit, it drew me in an amazing cast. What did you say? What? It drew me in. It drew me in. You drew me in. Do you want to say you used? I'm always

interested in learning new words. I thought you said it's Drumian. It's Drumian. It's well as to do you. What is something when it's Drumian? Yes, is that like the, yeah. But it drew you in oh good. And three episodes so you must. I encourage you to see if you like those. I will. You know yourself better than I do.

See the other five. It's only eight that come and get dropped on August 29th. But yes, it is a it's wild. It's a big idea. Charlie Kvel is the creator and I believe

it's a brilliant eight scripts, you know, or a whole movie, eight hour movie, whatever you call it, that was written and very moving and powerful and hilarious with a good part for me and everybody and this stellar group of cream of the crap actorly actors and that's it I can tell you much more of that but so when you see

the next five you'll see yeah it's it's something you can tell them but it's the Greek myths in a modern day setting I wear track suits and that I do not do that but it's it's there are different twists on the backstory and how we wound up and you know getting to be these characters that the that the scholars will recognize oh yeah that's kind of a beginning point of the story we know and that I studied all my life but even if you don't know any of it

it's entertaining as we say but yeah we tried to with these actors and the way we did we tried to make it naturalistic and full these crazy things I'm married to my sister for the low these 2,000 years and how do you really

how do you really act that truthfully you know etc well you get down a tear that helps what a powerhouse she is she's just fantastic and David Thuleus, David Thuleus, yeah, and Stephen Delane and just, it goes on and on. But, and then just brief, before we go on, listen to this, here's the show, and I'll tell you the, in a nutshell, the rest of the show, me, I'm maybe divine, maybe not so divine, you'll find

out more about my, how I got to be Zeus, head honcho, big, big cheese, but I abuse power. I'm an abuser of power. I'm very complicated, possibly charismatic, but cruel and paranoid and insane and unhinged at this point. And there's a diverse group of earthlings that are truth seekers and loving and get together and unite to possibly unseat this pretender to the throne. They're full of energy and excitement, and maybe they can turn the page. Let's see. That's the show. How's that?

Do you feel, I feel something, I feel the audience being tantalized, wanting to know more. Yes. Yes. Well, there's much more than that. That's just the tip of the iceberg. We're not going to act out the rest for them. No, no, no. It's very rich.

There's lots of characters, but that's kind of basically the story. You follow in a great line of actors who have played the icon that is Zeus. I mean, I will confess my knowledge of Zeus and the Greek gods came mostly from watching Clash of the Titans as a youth. Lawrence Olivier. Lawrence Olivier. And then the next one, in the next iteration, was Liam Mason, of course. So this is good.

Russell Crowe recently in the Thor movie, Thor and Love and Thunder played Zeus. Exactly right. I was there myself in a scene with the great Mr. Crow. Yes. Now, before that, I know, I know where you're going to go. I know, I know. I know you by now.

I know you know, you know, you know me too well. But, you know, by the way, Charlie Kvel was obsessed as a tot, as a toddler with Clash of the Titans. you know, so made a lifelong, you know, obsession of the Greek myths and came to this. But me, oh, yeah, I go a little further back to Jason the Argonauts. Yeah, because have we talked about it before? Maybe we have.

I think Harry Housen has come up before. Yeah, yeah, Ray, Harry Housen. I like that. And so there was, as I remember it, I haven't seen it regionally, but remember there's Jason, but I think he's being puppeteered by all the people and Zeus mainly in the, in Mount Olympians. That's why I liked my Clash of the Titans of my youth

had that element too. It had the Harryhausen in there. It was delightful. Oh, yours did? Yes. Which is what? The Olivier, Harry Hamlin, the whole... It's a little cheesy, but as a kid, blew me away.

