Happy Sad Confused - Lily Collins, Vol. II

Episode Date: March 23, 2022

Lily Collins is back and there's a lot to catch up on! A new dog, a new husband, "Emily in Paris", and a new thriller on Netflix, "Windfall", Josh and Lily talk about it all! Don't forget to check out the Happy Sad Confused patreon here! We've got exclusive episodes of GAME NIGHT, video versions of the podcast, and more! For all of your media headlines remember to subscribe to The Wakeup newsletter here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Today on Happy Sad Confused, Lily Collins returns to talk Windfall and Emily in Paris. Hey guys, I'm Josh Harrow. It's welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. And yes, we have a returning guest.

It's been four, maybe five years. It's crazy. Time flies since Lily Collins has been on the podcast. I always love catching up with her. I've known and chatted with Lily at literally every juncture of her career right from the beginning. And it's remarkable. It's always great to see, you know, these actors progress in their careers and to track them through their life and professional changes. Lily has gotten married in the last year.

And she is now collaborating with her husband, Charlie McDowell, a great filmmaker on the new film, Windfall. She stars in it alongside Jesse Plemons and Jason C. It is on Netflix right now. It is a bit of a Hitchcockian thriller, twisty and tourney, essentially a three-hander, those three actors, and makes some, you know, has some surprising twist to it. And it's fun. It's a good one. Basically, she plays half of a couple with Jesse Plemons.

I believe it takes place in Ohio, something like that. And a intruder, played by Jason Segal, enters the picture. and shenanigans ensue, but not the cunt, not fun shenanigans, dark, twisty, scary shenanigans. Well worth your time, though. Check out windfall. It's on Netflix right now. Also on Netflix is, of course, Emily and Paris, two seasons worth on Netflix. I think it's been seen by like a hundred gazillion people by now. Two more seasons are on the way. So, of course, I caught up with Lily about that. And just all sorts of stuff that's going on in her career.

She's now producing a lot more. has since worked with no less than David Fincher in Mank since we last chatted. So this was a nice excuse for a catch-up and she is just so easy to talk to always. And like I said, happy for her success. She's a good egg. Lily Collins, windfall, check it out. Other things to mention a lot going on as always. Let's see. Chatted with Amy Schumer. She's got a really cool new show called Life and Beth on Hulu. That conversation is on MTV News's YouTube page. Check that out. It was really good to reconnect with Amy after a long while. She's, of course, hosting the Oscars this weekend, co-hosting the Oscars, I should say, rooting for her and rooting for a great show.

We'll see what happens. Is it going to be Coda guys? It could be Coda. I'd kind of be down with that. I loved Cota. Howard the Dogg still has a good shot. We, of course, love our Benedict and our Jesse Plymins and our Kirsten Dunst and our Cody Smith McPhee. So, you know, an embarrassment of riches at the Oscars. I'm pretty much a fan of every film nominated for Best Picture. So can't really go wrong, but I don't know. I think I might be rooting for CODA. It made me happy ever since I saw it like, I don't know, 14 months ago. So really cool to see that one emerge as potentially the frontrunner. Let's see what else. Patreon, Patreon, Patreon, so much going on over there. We just posted a new piece of content from the Outlander Red

Carpet. That was a lot of fun. That's patreon.com slash happy, say I'm confused. As always, You can view video versions of the podcast when possible, and usually it is. For instance, this conversation with Lily is available right now on the Patreon page. Tons of Outlander content, tons of game nights. Again, if you subscribe at the $10 level on the Patreon, you get every single game night we've done, which is probably, I don't know, maybe 20 episodes by now. The most recent ones were some of the Outlander cast and some of the cast of the after party. So, yeah, check it out.

