Happy Sad Confused - Melissa McCarthy & Ben Falcone, Sam Rockwell & Anna Kendrick (Vol. II)

Episode Date: April 8, 2016

It's a Happy Sad Confused first as Josh welcomes Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick to chat about their new quirky comedy action film Mr. Right in theaters now. Then, hilarious power couple Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone join Josh to talk about their new film The Boss, coming up through The Groundlings together, Ghostbusters and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. Hey guys, and welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. I am Josh Horowitz. Welcome to my podcast, chock full of some of the smartest, funniest, most talented performers, actors, directors on the planet. And this week's show, we've been experimenting lately, if you've noticed. We've been experimenting here in Happy, Sad, Confused.

We're pushing the boundaries of podcast entertainment, not really, but we're trying new stuff out. And this week, as we've done in previous weeks, we've got not one, but two interviews for you, and not one, not two, not three, but four guests. Two pairs of guests visited my office this past week. And I'm thrilled to bring you kind of four of my favorites. They really are. So the main event coming up a little later is the first extended sit down that I've had on the podcast with the amazing Melissa McCarthy and her husband, Ben Falcone. A little background on them quickly. They are the force behind the new film, The Boss, which opens in theaters Friday, April 8th. If you're listening to this today, when the podcast comes out, it's out. Go see it. If you're listening to it after the fact, it's been out. Go see it. It's really funny.

So Ben and Melissa go back way, way back to the groundlings. They met there at least 15, 16 years ago and are a lovely couple, super funny. They directed, Ben directed Tammy starring Melissa, and this is their newest collaboration. We talk about a lot of things, including, of course, we get into Ghostbusters, which is coming out later this summer with Melissa. Truly adore this couple, and it was a lot of fun talking to them. But before that, before we get to that kind of main, juicy interview, we got kind of like a smaller one, a little bonus for you guys. Truly two of my favorites, one returning guest, one new to the podcast, the amazing Sam Rockwell and Anna Kendrick. They are starring in a new film that, again, out on April 8th today, if you're listening to this on Friday.

Mr. Wright is the film. It's kind of a quirky comedy action movie in which they play love interests to each other. Sam plays a kind of a killer hitman kind of type. Super fun and they're both amazingly charming in the film and of course amazingly charming on this podcast. I had a lot of fun just kind of catching up with the two of them who I've been lucky enough to talk to you many, many times over the years and done a ton of sketches with, et cetera. So, and you'll hear us reference. We actually, after the podcast, taped a new after-hour sketch, which by the time you listen to this, may or may not be up on MTV's YouTube channel. So if it's not up yet, keep checking or check my Twitter feed.

I'll tweet it out. We shot an amazing little sketch because they are both two of my favorite comedic performers and always game to play. So I guess without any further ado, I'm going to let the first interview take hold of your brainwaves and your eardrums. here is the two of my favorite actors working today Anna Kendrick

and Sam Rockwell check it out okay should we do it guys because then you're on schedule I feel like we should just dive in um

hi guys two of my favorite people do you know who we were just talking about Serscher Ronan and Tavi Gavinson yes do I always want to say Gelson's, but that's the grocery store. Same difference.

She's aired to the Gelsons through. We're just saying that they were lovely, and I just want to go on the record to say that they're both lovely. And we love them, and we all agree that we love. As opposed to the shit talking that we had. We were doing a lot of shit talking. But not about them. Now we're talking about nice, nice things.

And we're just going to talk about a bunch of things that we love. Positivity. What are you loving right now, Sam? What do you have love for in your life? I am loving life. No, I'm just. Not really. I have, I love some chicken.

spinach recently. Okay. I was pretty good. I was loving up on that. Nice. Okay. You know. Is that like a staying in shape thing? Are you just like that? That sounds like a, that sounds like a starving. That sounds a little bit. Yeah, it was going to stay in the shape thing. I love it. Kind of like trying to fit in the suit thing. Right. You are one of those people who like you're in a time warp, you know? Am I? Like El Fannings in a time warp. Maggie Smith in a time warp. Or some people who have just been the same age. Yeah. Forever. That's very kind of you to say, you know, well, you look pretty damn good yourself. Oh, you. Anna is 45 years old

No, but no, it's actually funny that you say that because in the car, on the way here, someone tagged me in a photo and said like, oh, this is so weird, this looks just like you, and it was a still photograph from John Wayne's first leading role and there is a girl in it. I don't know the actress.