I'm sure Jason and the Argonauts did for you. I should show you. I loved it. I should show the kids. Well, I tried to show them a little bit, Jason, the Argonauts. Hey, oh, well, in Clash of the Titans, don't they say in both of those something, some reference to, and I think in one of them,

Release the Cracken. Yes. Well, here's a spot. I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say in the whole eight episodes, don't wait for it. I never say, release the Cracken. Well, season two.

Maybe so. Okay, I hope having this. This is your icon era, obviously, an icon playing icons. Zeus, the wizard? That's right. I'm no icon. But, yes, Zeus and, you know,

I thought it was Dr. Zeus. I came the first day with a cat in the hat. I'd done my research. And they said, Jeff, cut, why are you rhyming everything in that whimsical way. I said, I'm ahead of you. I went further.

They said, no, no. It's Zeus. It's not Dr. Zeus, you idiot. Or Dr. Zaeus from Planet of the Apes. It could have gone that way. Should have gone to you. Where'd that song come about? Sing a little bit of that.

Rock me, Dr. Z. I will not be. Rock me. And they did a parody of that on the Simpsons, didn't they? Yes, yes. It was very funny. Okay, so wait a minute.

And that's, Wizard of Oz, you were getting to. And yes, that's an icon. a character, and I get to dabble in that a bit with the great Ariana Grande and Cynthia Arrivo directed by John M. Chu. You know who I just met the other day for the very first

time? Don't tell me. Give me the first initial. Jay? J? J? It's a J.B. J.B.? Wait a minute. Jonathan Bailey. Yes, who's making the rounds. I saw him. Hey, isn't he a charmer?

Oh. That is a love, love bug yeah I love that guy we had a good time he's fun to be around Jonathan Bailey and and everybody falls in love with him instantly and wait till you see him as Fiero in Wicked so um what was your knowledge base of Ariana Grande prior to Wicked what was your favorite Ariana Grande song I like there Benny and I'm oh I can't tell you know we we sang songs and we made some music I can't tell you anything about that don't ask me what does that mean What does that mean? What just happened? You just said it. Why would you say that?

It means nothing. I won't tell you. Are you on her next album? Is that what you're trying to say? I will not tell you. You can torture me. I will torture you. You will not. Hey, no, but my knowledge of her, oh, she's shown me. You're going to puberty? What just happened? I don't know. Sometimes I bark. Hey, you know, like the Billy I. I wish. Yes. She sometimes has a thing. She's delightful. I adore her.

And I met her recently. And she reminded me that I'd met her before. But easily startled. I know. You've got to take some of that nerve medicine. I'm going to give you that Mo Howard had on that one show. That's why they took them to the cabin. And then that bear had to come in. We're talking three stooges?

What are we doing? Yeah, Mo Howard, calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine. And we saw them. I probably told you. We saw them live in Pittsburgh at the Holiday House. I loved them. But they made my sister cry, Pam.

Anyway, so Ariada Grande in the same. way that I just mentioned somebody else met me when she was a kid. She showed me a picture halfway through the shooting of the two of us taken by her mother backstage at the Pillow Man when she was, I don't know, 11 or 12, and she came back. We have a picture of ourselves, but I didn't remember that until halfway through the shooting. But before then, I had looked up many of her songs. You know what song I like? I think she covers it. It's that Mariah Carey's song. You know, all I want for Christmas is I played it over and over again. It just, I cried. It made me crazy. She's just great, great, great.

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and they sang with me and it was just great how about that Which leads me to something I was just going to ask you, which is, do you ever get intimidated? I feel like you are the person that is most comfortable in their own skin, perhaps, on the planet Earth. This is something I envy in you. I'm not. You're not, what, envious of me, or you are comfortable in your own skin. I'm not. Oh, yes.

I'm a bunch of nerves, some anxiety just pouring out of me. You should know this by now. I too, too. That's perfectly includable. That's why you're comfortable. you accept everything about you. You know, somebody said the way to get over nerves is shake more.

If you get a little shaky, shake more. Don't try and deny, just go with it. Go with it. Go with it. So what, when do you feel anxiety in a professional capacity? Do you like the night before the first day of a shoot have nerves?

