Happy Sad Confused - Kate Mara (Vol. II), Jake Johnson

Episode Date: June 7, 2017

It’s a full-circle moment for “Happy Sad Confused” as our very first guest, Kate Mara, returns at long last! A lot has changed since Kate last visited, and she and Josh take stock of it all, from a little perspective on “Fantastic Four” to introducing fiancé Jamie Bell to her One Direction obsession. Kate also talks about her love of animals (including a trip to Liberia to hang with some chimpanzees and her sister, Rooney) and working opposite a canine costar in her new film, “Megan Leavy.” Later in the show, Jake Johnson makes his debut to talk about what it’s like to do crazy, death-defying stunts with Tom Cruise (their new film “The Mummy” is out this Friday). Jake also talks about his bittersweet feelings on the “New Girl” ending, what it was like to hang out with Prince, and why his biggest box-office success, “Let’s Be Cops,” wasn’t a fun experience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

DC High Volume, Batman. The Dark Knight's definitive DC comic stories adapted directly for audio for the very first time. Fear. I have to make them afraid. He's got a motorcycle. Get after him or have you shot. What do you mean blow up the building? From this moment on, none of you are safe. New episodes every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. This week on Happy Sad Confused, Kate Mara makes her triumphant return and Jake Johnson on jumping over buildings with Mr. Tom Cruise.

Hey guys, I'm Josh Horowitz. Welcome to the show. As I said, we've got a returning champion, Sammy. This is exciting. This is full circle moment. The very first guest on Happy Sad Confused was Kate Mara. She was the very first. Oh, you didn't know that? I didn't know she was the very very very. She predated even you, even your illustrious intros. She sure did. So first to tease a little bit later on in the show, we've got Jake Johnson, who everybody, he's one of these guys, everybody loves Jake Johnson, right? I mean, the new girl, safety not guaranteed, drinking buddies, Joe Swamberg movies, and now in the big time with the likes of Tom Cruise. Literally Tom Cruise.

Yeah, it's kind of crazy. He's running and jumping and being kind of an action star and in a big summer spectacle that is the. mummy. It's a fun movie. It's a fun role. And yeah, it's a, it's really cool to see him in this context. Jake is always one of my favorite performers to watch. So we'll get into all aspects of his career a little bit later on. But first on the show, let's, first things first. As I said, Kate Marr. Member of the family. Member of the family. So this is a nice full circle moment. We love Kate Marr around here. She, of course, you know from House of Cards, from yes, fantastic Four. Yes. We'll say it. We can talk about it. We're allowed to mention it. We're adults, guys. So everyone be cool. And yes, we talk about Fantastic Four. And her new movie, Megan Levy, which is a true life story of her. She plays a Marine who, like her main co-star, is a dog. It's kind of a sweet, dramatic story. It just had its premiere last night at, do you know this where they had the premiere?

No, where. Yankee Stadium. What? Isn't that cool? That's crazy. I know. I'm kind of jealous. I didn't go. But Ben Diesel's like so mad that they didn't do the Fast and the Furious there. He's calling a meeting today. He's like, guys, you failed me for the last time. He's like, if he doesn't get Giant Stadium for nine, he's quitting. Totally.

The next Fast and Furious movies premiere will be in space. The movie may be in space, but the premiere will definitely be in outer space. Let's hope so. Yeah, please. So since there is a lot of delicious interview contents, I don't want to waste too much of the audience's time. Unless you have any, do you have any thoughts, any well wishes for the audience, any important messages about the world at large, Sammy? No, I just help everyone go see to see both these movies and that no dogs were harmed in the making of... Or in the making of the podcast.

In the making of this podcast. We don't know about, no, no dogs were harmed. We love dogs around here. Do you have a dog? I have a god dog. All right. I'm sorry. I even asked.

Why do I? Of course you do. I have a half dog. What? You own half the dog. Which half of the dog do you own? I own the face half. No, like just the legs.

We split it in the middle. What? Is this a living dog? Yeah, no. I have her on like when my friend goes away. Okay. Oh, that's right. You said you were dog sitting last weekend, right?

Yes. You know, you listened to me. I did listen. What's the name of the dog? Her name's Harley and she's a puggle. Do you know what that is? It's a mixture of a muggle and a... And a wizard.

Exactly. I almost thought it. Damn it. No, I don't know. What a puggal is. It's a pug and a beagle. Aw. Yeah.

I had a dog, muffin. Muffin Horowitz. Have I talked about muffins before? This is one of my favorite stories. Oh, we're not going to talk about that now. Let's go to a much happier story about dogs and Megan Levy. Actually, there's some bitter sweetness to it. But it's a good story while we're checking out.

Enjoy this conversation with Kate Mara. Josh poisoned his dog. That's not. Oh, my God. Enjoy. We're cutting that out. Can you believe this is happening, Kate? My first guest has returned.

I, what? Do you remember that? You were the first guest. No. No. You were? I didn't know that. You didn't process that?

Nope, nope. Here we are. I feel very moved by that. This is a moving moment for all of us. Yes, three years so fast. And I was promoting Fantastic Four, which... Well, you weren't actually. Here's the...

Oh, right. I went back and listened because I didn't want to duplicate our soul-searching conversation the first time around. This is where we were at in our wives three years ago. Barack Obama was the president. Okay. So it seemed like a good time. And you had literally just that day, it had been announcing the trades that you were going to be in Fantastic Four.

Those were the glory days. So the world has gone to shit since then. Absolutely. Except that you're getting married. Right. There you go. Silver lining. So, yes.

There's a like silver lining to the sadness of the world. But it's good to have you back. Thank you. It's always good to see you. Lovely. Megan Levy is the first. film we're going to talk a little bit about that and just catch up on all manner of life right now um so let's actually just reminisce for a second where we were at the last time well at least on

the podcast so how is the group text with the fantastic four gang now going um it's definitely evolved is there still one oh yeah i hope you're texting with jamie everything is is like nothing nothing has changed and everything has changed the group text usually consists of Miles, you know, texting us like an inappropriate picture of something random, and then MBJ and I responding really quickly, and Jamie not saying a thing, but saying things to me in person, and I'm like, why don't you ever text everyone back? They think you're ignoring them, but you're not. You're clearly... You're speaking on behalf of the Fantastic 2. But that was always sort of the case. Was it? I would think you would have ditched Miles ASAP as soon as you possibly could

because that guy's just too much trouble. Oh, I love that, Miles. Tell him. I do too. Yeah, I really do. He's been a frequent guest on the podcast. And I feel like I'm like defending Miles, because I think at first blush, you can think he's an asshole. And he might be an asshole, but he's a charming and wonderful guy. Yeah, I really love him. No, I do. Truly. Yeah. So, okay, so where, can we get some of the post-mortem that we've joked about, often on camera, about Fantastic Four and the past out of the way? Was there, was there a day when you texted friends and family and said, oh, God, this isn't going to work? I have such a huge family

and they're so supportive that that wouldn't really do much good because none of them would care and they'd all be like I don't whatever you're saying we're going and we are supporting but I mean the four of us definitely

had an idea of what was about to happen on the press tour it was a really rough one but we bought honestly the four of us became so much closer on the press tour than we even were while making the movie. It's a bonding thing to be that sort of disappointed and, yeah. I feel like in a weird way, I got to be like a member of the crew.

You were. I feel scarred and bonded for life as well. Yeah. Yeah, you really were a part of that whole thing intensely. Yeah, because we did the Apple Store Q&A like literally right before, and it was sort of like, by then the writing, everyone knew, and it was just sort of like, we got to go through the motions. This is what it is. This is part of the job.

Absolutely. I mean, we tried to, you know, we tried to stay positive. But when the reviews are coming out and it's all very clear what's about to happen, it's hard to do that. What's the, I mean, obviously the best thing to come out of that was your relationship with Jamie. Is there anything else that you can point to as a growth experience out of that? That's a great question. Nothing, honestly, nothing like specific, but I will say that even if, you know, I, even if I didn't get a hub. husband out of Fantastic Four, even if that hadn't happened. I probably still wouldn't, like, I'm not, I don't wish I had never made the movie. Do you know what I mean? It's just another reminder.

You never know what's going to happen. You just sort of have to do your best. And this business is insane. No, and as we've discussed, like, again, on paper, it's not like anybody going into that was like, oh, this isn't going to fucking work. Like that guy. No. Like, it was like, oh, this guy's coming off a cool movie.

