Happy Sad Confused - Joe Manganiello

Episode Date: April 6, 2017

Just because a guy looks like Hercules doesn't mean he doesn't love geeking out about Tolkien and Dungeons & Dragons. As evidence we present the larger than life Joe Manganiello.  This week on "Happy Sad Confused", Josh welcomes Joe to the podcast and finds himself out-geeked by a guy who looks like a real life superhero.  Manganiello (about to be heard as Hefty Smurf in "Smurfs: The Lost Villge" out this week) discusses almost playing Superman AND Spider-Man, how giving up drinking turned his life and career around, and his passion project, turning Dungeons & Dragons into a franchise. All that and he does a mean Arnold Schwarzenegger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Yes, Sammy. Okay, I'm just making sure. If you wait three more seconds, you'll hear me say that. Want to be prepared. In the very first line. I want to be prepared. Jesus fucking Christ. Keep that in.

I really prep for these a lot. This week on Happy Say I Confused, Joe Mangonello on Superheroes and Smurfs. I'm Josh Hart. which I'm neither a smurf nor a superhero. Joining me, as always, is Sammy on the intro. Sammy. I consider myself a super smurf. Do you, oh, okay.

Yeah. That's the smurf that's missing. There's smurf that. There's hefty, but there's no super smurf. Oh my God. J.J. Abrams, let's do it. Let's make a super smir. JJ, you can pass on that one.

Not a good idea, even though she sounded enthusiastic about it. Welcome to the podcast, guys. This week on the show, Mr. Joe Mangonello, as advertised. We love Joe around here. For so many reasons. For so many reasons. First, he is the next stage in human evolution. Yeah, he's a physical specimen.

We admire him just in his parents for producing such a specimen. Yeah. And he's a big old nerd. A big secret nerd. Not so secret, I guess. If you listen to this podcast, I... He out nerds me. He out nerds me.

Which is remarkable. But yes, Joe is awesome. He is starring in the new Smurf movie. Smurf's the Lost Village opening this Friday, a very sweet film, obviously, for the whole family, bring him along, and he plays hefty smurf, of course he does. What is he can he plays smurfette? No, he's hefty smurf. He's a very good actor, Josh.

He could play any smurf. That's true. Demi Lovado, for the record, is smurf at in this one. For the record. For the record. I don't want the smurf contingent coming after me. Don't stop the presses. It was a joke.

So Joe has been very kind to us over the years. He's done a lot of fun sketches with us. We talk about that. And he's also someone that, as I just said, like, He's a big old nerd. He's into Dungeons and Dragons. He's into comic books and into like the Hobbit and then Tolkien stuff. And we talk about all that, all that and more in this conversation.

It's very wide-ranging conversation. You know, he infamously was up for Superman a few years back. He's been up for a number of superhero roles. Would have been such a good Superman. I would have loved that. He's actually up for Spider-Man too. It's a little bit too big, maybe for Spider-Man. I was going to say, yeah.

He doesn't have that like, oh, normal guy look that you need for Spider-Man. Yeah, he inevitably is going to be. play a superhero because he's kind of like a walking, talking superhero right now. And it's very actually also a very frank conversation. And, you know, he brings up a turning point in his life a number of years back when he gave up drinking and sort of got his life in order. So always appreciate Joe coming by and being fun and honest. And like I said, just a kindred spirit on the good old nerd topics.

So he's always welcome here and thrilled to have him on the podcast this week. Other business to attend to, well, we should mention that. We just got back, Sammy and I. If you heard the intro last week, we were taping our intros from Las Vegas. Josh had a big old margarita in his hand the whole time we were recording. That's not true. It was two. It was one at each hand.

Yeah. Sorry, sorry. You had to hold the microphone for me. No. It was all business. It really was. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. It was very fun.

We were at this thing called CinemaCon, which is this big old convention for the theater owners. They come out and the studios come out and they show like all their wares. for the upcoming year, like all their big summer movies and even fall movies, and they tried out a ton of movie stars. We sat through a bunch of presentations. You and I, we watched the new Pirates movie. We saw the Fox presentation,

which brought Sammy to tears. She was sitting next to me. She's bawling like a child. I was trying to put my hair in front of my eyes so he wouldn't see. Well, the reason I cried was because Hugh Jackman came out of nowhere and showed footage from the greatest showman, which was incredible.

It was like a make-of-we. wish foundation for Sammy. It was kind of amazing because we're sitting in these seats, this beautiful, it's called the Coliseum, beautiful theater. And we noticed at the outset that they're like balloons or Sammy notices, there are balloons up top that are waiting to be dropped. Can't get past me. So, okay, so Sammy notices that. We're like, okay, something is up. And then as the presentation kept going, it kind of slowly dawned on me and like thinking about their upcoming films. And I remember, like, whispering to you, like, I think you're like, I think. And then, like, as it went on and on and on, I was like, it's happening.

he's definitely coming saying and sure enough oh he comes out he gives like a 10 minute long speech full of anecdotes and by the way so we were a position then you noticed this uh that there was a teleprompter we could read which was fascinating to see like what everyone was supposed to say and hugh diverged off the telephopter like every other sentence was an anecdote yeah it's like your uncle like giving your speech at a wedding except their wonderful coherent stories i mean except it's it was when it ended i was devastated So, yes, and the greatest showman, for those that don't know, and why would you? Because we're months away from it, except for Sammy knows everything. I could tell you about it. This is a big old musical about P.T. Barnum that Hugh Jackman has been developing for a number of years, and they finally shot it. And it's him and Zach Efron and Zendaya and Rebecca Ferguson, who was just on the podcast, Michelle Williams. And they showed exclusively the first trailer. It's not out there yet.

I'm sure they're going to reveal it soon, but it looked great. Oh, it looked so good. Yeah. I was so excited. It's the same guys that brought you the music for Dear Evan Hansen and Lallelands. So, you know, we're in good hands, yes. We're going to be okay. Guys, it's going to be okay.

Just wait until the fall. I can't. So, yeah, we saw a lot of cool stuff, and we did a lot of fun interviews. And you can check out. Lost some money. We all lost some money. Yeah, we lost some money. That's Vegas, though, right?

Did some gambling. Did some gambling with Ansel Al Gore. You know how I roll. Your bad luck charm, Ansel El Gort. I told you had a fun little run in there. the last night with Ansel at the blackjack table. It was fun to catch up with him. I also saw Brenton Thwaites.