And you look like her? And I, like at first glance, I was like, that looks like me in a wig. That's like the Keanu Reeves thing. Have you seen that? You know, you have a classical kind of look. You have a kind of a classical look, yeah. Like, she, you know, if you like zoom it on her face, it's not exactly the same by any stretch.

So you're not saying, actually, this is somebody that there's no magic involved or anything. Okay, great. Just to clarify. But I was like, I've kind of always wanted something like that to happen. Or like you meet somebody or you see a photo and kind of like does for a second. Like, because people, people tweet at me all the time. Yeah, somewhere in time, right? Oh, my friend looks just like you.

And I'm like, eh, not really. And this, yeah, this photo I was like, that kind of looks like me. Yeah. Maybe I'm immortal. You could be. We don't, we won't know until we try. to kill you. Sam and I are going to murder you.

Sam and I are going to try and murder Anna. That's the only way to know if you're immortal or not. Yes, yes. You get Dana Carvey? I get Dana Carvey. Really? I've gotten Christian Slade or Ethan Hawth. Sure.

I don't know, a couple of others. What about you? Do you get any of those? I get Kate Mara. And I think Kate Mara is like such a mega babe that I'm so glad. And it happens to her too. And I always feel like bad because I'm like, I feel like I'm the awkward.

less symmetrical one. So I'm like, sorry about that, Kate Mara, but whenever people are like, oh, I love you in House of Cards, I'm like, you think I'm pretty. She is we like you. She's got the we-ness. You are pretty.

Yeah, we're all babes here in our own respective way. Three babes sitting in a room. You know, this age discussion is foremost in my mind, not to make it about me, but I just turned 40 a couple days ago, guys. You look like a babe in the world. I wasn't searching for that, but thank you. But Anna, you turned 30 last year, a few months ago, right?

Yeah, something like that. Was that a big thing? Was that like... No, I, it was, you know, because, like, basically since I was in my late 20s, I felt like, well, this is 30s. Like, you know, I, you know, it's just like, like, clinging to the idea of being in your 20s when you're 27, 28, 29. It's just like, you know, I was in my 20s when I was like 24. Right. And now it's like, yeah, I'm basically 30.

Like, no one's going like, oh, my God, you're so young. Right. Like, I don't even know what to talk to you about 28 years old. So, um, I didn't feel weird about. turning 30 at all. Was there a big one for you, Sam, a big age, or one that you're dreading in the future? I'm so old. No.

I'm like, uh, 40 was good. I like 40. Okay. I actually thought 40 was my favorite, is my favorite age. And I wish I could have just stopped the clock at 40. So you're saying basically the last couple days are the last of my life. Everything falls apart after 40, especially physically. But 40 was really like perfect.

Everything kind of came together. So you've got 10 years left of happiness, Anna. I've got none left. I'll spend it wisely. Yeah, 40's good. 40's good, too. 33 was very good. Why is that? You felt a little Jesus-y, a little...

Jesus' age. I don't know, it was a good year for some reason. That's a good year for me. Yeah. 33 and 40. Did your paths, to segue into promoting your wonderful new film, Mr. Wright? Did your paths cross on the Joe Swenberg experience in digging for fire? I can't even remember.

Do you share scenes? Very briefly. I'm actually and his father and no we had a good time of that that was kind of guerrilla filmmaking

in a way that I wasn't accustomed you'd worked with him before and it was we were only working six hours a day and

no I was shooting another movie in the daytime Is that just the Swamberg way you were? The night that we met I had been shooting cake in the daytime

Oh that's right and Messina was doing that too So then at night I would go and shoot this movie with Joe and Sam was there, and Chris Messina and I are, like, making out in a pool. And then the next day, I'm, like, playing this buttoned-up wife, and he's playing, like, you know, the beleaguered divorcee.

So he's in a suit, and I'm in, like, a floral top. And the previous night, we're, like, running around doing fake lines of Coke. So that was a very odd experience to see him the next morning. It was like we'd had a real night of, like, partying, and you see each other at the office the next day, and you're trying to both pretend that you're, like, respectable citizens. Yeah, yeah. It was willy-nilly.