This is the coolest cast. I'd want to work with all of these actors on anything. So, of course, I'm going to work with them on this. Okay, so on to happier things. Please, for the love of God. Oh, God. Where's my publicist? She foolishly didn't enter the room.

Yeah, I sent her off to get a smoothie. God damn it. What smoothie did you get? What's your... Some kind of like a green dream situation. Such a stereotype. I know. I know.

I know. Congratulations in the movie. I watched it. Oh, thanks. It's a great piece of work. And so the director of this did Blackfish, correct? Which was such a moving piece of work. I loved Blackfish.

So this is her first narrative. Is that true? Yeah. Gabriella Kelperthwaite directed it. And she and I actually became friends after I saw Blackfish and was just obsessed with it. And we connected and really just became friends. And we'd talk a lot about animal rights and things that we wanted to do. And then also just talk about movies.

And I was really curious what she was going to do next. And we have a lot of really similar taste in movies and things like that. So when I was sent Megan Levy, the script, there was no director attached. So I suggested they, you know, see what Gabriella thought and if they liked her and if she liked it. So that's kind of how it all happened. So what was the key to you about this? I know you're an animal lover, in particular, a dog lover. What's the key to getting this right?

Like, well, when you saw the script, you're like, okay, as with most scripts, like, I can go one way or another. Like, what did you want to avoid in this and what did you and Gabriella talk about? The thing I was, like, really most concerned about, and then even when we were shooting it, you just never know how it's going to turn out, like, the stuff where you're talking to an animal. Yeah. I was like, we need to cut all that out of the script right away. And everyone said, and Gabriella specifically, who I trust said, no, no, no, there's no way I'm going to have you, like, being cheesy talking to a dog in the way. that it's got to be natural. Think about it.

Yeah. If you have dogs of your own or any animal, you do talk to them. Yeah. Which I actually was like, all right, that's true. She said, we have to just do it in a way that feels natural and not like you're saying, you know, these cheesy dog movie lines. Right. And so that was something we always were very careful of. Yeah.

That was my biggest concern. So, yeah, it's not Marley and me. Not even, both. I mean, that's its own weird kind of a thing. Yeah, people love Marley and me. I mean... The thing about this script, though, that I was excited about, of course, I love animals, but I'm an actor.

So, you know, you have to make a movie for more reasons than that. It's so rare that you're sent a military movie that's starring a female. I really wanted to play a female Marine after I did... After I worked on that movie, Man Down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Shia, yeah. And so this was really actually not long after I finished that movie. I was sent the script and thought, oh, that's weird.

And it's just an inspiring emotional story, and it deals with a lot of different things. It's not just about an animal. It's about a lot of different sort of things. Did Shia give you any workout tips to be a Marine besides just, like, you know, going to the gym in denim and, like, heavy clothes? I didn't follow his wardrobe advice On workouts Yeah I appreciate it though

You know I was I had actually been training for something else Like right before Megan Levy So I was in a good place mentally Like I was already going to the gym constantly I just had my trainer in L.A. Like switch to like actual boot camp stuff Got it

Which is not you know very easy Pushups and like pull-ups are not my thing But we did a lot of that. But the real training was the actual, all the other stuff you learn in boot camp. That's the stuff that I really didn't know anything about. So like weapons training and even like as simple as like how to wear your uniform, put it on correctly and how to load your pack and also all the dog training. I mean, all of that was the dog and I were trained together a few weeks before we started shooting. And it was, you know, that was challenging.

Well, it's also the kind of thing where, like, yeah, because by the time you're rolling camera, you want it to, like, the baseline should be, like, the effortlessness, like, just, like, carrying yourself. And then you add in the way of, like, selling the dialogue and selling the emotion of the seed. But if you don't have, like, literally the way to carry a gun or the way to interact with your dog, you're, like, flying blind. No, and even, like, how you enter a room and how you stand and how you respond to people in the Marine Corps is all, you're very, you're trained. to do those things. So, yeah, I was, I had this amazing team of people, like actual Marines, ex-marines, Sergeant Major, all of these people that were helping me with it. And you're like, I'm sure, empowering them on set being like, you know, if you see me

doing something wrong, like call it out because I don't want to be the person. Oh, beyond. There's nothing more intimidating than playing a Marine that you know is going to be not only on set sometimes, but all of her Marine buddies are going to be watching this, judging it, judging every little step you take. So you want to get it right. Yeah. So, okay, so in terms of being an animal,

overdue to grow up with dogs? Yeah. I mean, we've had countless dogs in our house. I have two dogs of my own. What kind? What are their names? Tell us about them. My dog's names are Bruno.

Bruno's 15, and Lucius is 14, and Lucius was named after a character in The Gladiator, because I really loved that movie. Which one was... Lusius was the little boy, Master Lusius, yeah. The little boy with, like, the long blonde hair. Nice. I told Ridley Scott that whenever we were shooting the Martian.

Right. How did it... He was just like, cool. Yeah, I was going to say. He doesn't seem to be like, aw. No, he's a massive animal lover. Oh, is he? Oh, Ridley's a massive animal lover.

Yeah. He's obsessed with dogs. And his little dog is usually on... One of his dogs is usually on set. Really? Yeah. But he was really unfazed by the Lush's comment. I think he's, like, probably used to...

much crazier things. Right, right. Yeah, a lot of cats named Ripley, a lot of things like that. Are you more, so do you prefer puppies or babies in your life in exposure? Oh, can I, both. But I have to say, after I went and saw, after I saw a chimp for the first time, a baby chimp. Was that recent? No, it was two years ago.

Liberia, right? Mm-hmm. Okay, and that was two years ago? Yeah. Oh, okay. But after I saw a chimp for the first time, I thought, oh, I think I'd want a chimp. more than a baby. Is that an available option in L.A. now?

No, no, of course not. It's illegal to have chimps anywhere. And I'm strongly against it. I'm just saying they're the cute. I love puppies, but chimps. You're not flying in the face of your humanitarian endeavors, like running in a licit chimp dealing ring. No, no, I'm strongly against it.

But they do make very, very, very cute babies. So what was that trip like? We saw some photos recently on social media. That seemed like a moving experience. You and Rooney were out there, right? Beyond, yeah. My sister and I have always been, you know, sort of weirdly obsessed with chimps since we were kids. And the Humane Society, who I've been working with for a while, invited me to go with them to see where, at the time, the chimps had been abandoned by the New York Blood Center.

And they wanted me to go and see the incredible people that are there taking care of them. And sort of like help out with trying to get the blood center to do the right thing. and in the meantime raise money for it. Right. So I just thought, oh, I have to ask my sister to come with me because she'll want to do this and she'll be just as moved by it as I will. And it was unlike, I mean, it was unlike anything I've ever experienced.

It felt like we were on the craziest ride, like a Disneyland ride where, I mean, it's really hard to explain because you're on this tiny, tiny boat and you're visiting six different islands. and they hear you coming from far off. They can hear the engines because they're used to the people there feeding them. They rely completely on the humans. So when they hear the engine of the boat, they start screaming and making noise at, you know, the joyous shrieks of a chimp.

And they all start coming out from behind the trees. It doesn't seem real. It's like a movie. Can you get upclosing personal? You definitely don't. What are the, like? No, it was actually interesting because I. They're massive. I mean, you should be intimidated by a shimp. You shouldn't get close. But they're so, they seem, you know, rather sweet. So we said, you know, what should we be concerned about? And they said, well, you know, the boat will be at a certain distance from them. So you shouldn't be too worried. But if they do get, you know, kind of ballsy and decide to get into the water because they can't swim.

Right. If they do decide to, you know, come towards the boat, just jump out of the boat and start swimming because they can't swim. Gotcha. You've got that advantage over that. And I were like, what? This is the plan? This is what you got for us? This seems not very safe. But the worst thing that happened was they were throw, at one point they kind of

started throwing things our way. Because they thought, those girls definitely aren't feeding us. They shouldn't be here. But it was amazing. It was amazing. Do you have any trips like that on the next on the bucket list? We're going to go back for sure because now there has been an agreement between the Blood Center and the Humane Society.

The Blood Center is now paying $6 million. a year now towards the for the chimps to help take care of them. So yeah it was a big, it was a big victory for us but we're going to be going back because now we feel like weirdly there are little family. Amazing. Yeah.