Oh, Brenton Thwaites. It's a fun name to say. Yeah, Brenton Thwaites. I saw him doing some gambling. Nice. The charming young star of pirates. Yeah, it was a lot of our interviews are up on the MTV Facebook page. If you go to the videos, part of that, or if you go to MTV's YouTube page, you'll see a bunch of interviews with Charlize.

Your girl. I love the Charlize. Talk to Denisville Nouve, the director of Wade Runner. You got accosted by Walberg again. Yeah, we didn't put that video up. We really should because it's just remarkable. I would like everyone to know my favorite thing from Cinemicon was after a Walberg interview. Josh and Wahlberg are very close, very like brothers.

He, in fact, at one point said, I'm the younger brother he never had. Yeah, and you literally cringed. And he's walking away and off camera goes, all right, love you, buddy, see ya. And Josh goes, thanks. Leave him wanting more Oh my God Don't reciprocate He's going to hurt you

Well yes he will That's part of the dynamic Mark I love you If Josh doesn't He doesn't want that See he doesn't want that All right He wants to be rejected

That's how it works I'm learning a lot So yes Check out our cinema conversations We had a blast there But also I think I speak for both of us When I say we're happy Oh my God so happy

A lot of fun stuff Along the way, we're going to be covering the Fate of the Furious premiere soon, so we're covered from that. My first Fast and the Furious movie. Wow, Sammy was reluctant to admit that, but yes, we're actually after this introduction, we're going to go off and watch the movie. And this is going to be Sammy's first Fast and the Furious movie. Where have you been the last decade? All I know is that one of the Rock's dogs is named after his character, so I feel like that's, I'm good. Dwayne is not really the lead.

I mean, he's not the lead. Well, then I'm not going. Oh, my God. Every minute on the screen he's not on, you're like, where's DJ? Oh, this is bullshit. I will be fascinated to hear Sammy's review of the eighth. Nothing like jumping into a franchise on the eighth one. Yeah, I'm going to get a good handle on it.

So, yes, we'll report back next week on our thoughts on Fate of the Furious. But, yeah, let's get to the main event on this week's show. Joe Mangelo. No, don't, that's not it. And we talk about that. Guys, it's Joe Mangonello. It's not that hard a name to pronounce. Oh, that's nice.

I mean, Mangonello is a fun name, but that's wrong. Oh, no, it's okay. Joe Mangonello, pay him some respect, and enjoyed this conversation with one of my favorites. He's a good guy and a great actor. And he gives good hefty Smurf this week in Smurfs at the Lost Village. Check it out this Friday. And for now, enjoy this conversation with Joe Mangonello.

Don't put your name to Sammy. see what you're going to do. Don't do it. It's been, as I said, when we first saw each other a moment ago, it's been far too long, my friend. It has been far too long. You were the author of some of the funniest sketches I've ever done. You are my muse. Heavy is the head. Yeah, Joe Mangonello's guide to pronouncing fucked up celebrity names. Yeah, I see you tweeted about it relatively recently as you still use it as a reference point for people. God damn it, people still can't pronounce my goddamn last name.

It's not Mangelo, guys. How hard is it? Come on. No, no. Which they would learn if they watched the video. So I'm actually, you know what? I'm going to put it back out again. Let's do it.

Yeah. We have to recirculate that every once in a while. Yeah. I will say, because I remember, I think the first time we met was on one of these sketches that we did. It was for, we did a little thing called Actors Anonymous. That's right. Remember that one? Yes.

And it was like a little self-help group. when you were near True Blood Years, and it was actors that played vampires. And here's what I remember. And werewolves also. And wherewolves, obviously. And what I remember is, I hadn't met you. And I remember, like, my first encounter with you was like, I was looking for you. And they were like, oh, Joe's out there, like, prepping.

Like, he's, he's memorizing it. He's, like, reading his lines. He's, like, getting into it. I was like, okay, he's already far surpassed the preparation on 90% of the people that have done sketches of me in the past. So I know I like this man. Oh, yeah, but it was great. I mean, you're a great writer.

It was hilarious. It's, and I think with comedy, you, you want to be ready. You don't want to, you don't want to mess around with that. So, no, I wasn't messing around. I wasn't missing around. No, you never do. An actor's anonymous. You don't do half ass, man.

Yeah. He goes all the way. He's in full Smurf's makeup right now is hefty guys. With a little white hat on and white pants. But it suits. Somehow you make it work. I have a tail surgically implanted for this interview. You almost look more avatarish than Smurfish right now, to be honest.

Me? Yeah. With my Smurf costume on. Yeah, well, because you're a larger man. I'm big-boned. God damn it. Is that what they called you in school? Your parents told you? You're big-boned.

Yeah, no, I was like a scrawny toothpick. Were you really? Yeah. Were you, okay, well, give me the stages of physical evolution of the Jurassic era. Yeah, exactly. At six years old, at 10 years old, at 15 years old. Well, I was tall and skinny. Okay.

I was skinny, you know, but I was super tall, like head and shoulders. taller than all the other kids at the Easter egg hunts. And, um, uh, but, you know, I was good at sports, but I was, I was, I was thin. I had giant Coke bottle glasses. My vision is awful. Um, big ears is stuck out. Now, is this one of those things that, like, you say in retrospect, but if like, I actually did my research and I found people around you, be like, oh, no, he was a stud at 10 years old. No.

This is real. No. When I, when I, when I released my book three years ago, the, like, the first page of the book is, like, me then. Right. And it's a picture of me looking exactly. exactly the way I just described myself, like, to the tea. And, I mean, and from our conversations in the past, like, it's like you're like,

you've got the soul of Josh Horowitz in, like, T-Man's body, basically. Like a Yeager? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, of course he makes a Pacific Rim reference, like, to make it work. But I think that was probably the idea as a kid. I grew up reading comic books. Yeah. And I read comic books, science fiction, every monster movie I could consume.

and so when I opened the pages of those books all of those superheroes, super villains, they were jacked. I mean, it was the 80s, so everybody was ripped. And I think I won't even say subconsciously.

I'm not even going to desecrate, you know, I'm not even going to put it down that way. I would say that consciously, I think it was an effort that the first time I get to break out of this, I'm going for it. I'm never going to look back. God damn. And I think that's probably how bodybuilding became.

game or really, or something I really, that I, and mind you, I struggled at it for years. I just could not put on the kind of weight that I wanted to look like those characters. It just wasn't happening. And it took, it took a long time. So when did you hit your stride in terms of like putting it together and kind of like? Somewhere, I mean, somewhere towards the end of high school, I think I got, I got contact lenses or I was allowed to get contact lenses. Clark Kent turned into Superman. Well, my glasses were like fish bowls.