stuff over there. What other stuff should I mention? Oh, well, we do have, I'll tease this, I can't say who yet, but we have at least one 92Y event coming up. We're going to announce it very, very soon. I'll be back to the 92Y doing a live version of Happy Say I Confused. We've done two so far with Sam Hewin, with Samuel L. Jackson, and at least one more coming up in the next month, maybe, maybe more. We're working on a few things. So exciting stuff there. um those are all the teases that's all the promos and plugs let's get right to the main event remember to review rate and subscribe to happy say i confused but in the meantime enjoy me and the star of the new film windfall on netflix right now it's lily collins it has been

far too long since lily collins has been on the podcast buddy it's so good to see you i understand you're doing all right you're just telling me about your many ailments We're now old enough that we just, that's the first thing we start with, ailments. It's 100% true. It's like, I don't think I've seen you since I am now in my 30s. And yeah, we were saying during the pandemic, you got so used to being comfortably dressed,

whether that be flat shoes or sweatpants. And so when I started doing photo shoots again, wearing heels was so foreign to me and my feet were like, yeah, right, you're kidding me. And like, my arch dropped. I then had to wear insult. had to wear insoles and have every single pair of shoes for Emily and Paris have their own insol because I couldn't wear them without it being super painful. And I'm running around the

streets of Paris supposedly looking easy. Meanwhile, I'm like on fire. This is acting. This is why she earns the big bucks. She makes it look like she's not dying out there for your entertainment folks. Oh, thank God. Oh man, thank God we didn't have heels and windfall. It's all I got to say. like this is not happening we have a lot to catch up on so windfall is the new film we're going to dive into that one i do feel like i've been remiss because you know i feel like i don't know if you're familiar with the seven up series i feel like that's what i've been doing with lily collins my entire life every every couple years i'm the unofficial biographer and i feel like i'm so true actually i do feel like every time starting with all the way back when it was like

every time it would be this, you'd add on. It's good. Is it the meteoric rise? No, it's great. No, it's lovely. You're in New York, as I understand. You're in my hometown, right? Yes, yes.

Has New York treating you? What are your New York habits? Oh, the weather is gorgeous. It is, right? Charlie knows New York better than I do. He spent a lot of time here, so he'll, he takes me all around, like, his favorite spots or where he used to live and just, We're, we, I love downtown West Village, East Village.

Just, it's so, it's so fun down here. And we just kind of love wandering. That was the thing I actually most, one of the things I missed most during, you know, quarantine was the ability to get lost and have time just happen. And you're not staring at your phone or your watch going, okay, so how long am I going for what am I doing what's my closest hand sanitizer you know and it's just the idea that you can get lost in a city and just wander and go into a store and that is just so fun and it's like so adventurous so we've been having really good meals seeing a couple people in town that we now we're

here we did a screening at the metrograph which is the most insanely gorgeous theater it's a cool theater right um it's so cool we did a screening for for the movie and just here doing press for a couple days. Are you willing to admit as a, as a foodie, that New York might have a little bit of advantage in some areas over, over L.A. or is, are your L.A. roots just too strong that you can't go there. You know, I will say that the sushi in L.A. is amazing. No, you're right. That's great sushi. Yeah. You know, like hands down, I feel. But there, but there's so many, we were in Korea town last night for dinner at this amazing spot. Yeah, there's just all sorts of food here on one city block, which I love. Yes. And you got some special.

We walk everywhere in L.A. you're driving, right? So it's like a destination spot place, whereas here you can just wander into a random spot that you never knew existed. And that's like the beauty of being able to go by foot, which I miss. Whenever I, and I've only been to L.A., it's so crazy to say, I've only been there once in the last two years, which is bizarre to me. But like, whenever I go out there, I'm that crazy New Yorker that never got his driver's license.

So I will like, if I can, I'll go by. foot and I look like a crazy man on the street. People look at me like, what is a fucking problem? When they're like, what's wrong with your car, sir, do you not have a bike? And you're like, I am choosing to do exercise for myself. Okay. I mean, we walk all day and I look at my step count and I'm like, oh my God, it's not even three o'clock and I'm there.

Whereas in LA, you like go to the gym, but you don't have your phone on you. You're like, I swear I stepped certain amount and then you get your car and go somewhere and you're like, I feel like I've been so lazy today. today. What about, okay, so the other aspect of New York I wanted to bring up in relation to windfall is theater because we're going to get into the theatricality of the film. But like, have you ever, to my mind, I don't think you've done stage work. Is that a temptation? Are you interested? I would love to. I did it when I was growing up, you know, like as a kid, I did musicals and stage plays and stuff. And I just loved it. I love the live audience element of it.