So what does Jamie share a love of animals with you? Yeah, I think I've turned him into a bit of a mush in that way. Yeah. He says nothing makes me happier than a chimp, than seeing a chimp. Oh. Yeah. So he's probably just saying that to

keep the wedding going. I've heard otherwise. Right, right, right. So I couldn't help notice you cry a bit in the film. Oh, God, I tried not to. I tried not to. I'm not like, we're not talking like

terms of enderment from the beginning to the end, but like there's some intense scenes without getting modeling again without getting into Marley and me territory. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is that something that's in your skill set? Is that difficult to get there? Do you have the, what's the secret?

Do you're thinking of? Interestingly, in the movie, because obviously I'm in a lot of the movie I was very conscious of okay we have to make sure we're not crying in every scene because a lot of scenes are really emotional and so usually the emotion

that goes with sadness ends up being tears usually but do I find it difficult it depends on what I'm supposed to like sometimes it says you're supposed to cry in a scene and you're like oh no the pressure of it being written is so much greater than, like, if it just comes naturally, it's, you know, then it's...

That's bonus. Yeah, that's bonus material. So what do you, so on the day when you... You know, my mother asked me that question last night at the premiere. She said, and my grandma, what, how do you cry so much? What do you think of? I'm on a text chain with your mom and grandmother. We're all wondering.

I just think of my childhood. The mistakes you made. They were like, what? Did you really say that? Why did you invite us all? No, Corey, I did say that. they thought it was funny. I don't know, I'm an actor, no.

I'm not like Bryce Dallas Howard is a genius. Have we talked about this? That's funny you say that. Well, I've watched her on all of those talk shows where she cries on cue. Yeah, she was when you obviously know the Happy Second Fuse photos that we do, she's the only person that's ever literally cried for sad, like within 30 seconds. No, I don't have that skill. We'll put you to the test.

Oh, God. Do you have somewhere to be? We'll wait a couple hours. I'm scared. You're listening to Happy, Sad, Confused. We'll be right back after this. So I assume without, it wasn't digital trickery, you shot in Yankee Stadium, I assume. Yeah, a year ago yesterday.

So we shot there a year ago and then had the premiere exactly a year later, which is, you know. That's awesome. Yeah, kind of sentimental. So what's it like shooting in Yankee Stadium? What's the, how many seconds do you have to shoot? Like, is it like one of the things you were like three minutes and then? No, we had, well, we had all day. Oh, so it wasn't during an actual game?

No, I think it was, you know, we had to, obviously, we just kept changing our shooting day based on their schedule and things like that. But it was, I mean, amazing. Growing up going to Giant Stadium my whole life, I have a, you know, it's very cathartic for me to go to a stadium and like that whole, the energy, the smell, all of it reminds me of my childhood and it makes me quite emotional. So it was, for me, it felt weirdly, I don't know if I would say I felt at home, but I did feel like it was personal in a lot of ways. Have you, I know you sung the national anthem. Yeah, when I was younger, I was stupid enough to think like, that's easy. That's a good idea. And then when I got old enough, I started realizing like how terrifying it was.

So you weren't terrified at the time. No. Only in retrospect now, do you have the flashbacks? Oh, yeah, yeah. So was it just the arrogance of youth? I think I was just, oh, it's my family. Like, my grandpa asked me to do it. Of course I'm going to do it.

Everyone's grandpa asked you. I just want to please my family. So how old were you? I think I was 14. Nice. And did, and for a few years after, yeah. You did a good job, presumably. Well, I was, I was there, they were winning a lot when I would do it.

So then it was this superstitious thing. Would you do it again? No. Well, I mean, I guess never say never, but probably never. Have you ever gone on a first pitch at a game? No, and I don't think I would do that either. I mean, I just feel like I would fail. Again, the risk versus reward of that.

Yeah. Like, if you just, if you screwed up, you're on YouTube for the rest of your life. Yeah, I'd rather just go and watch the game and enjoy. So, um, welcome to the world of Instagram. Thanks. What took you so long? Um, I just didn't want like the addition. I love Twitter and I just, I feel like it takes up time.

Yes. You know, and I didn't want the additional distraction. And then Ellen Page really bullied me into it. I was assuming, I was literally about to say, I'm, I'm assuming Ellen Page bullied you. She literally bullied me into it. Is she hitting you? What's going on?

She's a bully. That tiny Canadian is actually stronger than she looks. You guys have brought tiny detectives to the big screen. Not really. But you've collaborated on a film. Yeah, we have. And we want to make more tiny detective. You have to.

Yeah. We really want to do that. What's stopping you? Exactly. Nothing. We're going to make it happen for sure. It was the most fun. And then we decided, oh, that was so.

fun let's make like a really dark drama love story like nothing to do with tiny detectives um was it still fun to just hang out with one of your best friends i mean and also i just think she's amazing um amazingly talented and uh yeah it was surreal i've never i've never had first of all it was my it was my first producing gig oh cool congratulations thanks yeah so that was a definitely that was a learning experience um and then yeah to be on set every day with one of your best friends. I just have never had that before. So tell me a little bit about the producing side of things, because that can be any number of things, obviously. What, what aspects of it did you enjoy? Do you want to continue in that kind of realm? Does it give you a little more, you know?

It's kind of a selfish thing to do for me. Like I, I am doing it now. I'm sort of developing a few other things. It's really to get, it's really to do the films or series, whatever, that I want to act in. Sure. That aren't, that I, that aren't just appearing, you know, magically. Right. So that's why. that's why we did it we found a script that we liked and then we thought okay let's get some producing partners on board and find our director and so that's how that happened and then now it's kind of I learned a lot from that and and sort of just have some filmmakers that I really want to work with and yeah so

what's what's the plan what's the name of the project with Ellen and it's right now it's called Mercy it's post-production we sort of are just in the midst of it so hopefully I don't know maybe fall we'll have something more concrete. How much of your time right now between promoting this film, wedding planning is reserved for thinking about Harry Stiles and his new music? His new music and Dunkirk, right? Yes.

I'm hoping to do something with Harry. I've not met him. Have you met Harry by now? No. That's the most serious answer you've given the entire podcast. Oh, my God. I made, made. I didn't make, actually.

I asked Jamie Bell if he wanted to watch the One Direction documentary the other night because he had never seen it. So we watched it with, we actually watched it with Max Miguelah, who also loves One Direction. And Jamie Bell finally gave in, and now he gets it. Again, I think he's lying to you. This is love. All lies.

I think he hates chimps. Okay, I love the Harry Styles album. I love the song Kiwi. I cannot get enough of it. love the song woman. I mean, I could go on and on. Wait, let's go backtrack for a second. Do you call your soon-to-be husband, Jamie Bell?

You call him his both names? No, that was just like, I just thought I'd try that out. Okay. You know, because fiancé sounds a little, I don't know, I just kind of got sick of saying that. Right, right. So I just thought I'd throw in his full name. Well, speaking of full names, you should know when I was just catching up on seeing what you're up to,

et cetera. I looked at the Wikipedia entry, and I noticed that not only does it give the pronunciation of your last name. Great. as Mara, but it also cites happy, say I confused, as the proof of where, of her pronunciation. It's all things to you. But if you have my sister on here, she will say it's Mara. Yeah. So.

Speaking of which, have you seen a ghost story yet? No, I'm dying to see it. It's really good. I cannot wait. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And also, did we not tweet about pie? The pie. The pie.

So, okay, so just the backtrack for clarification, this movie that people are going to be talking about pretty soon because it's got. some amazing performances. It's from David Lowry, et cetera. There's a sequence in the film that maybe it's five minutes, but when I say it feels longer, that's not a negative. It's like a big, it's an unusual sequence for a film where your sister, the amazing Rooney Mara, not Mara, is basically eating an entire pecan pie or pecan pie, depending in your pronunciation, by herself. Was it pecan? I think so. It wasn't chocolate? What a bummer. But in an interview with her or David, it was revealed that she had never eaten pie. And I tweeted at you, and you corroborated this, that the Maras or Maras.

I said, what's pie, I think? Which is this true? Was that a joke or was that truth? I mean, I was kind of joking, but I wouldn't be surprised if my sister never ate pie. I don't really, I don't really get pie. I mean, I don't get pie. If you gave me like a piece of chocolate pie, I'd be. be into it, but I don't really want, like, an apple pie or a, nah, I'm not.