Right. My prescription is awful. It's like a negative eight in both eyes. Yeah, you're staring the exact wrong direction right now. I'm, I'm to your left, Joe. I'm like that high school shop teacher who's like screaming at you, but his cross eyes looking the other direction. Totally. Yeah. So the contacts came in. So the contacts came in and I don't know. I got a new haircut. It's like, what did Joe do over the summer, guys? Yeah. All those bicep curls were started paying off.

Nice. Yes, but there was a miraculous turnaround. But the girls at my high school, like, still saw me. Right, they knew the before, so they weren't ready to appreciate the after. They still, the opposite. They still saw me that way. But the girls at other, so I had to go to, like, the other schools, the other high schools. To reinvent yourself.

Like, no, that old guy never existed. They had no idea. So I got to just start over. So, okay, so we're virtually the same age. 76 is our birth year. So we have bicentennial. There you go. We came in to celebrate.

So give me some reference points. Okay. So let's talk movies. Let's talk TV. Let's talk comics. Let's talk cartoons. Let's get into it. Okay.

What was on your wall? What were the first obsessions? Well, as a kid, at eight years old, I, like, I taught myself to read. Like, I would memorize when I was little, I would memorize the books that my mom read to me. Because, I think because I, if I remember correctly, I had like a little, you know, one of those little things. tiny records on the little tiny record player, kid record player, and I had the Hobbit. Yep. And it was the one where, you know, when you hear, ding-ling, turn the page.

Right. So I had that one of The Hobbit, and I thought, man, this is like a real book with no pictures. Like, I'm going to have to train to read this as a young kid. Mom, we got to go into training. Yeah, mom. No pictures here. Just leave the food, slip it under the door. Give me a week.

Yeah. And when I'm not. When I was eight years old, I finally picked up The Hobbit and started reading The Hobbit, which was funny because I remember a kid who couldn't read, like at that age. It just was, I don't know, he was behind. He would call me every night, and I would. You're telling him the story of the Hobbit. Telling him what I read that day.

It was interesting. There's this guy named Bilbo. Yeah. Little guy, and there's a sword called Sting. And so, I think the Hobbit was probably that first kind of benchmark of, this is like where, this is like the height of monster fiction. Yeah. And then from there, it led me to Stephen King, like all things, Stephen King, whether that was Coojo, Pet Cemetery, you know, what was the Eyes of the Dragon?

Right, right, right. Dark Tower. And then I got into comic books, like, heavily. So, wait, let's stop for a second. What do you think about the Dark Tower film that we're finally going to see? Are you anxious? This is his seminal work. This is, like, they've been trying to develop this for years.

I'm curious because it's also a complicated piece of work. Yeah, I confess, I haven't read it. I mean, I know enough about it, but it seems weighty to, like, doing one. It's clearly it would be a series, hopefully, et cetera, but. Well, it's one of those challenges, I think, for adaptation in the way that, like, if you ever read the book, Fight Club, yeah. Fight Club reads like a schizophrenic road it. It's insane.

Right. So then to take that, it's such a creative challenge to then figure out how to theatrically present that material. And I'm curious to see how they do that with Dark Tower, because it is, it's all, it's very odd. Yeah. It's an odd, and it doesn't really explain anything to the, explain itself to the copy. Perfect from movie going audiences in 2017. But I think people need that now. Seriously.

They really need that. It all doesn't need to explain. Enough with the spoon-fed shit, you know? I'm hopeful, I was more hopeful when it was going to be Carrie Fukunaga was going to do it. Did you hear about that? He was going to direct it. I forget the director they have now. I think it's the guy that did Mama, which I think was a decent movie as well.

But I like that they're splitting it. The first film is just them as kids. And then hopefully they're going to return to it in the second half, we'll say. Yeah, hopefully, yeah. But do you remember that miniseries? That hit us, like, that hit me. Again, we're virtually the same age. I remember Tim Curry, like, vividly haunting my dreams.

Oh, it? Yeah. Yeah. It was, that TV miniseries was phenomenal. Amazing. Fantastic. Yeah. Maybe the best Stephen King up to this point.

Yeah, yeah. Maybe. Although then, maybe you could say Shawshank. Shawshank, where do you come down on shining? I know Stephen hates it, but I know it's not faithful to the book, but I mean, come on. No, but it's an amazing work. I mean, come on.

Kubrick's pretty good. Yes, yeah, he's all right. He's okay. Okay, so then comics came around when? Comics. And were you DC Marvel? What were you? I was pretty much Marvel and Independent.

Like Dark Horse and like that kind of stuff? Independent, like, like old, original black and white Ninja Turtles. Okay, right. Like original Eastman and Laird, like the first 11. I caught this group of kids in Maine. than I knew growing up on this island in Maine and and I'd heard rumblings about these ninja turtles and they had the comics the word on the street about the ninja turtles yeah like in the comic community in a nerd community I had heard the rumblings and they had them and I thought I looked at them and man this is like this is the real deal yeah the coolest thing I've ever seen and which was really neat because it was it was a it was such a metaphor for teenage being teenage and it was they were the X-men in a way totally they were were, but it was also very Japanese in another way in that you have these abominations who have no place in life or in the world, but they were trained from birth by this master,

this rat to get revenge for him. And in the first issue of the comic book, they get revenge. So their entire life's mission, their life's goal, their purpose in life is over. Now what? Now what? And that's the story. And that's what was so interesting was that it was these creatures that didn't belong in our world trying to figure out what to do with the rest of their lives. And that to me was fascinating. So when the homogenized cartoon came on were you like, come on, guys, this is stupid.

I was angry. I was because it betrayed what I love. I guess the, that the humanity that I was interested in exploring. And, you know, but I was, I'm happy that those guys made money because I think that for any independent comic maker to then blow up their franchise that way. Like, as an adult, I'm like, you go. Like, I'm so happy for you guys. But I miss those stories.

Yeah. I miss that exploration. I thought that was like a fascinating, you know, a sort of amalgamation of different. things as you say and kind of like so audacious and kind of like that the title alone was like a deal breaker for so many for any adult it was like yeah fuck that I'm not going to look at that but if you actually cracked it open brilliant yeah those are those early issues were brilliant so I was into those I was also in this comic book called martial law I remember that one it was Pat Mills this uh Brit wrote this comic and there was a particular series called Fear and Loathing that I thought was really really brilliant I was into the Frank

Miller Wolverine. Yeah. I had a Frank Miller Wolverine poster on my wall. Nice. I was into, what else was I into as a kid? X-Men.