Do you have imposter syndrome at this point? I can't imagine you would. I, I, less so. You know, Sandy Meisner said it takes 20 years to call yourself an actor. So at first, I took that to heart in a good way, but it also kind of haunted me feeling in the first because I was lucky.

I got started to get jobs as I've bored you with before right away. Luckily, not too big at first, but I always felt like, you know, I think what you're talking about, imposter syndrome, I felt like, geez, they don't know. I'm really not an actor yet. I'm kind of still learning. So that sort of haunted me a little bit. bit, but by and by, I kind of felt like, you know, you know, I mean, I know it's maybe glamorous

and the right thing to say, the correct thing, say, oh, no, I'm never, when, if you're ever comfortable, and that's true. I know, I know that's true. But I'd be lying if I didn't say that over the decades, I do have less horror at it and, you know, feel like, hey, I kind of, you know, if I don't know what I'm doing now, you know, I, you know, forget it. You know, I mean, I'm just going to enjoy this somehow. So I do have a better time now in that way. But having said that, like Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David discuss on that one episode, maybe you know, they go, hey, having said that, I let phrase. Why do people say that?

Anyway, having said that, oh, I still have a, let's not call it. anxiety. We could call it. It's anxiety adjacent, but it's an alertness and, let's even call it a professional obligation feeling and responsibility that kind of comes up so that I do my work. Right. I don't show up, you know, kind of, ah, whatever this is, you know, before I saw you today. I said, is there anything I need to study? Do I need to look him up or anything that will help me? I did it on the interviews a couple of people today, and it really did help me. I went, what's my due diligence? What would that entail in this situation?

Let's see, I got, and as a matter of fact, I've got, not from the publicist, I have an itinerary, which said, well, then you're going to go and you're going to talk to so-and-so. If they gave me any test questions, I would, once a day, like in the morning, I would go, because I'm often fresh in that half-dream state, I go, and I go, huh, they want to know, is there a place that's an ordinary place, but for now I have, for whatever happened there, I've got an extraordinary association with it. What would that be? Oh.

And then on the second or third morning, I go, oh, wait a minute. Right. I have an idea. And then I get that idea. You know, I do a little work. You do. And I will say, this is from personal experience. I remember we were talking before we started about the sketch you did way back when.

I always think back to the fact that you were off book, which very few people ever did coming to one of those sketches. Then I think about the event we did just a year or two ago. I asked you for a homework assignment of like a few movies. And I had a little, I probably took, I had like, I took out the paper. Yep. No, I come with something at my sleeve.

And then, like that approach suggests what you hope for with that approach is that if you're prepared in the right way and prepared enough, something happens where you can throw it all away, feel a little bit, hold your head up, feel a little bit free, and surprising things will happen. That's the idea. And more and more that happens. Hey, on this last week where I did that four consecutive nights of guest hosting for Jimmy Kimmel, that was a, you know, that could be a daunting and harrowing. And it was, I think it felt like a harrowing task because, you know, you don't want it to go wrong.

You don't want to, you don't want it to be bad. At least I don't want to not be able to hold my head up and say, hey, I think I did okay, especially for want of preparation. Right. So I did what I could. And even that day, it's a 24-hour cycle where you wake up that morning and then you start working. And, you know, I spent the day as I got as much sleep as I could and fed myself correctly and got myself into the right condition and studied. I saw everybody's movies that I was going to talk to.

You're doing better than 90% of the talk show hosts already. That's what they told me. That's what they told. And then looked up some more and had some more ideas and wrote down some things and then worked with the writer. So did all that. and then still at the 11th hour before the hour before you go you're like and there's still more to do come on and then it's still seed of your pants but then because of all maybe because of all that they turned on the juice and the audience was there and I kind of went yay and I kind

of had a good genuinely good time I relate to everything you're saying you'll you'll notice I have like pages of frickin notes I prepared for you and primarily because it's you too you are very easy to riff with but like you over prepare and then you have that all there and then you just well you're so good you know you do it more than I know so that's what I did I had cards and then I put them on the desk and I referred to him a couple times but mostly I digested them half knew them and and then just went let's go and kind of just talked would you ever you were great by the way hosting Jimmy Kimball you're so sweet thank you would you ever consider hosting the Academy Awards Jeff Gobblum. That's so funny.