It was out there. It was definitely, yeah, it was out there. It was fun. And we had, uh, Bree Larson and, uh, Jake Johnson. Jake Johnson was great. And same cast. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So does that screw with your head, guys, when you're doing other two films at once?

You're doing a play and you're trying to do a film or something like that? Is that almost good to kind of be? I've gone back to back, but I haven't done that. That's, that sounds really intense. I don't know if I could do that. That's intense. You managed, though, Anna, it was a little screwy for a little while, but it was workable? Yeah, I mean, I think, you.

You know, I think you do... People ask me about that kind of thing a lot. But I don't have trouble with it because I think, you know, you are a slightly different version of yourself all the time with different friends and family. Like, you're always a slightly different version of yourself. And so, you know, I would feel weird if I were playing, like, like two characters on the same set, I think.

Like, you know, like something like Moon. I don't know. Like, I mean, I guess you're playing the same, you know, person, the same DNA. But, like, I wonder maybe that would be, really tricky. Because when I go from set to set, it's like I can be a different person. You'd be good at that. You're really, really facile. Well, you're very quick. And I, maybe that's, I think that's just who you are. But I think you're younger. As you get

older, things start to fade. You managed on moon. You were fine there, man. Yeah, I was younger than, but yeah, I think you'd be really good at that. Because that's, that's like a rhythm thing. It's very, it's like a dance. I feel like, it's like music. I think you would have, you'd be very good at that kind of a thing, actually. I saw Tom Hardy was great. Is that how you did Moon? Like, I'm actually, I'm such an idiot when we were on said. I never asked you.

No, no, that's, it was a rhythm thing. It was all, I mean, you could talk about it for hours, but basically it was a rhythm thing where, well, there's this motion control. I'm sure Tim can, you know, can explain that you have to, you can't move anything in the shot. Yeah, yeah.

This really loud camera. And so, it's very technical so then I would have an earwig and so if one of the clones was coming to get the ping pong I would sort of I would kind of retract and I wanted to retract I would have to make a noise like that like that or something so that when I wasn't because I'm not seeing anything yeah so then when I heard the noise you know that's when the that's your cue yeah you know and it was very weird stuff and to add live is it's kind of a nightmare you can kind of have to fit in that little window.

Right. So you have an earwig in your ear of the previous take? Yeah. I would watch it in the makeup chair when they would do the makeup for the other clone. We'd have to rehearse twice. That is a weird thing. And so we, the deep, the second AD,

the first AD would be like, all right, let's go up to make them. I'd be like, make, we gotta do it again. But I gotta switch. That's very strange. Well, speaking of sci-fi, I have to bring this up because I was just listening to you on another podcast the other day. And he broke, if you heard this, he talked about a Galaxy Quest sequel that was almost, that was going to be shooting. I thought you knew about that.

I didn't know about that. You know, I'm here, Alan Rickman passing away. Oh, God. We can't, Tim Allen's on a show that he can't get off of it, I think, I think they bagged it. Yeah. We're going to do it on Amazon. Oh, my God. I was growing a mustache.

I was growing up, it's a, thanks for saying that. We all adore that one. That's a heartbreaker. Well, but can you, can you tease anything on what the store? I was growing a mustache. That was the first, like, date I ever went on my life, ever in my life, first date ever going to be. I went to see you and Gallup. Sitting there going, I didn't want to ask him over you. Are we going to

kiss? Is he going to kiss me? That's fucking, that's adorable. Was, amazing? Was Justin coming back to? Although, in fairness, he didn't kiss me, so maybe it was not a first date. Maybe my first date in your head. In your head. Well, did you eventually kiss him? Because maybe it set it up. Yeah, yeah. We did. Yeah, we did eventually kiss. Yeah. Maybe it's good vibes. Good vibe. Like very sexy movie. Eventually it was going to get that. Tony Saloub and Missy Pyle. That's a good.

A beautiful. Yeah. Probably not biologically sound. But yeah. Was Justin coming along too? Was everybody on? Justin was going to do it? Yeah.