X-Men, X-Men, X-Men, X-Men, X-Men, X-Men. I was like huge. Like, everything, X-Men, X-Force New Mutants, all of it. It's so, it boggles my mind. I've talked about this with other people. I mean, I don't know if you, like, you read, like, Wizard magazine

when we were kids and they did, like, the fan casting. Like, I remember it was like the dream casting. And Patrick Stewart was on that list. Like, who would be, like, of course, he was the guy. And, like, we've just, like, so, like, gone beyond our wildest dreams of, like, what all that was going to turn into where, like, I mean, sure, there's a lot of shit out there, and there are a lot of shitty adaptations, but there's, like, the quality of filmmakers that are attracted this material based on both passion and just the marketplace. James Mangold is amazing. I got to meet James Mangold.

He's awesome. I screen tested for him repeatedly. We had, like, several screen tests for this project that never got up on its feet. But I got to meet him and hang out with him, and he's a really, really deep guy. Super smart guy. A really smart storyteller. And yeah, you talk about like how far that universe has expanded. I mean, we had a really, really great version of Caliban.

Right. You know, like. We also had a semi not great version like a year before of Caliban. So we had two in a year. Yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's amazing. I mean, we have the technology now to make, do these films right. But what's what I, what I love about it is that every once in a while, we get one that has a great story.

Yeah. Well, Mangold, he's the real deal. I mean, Copeland blew my mind when I first saw that one. The Johnny Cash movie. Yeah, I have 310. I mean, he's a real filmmaker. And I love what, you know, what he said. I've interviewed him about Logan, which I love them.

I'm like just, you know, he's right. We've kind of reached a tipping point where, like, you know, you can only save the world so many times. And that's fun. I like the Avengers movie as much as the next guy. But, like, now comes kind of the fun part, I think, where, like, filmmakers have the opportunity. And we now know that the audience is willing to go there thanks to things like Dead Pool and Logan. Yes.

So I actually think as opposed to maybe like this trend ending, we might be entering actually even another interesting iteration of the comic book. Yeah. Well, there's something, well, which is also a, well, it's kind of a return to the whole point of comic books and mythology. It's a modern telling of mythology. The Greek gods were very human for a reason because they were used to talk about human topics without having to get really down and dirty.

Right. You know, and I think we can go further about topping about topics, which is one of the things that I love so much about the first few seasons of true blood. Yeah. We were talking about weighty subjects. It gave you license to go real big. We're going to talk about marriage equality. Yeah, ha, ha. We're going to talk about racism in the South. Yeah. Ha, ha, ha. But it's vampires and werewolves. So it's a little more palatable, I think, in a way. Yeah. And that's what I think superheroes should be. But, all too often I think that there's a such an onus put on the spectacle of it because we need to get butts and seats and we need to give people something they've never seen before but I really do think that if you present a great story people people will go and it's not to say that Logan didn't have spectacle sure it's just you know Logan is like a white stripe song that you can hear Jack White's fingernails hit the guitar strings it was dirty it was stripped down and I think that there's a real need for that no there's more happy sad confused coming up after this break with one of the best savings rates in America banking with Capital One is the easiest decision in the history of decisions even easier than choosing Slash to be in your band next up for lead guitar you're in cool yep even easier than that and with With no fees or minimums on checking and savings accounts, is it even a decision?

That's banking reimagined. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See Capital One.com slash bank for details. Capital One and a name and FDIC. Do you have an all-time favorite again? It could be going back to childhood for a superhero film that you love the most. Oh, boy.

Gosh. I mean, I love those Tim Burton Batman movies. I skipped school for June 23rd, 1989. I went to Batman opening a day. I was, I love those, but, and I love the crow, and, but I think probably, I think the dark night has to, it's, it's, it really is the pinnacle of spectacle with substance, talking about a topic and just phenomenal acting, directing, and it's, it's, it's, it's, that movie is mind-blowing. I don't know if you've seen this social media trend lately It's kind of a fun just exercise for film nerds like ourselves To name your favorite movie of every year you've been alive

Really? Yeah, it's been trending like the last year Last week or two But it's like that means I'd have to choose between back to the future and Teen Wolf Yeah How could I do that? Which I saw in the same day I came back from summer camp I saw that double feature I mean come on that was a time to be alive Oh god

I love it Michael J. Fox summer Man Both of those movies Just perfect perfect movies You know what the third movie I saw that day? Real Genius was also that song. Perfect movie.

Come on. I love Real Genius. I'm obsessed with Val Kilmer. Val Kilmer is one of like... Me too. I mean, he was, when his first string, like his string, probably up and through the doors and then tombstone. Yeah, yeah. Amazing.

Okay, so what were, okay, so we were starting to talk about films. So films when you were growing up, what were the first film, obsessions, actors, films, posters, on your wall. Oh, boy. Well, as a kid, it was Star Wars. Yeah. I mean, that was it. And it was, I loved the Empire.

I was all about Darth Vader. So. The cool guy's dressing black always. Yeah, it's just the power, the command. And you've got to give credit to David Prowse. Mm-hmm. Because several other people have put that suit on. You're totally right.

And it doesn't look right. It really doesn't. It doesn't. They don't walk. There's not enough weight. There's not enough gravity. There's not enough earth to the way that they move. Yeah, I loved Rogue One, but it felt off when he walked on the screen. I might, yeah, totally. I'm sorry. I don't, you know, I'm sorry, I'm going to get a hate letter. No, but it's, you know, someone has to speak truth to power. But there is people don't understand that movement is a huge part of acting. Yeah.

Theater and drama school. There is a huge, you know, importance put on movement. And you have, I mean, Chubaka moves right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, totally. But, but Vader doesn't. And so if anyone's listening out there, I will... Wait, you're ready, do you want to... Yeah, you can use James Earl Jones's voice. I don't care.

Like, fine, just put me in the suit. Like, I'll do it right. But I'm not seven foot one, so I don't know. I'm going to need an apple box. I have one more growth spurred in you. It's the only time I'll ever stand in an apple box. No, but I, so I just think that David Prowse's movement performance. Yeah.

I mean, you know, I went back recently and put it on mute, the original New Hope and Empire. It was like a marathon, and I would put it on mute on the Vader scenes and just watch the way that he walked and moved and crossed his arms. And it's just, it's perfect. It's amazing. It's amazing. He's so good in that suit. So it must have blown your mind when you, so you, you know, you start to get involved in the business. And was literally the first film, Spider-Man?