I love the fact that it's alive every single night that you're playing with your peers. sparring in the moment. Like, it's just living and breathing. And I've yet to do it. And I've always wanted to venture into whether it be here on Broadway or the West End in England. Like, but I've, I, that is something I'm kind of pursuing, but also waiting to see what happens. Also, like, someone cast me. There's that, there's that. I'm not going to lie. No, there's also the aspect of like, like, yeah, I'm here of free. It would be so fun.

David Fincher will write her a letter of recommendation. What do you need folks? Come on. Yeah, exactly. Somebody, somebody helped me out here. No, it would be so fun. But yeah, it's definitely intimate and a fun experience. Well, you can offer up when fall as a little bit of an example, because there's a lot of theatricality of this one.

This is a great flick from you. Jesse Plymonds, who I just adore. He's been on the podcast. I'm like, he's a capable of giving a bad performance. It's great to see Jason flex different kinds of muscles in recent years. He continues in this. I know he's worked with Charlie before, as I recall, right? Yes.

So they actually, all three of them did the discovery together. I forgot Jesse was in it too. That's right. Jesse is in it. He plays Jason's brother. And so I think Charlie's known Jason, rather, for like 18 years. He cast him in his AFI film, his film school film, short. And then Jesse and Charlie met during, I think, the discovery.

And then, you know, Charlie worked with Kirsten. And so they kind of were a troop. They knew they had like such a rapport. They have worked the same way before. Whereas I was new to the group in that the idea of being able to collaborate so much together and have that kind of language between. them was new for me i'm i'm more used to making the best of what's given to you and and kind of seeing what's there and then molding from there whereas this was very much the situation where

it's like here's an incredible script here's you know the the bones and the structure of the story but do you have anything to add who do you think she is what do you want to say how do you feel this would go oh if jesse's going to say this how would wife react and so it's so interesting to shift and go oh this is more like a stage play these are this is an opportunity to make it my own and take ownership in a way that i haven't before yep um which is really freeing well this is a clearly a unique experience for many in many respects you alluded to a lot of them this is a film that uh story i imagine originated with your now husband charlie uh charlie mcdowl who also directed it um and you guys are all producers on it sounds like you're all like you know

buddies to different degrees over the years. You're the relative newbie in the group, but talk to me a little bit about, so like, so had Charlie been like noodling with this prior to the pandemic, or was this a fresh idea that he came up with in the middle of it all? This is about two months in for the pandemic. And Jason, Charlie, Andrew Kevin Walker,

who wrote it, as well as Justin later, Charlie's writing partner who wrote it with Andy. The four of them got on Zoom, and they were like doing a check-in, of like hey dudes how are you you know what's you know just like a mental health check in essentially which is like what we were all doing and then they were talking about wanting to be creative during the pandemic and how do we do that charlie he like does so well as single locations and makes it very much a character in of itself like his first film and and so they were talking about this idea

and jason's the one that came up with the concept and they all started talking and then just like progressively doing more and more zooms i would be in the peripheral like in the kitchen or in the living room like I'd hear all these conversations and then Charlie would talk to me afterwards and then there was a draft and there was a first draft or rather there was an outline and then a draft and so I was never involved other than just hearing it and just supportive and curious and then the more time went on you know Jason was obviously always going to be in the movie and then Jesse came on board and then there was wife and I talked to the guys you know we really it wasn't a shoe in it wasn't a given it wasn't written for me it was very much a process which is so funny people don't believe i'm like no it was a process like this was not this was not a given uh and that so it would it would it would have been okay if charlie at some point was like hey i the script really is coming together i think we're going to go out of jennifer lawrence tomorrow what do you think oh there were multiple conversations where it was like

talking about actors like other actresses oh really we were talking about other people oh yeah it wasn't it was not with me i mean by any means we we were talking about all types of actors and actually you know like and giving opinions and thoughts and um and then it just got whittled down and down and we were talking about the character and then it was well with you and i'm like oh i i'd love to but it was it was just it had to it was a it was a question it wasn't it wasn't a given We haven't even given much of the premise, but I mean, almost the less you know, the better. You're going to know within five minutes sort of like the premise of the film. Basically, it is mostly a three-hander between the three actors we've discussed.

This is a couple you and Jesse play that maybe is not in the idyllic bliss of you and Charlie experiencing. And Jason Siegel enters the picture as an intruder. And yeah, there's some unexpected twists and turns. as you mentioned, there are no names. Is that freeing in a way? Is like, are you at a certain point, like, can't we just call her Jane? Like, can't we just for the sake of it? Or is that add something?