Justin was going to do it. He was going to do it. It's crazy. Yeah. One of those things. So, okay, so you guys finally get together

in a big way for this one. Crazy Max Landis script if people don't know Max Landis's work that speaks volumes. She knows Max a little bit. I had known Max. He said, character. He is a character. He's a wild

character. I kind of love him. He's like he's out there. He's just, he's really, he's very, he's very dear, he's in a very dear heart. Very earnest, but very... His way he dresses and it's wild. He's like a cartoon character. Well, supposedly Jesse Eisenberg based his

Lex Luthor a bit on Max Landis in Batman versus Superman. That makes sense. Wow. That's amazing. In so many ways. Is Max going to be there? Because it is with Max you're like, I don't know, are you a hero or a villain? It would go either way. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So is this one of those scripts that then pops off the page? Like, this is a unique, interesting dialogue that's worth. It was, right? It was a dialogue-driven script. I mean, it was very, it was character-driven and I, way. We got to play real interesting characters, three-dimensional kind of wacky people. Yeah. It was fun.

It was a lot of fun. Have you guys had to do like a romantic relationship or something or a sex scene on film with somebody that you actively disliked? Yes. How'd that go? I It was really Oh

I should have just said No Oh no Coming through the IMGB It wasn't it wasn't like a It wasn't like a A big sex scene per se I've never

Well I've actually I've never done like a sex scene But Yeah There have been Actors like the one that sprung to mind When I so quickly jumped on that Yes

No yes Um was like there was this one day and there was a day where the director was like you know and then like you guys kiss and whatever and I was so like I don't understand why we would kiss in this moment

and I was arguing it from a character standpoint in a way that at the time I really felt like I just don't understand why this moment why would we kiss in this moment and then basically the director was like because you're romantically involved and I was like Right. Okay. It's just that I don't like him.

Was it just kissing or was it more? It was just kissing. It was just kissing. But it was just that weird thing where I couldn't justify kissing him because I so didn't want to. Even though it didn't make sense to me that like the scene, because within the scene like he didn't convince me that I wanted to kiss him. Right. You know, and that was about me not, you know, like losing sight of. Don't make it about your limitations. If you were working with an asshole.

It's true. You have to earn a kiss dramatically, don't you? Or comedically or whatever. It's almost like if you make a choice to smoke a cigarette or have a like a whiskey, it's almost like I feel like you have to earn it emotionally within the story. Like why are you having the whiskey or why are you kissing here? Like you have to, I don't know if that makes any sense. No, completely.

Story-wise, you have to sort of earn it. And I think I know what you mean. I had, I had it, I had it too a long time ago. I, of course I can't say who it is. But, yes, that is difficult. And I had the same thing. And it was like, yeah, there was a just, there was not, it just wasn't jelling. Yeah.

I think that speaks volume of the unspoken people we're talking about, because you two are two are the most affable, I feel like can get along generally with most people. And that's a good skill to have on a film set where who knows who you're going to be working with that day. And you need to kind of roll with it and be able to receive any kind of energy, right? I think we've also, two of us been very lucky, I mean, you know, I've, you have... Yeah, I've never been on a set where an actor is, like, making me, you know, feel, like, psychologically damaged or sad or any, you know, like, you know, and some people have worked with people who make them feel bad, and that, you know, that hasn't happened. I've had personality clashes, but I've never had something where I'm like, I wouldn't want to be in the same room with that actor. Right.

That's, yeah. Yeah. We have a silly sketch to shoot in a second, so we'll vacate the office in a moment. But I do want to ask, so you guys have a lot going on. I'm going to see you a couple of times, Anna. What do you have my present? Apparently, yeah. Yes, thank you for listening to my friends.

Is there a timetable for that? I wasn't even going to ask, but is there? What? Pitch Perfect 3. Do we know what the timetable is anything? You know, it is like nothing I have truly. I'm saying it with a smile on my face, but it is truly like nothing I have ever experienced. where we are being kept in the dark in this weird way that like...

It's like you're in a Star Wars film, you're like... Yeah, except, yeah, except that it's like, you know, I'd like to think that they wouldn't do that for, you know, to Daisy on, like, film three. Exactly, the key components that have been there from the start. You know, I kind of know. And also, like, it's not going to be like a big, like, oh, is she related to Luke Skywalker? Like, there's nothing like that. And we're like, oh, what songs are we singing? Like, it's like, really, but it's not a big...