Yes. That's crazy. The first professional film, yeah. So, I mean, not just Spider-Man, Sam Ramey, doing Spider-Man, and I'm guessing you were Sam Ramey fan. Sure, Evil Dad, Starkman, all of it. All of it. So did you go up for Flash? Did I read that you also went up for Peter?

Well, yeah, I got brought in for Peter Parker, and I'm 6'5, so no matter how much weight I'm going to lose for this role. Like, I'm not going to fit. I'm not right for this character. But I came in and I prepared, and I did my Peter Parker. her auditioned for Francine Maisler and she said you know that was great but you're really not right for this part and I said I know and she said but there is this other character that you're right for and I said oh flash she said yeah and I said oh okay great yeah I took a look at those sides and she goes okay do you want to read it with me and she went to go get me the sides I said

no no I'm already off book I got it she's like okay and I had actors anonymous all over again always prepared always prepared and I had another shirt on underneath because I wore like a button down and glasses for Peter and then I took the shirt off and the glasses off and I had like a you know t-shirt whatever tank top or something and I read the flash part and she said okay um I want you to meet Sam Ramey I said okay and uh she got me this job a couple of days later screen testing all of the Spider-Man candidates and I played flash in a scene where I had to bully actor after actor after actor and um The first one was James Franco.

He had, like, the day off or the morning off from James Dean. He was filming James Dean. Sure. Yeah, yeah. And so he and I screen tested together. Scott Speedman and I screen tested together. And then there was another guy who I don't recognize in heaven really seen around since. But there were three of them. No, Heath Ledger.

Was he also in the mix at that point? I don't know, but he wasn't there that day. So those are the three finalists of that day. And then I think Toby self-taped. Got it. And somehow got himself in and screen tested separately. Who was your favorite of the three that you saw? You were casting.

Jeez. I mean, you know, there was, you could tell that there was something about James Franco. Yeah. Immediately. He was very much in James Dean mode, though. So, I mean, he had the hair and everything. So it was a bit, you know, that's, this is, this guy's a little too. Too cool for school.

Too cool for Peter. Yeah, exactly. But he wound up hairy. Obviously, the producers and Sam were impressed. Felt the same way. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, he and I both initially read for. Peter and wound up the other two guys.

Crazy. So, okay, so what do you, just give me a sense of, like, being on that first major film set in this, you know, world that you probably never imagine you get to this quickly, being directed by Ramey, did it live up to what the hype was, and give me a sense of kind of coming out of it, what were your hopes coming out of it? Well, it was massive. That was, at the time, the biggest movie ever attempted. It was massive.

And I remember in my screen does, Sam Ramey, looking at my resume, then looking up in me, then looking back down at my resume, then looking back up at me and saying, but you have done theater, right? Because I had, this is, I'm fresh out of drama school and I have no credits that, you know, mean anything to anybody other than these, these theater credits. And he was trying to search for something in my eyes that could, that would make him trust in casting me. And he did.

And I just went in there and did my best and worked as hard as I could. But there was one point during the fight scene where it was the one where I'm fighting Peter after I got food dumped on me in the cafeteria and we're out in the hallway fighting. And he switched over to 20 frames per second. And I heard that and went, whatever, that's for the camera guys. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing. So we did one take during the, you know, I'm fighting and kind of dancing around and boxing or whatever. And Sam goes cut, and he comes walking over to me.

He puts his hand on my shoulder and says, son, do you want to continue working in motion pictures? I just went, yes. He said, come with me. Let's go look at the monitors. All right. And he showed me the monitors and said, when I switch frame rate, what that means is that the film is moving quicker, which means that you have to slow your movements down because you're jumping around,

you're disappearing and reappearing. So just smooth it out, slow it down. I went, okay. So, you know, I really didn't know anything about the technical aspects of filming. I just, you know, I knew how to act and was trying to apply that, but it was a real, it was a crash course.

I'm sure. I mean, I'm there with John Dykstra who did all the effects for Star Wars. He was telling me stories about building the ping pong tables that became the Death Star and how he, He likes puppet jaba better than CGI job, but we had that conversation.

I'm like, I don't want to offend you, but like, what do you think? And I'm there with those guys working on a green screen, and it was just, man, it was amazing. So, okay, was it before or after that? One thing I've noticed that we've never talked about, is it true that you worked for Tyrese for a bit as his body man? What were you? Yeah, I will, okay, so I met Sam screen tested, but the movie wasn't going to start shooting for a while, and I had to go make money. So, I was screen testing for all these things at the time. My screen tested for Spider-Man.

Then, like, I got brought in a screen test for Anton Fuqua for Training Day. I screen tested for Gregory Hoblet for this movie called Hearts War. That at the time was Harrison Ford, Edward Norton. And then I had screen tested twice for the third lead. And then those actors dropped out and it all got reshuffled. And I fell out of the mix, which killed me because that was my dream. Hans Solo and the dude from Fight Club. No, Hollywood.

Yeah, and then I screen tested for Black Hawk down, and I was actually in the middle of like that process when Spider-Man came back around. But that was months later. So in the meantime, I had to go make a living, you're paying my rent, doing what I had always done or through college, which was bounce. So I was a club bouncer.

And so I got a job working for the security company and probably, I think my first job with them was bodyguarding this like singer guy, R&B singer. I don't know who he was up in San Francisco and it was Tyrese. He's a madman. He's kind of a unique individual. Very unique individual. I'll say that. I feel like this could be your next book is just whatever time you spend around Tyrese.

It's definitely a chapter. Right. For sure. And yeah, so, yeah, I was up there bodyguarding for him. And that was, that was, like, my first job in Hollywood. Amazing. Yeah. So, I mean, in the wake of Spider-Man and, like, between True Blood, how would you characterize

those years? I mean, you know, it sounds like you're screen testing for, like, you know, A-list material, decent-sized parts. For whatever reason, they're not happening. You're doing some TV work in the interim. Are you making a living? Like, does this a time of frustration, excitement, or what? So I shot Spider-Man about six months later, six months after I first met Sam Ramey and screen

tested I then shot we shot Spider-Man and that took about six months total to film it was just like here and there you know these dates all over the course of six months and then I shot this pilot with Tiffany Ambertheson and then I didn't work again for three or four years oh my four years which was there's a reason why I I was always a huge drinker big time like big I was I like I wanted to be Gary Old which is funny because it's Gary Oldman's birthday today. Is it really? Yeah.

I mean, maybe the finest living actor. We'll put next to Val Kilmer. We'll put him up there. Yeah. Yeah, no. I mean, for sure. When I was in drama school, that was the guy. I want to be that guy.