Ah, you know, you know, I have... It's kind of a no-win scenario for a lot of us. That's the conventional wisdom, I believe, and I talk to, because I'm, as if I was doing Larry Sanders or creating the show like Paul W. Downs, Hacks, they're going to do this next year about a talk show, and you know, I really am interested in that milieu, is that the correct word, in that world. You know, I played Ernie Kovacs early on, and so that world and how it's developed and evolved is really interesting to me, and especially now having been a guest on these things and having to kind of figure out how to proceed. So I was interested, and so I got involved in conversations with the writers about how things

go, the feelings that I might have had, and the approach that I was taking, and talk to somebody very interesting, Aaron Irwin, who's the top-notch hub and cornerstone of their operations there. And Jimmy's right hand person and so capable and impressive. It told me about the last few years of his Oscar experience anyway. We talked a lot about that. So I have a little bit of a feeling about it. Yeah, I think you're right. The, the, you know, you know, the thankless if David Letterman can't get out alive, if they roast him for 30 years, then who can possibly Yeah, yeah. And then we talked about awards show, that show, and the awards shows in general. You know, you and I could talk for hours about that stuff. Happy 50 years of being on screen, Jeff Goldblum, 1974, Death Wish. Can you believe it? I mean, we're talking about playing these icons and this is, you know, I mean, that's a marker. That's a crazy thing to think of.

I guess so. What do you give, if you're married 50 years, what do you give your wife, What? That's a great question. I'm far off from that, so I don't know. I don't know. But I'll be looking in the mail for your, your... Yeah, you'll have something. Presentation. I guess my question is, do you believe in... I mean, you know, some people like to think of art as something that kind of makes you immortal in a way. Look, I mean, it's foolish to think that film and TV will outlast us by thousands of years. God knows where the planet will be then. But there is something beautiful about the fact that we're going to leave behind whatever that is the hell. we've done for future generations. Do you think about that? Well, not much. No, I mean, even now, you know, even now, I mean, looking back on some stuff, I've tried to get better.

And maybe because I might be some of the earlier stuff, I go, eh, let's not watch that, or you can watch it by yourself. You know, there's that. So, so leaving it for my future. hasn't been exactly successful. I don't know if I wouldn't discard a lot of it myself. But, I mean, I'm grateful. It's been miraculous and lucky. But no, I mean, off the top of my head, no.

I take the, you know, I like to read Yuval Harari's book and to tune into some of these now more available physicists and think about the beginning of the cosmos and the future, you know, what's going to happen. and the time scale and the calendar. And in that vein, from that perspective, we're a blip-were-well, you know, and even the wise people say,

hey, in a hundred years, all our photographs and all not, no one will remember you. No one, and every evidence of you will be gone. Like the sense of time. I like, you know, I mean, Robert Altman and his wisdom, transcendental paradigm. enlarged wisdom called his production company Sandcastle productions because the metaphor being that look we're here right now the art piece is really us being together enjoying this right however infinitely we can be doing that because soon enough the as if we're all building a sand castle with this movie the water is going to come the tide is going to come in and it's going to wash all that away and we get to do it tomorrow freshly. That's how fleetingly we're here.