Honestly, I feel like my name ended up being babe, babe, babe. Totally. That's an indicator. That's the biggest indicator in the relationship, by the way, right? It's literally, I mean. But yeah, so there were, I guess, kind of a couple reasons why there weren't names. But the main one in particular is just the idea that there's something so personal about a name. So if an audience can associate and attribute a name and then a memory or a quality to someone else they knew with that name,

or there's already kind of a bias and a understanding of a person based on a name. And we didn't want that to be the case right off the bat because every one of these characters is flawed. Every one of them makes a choice that gets them to where they end up. And to attribute a name to them felt like a slight disservice to the equality of, giving the opportunity for audience members to relate to one or more of the characters. And the longer they go on in this confined space, you know, Jason is very much a nobody to the two of them. CEO is playing into the role of what a CEO, he's almost just, he is just CEO and wife is the wife to nobody. So everyone's almost playing the character that they assume each other are.

them. And so it just became, again, very much kind of like a play in that you would have on the billing kind of, this is who plays CEO, this is who plays wife, this is play. And so it did just feel like the best way to kind of keep it an even playing field for people to relate to one another. Is it freeing after doing a show that, that I know you love the costumes and the fashion, but like after doing six costume changes a day, I would imagine for Emily and Paris to be basically the same wardrobe for a few weeks oh yeah oh 100 percent i mean one wardrobe for the entire production and how to make it slightly different you know it's then those questions like when do you wear the jacket because then the jacket breaks it up a little bit but then do you be a little more

disheveled like how do you make it somewhat interesting over and over again but yeah it definitely like we were talking about with shoes wearing flats was really great um but it's it's something that you you know, none of the characters obviously know that they're going to end up in this predicament. So it has to be realistic in that, like, what would they be wearing? Sure. On a normal day, especially CEO and wife. But we went through many iterations of who wife was and we're like, she's not a heel-wearing girl on her off time. So let's just put her in like really cute flats.

But then at the same time, they're not made for running. They're also like a beige, which is not great for when there is, you know, any type of thriller, drama element to it and she's in this like really beautiful silk top that is like more stunning and sophisticated than it is you know dark comedic horror thriller not horror but like Hitchcockian thriller type movie it's like it's just it's a little unexpected yeah but very expected for her type of role just there's as you well know there's there's always been this fascination with like you know couples husband and wives working together in this fashion And you guys have never collaborated before.

Is part of you worried, like, wait, work Lily is a little bit different than off-time Lily? Is work Charlie going to be a little bit different than off-time? Like, what if you find out working with Charlie? You're like, oh, wait, he's an asshole on set. Yeah, I mean, that was a real risk, you know? No, I had heard enough about the way in which he worked from actors and also just other heads of department because he really stays very loyal to his crew.

there are certain people that he's worked with so many times. And I think I had heard so much that he's a super communicative and collaborative actors director who really first and foremost puts the idea of grounding the story and truth and making the actors feel comfortable, like that's first and foremost. And that's what you want in an environment. You want to feel trustworthy and nurtured and creatively fulfilled and challenged. And those are also what you want in a life partner or it's what I want. So it's really amazing to kind of that translates, to have that kind of partner also be that

and work. And yeah, it's definitely not expected and it's quite rare, I guess. But I didn't know how that was going to go. And of course, people were like, oh, wow, this could be a risk. And I'm like, yeah, but you know what? I just, I feel like he sometimes creatively believes in me more than maybe I believe in myself. So there's going to be something there, I think, that'll challenge me. And I have to be totally honest, there were so many moments I forgot.

I forgot it was Charlie, Charlie. I was like, oh, this is just my director. He treats all of us the same. And it was like an acting troupe. It felt very much like the Cassavetti's troop vibe of, of you just all have a secondhand, like you have a different language and you just get what each other's thinking. And because he's worked with them so much before, there was this idea of, familiarity and just a comfort, which was really wonderful,

especially in a film like this, because wife is at the beginning more quiet and undermined, undervalued, and she grows. And at the same time as she's having this kind of downward spiral trajectory of losing her mind in a sense, she's also on an upward gaining a voice. And so playing those at the same time, there's kind of this fine line or kind of like love,

tiptoeing of a line that you need to feel guided. So it was really nice to feel kind of guided by him. I'm glad that collaboration worked out and I'm glad that we have the film in the Lily Collins Netflix queue. There should be a channel by now. There should just be the Lily Collins Netflix. It's so funny. It's very, I'm very grateful to them. I really have to say like Netflix's that they've been very, very supportive. Look, it could have got you could have been like you You chose the right horse. You could have been in the quibby queue. You could, you went the right.