It's not Inception. It's not Star Wars. Like, nobody's going like, oh, I need to find. No, there are no, what's the big secret? We don't know that. There's not like forums devoted to fan theories. It could be going to do direction. Maybe.

You're going to be it's insane. That's the big secret. Is Elizabeth Banks directing it? I think so. I had heard, yeah, I think that's the plan still. That's cool. That's cool. So that's coming up.

You're promoting couple films coming up soon. You and Zach Efron and Adam Devine. Have something funny cooking. Devine and I are in another movie together because he's in pitch one and two. And he's in Mike and Dave. And yet, and again, we like sort of made a point

to make it through the whole movie without ever making eye contact. Because so this is the third movie now where we're in the same movie and occasionally in the same scenes, but never ignore. Like, we want to maybe do like a version where one of us is like Tyler Darden. I was going to say, I had a theory for a second. This was the asshole you were

talking about. But no, you love Adam. I love Adam. I love Adam. I just did some press with Adam in Austin, and it was really fun. Nice. So I do, like, hanging out with him. I just, we just, like, made a point to not make eye contact on screen. Oh, you're doing a thing with Zach Efron. I like him. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I like him. He's a great guy. He was a great guy. He was really good in that. And Sam, I just saw you on stage. Amazing. Oh, you're looking at the Michael Shannon? Yeah, dude, what the F is that, bro? Michael Shannon, non-sexual escort. It's a sketch I did with him. Weird. I love it. Dude, you will love it. I guarantee it is pure Rockwell. What does that mean?

That's amazing. It was a sketch where I ordered him as an escort, but he comes over just to entertain me and nothing sexual. I gotta watch that. You love it. Entertain you like as an actor or just like hang out and be your buddy. Exactly, the latter. So it's like we play like Twister and stuff like that. Oh, God.

That's so funny. Yeah, he sings me a lullaby. It's actually one of my favorites. That's great. Which is the perfect segue. We're going to go off and do something really stupid right now. Let's do it. You guys ready?

I love stupid stuff. Let's do some stupid stuff. All right, guys. Today's sponsor of Happy, Sad, Confused is Casper Mattresses, obsessively engineered American-made mattresses at a shockingly fair price. And now, guys, you can get $50 towards any mattress purchase by going to casper.com slash happy and using the code Happy. Listen, you spend about a third of your life sleeping. Let's make sure you're doing it on a great mattress. Just the right sink, just the right bounce, two technologies, a hybrid of latex foam and memory foam. They've got a

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popular actors working today, Melissa McCarthy. She, of course, came to prominence thanks to her Oscar-nominated performance in Bridesmaids. Yes, they got an Oscar nomination. That's how big a performance it was and how much of a ripple effect it had in the film industry. And since then, she has been killing it with films like The Heat and Tammy and identity thief and now with the boss, which is out right now and coming soon in Ghostbusters. So it was a real honor and pleasure to talk to Melissa, who's one of the sweetest women I know in the business. And it kind of belies her persona on screen, often playing like the aggressor, the crazy kind of aggressor. And in this new film The Boss, which is directed by Ben Falcone, her husband, and co-written by the two of them.

She plays a really fun character by the name of Michelle Darnel, who is kind of like a Leona Helmsley, white-collar criminal type, who kind of gets her comeuppance and then has to, you know, go through a little bit of a journey, thanks to working with her assistant, played by, again, the supremely talented Kristen Bell. Peter Dinklage is in the movie. There's a ton of great stuff in the movie. By now, it's making millions and millions of dollars. So check it out if you haven't already, The Boss, and check out this super fun conversation

with Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone. Yeah, please. You get to get nice and cozy. I'm not used to duos. The only other pair have had are Phil Lord and Chris Miller. And as far as I know, they've never had sex with each other. So we're uncharted territory. That we know.

That we know of. Oh, my God. That's funny. Well, I would hope you would recognize that one. Come on. Melissa just pointed. Yeah, Vigo the Carpathian. There we go.