I refuse to believe that generations from now, Transylvania 6,000 will not be watched and studied. But here's my confession to you, Jeff. Yes, confessed away. In all our years of talking, I was a young man watching that movie. I and my older brother, we walked out of Transylvania 6,000. It didn't work for us as a child. I'm so sorry. I apologize. That's like the only one of the Jeff Goldberg, and maybe it's a reevaluation I need to give it. You tell me. Not necessarily. If you, I have my wallet right here. If you want a refund of your, I don't know what you spent on that ticket, but you did stay for half of it. So if it was a $5 ticket, I owe you $250. Yeah. It was an Ed

Begley Jr. problem more than a U problem problem. Oh, don't say that. Ed Begley makes anything watchable over and over and over and he ever again. He's a great friend and one of the great. What a life. Oh my gosh. Homespians on earth. Yeah. Now or ever. Well, oh yeah. What can I say about that? Oh, yes. Yes. Well, who knows that, you know, what's being, you beamed and received on another planet. Yes, yes. I'm sure John Beiner may now be a cult figure of divine fixation. I think this brings to mind.

I remember there was an interview like Tom Hanks gave like a year or two ago where he basically said there were like four or five movies in his filmography that he actually is proud of. How self-critical are you when you look back at the work? How many movies would you say I point to that? and I'm legitimately very proud of that work. Well, very proud, you know, even very proud. Well, yeah.

You know, I mean, I'm grateful and pinching myself in half disbelief that I ever got to do any of it. And now having done it for a low of these, as you say, 50 years and continually, that's just spectacular. But when I look back on, yeah, no, I know what he means because, and like I say, Oh, Jeff, this and that. You could have done better here.

It could have done better there. And it's unusual, you know, it's unusual to not only be good, but these days I have a theory that you can't be good unless you're with a good director, unless you're really in a good movie. And good movies for our taste, I'll bet, is few and far between. Those are rare. But I've been lucky. I've been, you know, I mean Nashville, speaking of Robert Altman, I do hardly anything in it. But, you know, being in that movie, that's, that's okay. And there are a couple other movies like that.

Wes Anderson, you know, movies and, you know, Steven Spielberg, that dinosaur movie. People like it and, you know, Jurassic Park. And they, you know, that got, and he's a special, you know, that was a special kind of storytelling. And, you know, there's some others, Philip Kaufman, is a wonderful director, wonderful person and invasion of the body snatches. But I tell you, I'm trying to get better. And I think I might like my more recent things better. In fact, sometimes when I present myself as myself, you know, early on I might have fallen into a frightened actor kind of, hey, this is what's this publicity stuff kind of thing where you kind of, you know.

But really, my jazz gigs, you know, have made me feel like, hey, this is kind of a good use of myself. and I'm enjoying this no end. And look at me, yak, and it's, you know, if I were to write this all down, give myself apart with all these lines, you know, and then expect to do them well, it wouldn't turn out this good. So I like improvising and kind of doing, you know,

doing this kind of thing. So I'll bet there's a lot of recent stuff in this vein that I might, when all is said and done, go, you know, that's kind of cute and this and that, you know. You can get protein at home, or a protein latte at Tim's. No powders, no blenders, no shakers. Starting at 17 grams per medium latte, Tim's new protein lattes, protein without all the work, at participating restaurants in Canada.

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Regency app for details. Okay, it's official. We are very much in the final sprint to election day. And face it, between debates, polling releases, even course. appearances. It can feel exhausting, even impossible to keep up with. I'm Brad Milkey. I'm the host of Start Here, the Daily Podcast from ABC News, and every morning my team and I get you caught up on the day's news in a quick, straightforward way that's easy to understand, with just enough context so you can listen, get it, and go on with your day. So, kickstart your morning, start smart with Start Here and ABC News, because staying informed shouldn't feel overwhelming. The biggest disconnects between expectation and result in your film career, for good or for bad, a film that you thought the experience of making it was going to turn out to resonate with an audience and critics and didn't for whatever reason, and vice versa.