And he was notorious. He like, he went hard. He was in his day. Yeah, and there's an idea that, you know, I think as a young actor, I think I went looking for trouble because I thought that meant that was going to lead to some form of depth and you know my life and my life is chaos then right you know my work would be chaos and therefore you know and um what i found was no like my life is chaos and i can't keep it together and i needed to stop drinking yeah and i'm not a person who's i personally am not a person who's

supposed to be drinking ever and that needed to go and what happened out of that was that i was never showing up to work drunk i was never showing up you know not none of that i i i had so much respect for the work it's just that you know my personal life had become such a mess that i wasn't able to prepare and i wasn't able to show up at 100% the way that i always had and wanted to i wasn't at my best and um i needed to go take care of that and i also didn't know if i wanted to be an actor anymore there was an idea inside of me that maybe i did this for egotistical reasons not the right you know yeah and and so um i wound up at the end of like this three or four year period where i didn't i didn't work as an actor i wound up on the back of a construction

truck working uh for a masonry company doing deliveries and demolitions which is like you know jack hammering and shoveling stand and gravel from seven to four every day with a bunch of guys who don't speak english is this still in l a this was in l a yeah yeah so um i was in this like I mean, one of my favorite books in college was the fountain head. So in that lead character, Wends and goes off and works in a rock quarry when things don't go right. And so there was something in my mind of like, this is me at the rock quarry. I'm just working it out until I figure out where to go next. And off of that truck, I wound up, somebody called me up and they wanted me for this pilot.

And that happened. And I then got off that truck because I figured, okay. Okay, well, it became so loud, the voice to come back to acting that it was too loud to ignore anymore. And so I just started walking back into act. And how did you sort out the kind of the rationale that you were forwarding with that it might have been for egotistical reasons? Which, I mean, again, a percentage of that is fine. We're all doing various things for egotistical reasons. I mean.

Yeah. And I think that, I think coming to grips with the fact that, yes, that that is somewhat the truth. I think what I learned was that I was hoping that if I achieved some level of success or acquired some trappings, that that would somehow make me feel better in a way that I had never been able to feel. And when I found that it didn't fix me in that way or the fix was very temporary, I think that's what I had to come to grips with. Yeah. And I, you know, had to realize that there's always a next thing. There's always something else and that's okay. And it's never going to fix the way I feel, but it's going to be this exploration of how I feel.

You're listening to Happy, Sad, Confused. We'll be right back after this. And how do you, because, I mean, that's the constant dilemma for you. in your industry, I would think to this day, you're surrounded by people that are so result-oriented, what's next oriented, like, you know, getting the next big thing. And, you know, you're ambitious, clearly. I have very similar feelings of wanting to push myself in different areas, but you're right.

Like you can't, there's so much out of your control. It's hard to kind of, like, judge yourself on that stuff. But at the same time, it's easier said than done. So how do you kind of quiet the guy in your brain that's going to make you miserable? Well, it's funny, you know, I tell young. actors, I'm like, man, if you're going to enter this business, like, it's going to break you down and it's going to make you crazy, and you either need to do a ton of drugs or no drugs at all, like, to deal with it.

I recommend the ladder. I recommend the latter. And that was really, I think, and furthermore, I think, I really came to grips with the fact that this job that I do is a spiritual job. Like, it's very spiritual. It's, I feel a certain way, and I'm going to make an audience feel that way, whether that's laughter or crying or some sort of, you know, remorse or regret or catharsis, whatever it is. And in order to do that, I really need to be aware. I need to be on top of my game.

Right. And so the pursuit of things in my personal life that would sort of bolster that or strengthen that, i.e., you know, meditation and all that kind of hippie shit I got into. Hey, spent enough time in L.A. It's inevitable. Yeah. Well, they used to make us to God of Meditation and, you know, you know, yoga every morning at drama school oh so they were very much of and they there was a teacher in fact that i really really um it's probably my favorite acting teacher there who taught acting through the chakras and breathing techniques and opening up these portals of energy and things like that does arnold schwarzenegger do the same thing is he into the portals of energy no

this uh fucking chakra thing this is bullshit you don't uh you just get up there and you grab your your your machine gunn and you pointed in the right direction and you pulled the trigger. And what the fuck? It's pretty damn good. Thanks. No, he actually he does TM. He does transcendental meditation.

Yeah. Long time, guy. Okay, so how much does it blow your mind that you're friends with Arnold Schwarzenegger? Like legit friends, you can call them up. I'm, you know, it's insane. It's insane. It's crazy. Yeah, I mean, he just put out that video today about.

I didn't see. Well, he put out a video because the after school spend, the after school programs are now being cut. Yeah. Which his charity of choice is the after-school all-stars, which I've actually done some work with. And so he's, yeah, he's on a warpath right now. I'm sure. But I see those videos and I think, man, you know, that's my friend. Yay!

That's a good friend to have. That's my buddy. So in the court, I know we talked, we met during the true blood years and the Superman story's been told to death. But I'm curious, like, was there an angry phone call when you found out that you, true blood for whatever reason and it's not whatever reason like it was legitimately they couldn't let you out they needed you but they said sorry we can't even let you test for this we can't even let you meet with Zach was there I met with Zach you did meet with that I had an hour and a half long meeting with Zach which is

what was causing all the trouble I I I went ahead and met with casting and then they brought me over to Zach I met with all the producers I met with John Jashney and Thomas Tallott legendary like so you had some real stuff going. No, I met everybody. Everybody involved. And then finally sat down with Zach for an hour and a half and had a big conversation about the character and where it was going and etc. And then they called the True Blood costume shop for my measurements to build my suit. And that's what caused

the, that's when it stopped. That was put to it to an end. And how was Joe then when you learned that? Did you like have some talk with Alan and HBO and everybody and try and to be done. My agent, Kevin Yvane, said, I'm not sure if I can get this done or if I can work this out, but if I can't do it, no one can. Sure, which is true. So he went to work to Time Warner, who owns Warner Brothers Studios and HBO.

They're the umbrella over the top of them. So he thought, well, okay. At least we've got that in our favor. Yeah. And there was just nothing that can be done. And at that point, you lay in bed for a week and stare at the ceiling, and you then have to get into a place of gratitude for this job, my day job, which did the show, which was the reason why I was noticed in the first place. Zach and his wife watched True Blood, and I guess when I walked out, he said, that guy would be a great Superman. This was, you know, a year or two, year before I wound up in his office.

So you have to be grateful for that. It was also, you know, the first steady paycheck I'd had in a long time. It was a great job. It was the hottest show in the world at that time. Yeah. So you have to put it in perspective, yeah. You put it in perspective and you get back in there like, you know, good soldier and you go back to work and you don't let it affect you. Which is tough sometimes.