Oh, boy. Yeah. Would have been a quick one. Yeah. So outside of windfall, you have a lot of exciting things that have happened in the last year. I'm of course mentioning your appearance and curb your enthusiasm, which is more important than your marriage. I mean, obviously, those like four to five seconds were, were some of the coolest four to five seconds I have probably done, I will say. That was, and to get to work with Ted.

who's now my, like, you know, father-in-law, it was so funny. And honestly, it felt like a real career, like, wow, curb your enthusiasm. This is like, this is a moment. Are you a secret neurotic? Are you a secret neurotic? Because in my experience, I feel like you're like, you're pretty chill. You're a positive force in the universe. You don't seem to be carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.

But maybe you've just been hiding it from me for 15 years. I don't know. I think, I think, you know, I am. definitely a i like to think positively i like to feel like light and and positive when i can but yeah i mean i think if anything over the past two years i've learned that i have more anxiety than i thought i did and that i i definitely sometimes can feel like i have to take on everyone's problems whereas in fact i've learned you can't and you shouldn't um but it is something that i that i feel there were so many things in Curve that I can relate to.

And I was like, this is gonna be so great to just be a part of it in some small way and have fun with it. Because it's such a, it's like a beacon. Like it's, it's Larry David, you know? He's the best. Also the best, I've discovered in my copious research that I've discovered Redford.

I've discovered the Redford in your life. I mean, yeah, it's just what a, what a legend. I mean, Redford the dog. I'm now, I'm gonna start following his Instagram account. This is Lily's adorable dog. I got a dog in the last year. I've become an insane dog dad. Oh my God, obsessed.

Dog dad. Mm-hmm. I'm not resigning the fact that Redford has almost as many Instagram followers as I do. I still have the edge, but I need to up my game. You know, he got recognized almost equally slash sometimes when I didn't get recognized in Paris shooting the show.

Redford would get recognized. I mean, it was wild. Charlie would be walking him on one of the bridges and they'd be like, is that Redford? And we're like, oh my God, what? I always say, it was wild. The last year since getting Lucy, our pit, pit mix, very sweet. I feel like I now know what it's like to be like a celebrity. Like I walk on the street and I get like heads turned thanks to my gorgeous dog. Because yeah, exactly they're like no one a gorgeous dog or a cute dog or just a personality filled dog it never doesn't brighten your day in some way people are always looking for reasons to smile and i feel like that's just like the perfect the perfect reason especially if you're walking like just walking your dog people will stop and say something totally all right so let's talk um movies tv we love

i asked you for a comfort movie before we get to that i'm just curious um do you guys watch the same stuff at home? Do you have differing opinions? Are you introducing each other to different kinds of films, different kinds of TV? Give me a sense of it. I'd love to say,

I'd love to say that I introduced Charlie to movies, but Charlie definitely introduces movies to me. Things that I probably should have seen over the years that I just didn't have time for. I don't know. We're not into shaming people here. Nobody's at all. You know, I'm not, I definitely have gotten past that space.

No, he has an amazing, he has amazing taste in film. And that's, because he, you know, he went to AFI. Like, he's definitely a film buff. And everything from also, like, hysterically bad movies, like, you know, from the past or just, like, really incredible film. So we watch all of those. And then I like to think that I've exposed him to, a little more, you know, bad reality TV, perhaps.

I think I, I think I've really cultured him in the ways of Bravo, in a lot of ways. And, you know, he was always a fan of some of them, but I feel like potentially on the Real Housewives, I may have expanded him to more cities, I like to say. He's no, he's more worldly now, yeah, he's more, that's great. He's more worldly, you know, completely. We balance each other out, we really do.