Like, have there been projects where you weren't feeling it on set and then just clicked with an audience in a profound way? yeah that's a good question well I know that's a good question for most people because they might have interesting answers to that myself I can't off the top of my head and maybe I've been asked this before no there's nothing like the Independence Day thing did that shock you at the time Jurassic couldn't have

because it's Spielberg and oh well no those the popular movies yes like independent And that first one and that first Jurassic Park, oh, no, no, it wasn't so shocking. It wasn't like, hey, I had a bad time and gee, who knows what this is going to be. Oh, no, dinosaurs and that book had been popular, Stephen Spielberg, you know, and so you think, but nobody would have predicted and was still surprising and delightful that, you know, it turned out to be as nerve tickling, you know, that it was so widely. and has stayed, you know, state of interests.

Similarly, Independence Day, you know, that could have gone a couple of different, a hundred different ways. But that kind of rang the bell for several people, for a bunch of people. And then the fly, you know, I think was a horror movie. I'll bet some people had turned that down before. I don't know specifically.

But, you know, although David Cronenberg, you know. But I guess it's maybe more even on the flip side. It's the smaller films that must have felt special. I mean, even something like Adam resurrected with Paul Schrader, which, like, you know, you know the audience is only going to be so large for a film of that type. But I don't know. Those must, I mean, you pour your heart and soul, especially into those projects, I would imagine. And then to see varying degrees of success must, I mean, that's a pill to swallow.

But I guess the experience is the reward. I don't know. Of course, like we're saying. The experience is always the really, really the award or the reward, and that's not just, we know, lip service, glamorous, you know, cliche lip service, because where are we getting to anyway, and, you know, and so, you know, but no, you know, I knew, you know, with several movies, you know, that it had, like you say, you know, a limited potential anyway. It wasn't going to be a blockbuster. Yeah, the mountain wasn't going to make.

The mountain wasn't going to make it. But it's... You hope that, I guess you hope, like I say, I've never been careerists. So I guess some people go in hoping, oh, this is the one I'm going to really grab the brass ring for of some kind. I've never really done that. You just go, this is worth doing. We'll try to make this as good as possible. Then it goes, well, some people like it.

Some people don't yet. So nothing, like I say, distinct. you know, outstandingly, you know, shocking one way or another. Yeah. Like many actors who've been doing this a minute in recent years, we've been returning to these characters that resonate, whether it's the Independence Day sequel, the Jurassic movies. I'm curious, like, now looking back,

you've got a chance to reprise in Malcolm a couple times, one in a more significant way than the other. I don't know, did you get something out of it? I mean, obviously that's fun to, like, revisit a character that people have such affection for. But did you feel like, I don't know, those characters were served in, Dominion that you and Laura and Sam got enough fun stuff to do for your money.

I don't know. There you go. That's a good question. Well, so I did that first one. Then I did that second one with Julian Moore and Vince Vaughan. And, you know, that's, you know, I think that did well. That was fun to do. That was with Steven Spielberg.

I love Lost World. Lost World's actually got some amazing stuff. Yeah, Pete Possible of the Weight. Oh. Yeah. And Richard Schiff. And then, you know, I made an appearance. and that next one worked, you know,

I tried to do my best on that J.A. Bona thing. And then did that last one. Yes, you know, I worked hard. I'm, you know, I guess that's the headline. I did work enjoyably on that and went, hey, here's some, let me see if I can do this and tried to protect the character and everybody even, in every part of that movie,

every job description on that movie, everybody was trying to, you know, protect the audiences, you know, not betray their interest and their hopes for it. Yeah, I thought it went fine, Dandy. It was, it was enjoyable to be with Sam and Laura again, and the three of us would huddle together and try to maximize our opportunity and see if we could, you know, do the assignment. Yeah, I thought finally, I was okay. The, you know, we did that at the beginning of COVID. And so they pioneered the, some of those protocols during that. It was, it was an experience.