Did you take a little time before seeing Man of Steel? Was it tough for you eventually to see it? You know, I wouldn't see it. I couldn't. I just couldn't. I was really, you know, I'm a sense. sensitive guy and I was kind of rocked by the whole thing and I had bicep surgery after Magic Mike 2 and I was up in the middle of the night because I you know with the pain and I was

on painkillers and it was on and I saw I watched it then it's probably for the best it's like all right I'm pretty all right let's go um so okay we we should talk about and give some some uh love to smurfs which I saw it's actually a very sweet adorable movie it's so cute It's really cute. And the kids will love it. I know what you've got a niece or nephew that I'm sure will appreciate it. I've got some nieces and nephews. I know we'll be very much enjoying this.

And it's fun to see Smurfs. Like, again, we grew up with us. We grew up with them. Yeah. Yeah. And they're, but they made a couple of movies that weren't, they were like gremlins. Right. Right.

Right. And this is a return to the cute little smurfs that we grew up with. So, and I saw, you know, you're, you've, you've appeared in public with full-side smirfs at a children's hospital at the children's hospital do they care more about the smurf or you smurf definitely yeah no offense to you joe but come on no the well every once in a while i get hey you're peewee's best friend yeah where's pee we not that we don't we're not happy to see you but there's peewee coming and i'm like no peevee who's not coming uh uh which is progress yeah because i used to go to i've been working i'm on the board of trustees at children's hospital

Pittsburgh and for years I've gone to that hospital and the kids are like who are you and I'm like I play a werewolf on a TV show you're not in twilight and then mom would interject and say no he's on mommy's werewolf show long conversation after you leave yeah so is this this has to be a no-brainer I would think when this comes around it's it's relatively easy work you get to be a part of something that you grew up with these guys obviously know what they're doing it's a wind all around and it adds to the action figure collection. Yes. Most importantly, which is why you got into this.

Speaking about ego, that's why we're all in it. Yeah, we need to see your home with your giant busts of Joe's head in different guises. Yeah, my wife is thrilled at all the memorabilia I drag home from shoots. Is there a giant hefty? I mean, how big can a hefty toy be? Jeez. Well, I mean, there's a person inside that hefty suit, so, I mean, theoretically I could get right

for a special occasion back home nah but smurfs are tiny so I mean even when they say three apples high right it's like that's not that much that's a little creepy

yeah but in the movie did you notice the the I don't know if it's an homage or the I guess the acknowledgement of that or the Easter egg for the old Smurf fans

of three apples high I don't know if I did when Papa pulls the sheets back and there's yes that's a great that's I legitimately laugh three apples not because of the inside joke

but now a whole other level works three apples high There's three apples. Perfection. I should also mention, I'm excited, this seemed inevitable that you were going to work with another one of my favorite human beings, Mr. Joanne Johnson. Yes, the People's Champion. I mean, that guy can do no wrong. This was destined to happen.

And Rampage, of all things. Once again, another video game I grew up with. Insane. Yeah. So what, we know, I think Malins, Ackerman's also going to be involved with here. Is she in now? That's the word on the street, according to me. I don't know

I'm just reporting things So who do you play Can you say much About what were you fit into this Well I hunt monsters My Okay so let me

I'll just tease this I could probably say this My section Or my At least my character's story Is And I had to talk

With the director Brad Peyton about this It's going to be modeled after Predator Dutch and Predator Sold Run with that

Yeah so anyone who is a fan of Predator another great Arnold movie Yes I mean maybe the greatest Arnold quotes collection Yes per yes If it bleeds we can kill it Stick around You set us up

You drop us in the middle of a meat grinder That'll happen to you Used to be someone I could trust I woke up Dutch Why don't you You son of a bitch Your one man Arnold's show It's a matter

CIA got you pushing too many pencils All right all right Who's at this fucking Thai business I have nowhere to go Keep going Anyway yeah What is your favorite Arnold movie Of all time you think

Their shit makes Cambodia look like Kansas Is that Jesse? Who's that Jesse? That's Jesse the body yeah So okay With all these like amazing franchises of our youth like being like revitalized. There's another predator

movie being made that Shane Black. Pee-wee Herman. Pee-wee, come on. So you've gotten in on a bunch of them already. But like do you seek them out? Do you when, if there's like a predator or a Star Wars movie every year, do you say team Mangonello go after it? Tell them I'm available? Somewhat. Yeah.

I mean the big one that I want to make is Dungeons and Dragons. Oh, I heard this. You're you're a big D&D guy. Big. Still am. And they've never cracked it. They have never been able to figure it out. And last year, with a playwright that I went to Carnegie Mellon with, we actually made a draft of a film.

And now we're, you know, talking to all the right parties. And actually, I had a two-day creative summit with the Wizards of the Coast who actually are the creators. They're actually what TSR was. Gary Geig actually, T.S.R., which created Dungeons Dragons. They now run the show. And they've been the creative force behind it for, she's since the 80s. 80s, 20, at least 25, you know, years.

And I had a two-day creative summit with them, tested out some of the new products. And we had a like a two-day summit about where the movie could go or TV series products, like, I mean, synergy, like the whole. It does feel like this, like in this like time of cinematic universes and giant scale worlds. Like this is an unexploited in a good way. Like there's so much there.

It's where there are so, all the video games you play came out of D&D. And most of the filmmakers now that are working there from our generation grew up playing it. That's how they started directing and producing. And, you know, my wife says, you know, what is it? And what is that? And what is, what's his game? And I said, well, I said, you like Lord of the Rings, right? You've seen them. They're amazing movies, right? She goes, yeah, I go, that's, that's Dungeons and Dragons. I go, that show we watch every Sunday, that's like, our favorite show in the world, Game of Thrones. It's Dungeons and Dragons. It would not exist without, Dungeons and Dragons wouldn't exist without the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

But the films, the culture, the video games, it's all because of this. So what's the key you think, you know, without revealing your entire plan or whatever idea for this? But what is the key to getting this right? I mean, Warcraft kind of tried this kind of thing and it didn't quite work for whatever reason. They had a great filmmaker behind it, and it's tough. So what's your recommendation? What's your goal for a D&D universe film TV series? Well, I mean, obviously there's a spectacle.