It's a fun, it's a fun, you know, binging right now we're really into a lot of the swindling happening on Netflix oh like Tinder swindler or a bad vegan or the Anadelvie story I mean there's just actually so many swindler's going it's the hot thing right now are you jealous are you jealous of Julia Garner's accent as Anadelvie it's kind of hypnotic you just want to do it it's it's truly I mean of course we now try to talk like that when we're saying random things and it just never seems to work out. You want to do you like that there was such a method to what she created.

I think it's fascinating. Yeah. All right. So I asked for a comfort movie. This is one that hasn't come up surprisingly since I've been doing this the last year and a half or two. I'm shocked. I know. It is kind of shocking.

Tell us your, tell us your movie. Give me the brief pitch for why this is a go-to comfort movie for Lily Collins. Oh my go-to, my go-to comfort movie is love actually. actually. It has been since it came out and it also became this movie that every Christmas season, some of my best friends and I would just have to watch it. Anytime that I watch it, I smile and I feel warm inside. I think not only because of the English accent, because growing up in England, anytime I hear a British accent, I feel straight back to comfort, to youth, to home in a sense even though la is home england will always be the other home and i'm so much

of a dual citizen but at my heart i wait i feel way more european so when when i'm hearing it it makes me feel so comfortable also i just it was the first time i remember i remember seeing so many interlocking storylines weave in and out of each other in such a smart way and hugh grant is just so wonderfully hugh grant in this movie and and alan rickman um and and the alan rickman emma thompson's just oh god emma thompson like just even as a young kid i was it was heartbreaking and and i just all all of all of the characters and karenightly every single person makes you feel something different and laura linnies i mean i could literally talk about every single character arc and the music you know it just it brings me back to that first time

I saw it every single time I watch it what's the scene it's Christmas or not give me give me one scene I know you could yeah um well actually there's there's kind of like two scenes one is of course when Hugh Grant is dancing on the staircase and he's like doing all his moves and you're just you're listening to it and you're like I I do that I dance and when no one I think no one's watching and then the way that he like turns around and she gets he catches you know gets caught and he's like and anyway uh it's like it's so Hugh Grant and it's so suave and it's so smart and I and I just love it um and I also love Colin Firth so for some reason whenever he shows up at the door and they're like I hate Uncle Jamie when he like

leaves like with the little kids or when you know Kira Knightley's being asked with the um cards with the signs and the cards it's like my friend asked somebody to prom that way when we were in high school and it was just like because because because of the movie and I'm like oh how do you think they didn't end up going together this is another it's another story but you know it really impacted us growing up um is Andrew Lincoln though creepily stalking Kira Knightley's character is it there's been a lot of talk about this whether it's romantic or just like totally wrong I mean this guy's taking secret zoomed in video at her own wedding, it's a little weird. I know. You know, having now had a

wedding, I think about that and I'm like, that would be really creepy. Um, that would be really weird. I don't think I'd be moved by that. I think it would just be really, really creepy. Yeah, you know, actually, no one's asked me that. So I, you know, there's an element of creep, but I think that mostly I'm going to choose to go with the like bonafi pie vibe, which is just like, you know, good for her for saying no, but also like acknowledging how much guts that took. And also just at the end of the day, she knows who she loves and she goes with that. And I feel like, how are you for telling her, but maybe, you know, less Zoom. Less Zoom next time, you know? A little less Zoom. There's a lesson in there. I guess the timing hasn't been right

for you in a Richard Curtis movie. He doesn't make many movies. And now I don't even know if he's going to direct again. He's kind of like. I can't even tell you how much I would love that. Yeah. I'm such a Richard Curtis fan. I mean, of course, but like those movies define so much of an era for me or just growing up. Like, they were so, so wonderful.

Last time we spoke, we got a chance to geek out a bit, I believe, about the Warren Beatty experience. Since then, you've worked with Fincher. It's insane, amazing. Like these like rare filmmakers that most actors don't get a chance to work with in that capacity. It's kind of been a fascinating arc for your career

because like most actors of your generation by now have done like the spandex superhero thing. And you haven't done that, but you have done like these ultimate autores. Has that been by design? Like you've done the superhero audition thing, I'm sure by now. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh yeah, for sure. And I've done the superhero audition, yeah. And, you know, again, it's something, that would be really fun. I'm not the kind of actor that says, Like, I would never do that because I think it would be really fun. And there's some fun stories that haven't been told yet, you know. And so that's something that I'm very much open to.