But yeah, delightful, fond dandy. Do you know anything about what's going on? We talked about Jonathan Bailey. Like, all I know, no, I know nothing. All I know is that Jonathan Bailey, after we said goodbye, you know, he said, hey, you know, this is what I'm going to do. And Skylett Johansson. So, Scarlett Johansson and I was, I knew I'd come into contact with her mom. We had a meeting at the Chateau Marmont when she was, oh, she'll remember better than I'd do,

but, you know, 11 or 12 or 30 talking about something to possibly do together. And she was strikingly full of talent and gifts and beans and vinegar. You know, from the start, obviously. And then she's just great. And then we brushed, we rubbed elbows on, had a brush on Asteroid City. Of course. She was, in which she was spectacular. I had my little thing.

But just to hang out a little bit was delightful. I'm a big fan of hers. And then I can't, this is another secret that I'll only allude to. No, no. Okay. No, no. It's, we did something together that I'm looking forward. to, you know, bringing home.

So, you'll see something about that. But she is great. Is that Jurassic adjacent? Marvel adjacent? Is that? Oh, I can't tell you. I can't tell you. So what I know is what you, I don't know as much as you do.

What is it? It's Scarlett and Jonathan. Carlott, Jokhani. David Kep is writing it? I know. I knew that. Didn't know. No, Marsha Ali.

I didn't know that. Oh, yeah. That's probably reported. We don't even know if it has continuity. Like if it's like in this, is it a reboot? We don't know if it's a sequel. We don't have the vaguest idea. I haven't heard a thing about it.

I'll be in a sleeping bag on the sidewalk, possibly days before, to get that first ticket. Oh, yeah. I know how I am with those abrupt sounds. So you may or may not have just alluded to Marvel, but I am curious. Is there more Grandmaster perhaps coming? Grandmaster.

Hey, you put the emphasis on Grandmaster. A more Grandmaster. Grandmaster. Don't I say the Grandmaster? Grandmaster. If anything, it's a little bit equal or second, second syllable. Emphasize the Grandmaster. The Grandmaster.

You said the Grandmaster. Well, do you say roast beef? I say roast beef. You're focusing on the wrong syllable as always. Yeah, do you say TV? Let's watch some TV. I say, let's watch the TV. Jeff Goldblum, not Goldblum.

That's right. Although I was in Argentina once, and the David Letterman, at the time of Argentina said, here he is Jeff Goldblum. Wait, what were you distracting me from? So there may or may not be more, Grandmaster. Grandmaster. If there is, it's in your cards,

in the future cards, and in your Crystal Ball, Horowitz. Do you keep up with the Marvel shenanigans? Do you hear about, yes, Robert Downey Jr. Do you know about this? I don't care, no. What to what are you referring? Let me inform you.

Go. He is coming back. You know, Iron Man died. I don't want to upset you. Iron Man's dead. Okay. I'll have a shoulder. This is a lot of process I know at once.

Iron Man died. Yes, yes. But the good news, I have good news for you, Jeff. Oh. Robert Downey Jr. is coming back as a bad guy, Victor von Doom, aka Doctor Doom, in Avengers Secret Wars. Processes, you will. Excellent news.

I think I'd vaguely heard the, yes, yes, I'd heard whispers on my peripheral. Yes, channels. Victor von Doom? Yeah, what a name. I like that name. If my name had been Victor von Doom, I'd be a lot further along than I am now. That's a great name.

Or Vaughn to anything, or Van. Yeah, Von Goldblum would have been wonderful too. Von Goldblum. Hey, what's the, yes, what's the in North by Northwest? Oh, one of my favorites. Ah, yes, it's James Mason's character. What's his name in the picture? Come on, come on.

That's upsetting. We're going to have to Google. It's been a minute. It's Van Dam. Oh, yeah, yeah. I think it's Van Dam. And what's his first name? I forget, but Van Dam.

Wasn't he great in that? And Martin Landau and that. Oh, my God. Oh, so good. And Carrie Grant, very, very good. And of course, Eve Marie Saint. I could go on, arguably top five movies for me. Although I didn't remember the character name.