No official introduction, but it's good to see you both. Well, thank you, like you. Thanks for coming over today. And congrats on the film. It's super funny. It's amazing. This is obviously a labor of love for both of you. Directed, co-written, starring, gaffed.

I don't know what else you did. I did all the electrical work and cooked breakfast for the crew. People don't know that, that you are a super. perp electrician. I wish it was. Like going back to college, I'm like, I should have. Oh, yeah. I do everything differently.

I'm like, I would have learned how to do, you know, like tile work, woodwork, and electric work. I'd be a mason. Oh, a mason. A mason or a freemason. You would be part of like a- Both. Got to be both.

Be a free mason that can do mason. People never talk about that, the freemasons that are able to actually work with their hands. I'd love to get a number on that. Like, how many masons are freemasons? Look into that, guys. Somebody out there is like, 11,000, 22, like, who he knows that it starts at the top of their head. Exactly.

Have you two, by the way, have you two podcastsed before? Are you podcasted virgins? Do you know what you're doing? We have podcasted before. I've done some light podcast. Oh. You're a light podcast. You're a casual podcast.

I mean, it's nothing serious yet. Podcast adjacent. This must make it a little more fun or something like this or the last collaboration where you get to kind of do the press off and together. And, you know, be actually happy to be in each other's presence as opposed to co-stars where you have to pretend that you actually like the person. I have never had to pretend. I've never had to pretend. I've never had to pretend, but like, I feel like, oh my gosh, that must be mind-blowing, except for Jason Bateman. Jason Bateman was a real monster.

I once had to do, I had to do press with Elizabeth Banks and she's a monster. Elizabeth Banks is a monster. Guys, when you move in on the mic and you say it, that's actually we hear it more, is that it was. I could have sworn that meant like cone of silence. No. Now is it a cone of silence? The cone of silence, Jason Bateman and Elizabeth Bites are monsters. So how much of this, of something like this in the last collaboration come about of like, you know, wanting to just be around each other, frankly, and have an enjoyable experience and how much of it is sort of just being in sync comedically and knowing that you know each other's rhythms, et cetera?

I think it's a lot of both. I mean, I think it might be really split right down the middle. I mean, he's, Ben's always been kind of my favorite person to write with and collaborate with. And, I mean, it's why we became such good friends at Groundlings. And then we started dating guys. And the love blossomed as it does. Oh, man, it's kissing and holding. It's just, it's always easy.

I think we, I think we actually see the same thing. Like when we have the weirdest possible idea, it may take a couple times. of like, wait, what? Say that again. Right. Long weird explanation. What? Say it one more time. Oh, my, oh, yes. And I always feel like we are actually seeing the same thing.

So then when you get to the day of shooting, it's like, we really are going for the same goal. Well, and I would think that's part of the goal in any, like, collaboration is like, get all that shorthand crap out of the way. So you can just get down to business and, like, make the same movie. Yeah. I feel like we can, we say the weirdest snippets and looks to each other on set. And it's like, got it. Right. Luckily, it's not like twin speak or something.

So everybody knows, like what we're saying. I do wish it wasn't. And then the crew would just be like, what are you doing? We should start speaking out. Like, yeah. Elvin? Elvin. Ooh.

Okay. Idea train. Wait a minute. So what was the first stuff? I'm curious going back when you first met, the first stuff you comedically clicked on. Was there, were there touchstones that you guys talked about or were into together or what? Well, we didn't, you know, we were, we were in. We met in a writing, a comedy writing class.

So we didn't really talk much about like, oh, who were your influences or whatever? We were busy trying to write our own stuff. So self-involved, you didn't care about it. We were narcissists in a very early. We were our own handheld mirrors deep into those pools. Oh, yeah. But, I mean, I think there was a common bond to, like,

take a rather extreme or eccentric character and to see how far could you push it and still make it a believable circumstance. And then if you get two of those people together, I mean, I always love the thought of, like, when two very eccentric people meet on a park bench, what is that conversation? So that would be bad. I think we did. Didn't we do that one on a park? Oh, that was me and Jim Cashman.

That's my other husband. Things got weird. That's my favorite. We did something on a park bench. That was another man. So where were you guys in your respective, like, just maturation as comedians as writers? Like, where were you when you met, like, in terms of, like, how far along the process? of careers and stuff.