I'm with my sister on this. We can't be French, Kate. I'm with my sister on this one. As she stared at her juice press. As my green juice arrived, yeah. What other foods have you not been exposed? Give me a donut any day. Okay.

Any day. What else been? Don't want cake. Like, get it out of my face. No. Anyway, Harry Styles. Okay, yeah. Back to be seen in Dunkirk.

We're all hoping for the, I mean, I'm sure you're praying that he's amazing actor because then you'll get to hopefully work with him. No, it's not. There's no prayers. You know he's going to be amazing. Everybody know, like, it's just obvious. He's very charismatic. It's the new JT. It's that kind of thing where like he clearly has it. Chris Nolan wouldn't have hired him if he wasn't an amazing actor. That's fair. It's definitely oh God, I got excited. She's hitting the microphone. She's so excited about Harry's potential career. Potential. I like that. His potential career. Okay. Well, I'm still hope for him. I'm definitely going to sit down with him soon. What do you want me to convey to him on?

On behalf of the 1D fans and Kate Murrow fan. Oh, well, just thank you. I thank you for the music. Thank you for the music. Thank you. And, yeah, that's it. How many times have you seen the doc by now? Oh, only twice.

Okay, okay, okay, yeah. Seen anything else lately? I just saw Alien two nights ago. I actually went to see Wonder Woman, and it was sold out everywhere, which made me, honestly, it made me so happy. It's pretty great. Yeah. I mean, everyone's in agreement.

I can't wait to see it. It works. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did alien scare you? I was a little bit scared, yeah. It made me a little nauseous. Amy Siametz is so good in it, and that was my favorite sequence. I guess I can't really talk.

I don't want to give anything away, but you'll know if you've seen the movie. That was my favorite sequence, and she's also in my Ellen Page movie. Oh, nice. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a nice eclectic. I mean, a cast that includes the likes of Amy and, like, Danny McBride, and Catherine Watersstead and two fast benders. I love that, like, he kind of...

Who doesn't want two Fasbenders? I mean, he's the best. Yeah, he is the best. Have you worked with him yet? Negative. What the fuck? Right? You Fassbender, Stiles.

Jamie Bell. Just Jamie Bell. Just say Jamie. Jamie Bell wants to work with Fassbender and Harry Siles just as much as I do. You and your soon-to-be husband need to get on a first-name basis before you walk down the aisle. I'm really worried about you guys. Have you talked? Jamie?

Yeah. Oh, good. That's a step in the right direction. We talk all the time. What has he introduced you to? You've introduced him to one. D. Arsenal. Football. Soccer, whatever we call it around here. Is he as, are you as into? Oh, he's obsessed with Alan Partridge. Like, when I say obsessed, it's, if you start talking about it with him, he won't stop.

I confess, I know, I mean, this is Cougat, Steve Cougan, everybody loves him. I've never watched it. Would I enjoy? Is it good? He cries laughing at it. Like, he'll, he'll, sometimes I walk, I get home and he's there, you know, watching it. And like, he doesn't even notice that I enter the house because he's, he's, He's just so obsessed and, like, moved by it. How many episodes are there? He's just rewatching the same stuff? Oh, yes, yes. I think there might be a new season out now, though. Okay.

Does he love Alan Partridge more than you love housewives? He, yes, he does. Yeah. But I, yeah, I do love housewives. You're going to need two different television, different living spaces to make this work. Yeah. So, okay, what's next on the agenda?

You're going to, we're going to see Mercy at some point in whatever. I did a movie called Chapiquitic that should be coming out. I'm very interested. That's John Curran, right, directed that. And obviously, another true life story that's a little more familiar than even Megan's story. What can you say about that? What's the scope of that story? Is that specific incident?

Well, it's like, yeah, it definitely focuses on that day before the accident, obviously the accident, and then the aftermath of it and what happens and what Ted Kennedy decides to do and his decisions. Jason Clark plays Ted Kennedy. He's so good. He really transformed, I think, for, I'm excited. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm excited to see it. It was really hard. It was really hard work. I mean...

What aspect of it? Well, shooting the accident scene. We went to Mexico to shoot in, like, the underwater tank there to do all the car, you know, the cars upside down, and that whole sequence was just insane. I've never done anything like that. Crazy. And do you know what you're off to shoot next? No, I'm figuring it out.

Yeah, we'll see. It's always good catching up with you. You're always welcome here. We have grown in one respect. Last time I think you saw me in my weird, like, dingy office, we've got a nice little studio now. We're wearing headphones. You're all grown up, Josh.

Not really. Not really. She's going to be a married lady soon. I've got my own podcast studio. It's so exciting. Yes, it's very exciting. Congratulations on the film. Congratulations on your green juice and your hatred of pie and your love of chimps.

Thank you. That was a great description of me. I appreciate it. I think it sums you up. Yeah. Give my regards to Jamie Bell. I will. And I'll see you soon.

Okay. Thanks, Kate. That was Kate Mara. Once again, her new film is Megan Levy. Check it out. It's one of these ginormous summer blockbusters. The mummy. The mummy. What if they pronounce it, The Mumy?

They might. We'll find out tonight. Well, no, I've seen. I know, but at the premiere, if they personally call it. Right. So Sammy and I, in a few hours, are headed off to New York premiere. We're going to talk to Tom Cruise. We're going to talk to Tom Cruise. And Jake Johnson and Courtney B. Vance. I'm very, when I saw him pop up in the movie, I got very excited about that. So look forward to that content on the World Wide Web.

We'll, you know, I'll spread it on social media. I'm sure you'll be able to find that on on TV's Facebook and YouTube and all those fun places, sure to be a fun conversation with Tom Cruise. He's always a delightful interview. And as is Jake Johnson. This is his first appearance on Happy Second Fused. Jake is somebody. Probably not his last.

I don't think so. He's somebody that I've talked to a fair amount over the years. And he was actually very sweet, even like off mic when he came in, kind of reminiscing about the first times we talked to each other. And he was pretty early on his career. And he had some very nice thing to say. And it was a disgusting love fest. It's best that we didn't record.

it, frankly. But just know we love each other. The love dare not spoken of. So enjoy this conversation. It's a really good one. We talk a lot about the mummy, but also a lot about sort of where his priorities are in his career, a very frank discussion about let's be cops and a film that was like a big hit for him and wasn't necessarily a great experience for him and how that's kind of colored his career going forward. So always appreciate it when the guests feel comfortable to be frank about the business and the kind of priorities you have to make. make as an artist and and Jake is in a position where he can you know not jump at every opportunity he can be a little bit choosy and he's been very fortunate and I know he's going to make some cool

stuff in the future too alongside Joe Swanberg etc and Tom Cruise's new best friend the biggest star in the world there you go so without any further ado here's Mr. Jake Johnson remember to check out the mummy this Friday It's my great pleasure to welcome the man, the myth of legend, Mr. Jake Johnson. He's just been buttering me up. Thanks, buddy. Yeah, well, it's true, man. Congratulations on what's been a historic year.

You have not only The Mummy, but a Smurfs movie in the same year, which is the dream of any actor. Thank you. Well, you know, you work a lot of years. You got there, bud. Yeah, it was between me and Daniel DeLewis, and we each did a 15-minute monologue about what it meant to be. grumpy smurf. Poor Daniel Lee Lewis, he spent that year

in Smurf Village apprenticing. Look, he's a good actor, but I beat his ass out. And even after the performance, he looked at me and he goes, you deserve this. They made the right choice.

And then he rolled his cigarette and I go, get your cobbler ass out of here, my man, I got a job to do. I got to say three words in a smirth movie. I'm making my rounds through the Smurf cast. We had Joe Mangonello in. So if you could put a good word in with Mandy Patinkin, I really appreciate it.

I mean, they all know me so well. Yeah. They love my work. that. But congratulations on all your success, man. I've always been a fan. I've always enjoyed chatting with you.

And, you know, it's, it's, it's, you know, I'm sure like myself, you know, you grew up with Tom Cruise movies to be a part of this kind of spectacle. It's kind of a quintessential ride. So congratulations on the Mummy Man. Thanks, man.