There's dragons, breathing fire. lightning and flying I mean that's that's the biggest draw in Game of Thrones Sure other than I mean I'm sure there's probably people that would argue that Kaleesie naked is probably their big draw but other than that for everybody Dragons you know and and and seeing these creatures but but I think like we were talking about before what makes a great fantasy or superhero movie is the human aspect it's got to be about something and I think that's really what we root for those characters in Game of Thrones and you know Fellowship of the Ring was about

friendship and this undying love for your friends and doing anything for your friends and i think that's something that people can identify with yeah you know the arragorn still love story it's something that i people can identify with um this forbidden love and being separated from each other and so i think when a movie is about something human sounds so simple but people are not sometimes people skip over that it's tough yeah um so when it's about something human and real emotionally uh people are going to want to go see it. Yeah. And then if you get some dragons breathing fire and...

All the better. I mean, hey. I'm in. A win for everyone. Yeah. So would you want to play a part in this? Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I'd want to play a part in it.

And I also just, I, you know, I want to work behind the scenes on it as well. Yeah. So cast yourself. What are you? Are you a mage level seven? What am I dealing with you sitting in front of me? Did you ever play? A little bit.

I'm not. I can't pretend to be an. expert. I'm no Vin Diesel sitting in front of you. You know he's like, he's legit. Yeah, sure. The Nerdist did a special called Dean Diesel. Totally. I saw it. Yeah. With with the like world renowned, like he filled Jackson of Dungeon Masters, this guy named Matthew Mercer. I actually just filmed a similar like in that series. They just filmed one with me that's actually going to drop them the next day or two. Oh, cool. Check it out. So you can check it out. Yeah. So anything you can hint about what kind of role you'd want to play? Not right now because we're still, you know, we're developing and I'm still, you know, talking to all the involved parties about what can happen, where it can go.

I have very, you know, strong ideas that are backed up by the Wizards of the Coast. They agree. We are all in agreement as to where this thing needs to go and what it should look like and what it should be. So it's just a matter of someone exacting, I think, that plan, the plan that they really, they really want to. to go with. And so is Rampage up next? Are you showing that next? Rampage is up next. Yeah, that'll be in a few weeks. I'll start. I'll fly out and start. Have you spent much time with DJ yet? I've never met him. What? But we are, we run in the same circles. Like, you know, we've both done a lot of, you know, muscle

fitness covers. And we're in the bodybuilding community and everybody kind of knows each other in that community. But we've never met. And I also like, I love wrestling and I've hosted wrestling. And, you know, I've never, we've never crossed paths. So do you go to his Iron Paradise? Does he visit yours? What happens? Is there, you meet in the middle? We're going to find out.

We're about to find out. Let me tell you something, brother. It's about to go down. The mega powers explode. I always loved your, I don't know, I'm hesitating whether to ask you to tell it again, but coming full circle and the pronunciation of your name, the story told of Hulk Hogan, introducing you. Yeah, at the Barclay Center in Brooklyn.

I hosted Monday Night Raw with Arnold. And, you know, we were going over our, kind of our sketch backstage. And Hulk Hogan just could not get my name right. One more time, brother. Tell me. Mangonello. Mangonello. Got it.

No, dude. Wait. And this went on and on and on. And finally we were backstage getting ready to go out. And he's got the boa and the glasses and the du rag on. And he's like, all right, brother. One more time. Give it to me.

And I'm like, we're about to walk out there. I'm like, Mangonello. He's like, manganel. Got it. And they blow the smoke and the Hogan music comes on. I am a real American. He comes down, high-five, and everybody goes into the ring. And he's like, I want to bring out two of my good friends here to promote their new

movie sabotage. My good friend Arnold Schwarzenegger and my buddy, Joe Mangiolio. Come, man. So we went through our whole bit, and I was, like, fuming and, like, ah. It wasn't even close, you know, and then we get back. stage and I was like I was still like just staring at my shoes like come on now like my big moment I've been made of my whole life to host wrestling and this is what happens and so we're doing this post you know post fight uh interview and Hogan grabs the microphone he goes let me tell you

something I got to clear something up brother it doesn't matter what I call him from now on because from now on brother he's known as Joe mania and what you're going to do when the Terminator in Joe Mania, climb on the Hulksters back, brother. It was like, okay, you know what? You're forgiven. Because now whenever I'm around wrestlers, they're like, what's up, Joe Mania? There you go. Yeah, so I've got my wrestling name.

Okay, for what it's worth, Mangonello. It's not that hard people. Yeah, man. And I'm going to put that, we're going to put that video out again. One more time for posterity. Or Joe Mania, just don't butcher. Show the man some goddamn respect. God damn it.

He's done so much for us. He'll do you something. You respect. Yeah. Hey, man, Swiss. It's been wonderful to finally invite my muse, my friend, Mr. Joe Mangonello here. I wear many hats. You do.

I will always come up with silly ideas for you because I think you're so talented at so many. Literally, you can do anything. So I will always exploit that. The one we never got to do is the dick sketch. That's right. Which was hilarious. The script is still on my computer. Maybe we'll put that out too.

So funny. Okay, yeah. Don't worry. I'll come up with something else that will ruin your career. You haven't been able to ruin it yet, Josh. Damn it, you're too strong for me. Smurfs, the Lost Village, for a lighter side of Joe. Take the family, take the kids.

It's super sweet, and it honors a show we all grew up with. It's great. It's great. It does a great job of doing that. Good to see you, man. Thanks, man. Great seeing you. And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused.

Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast. person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't pressure to do this by Josh. This episode of HappySad Confused was produced by Michael Catano, James T. Green, Mookda Mohan and Kashamahilovich for the MTV Podcast Network with additional engineering by Little Everywhere. You can subscribe to this and all of our other shows on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. With one of the best savings rates in America, banking with Capital One is the easiest decision in the history of decisions.

Even easier than choosing Slash to be in your band. Next up for lead guitar. You're in. Cool. Yep, even easier than that. And with no fees or minimums on checking and savings accounts, is it even a decision? That's banking reimagined.

What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See Capital One.com slash bank for details. Capital One and a member FDIC. Hey, Michael. Hey, Tom. You want to tell him? Or you want me to tell him?

No, no, no, I got this. People out there, people, lean in, get close, get close. Listen, here's the deal. We have big news. We got monumental news. We got snack-tacular news. After a brief hiatus, my good friend, Michael Ian Black, and I are coming back. My good friend, Tom Kavana, and I are coming back to do what we do best.

What we were put on this earth to do. To pick a snack. To eat a snack. And to rate a snack. Nentifically. Emotionally? spiritually. Mates is back. Mike and Tommy snacks is back.

A podcast for anyone with a mouth. With a mouth. Available wherever you get your podcasts.