Oh. So I hadn't, I didn't even know where the ladder was. I didn't say bottom wrong. I was between jobs. And what were those jobs? I was a waiter and also, what else did I do? Had you been recently fired? I had been recently fired as a waiter.

What happened, Ben? There was a secret shopper at California Pizza Kitchen, and they didn't like what I was doing. They didn't like my act. He wasn't up to sell. I didn't upsell enough. I was actually a very pleasant way. How do you upsell at CPK? Well, you say, oh, would you like a delicious spinach-hearted joke dip?

Would you like? And they always wanted me to push alcohol even early in the day. So I literally had to go up to people like 11 in the morning and say, would you like, you know, a chopped salad or a Long Island iced tea? And they would look at me like I was nuts and I'd look at my boss like, come on, man. Can I just say, no, push the alcohol. Someone will take it. So anyway.

If someone does that to me, I get, I have. It drives me crazy. Also, you hate when the waiters tell, say, how is that taste? I don't like when someone says the word taste. I don't like it. It's funny. I had a very nice meal last night. And it was a great meal.

But like the waiter came over in between a couple courses and was like grinning ear to ear, like how fucking amazing was that basically. And I'm like, it's good, but let's not all do a dance every time. Like it's supposed to be good, right? Then it makes me, instead of being like, oh, I love that. Once somebody's really like standing in the corner making me nod back to them, I'm like, I don't know. I've had better.

Contrarian a little bit So I got fired as a waiter Because I buy a secret shopper Because they pretend to be a customer Oh interesting Yeah and then they're And he was the last table of eight And that secret chopper was Paul Figue

Full circle His first shop His first shop He was a secret shopper at those times It was right before freaks in California I had never written anything I had done you know I'd done a million plays in New York

And studied there And I had kind of just moved to L.A. And the thought of, like, doing a writing thing, I had it, which Ben was actually the first person that would always bust me on it. We had to, they'd send us out in Groundlings, go, you know, got in the hall, go out, find some space, and you have five minutes to write a monologue. And they'd give us some kind of assignment kind of a goal. Right. And I just couldn't actually write it down because I thought, oh, you have to be a writer. Like, I shouldn't be actually writing.

Right. So I wouldn't actually write it down. If somehow it was like the process of it was like, I don't know, I just felt like I didn't go to school for it. So I shouldn't be pretending to write. So instead I would come in and when we would go up in front of the class, I would hold an empty piece of paper and I would just improvise the whole monologue. That I could do. I was like, oh, no, I know what the person should say and I know what the story is. Yeah.

But like I'm not worthy of being a writer. You've been thinking about it. Like you knew like, okay, she works in a supermarket and she's not. It was a big leap for you too, yeah. So I couldn't actually do it. And Ben was the first one to lean over. Because then after I would do it, I would go and try to remember it and write it down. Got it.

So I could say it out. I could say it, but I couldn't, I don't know. It's like I couldn't pre-plan it. And Ben was the first one that's like, I know that paper's blank. I know you're going up there and fucking see what you're doing. Meanwhile, I'm writing whole things that are just awful. I wish that I wasn't. Try it my way.

I'm wasting a lot of paper, but it's down there somewhere. So were you guys working together from the beginning then in terms of just like writing or not writing together or whatever? Yeah, no, we wrote a variety of sketches that were terrible and some that were pretty funny. And, you know, we wrote from our first class and then we had another class we had to do. And we did, we wrote there too. And then between classes we would, you know, as we all do, we would get like, what was it? What was there? Was it Barryfoot comedy?

Oh, yeah. We started a comedy trip. A comedy troupe with Dax Shepard. Oh, wow. Was it, Nat Faxon. Oscar winner, Nat Faxon. That's right. Oscar winner Jim.

No, Jim Ratch? No, he wasn't. But, yeah, a bunch of us. Tate Taylor. Tate Taylor. She's a director now. Yeah, amazing. We call Rooster.

Yeah. Anyway, so we, oh, we were called House of Floyd. House of Floyd guys. The name itself says it all. It's going to be great comedy. And we once we had a theater, we rented out an 8 o'clock and a 10 o'clock because we had the theater. We're paying for.