It was, for me, the game of this one was, I get to do stunts with Tom Cruise. It'd be one thing if I was in like a period piece drama with him. I would definitely fight to do it and be excited. But Tom has taken that jump. And for, you know, I was bored in 78.

So Tom was at first, our big movie star. He did comedy. He did everything, but he was what it meant to be a movie star. Totally. And then somewhere along the lines, he transitioned into doing action, but it wasn't like Nick Cage action. It's funny that you mentioned that, because I've said this to other people, too, because we're about the same age.

And I remember it distinctly, it really was. I mean, you can count Top Gun a little bit in kind of like the action genre. But it was really mission. It was. And, like, he had not ever, he was never the guy that just ran around with a gun. Never. And he had a whole, like, ginormous career and then reinvented himself in a whole new way while still doing the magnolias and cool. Yeah, but those all of a sudden became the other thing.

Right. And his action, what he did with it and why I really wanted to do this with it was with him, not with it. He's more than a man. Yeah, I just refer to Tom as it. He really loves that in person. He thinks it's cool. Hey, it, you want to grab a cup of coffee? I'm going to remember that on the carpet today.

You, thing, get over here. Hey, it, let's ask questions, is that the whole thing that he does his own stunts. Right. Like, he's smart and he understands that there's got to be a PR slant to stuff. Sure. And that's what I always thought it was. I always thought, like, look, I know the way these movies work. If you have a $100 million budget, you're not going to let Tom Cruise die because you can't, because it's bad business.

Not morally, fiscally. You can't do it. But imagine if you're paying $500 million to launch mission or whatever. they paid. And he goes, guys, I'm going to jump off a plane and die. You go, unless it's the last day of shooting. And he's already recorded all his press. He's not doing it. Would you mind doing a little mocap? So we have you for the next few sequels? Just say, hi, Brazil. This is Tom Cruz. Now say, hi, Italy. So I always thought there was a bit of a slant to it. And then when I got this opportunity, I thought, as the human experience and experiment, which is what obviously

this is in our stupid business, I thought, man, I got to see. And the truth is, is the dude does it. And he gets it, we would be on a roof. So there's one story. There's a true story. It's now become a press story, but it's real. As opposed to the other bullshit we hear. But you know what I mean?

There's certain stories that you retell. Yes. But we were on a roof together, and the stunt was we were running, and then there was going to be an explosion behind us. We were going to roll onto a roof and do the whole scene. We were on a three-story roof that was. thin and there were no wires so if you fall to the left or you're right you die uh we had to keep up with each other because he wanted it in a two shot everything was really stressful and quiet

intense and he and i were locked in in a way that was really weird for me as a guy who's not intense with other men like right you know like especially actors i'm not like let's make eye contact to be a team but he would be like listen buddy focus in on me because we're in this and he goes we're going And then he's like, okay, you're writing? We're hitting each other's shoulders and getting pumped. And he goes, I'm going to go one, two, three. And on three, they're going to call action. I go, great.

And he goes, we have to be on the same page. And I go, great. And he goes, on two, I want you to hold your breath. And while you're doing the running, hold your breath until you land on the bottom roof. Okay. And I go, yeah, okay, seems weird. Okay, sure. Sure, Tom Cruise.

Yeah. Sure, right. Let's do that. And he goes, practice. And I go, I know how to hold my breath. He goes, practice. I'm 38 years old. I can hold my breath, sir.

And he goes, Jake, practice. So we go, one, and I go, two, and then he didn't think I was taking it seriously. So he stopped everybody. 90 member crew is watching me hold my breath and walk through the action. When I do the fake roll, he goes, now breathe. And I breathe, and I'm like, Ho-boy's taking this way too far. But I respect him. They go, all right, ready?

He looks at me. He goes, are you ready? I go, yeah. He goes, let's go. He goes, one, two, I go. He goes, three, I hear action. We start running. We're going.

I'm holding my breath. The bang, which I had been told was going to be from behind us, starts in front of us. So as I'm running, I see this fire coming towards us. But we have to do a jump because there's actually a gap. Yeah. There's no choice. You wouldn't fall through and die, but your leg would get caught. And it's just not a good look.

It would hurt. So I'm looking down and I do the jump. The fire comes at us and goes past us and through us. So I am sure I'm on fire And I'm sure something went wrong And I roll And as the scene we're on the ground And he loves to do everything as a wonder

I'm hitting my face To see if I'm melting And I'm waiting for someone to like scream in terror Because I've in fact died This isn't right Yes because my face is burnt out And I'm like Ha ha ha! And we're saying our lines

And then the thing cuts And he's laughing and he's like you're fine You're fine I'm like ha And he's like you're fine And then I go, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, you know, I'm happy to do all this. Someone's got to tell me if that's going to happen. And he goes, I did.

I go, no, you didn't. He goes, why do you think I told you to hold your breath? And I was like, oh, you're Tom Cruise, man. So you must have appreciated the fact that not only were you alive, but you had now a talk show story for the junket. There's like 17,000 of them. How quickly did you call your wife after that, be like, crazy shit went down today? You know, honestly, there was so much crazy shit. because he is such a, like we worked out together,

so we spent this summer in his gym in his pain cave. Is he called the pancake? He calls the gym the pain cave. I love how every, like, the A-List movie stars all have names for their chams. Hugh has one, Dwayne has one. Well, because they spend a lot of time in there.

Yeah, more time than probably anywhere else. Yeah, we call it 24-hour Fitness because that's that place you go to sometimes. That's part of their routine. I call it curves. They let me in. So what's your secret? What's the secret Tom Cruise gym routine that you can now share with the world?

It's really cross-fitty, basically. Really? Yeah. I mean, what's different is he's got these trainers that are on staff and they're all the time, and they are awesome. And they are constantly thinking about what activity he's going to have to do. Right. And then they build it specifically towards that. Meaning like if he's making a waffle, like he needs to be able to use his trauma.

His arms are strong. Yes, exactly. Hot syrup gets thrown at him. but so it's like that is the practical in that way and it's having a good staff do you think he likes you more or less than Simon Pegg at this point

probably Peg would be more that's just from duration he spent more time if I'm the you know it is what it is it's wife and new mistress I guess I'm the new one do you feel

is the sidekick moniker not worthy because you're not exactly I wouldn't exactly call you sidekick I agree here's how I see it I think I'm a very good second-tier player. But it's a role I really like. The way I've kind of viewed it and the way I kind of see it is if our business is made of, like if we're a baseball team.

Right. You need one, you know, Derek Jeter, if you will. And then you need those other guys who really help you win. Yeah, the day-to-day. The day-to-day. They can say, Jay, can you play third base? Right. We're going to need you in center feet.

And that's a role I really like And it's a really natural role And so if that's sidekick I'm happy to be a sidekick But whatever that is Because that's what I feel like I do a new girl It's what I feel like I do in most of the movies I do Even when I lead them on the Indies like Win It All

Sure I'll always ask for if I'm in a scene alone I'll be like could the brother character be here too Let's get La Truglia in here Why? Because I want to play off somebody By the way I watched Win It All just yesterday I really enjoyed it and honestly I love all your work with Joe, Joe Swanberg, who's become this, you've kind of created a great little atmosphere, a team together.

Curely, you guys enjoy playing off each other and working. Is that kind of like the optimal experience right now for you, too, three films in? You know, it's, I honestly, I do love them all for different reasons, but what I love about Joe is, like we're writing the new one right now, is there's no studio. Right. And there's no financier. And even these indie financiers, most of them are really cool. but they still give you approval and you all of a sudden go back to being like

a kid pitching somebody who the person you're pitching who is literally potentially a banker and you're going so this is why after 10 years in this business grinding with great people this is why I think this works and they'll go I like it and I'm like yeah the next thing you're going to say I'm not that

interested in actually unless you've produced movies and made movies you're really just a fan with a you know a checkbook Sure. And so what Joe introduced me to, despite the pleas of my lawyers and team, is he said, if you want control, let's write checks. Yeah. And so we finance these movies.

And our goal is to make them and then to make enough money that we can make another one. Right. And so without the mummies of the world or whatever, I wouldn't be able to do these. So I love them, but I wouldn't love them if it's all I had, if that makes sense. Well, and it does feel in a much different kind of way I relate in that. Like, I feel like the goal of many people in this kind of, in the business, as it were, like, the entertainment business, the people that want to create content, as it were, is to kind of, like, get to the level, whatever the level is where you're, the less people you're beholden to the better. And it's particularly for someone, you know, like yourself, who's, you know, most of your trade has been as an actor and now you've moved more into producing and writing. You know, I've talked to talk to so many actors where it's like, even if you get to, like, a really pretty high strata, you're still like.