And like you said, I've definitely been in the audition rooms. But also, there are opportunities, like you said, that there are certain opportunities of which I have really fought for, you know, for Warren's movie as well as for Mank. I mean, multiple auditions, zooms, before I even knew what Zoom. was i flew back and forth from paris during the season of emily to do reads and camera tests and all that kind of stuff with pincher and i think it's just i love learning from masters and i love surrounding myself whether it's a lead role or a small part in something that is so monumental for me to just witness as a human or as an actor to watch all the department heads doing their things so brilliantly because these these creators um are are putting together the best of the best

and you're really surrounding yourself with these incredible this incredible team of artists um and so it's definitely about the the long haul the long run and like where do you see yourself and who you want to learn from but if i could just snap my fingers that would be too easy but it's it takes it takes a grueling amount of of time to you know on for all these things. But it's a funny, like you said, it's kind of, it's a funny way to start out because at least, but for, it's also great because I feel like I've learned so much. Oh, a thousand percent. And not just in front of the camera, but like about creating and telling stories. And, you know, if something's not out there and it's not written yet, okay, find the IP and do it yourself. Right.

You know, and that that's something that I was told from very early on that I didn't quite understand until all of a sudden you find yourself in the position to go, oh, yeah, those stories aren't being told. or there is this cool book or this article and why couldn't I just do that? So it takes the teachers to believe in yourself to do that. Well, and not to mention, I mean, you're practicing what you're preaching and that you're producing more now and you have much more of a creative hand. Obviously, we haven't even talked about Emily and Paris, which I mean, like, is, I mean, congratulations. I mean, that one must be so creatively satisfying for you.

You guys are two seasons in, two more already. have been greenlit um you're a producer on the show it's you know these things don't always work and don't always resonate and i got to think that it's a different sort of creative satisfaction being front and center and something like this um i mean talk to me like yeah how does this how does this how does this experience thus far um most uniquely uh been different than everything else you've done what do you think of when you think of that for for emily yeah Well, you know, when we started it, we had no idea, obviously, first of all, when it would come out, and also the fact that it would come out when it did, when the world needed to laugh and escape and travel more than ever. And so the idea that art is healing, it can be therapeutic.

So I've done things in the past, like, for instance, to the bone, which is healing and therapeutic in its own way, and to laugh and to cry. like those both of those are forms of healing so for emily to come out when it did and to provide people with smiles and laughter that was a gift to me and to all of us who were taking part and creating it whether in front or behind the camera because it was proof to us that what we did mattered in a way that we weren't even maybe expecting and to be able to then go to a second season and to be given the opportunity to either learn from things that worked or didn't work season one to hear what people thought to take either criticism or just creative remarks of ideas and to implement them to listen to grow to choose what makes uh what will make us as humans

feel like we're doing a better job or better representation in the show there are just so many ways in which we were given the opportunity to do that. And as a producer, I found it really important that I, in some way, use my voice with the other voices to amplify those thoughts and ideas and to not just think, oh, I'm just one person. How can it be any different? And what can I do that will really have an impact?

And I was really proud of all of us to be able to make a second season like we did during the pandemic with no shutdowns in a city in Europe, which was not COVID free. I mean, Paris was really quite bad at the beginning and then it got a lot better. But to be able to then see what we created in season two to then be told you're going to get a three and a four,

it was really wonderful and freeing and to know that now the story can take shape in all new ways, you know? And it just was a wonderful first experience for me to be a producer on something because it was my first experience to be embraced that. much in the writer's room and with Darren and with my fellow producers and told, no,

what are your thoughts? Like, we really want to know. It does matter. And so it was a great first experience for that. And then, yeah, and windfall as well in a very smaller version of that. But it was that same empowering feeling, bringing your voice to the table and being encouraged. It must also just be just immensely, as you well know, having done this a while now, even with the best of intentions, things don't resonate.