Although, yeah, but that's okay, Van der. Although, if we're talking about Hitchcock, maybe the tippity top for me is Vertigo. Often at the top of those lists. I like psycho. I have an affection for the birds, but I do like, I think vertigo is tippity top.

Bernard Herman's score, fantastic. Hey, who's the reigning impressionist of Goldblum nowadays? I've befriended Matt Friend recently. Is Matt the guy? I'm sure you have. Matt Friend, I've seen from a little, well, come up.

Yeah, he's taken over show business. He's the Eddie Cantor of show business now. He's well on his way. Oh, he's fantastic. Well, he does a very nice thing. Oh, there have been several here, and there you know do you do any no i don't do anything i would not insult you to your face what are the do's and don'ts to doing a good jeff gold bloom what do you advise what do you say

is there too much hemming and hoeing too much it's not too much of anything do do whatever you feel uh i'm always interested in the new a new wrinkle in the gold blooming do whatever you you feel it it you know processes processes processes its way individually based on the practitioner you know it's a state of mind as much as it is the mannerisms Certainly, certainly. I feel I've acquitted myself in Goldblum. I put a little too much goldblum seasoning in this conversation, didn't I? Never enough.

Really? So who are the top three right now? Is Matt up there? Who are the other? Oh, sure. Well, I wouldn't want to, you know, insult anybody. You know, I still like David Dukovny's when he was on the Saturday Night Live. Who else does it nowadays?

Well, Elon Gold does it, you know. He does, I would have said, he puts a lot of emphasis on. that butt he sprinkles you know the but I noticed myself doing it today as if I'm doing an impression of his impression right yeah you've yeah it's getting a little meta um it could be yeah being uh Jeff Goldblum the sequel to being John Malkovich it's inevitable I don't think so nothing's inevitable but and that's inadvisable but uh I don't know what else should we plug I have to let you go but chaos August 29th yes sir I really, I really am interested in seeing what you think of that.

I really liked it. Great, great actors. I really like it. And Wicked comes out November 22nd. We'll catch up for that, I'm sure. Our band, Jeff Gold from the Mildred Sincer Orchestra is at the height of our form. We've recorded something else that's coming out after the first of the year. Rockwell's gone, though, in L.A.?

Did they close up? Rockwell closed its doors during that, during that. But we're playing, we've played, we just played three places in New York. What? Last month, you missed it. I was looking for your face the whole time I was distracted. Where is he? Where is he?

Just like Bogart and Casablanca of all the gin joints. Why can't he walk into mine? I said about Horowitz. I'm crushed. But we were at Le Pocent Rouge. I think I'm pronouncing that. Almost too well, yeah. And then Brooklyn, we were at the opera house and we went even to the Hamptons.

And now this next month, if you find yourself near Florence, Italy. I would love to. I'll try to work it in. We're going to be playing September 20th and 21st. Amazing. Jeff, I literally could talk to you for hours. Thank you for making the time. I love that.

I'd never even have to look at these damn cards with someone like you. No, no, no, no. No, give them. Oh, can I take them home and set up an altar? I can't reveal my secrets. Secrets. Hey, remember that Conan bit that he used to do? Secrets, secrets.

I used to love in the year 2000. In the year to the last. Yeah, yeah, that was good. Yeah, we could talk about so much. Yeah, we should have a podcast. To be continued. Well, this is a podcast. Aren't these podcasts like an hour and a half or two?

Look, you're the one on a busy schedule. Next time we'll take more time. You know I've been trying to make the Horowitz-Goldblum thing a permanent, ongoing thing. You know I've been trying to manifest this. Really? Manifest. That's where he went wrong. What do you mean?

Like the guy who went goes here. Here's a Russian Fabrizier egg. I just, you know, he had it up. his sleeve. Bottom line is I'm at your disposal always. You know that, Jeff. Thank you. I'm touched.

It's good to see him, my friend, as always. Thank you. Thank you, my friend. We did it. Only certain men can handle the pinky ring. I can never do it. Oh. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused.

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