Being told what to do? Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And like even if it's like kind of like making a little less money, you know, not working with the size of budget you want to work with, you know, personally myself, even in my weird little world, like I've always enjoyed that. Like I have like creative autonomy and I basically, you know, I, no one tells me what guests to bring on. I get to do my own silly shit, whatever I want to do. And, you know, if I worked at Access Hollywood, more people would see me. But like.

But it would be a different game. Yeah. So I think actors are the most respected, you know, lowest member of the crew. And what people don't realize is these big actors come on with their big attitudes. Everybody knows them. Everybody wants the photo with the big A-list star. Then they get on set and somebody bosses them around. Now, they boss them around in a very polite way.

Sure. But it's, please stand on your mark now. One more time, and it's a director, sometimes the first-time director, sometimes a not very talented person who's sitting there behind monitor the actor does a take where i'll be another actor i'll watch someone i'll go like that was great yeah and i'll think like oh that person like she's great and a director will go can you did give it to me again can you go a little faster faster what are you talking about she killed it right but that person is the boss and if that actress goes really you want faster than that she's now being difficult yeah and so you go like oh which

i understand you go that's just what the game is So if you just do that, I think you start feeling handcuffed and you start going, man, I do all this work to have somebody else tell me what to do. But if you can create a creative outlet for yourself, because I started up here in New York writing plays and putting on comedy shows and having a two-person show and a total control that obviously nobody saw or cared about for the six years we did it. But so that's where Swamberg has reentered my life where he just said, let's make him. And I have a new idea that I pitched him on and we both started laughing really hard.

and I go, would you want to see this movie? And he's like, hell yeah. And that's the development process. Greenlit. Yeah, but that's really, I go, how much are we going to spend on this? He goes, I'll let you know all the numbers, but we'll use what we made for win it all and we'll make this. And our thing is, is if he loves the movie and I love the movie, then we're okay. Yeah.

Because his audience and my audience are close, but they're a little different, and that truly is enough for us. And so how much does kind of like the sorted kind of business strategy of it all coming to play on the other side of the career, whether it's, you know, let's be cops, which is a big moment, was a big moment for you, obviously, because it did really well and, like, you know, put you out in front. But notice, I haven't took in it, I haven't been a lead in a studio since. Well, I was going to say. So, okay, well, let's, let's dissect that. Let's parse that out. So why is that? It wasn't, it wasn't a happy experience. Okay. It was, I love Damon. Damon. Damien's Jr. is, I mean, to this day, we text nearly every day. Riggle, Keegan, the cast of that, it just wasn't fun to shoot it. And I

couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe we weren't having a blast. Yeah. And then the final product, although funny, I know what it could have been. Sure. And so I'm like, and then you go out and you push it and the studio is really happy that they made a lot of money, but I'm like, man, I don't get those three months back. Yeah. And it's not a movie I'm rewatching because I think I know what we could have done. Well, yeah, you just named half a dozen of the smartest funny people on the planets. Such talent and we are all right there and we're not doing what we need to be doing and I'm looking at this All-Star group and everybody's just kind of like going through

like getting it done and I thought like why would I want to do that and you do that so that you can get another one so you can get a big deal and you get a five-picture deal but I'm like come on when's enough like I'm on television I get enough validation I'm making an okay living. That's right. I'm never going to be the richest guy and that's okay because I would make terrible decisions with a lot of money. If I had another zero back in my bank account, I would be dead in two months and I would have a ponytail and I'd wait 350 pounds. I was going to make a Brewster's Millions reference somewhere in there, but I feel like nobody in the audience would get it. It just wouldn't be good. So, okay, well, that's

really interesting. Like I said, so now coming off of that experience a couple years back and the show, which is coming to an end, so where does that leave you? It leaves you with Swanberg and leaves you with these kind of, you know, it sounds like you'll continue to create stuff. You have a production company? Correct me from wrong? We did. It was through 20th century, so we're letting that go with the end of New Girl. Got it. So is there, like, what's the, what's the, what's the strategy if there is one? To be a really bad interview right now, interviewer right now, there's no strategy. Yeah. What I really, what I actually feel about the strategy is I've had, in my opinion, a great run in this business. And for my,

My inner circle and my family, nobody can believe what happens, myself included. It was like, look, that was so weird that everybody let me into that party. I have no place there. Like, it's been a cool run. And if, you know, The Mummy, for example, Alex Kurtzman called me up and said he'd written the part for me. So I was like, okay, it wasn't like I was going after it. I haven't auditioned for a part in a while, and I don't see myself going after it. You're not going to get in spandex for a Marvel audition?

No, I don't, I don't care. Yeah, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. Now, if somebody calls and says, we want you in this and here's why. Like, Alex Hurtsman called and he said, we want you in this movie. And I said, when I heard what I had to do, I go, I think you've got the wrong guy. Are you looking at my IMDB right now? I was like, I think you mean Jack Johnson.

He is such a good singer, and he's a cool Hawaiian. And an interesting choice. Yeah, and you put him next to Tom Cruise. I'm at the theater. You put, actually, this is sad for me, but you put Jack Johnson in the money to do it in our part. You just made a little bit of money there, universal. There's certainly a lot of think pieces about that one. And then he could do the soundtrack too.

I can't do the soundtrack. But he said, I want you and Tom. He goes, I think you guys could create a very real friendship. And he goes, I really think you guys will like each other. And I think that'll show. And I thought, that's pretty cool. I'll do that. But in terms of strategy, I wouldn't have gone out for.

from them. If they said, read it and read as veil, I would have said, like, I'm sure there's somebody who's going to fight harder for it. But then once I get a job, it goes back to being that utility player. Now I'm going to work my, as hard as I can, I'm going to work my ass off. But one of the reasons I don't like taking jobs, like, after Let's Be Cops, is if I say yes, I'm going to try my hardest from the second I say yes through the end because I like to win. I like being on a team. I like all of us trying together. If there's something not right with the script, I want to fight to make it better. And if you're fighting and you're pushing

and you realize that the people at the top or at the studio don't really care, they just have a formula. Yeah, they're fine with the B-minus that'll make $80 million. You think like, well, what am I doing with my life? Like, I understand if I make a movie, like, win it all. There's going to be some people who don't like it,

they're going to some people who think, even though it was shot on film, they think it looks bad, where you're like, okay. They're going to think because it's not so plot-driven, they're going to think it's boring. Right. That's okay. We've seen in our country, we're a very divided nation.

We all don't like the same stuff. I haven't noticed. Yeah, it's fine with me. Sure. As long as the people who like what I do like it and I like what I do. And so I'm in that weird spot where I'm like, I don't know what's next. This is HappySack Confused. We'll be right back after this.

Okay, so let's go back to Little Jake. Yeah. Little Jake. Tell me about Little Jake. Little Jake. And not your penis. I don't care about your penis. Well, he would for sure, unfortunately, be little Jake.

So you grew up in the suburbs of Chicago? I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago. So what were you into? What was your defining characteristics as a 10, 12, 14-year-old? Jokes. Yeah? Yeah. I, single mom, brother, sister, and I, my brother and I had our little comedy routine.

He was the older brother, the straight guy, and then I would come in for the lap. But he was like the, he just kept, like, bits going. But my brother and I did bits for, there was one period of time where we were these characters and our family to entertain everybody for so long that my mother got worried and said, like, I want you guys to have a talk as brothers and ask each other how you're doing. And we were about 18 at the time. Wow. So were their character names? I was Herbert. He was Willis.

When's the last time you brought out Herbert and Willis? Well, we still do bits all the time, but our bits have evolved. We do this new one now where we are masters of impressions. And so, because we're both really bad at impressions. So we only do it when we're alone, where we'll be like bored and I'll be like, you're the best in the world, mister. And he'll go, so are you. And I'll go, let me see Barack Obama talking to Bill Cosby.

And then the game is that you have to fully commit and try your hardest. So even if the other guy's laughing, you have to believe you're good at it. Sure. And we'll play that game for a long time. But so it was all jokes. It was all bits. I never took anything seriously. School was never serious.