like Emily did like it really became and has become part of the zeitgeist like I was watching again the Peyton Manning thing on SNL which I mean crazy I've never my phone blew up so much when that happened people that I never even knew knew the show were knowing the show because of Peyton and then they were like did you ever think that you know that someone like that would you know reference the show and wear a beret i was like no you you could have asked me anyone in the world and i probably would never have assumed but my biggest question is like so is he a fan like i want to actually know was is there a truth to this because on super bowl sunday his production company tweeted a picture of him

on the back lot of a studio with emily and paris posters behind him saying that he was in his happy place and i'm like what does that mean is this a bit or is this real what's happening yes like are we are is it true because if it's true dying to know and you know but it's it was so funny i yeah really my phone was going crazy is there a place for Peyton in season three what would you cast Peyton manning as they would always there would always be a place if i think they would always be in place that's what i'm saying i'm like i just need to know like is it real don't play me don't joke with me i'm fragile exactly this is not funny are you able to ever now go out on the street dressed like a schlub?

I mean, because that betrays now the image that you've created, like. I mean, honestly, I, yes. I mean, the thing is that I, Emily is so put together and bright and bubbly and all the time and she's so fun to play, but it's not realistic for me. I'm definitely, I love fashion. No, for example, totally, right now.

I love fashion, but I also deeply, maybe it's with age. I deeply love comfort. And I think there's a way to have both. But honestly, when you're, for something like Emily, where you really are getting dressed up in, you know, six to eight outfits per episode and it's a lot all the time, the one thing I want to do when I'm on my alone off time doing whatever it is

that we're doing is below maintenance. Like I don't, I really, it takes the fun out of it then if it becomes all. the time. Right. And so I like it to live as its own thing. And I'll never not love dressing up, but it also, I like to keep it for fun because otherwise the second I start to not resent it but like dread, then I'm like, okay, you can't do that because I don't want to do that at all.

I want it to feel fresh each time and I'm super grateful for it. So I don't want it to wear off ever. You have a lot going on. We've mentioned, obviously, you have two more seasons. to do with Emily and Paris. I presume you're going to start shooting relatively soon the next season. You have to manage Redford's Instagram account. I assume you're the one managing it. Actually, no, that would be Charlie. Charlie's. Yeah. I mean, we kind of do, we kind of do it together, but it was so funny at the beginning. He's like, we're not, our dog is not

going to have socials. And I was like, yeah, I know. And then all of a sudden, Charlie's the one doing it. And I'm like, you totally have to eat your words. Because, and so we both are like, We both are doing it now. But yeah, it's really a Charlie led production. Funny, I've considered the same thing for Lucy. We'll see one of these days. I'll buckle. You should.

They could be Insta friends. But I'm thinking, okay, what do we secret into the universe this time? Last time we chatted, it hasn't come to fruition yet, but we talked about Tim Burton love, excuse me. Oh my God, yes. So we still need to get on that. Now we're putting in Richard Curtis into the universe. We're putting in the superhero role when it comes.

We're not in the, what, when it happens, right way totally and stage stage we're going to put that into the universe okay i think stage would be really fun stage would be a great a great experience i hope i mean i want to do stage before you know but who knows um yeah yeah i think i think that's good but but you know i since i saw you last it's like got married have a dog you know there's like a lot of life things that have changed and I would never have imagined necessarily that last time we spoke so it's it's it's nice to just see what happens and life throws your way I mean we did just go through a crazy two year pandemic which is it's obviously still very much real but it you just never know

what's yeah happen and no while to talk to you after all that time it's it's crazy yesterday and then you look back and go oh my god it wasn't at all I know it feels like for all of us we have this kind of weird like two year not a blank spot because you certainly have accomplished a lot but it does feel like time just changed like our notion of what time was and our priorities completely yeah it's bananas well i hope next time we do get to catch up in person um and i'm so happy for like i love our check-ins because you look you rack up like awesome filmmaker after awesome filmmaker and now you're producing and i'm so happy for you and charlie and more importantly for your enthusiasm role which is the more most important thing you've done

outside of Redford. I know. I mean, it really is. I feel like, I feel like that was a high. Yeah. Well, that's the kind of thing that really earns my respect, obviously. I mean, look at me. Honesty is key. Yeah, exactly. Have a good one. Enjoy my city and I'll see you soon. Thank you. So nice to see you again. I hope to see you in person very soon. 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 pleasure to do this by Josh. of bank robbers like John Dillinger and Pretty Boy Floyd, of killers like Lizzie Borden and Charles

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