I dropped out of high school when I was 15. There was no consequences. And then I went back to school a year younger. I mean, I was younger than everybody else who I'd grown up with. It took me five years to get through high school. I'm that guy. So how did you end up dropping out? Like, did mom just sort of like let it go?

Was it? Well, I was 15 years old I was getting really bad grades I always got really bad grades. One night I went to my mom and I said, I can't go to school tomorrow because there's a in-school essay or a test about a book and I haven't read it.

And so she said, okay, so you can't go to school because that'll lead you to an F and now you're failing. And I go, yeah. And she goes, well, are you going to read the book tonight? And I go, no. She goes, I'm going to read it tomorrow? And I go, no. And she goes, when are you going to read it?

And I go, I'm never going to read it. And to this day, I can't even remember what the book is. That's how little interest I was. And you can't even read. And I can't even read. That's why I improvised so much. Long story short, I stayed home the next day, the next day. And then by the third day, I kind of realized I go, I don't think I'm going back.

Yeah. And I just didn't. Now, were you getting into trouble? Were you getting into mixing the wrong crowd? Yes, but we're talking suburban trouble. Yeah. So, you know, if I was in a bad neighborhood, and it's why. I feel very privileged and why I feel really sad when some kid from the wrong neighborhood gets

busted at 14 and can't get out of it. Because if I was in that neighborhood, I wouldn't have gotten a second chance. But the neighborhood I was in, we were doing really stupid stuff and stuff I should have been more punished for, but it was a really, like, nice suburb and, you know, he's going to grow out of this. And so I was given a lot of chances somebody else wouldn't have. So when would you say you got your act together? Is there a turning point?

I went back to high school. and I was really embarrassed. All my friends were a year older, and people started asking if I was going to finish this year, but not to be mean. They would just be like, do you think you'll get through? We've got a bet going. And I started realizing, like, whoa, I guess I am that guy

who, like, might not make it through high school. And my uncle lived with us at the time, who was going through some legal problems. And he wanted me to do neon signs with him, which is what he used to do. So he would go door to door, sell a sign, and he and I would hang it. And so I was in the city working for him.

And he told me every day, this is it. When you drop out of high school, you don't go back. This is it. This is what it leads to. You either work for me or soon you'll have a company like this. But this is your life. And I really didn't want it. So when I went back, I had to find something, but nothing was clicking.

And then I, you know, wrote some short story and a teacher liked it. And then my buddy Bill Bungeroth, who's now the director of Second City. Oh, wow. in Chicago. I happened to be growing up with him, and he's just like a born director. And he put me in a comedy show. And I was afraid to audition.

And so my Uncle Timmy, who was an alcoholic, used to call me on my birthday every year and tell me the same joke. And he said, for your audition, just do your Uncle Timmy. So he, like, cheated me in. And then when I did that show, I got tons of credit at my high school.

And then all, like, the teachers who hated me, liked me. And I was like, ooh. This feels better than the whole sign thing. I like this. And so from about 17, 16, 17, I said, I want to do this. And you came to New York for school. Yeah, I went.

So then I went to University of Iowa. Yeah. Did two years there. And then, because I couldn't get into New York University or anywhere else out of high school. And then I wrote a play and got into NYU, came out here from the writing, started acting, did a two-man show with a guy named Oliver Raleigh. He's a musician out in Brooklyn. And we did Upper East Citizens Brigade and Surf Reality and all those places. This is in the lower east side, pink pony, and did that for a while that I moved out to L.A. and started booking commercials.

When was the, you were an intern over at SNL at some point, right? I was, yeah, when I was about 20. What was that experience like? It was disappointing because I always wanted to be on the show. And I always thought that I would just get plucked and they would be like, you are John Volusci meets Chris Farley with some Bill Murray and him. Wait, who's that guy getting the coffee? Who's that tubby guy who's probably stoned? and I really believed that would happen

and it just I worked in Lauren Michael's office and I would be in there and he would be in there and nothing was clicking and Jimmy Fallon had just became the weekend update guy and he's not much older so I'm like man and I had that maybe I was 22 at the time

and I had that thing of I don't think this is going to happen and it was this I mean it was what it was so the film debut was, is that the David Mammett film? Was that the first film you ever appeared in? Red Belt or no? Well, no, maybe Paperhart. Oh, yeah?

Yeah, I think Paper Art was the one that changed everything for me. So how did that one even come up about? I had known Nick Jasanovic, the director of it, through Derek Waters, and I had met Derek Waters through a guy, Eric Edelstein, who's in Green Room, great actor. But he and I lived in the same building in Hollywood, and Derek and he were buddies.

So I started meeting this group And then Derek was doing videos for UCB When UCB first opened And Nick was directing him And Nick and I buddied up And then he said to me one day I'm doing this super weird thing With Charlene Ye and Mike Sarah

And I need someone to play me And I think you could do it Because nobody knows you And when we go on the road People go believe you actually are Nick Jasanovic And I'll pretend to be the DP And we could just go make this movie Amazing

And I was like, yeah So, yeah, I don't have anything else going. Let me do that. I was like, sure. Have you seen Michael in Twin Peaks? I did, actually. That's great. Lollie Brando?

Yeah. I'm sorry, I'm just, that's top of mind because I've been obsessing about Twin Peaks. I love, oh, my God, Kyle McLaughlin is Dougie. Yeah. It's amazing. It's amazing. Sorry, total tangent. So it seems like, you know, if we're charting turning points, that's obviously one.

Getting together with Max Winkler is another one? Max Winkler was a big. one and you know we did ceremony together right and max was a really helpful director for me because i've always liked to improvise and take chances but i would take it i would do a take and then i'd look over at monitor for approval and he finally walked over to me and said if you're going to be this bold as a performer you cannot keep looking for approval it's cutting into what you're doing and it is so annoying and i was like well yeah i guess that's right so you're literally like just waiting for yeah that's good that's good like i would so

So my character in that is an alcoholic, and Max would say, like, for the wedding speech, let's go, improvise, do something. And I would do a take. And then when they'd tell cut, I would just look at him for direction. And he kind of was like, if you're going to go out and do it, then do it. I'll tell you if it's wrong. And it was a really fraying thing where I thought like, oh, yeah, you just go on set and do your job. Yeah. You don't need nine people to, like, remind you to do your job.

Assume consent. Yes, that's right. Until they tell you you're wrong, go for it. Right. Be aggressive. And then they were writing Adventures Handbook at Max's with Akiva. Yeah, yeah. That's one of those projects that was around for years.

For years. And Max and Jonah were all working on it at Winkler's, at actually Henry Winkler's house in Brentwood. And Liz Merriweather got brought in to do a punch up. And Max was editing ceremony upstairs and showed her a cut of it. And she liked what I was doing. That's no strings attached. And brought me to no strings attached. Which leads to new girl.

It's a New Girl. When New Girl was obviously the one that has changed my life. So, and let me get the sequencing down. Actually, I literally just had Colin, Chavaro, and yesterday. Oh, no way. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, for his movie. I just saw him in London three days ago.

He mentioned that, too. Yeah, exactly. Love Colin. Colin's the best, yeah. He's making a Star Wars movie. How did that happen? I mean, we said that about Jurassic, too, but I mean, come on. So in terms of safety not guaranteed,

where was that in terms of New Girl? I'm trying to remember. So I shot, so the way that happened. Okay, I do remember. So that's right when things were starting to happen for me. No Strings came out and, you know, it wasn't like a huge movie for me. But it was like, I mean, a movie with Ashton Coucher and Natalie Portman and I had a love interest, which was really important as an actor I found out later that before you... To show that you have the capacity to love and hold the screen with a pretty lady?

Yes, which honestly, if it wasn't for Liz Merriweather, there's no way I would have this career. She's the only person who was like, I think Jake's characters should like, they're seen in that. movie where I opened the door for Greta Gerla. Who's great, by the way. I haven't thought of Greta in a while. Loved working with her. You opened the door for her and I thought like, wait, what do you want me to do? And it was like, just be romantic, stupid.

Do the movie thing. And you think like, oh yeah, if that didn't happen, there's no way Fox would say, well, maybe there could be a Nick Jess thing. And you're like, oh, those little moves that I didn't have a strategy or was thinking about. Sure. But so I did the pilot for New Girl with Liz. Liz, and then while we were waiting to hear, I went off in shot safety, not guaranteed. And my wife and I were in Seattle when we found out New Girl got picked up.

Wow. Yeah. So are you starting to kind of like take a look back, take stock of the whole New Girl experience? I mean, it's crazy. I mean, this doesn't, you know, as you well know, like network sitcoms don't, like, doesn't they don't last that long anymore. It's just a different environment. I am.

You know, when you do a TV show for that long, you become a family. And, you know, families fight and there's stuff and you're mad at each other and you like each other more. you blah blah blah and something happened for me at the end of last year when i started hearing for real it was going away and i realized like how it's done yeah and i realized how much i really love zoe and max and lemorn and i'm like oh these are great people and we have had so much fun working together and then our guests are like the damo wings juniors come like like we have it's really been a hard job because we do such long hours and we're all lunatics sure

But it's been really fun. And I really, I personally wrote to Dana Walden and Gary Newman asking for more, which I never thought I would. But I'm like, I don't want it to go away yet. Yeah. Let's give us a proper end. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was also like, start feeling like definitely old and sentimental. I'm like, I don't want Nick Miller to go away.

I like him. I'll never play this guy again. Like, I don't think our show will be like a Netflix revival show. Never know. You never know. You never know. But I'm like, I just got, I got sad that the. characters, the way they interact, the language between Nick and Schmidt, the language between

Nick and Jess when they're fighting into romance, it's in eight episodes, it is over. And if we relive it in five years, it'll just be different. We'll pretend it's the same and the audience will go, yeah, I liked it, but it's going to be different. But right now it is still alive. And so I'm happy that, you know, I get to step into it one last time. What was, we were talking when you came in before we started taping about the infamously amazing experience of having Prince on the show, which is bizarre and amazing. Was that like a

validation or just like a fever trip? Just to like, A, find out he was a fan B, find out he was a fan of your character, see, get him on set and play a scene. Well, it's a funny thing about New Girl and Prince, I think, helped us on the entertainment a lot in that New Girl came out and it was really cool and everybody liked it

and all the cool kids liked it. And then all the cool kids stopped like it. Where'd the cool kid? They went on to the next thing. Yeah, but they all just went on to the next thing. It was like, we were a cool show and we were like an award show. I think like Zoe won some award. Max was nominated for an Emmy. We were all kind of like, what is

happening? Our little weird show is cool and then we blinked our eyes and everybody's like, it's not cool anymore. Now we're just that tween show. But we were the same show for us. And so Prince came in the middle of that third season when we had already lost the like

the hipsters. And him coming back, I think for all of us, we were all like... See, we're still cool. But also like, it was, at least for me, it was like, well, who cares? At the end of the day, like, when I'm 50, like, Prince... No, you had that experience.

Prince liked it. And Prince wanted, the way he approached the show was he said he would do the show if he could be part of Nick and Jess getting back together. And he goes, he wanted to be part of them falling in love. And when he came, he wanted to know me as Nick. He wanted to know her as Jess. And he loved sitting on that bench in between us. because he liked that relationship.

So when the dust settles on this show for me and I look back, you know, I've loved Prince forever. Bill Bungroth going back to that he introduced me to Purple Rain and Prince. We would drive up to Minneapolis to like experience where Prince was from. So the fact that he liked that will always kind of warm my heart a little bit. What's a, I mean, beyond, I mean, you know, you've got a family, you've got, you know, seven or eight more episodes of New Girl to do. Like, what's your life about right now?

Like, what do you spend your time on in any? downtime? Like, is baseball still a passion? It is, but it's less so. Sports have kind of faded in a way that's getting disappointed because they used to mean so much to me. I'm actually going through that weird, probably midlife crisis or whatever where I'm like, I used to be able to sit down and watch a whole game. And it would fill me in a way where I cared about everything. Now I'm watching like 22-year-olds and I'll be like, a young man's doing good for himself. This is the first year and I think since high school that I'm not doing fantasy baseball and I'm just not as engaged and it's it's it's it's it's it's a little sad it's but

honestly it's a little bit like oh I know this is faded it's kind of like when like I'm a Yankee fan I grew up in New York it's like when Jeter left like Jeter wasn't even my generation he was Don Mattingly was like my generation but like when jeter left who was kind of a connection to that one it's like I'm even like one removed I'm too removed now from like my childhood that's exactly so that's exactly what it is for me it's I like it was when the world see when the Cubs won the World Series, it ended the Sean Dunstan's and the Mark Graces and the, all those

got, like, all those eras of watching, Tuffy Roads hitting three home runs on opening day, Harry Carey, Steve Stone, it's now over. And this is now the beginning of like, the new one. And I'm like, I just don't know, I don't have another thing in.

So one thing, you know, I've been filling my time. I'm writing this new movie with Swamberg that I'm really excited about. And also, I just bought a new house. and we're in the process of moving but my wife asked me because I used to do construction growing up and that's something that's just always been in my family

she said don't obsess on some new project right now because like you've got press and then you're going back to New Girl she goes just don't hire a contractor for the new house just you do that sure so I'd been waking up having coffee going to the house and loving it

and having that weird thing of like you know actors will say if they ask like if you weren't an actor what would you do in the end? answer's always like, I got nothing, man. I have no skills. I've got nothing. I would be an actor or literally a dead person.

It's sad that I think I've said that. But like, I'm doing this and I go, oh, I could have been a contractor and loved it. You're constantly negotiating with people. You're watching improvements on a house. Right. When somebody can't do something, you step up and I'm like, oh, yeah, that's weird. There's another life I like. Do you consume much in the way of entertainment or do you feel like baseball?

It's kind of like, this is not my, this is not what I signed up for. Nothing. Nothing. You're an empty, dark soul. I've been listening to a lot of the band lately. You're in that place. I'm in that place. I watched Get Out, and I thought it was a nearly perfect movie.

And I loved it. I loved the direction, the performance, the story. But I was just on a plane here, and I will not name any of the projects. I couldn't get through one movie. And I felt like that old grump who kept going, like, I would start. I'd be like, okay. And I was like, ah! You weren't going to other people's screens

I was. I was walking up and down the aisle and they were like, I think there's that guy from that show and I'd be like, turn it off! Turn his junk off! But I'm looking to be inspired. Okay. What do you get recognized for when you're walking down the street now? I'm curious for like a seven-minute performance

in Jurassic World. Nothing. That doesn't do it? Never. Really? Never. It surprises you a little bit. There's different types,

and I'll know as they approach what they like. It's either New Girl, which is the most. It's safety not guaranteed. Nice. Which is a kind of a techie, hipster-ish type. Sure. If it's a straight-up hipster dude, no disrespect. Our lovely Michael.

Well, I mean, I go back at you. But I'll get drinking buddies there. Yep. So I'll get a lot from, it'll be always drinking buddies there, and those are the three. Amazing. Do you get mistaken for anybody? I get David Krumholtz. I get occasionally.

Oscar Isaac. I might be bragging and faking there. And I get Brad Pitt. No, I get, I really get Crumholtz, and when I have a beard, I actually get Jason Manzukas. And just at the airport the other day, somebody, the

TSA guy recognized me, and he goes, are you that guy? And I go, I am. He goes, I love you out of the league. And I was like, I'm not that guy. Have you ever done a, are you a podcast veteran? You've done his podcast? How did this get made? No.

You should check it out. You would enjoy it. It's probably talking about a lot of the films on the plane that you didn't want to watch. Oh, nice. Now I'm a big fan of Manzor. It's been really good to catch up with you, man. I always enjoy talking to you throughout the growth of your career and to see you, you know, between the TV show, between this kind of bucket list weird moment with Tom Cruise and The Mummy, and the fact that you've carved out this really cool niche collaborating with Joe Swamberg on great films.

People should check it out, by the way, when it all is still on Netflix. Thanks, man. I assume the others probably are as well. I think so. In this new world, I really don't know where the other ones are. It's all there. It's always good to catch up, man, and I'll see you on the next one. Yeah, man, thank you. Thanks, brother.

And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. This episode of Happy, Sad, Confused, was produced by Michael Katano, Mukta Mohan, and Kasha Mahalovich for the MTV Podcast Network, with additional engineering by Little Everywhere. You can subscribe to this and all of our other shows on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, Spotify, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences, decades or even hundreds of years after they happened.

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