And we, you know, there's like seven of us and we can only get so many people to come because we're all trying to get agents and stuff and literally for the eight o'clock show I believe two people showed up and then of course it brought up the age old actor debate like well should we do the show anyway because of and then finally I think all of us were like no have them come back at 10. Two more people were the 10 o'clock now perfect. I had done that math thing of like okay there's 10 of us or however many there were let's say there's 10 if we all invite 25 people to each show blah blah blah here's the number. But it was a huge theater. Sure. I should have gotten a 32-seat theater. Instead, I went and got like a 200-seat theater and just did all the math. And I'm like, this all works out.

We can actually make money, guys. Yeah. 40,000 people will show up front. Nobody invited anyone. Or we did. We invited everybody we knew, which was no one. Yeah. So I'm curious, like, how do you like compartmentalize that in your life where you guys are at now, where, you know, debatable or not?

maybe you're funnier now than you were then, but probably not, like, infinitesimally, you know what I mean? Like, and yet you are hugely celebrated. This movie, I'm sure we'll do gangbusters as your other collaborations have. How do you kind of rationalize in your brain? Like, I'm the same person, but I don't have to struggle to get two people in the theater anymore. They're coming to me.

Or is that dangerous to think about? I don't think we need to send out flyers. I still think that we need to call people on my Roland X. I still think we need some, like, email blast. Like, I really Still, I'm always like, every time we talked to me, we're like, hope you like the movie, please bring $500,000.

Literally, anybody I see. I still have that. Do you want to sign up for my email, black? We're going to have chips and guac after the show. Homey, Carla makes a mean dip. I still always, always still feel like, okay, that's it.

Like, I'm always in a, it's, I think after you do that struggle for so many years, it never kind of leaves you. And I think somehow that's probably a good thing as sociopathic. It may be, I think there's a little something good to like, like, I don't know what happens. Well, it keeps the ambition alive. It keeps it like.

Yeah. There's something a little dangerous to be like, this will work for sure. Because every time I've ever said that, I've tanked so hard. Really? Every time I'm like, this sketch is going to kill. It's like, oh, that crowd not only didn't like it, they actively hated it. Yeah, they don't like me. They don't want to see me in the next sketch.

Yeah, it's going to take two more sketches for them to stop hating my family. They've decided they hate comedy now from now on. I've turned their life around. I've turned them off of comedy. They're very serious now. They've never seen live theater again. Oh, God. Oh, they just watch sad movie after sad movie.

Right. More Ingmar Bergman, please, Les, Melissa McCarthy. They're just cursing us. So had you, I mean, prior to, I guess, I mean, it was kind of Mike and Molly and and and bridesmaids that kind of started. you on this path of like, you know, being the leading performer in your own projects, it would seem. Had you resigned yourself to like a life of character actor or supporting actor and was that cool by you? Or did you feel like there was unresolved stuff that you wanted to get out?

I mean, I was just always so happy to work and not in like a desperate way. I just really was like, no matter how small of heart, I was always, I always kind of felt like, oh my God. Like, I'm going to get to, this is my job for the day. I mean, I think I still have that feeling of how have I finagle this that like my actual occupation is like I play make-believe guys I put on wigs I mean this is what I did in my 20s in New York and that was just for fun so anytime I go to like a crew lot I think that the security guard is going to send me away for sure you bring like three forms of identification like really I'm the director does it I mean did it feel like in the wake of of that huge success of the Oscar nomination and everything and I you know I'm opportunity for you guys to kind of like start to create your own projects as you have. Did it feel like that that was part and parcel of like the objective? Like I have to kind of like be captain of this of my own ship and kind of figure out my path. Well, I think I always, I mean, for me I always felt like I have, I know that there's characters I want to play.

I'm really kind of fascinated by people. I think it's why I act. I think it's why I go for characters that are so different from myself. It's the joy of it. It's like, yeah, you truly get to step into someone else's shoes. Yeah. And not just see what their world is like, act. I mean, you get to kick in doors and call people names or swipe, you know,

wipe everything off a desk and just do things that like, you can't do in real life. You can't do that. And I always had those, the first time somebody's like, what do you want to do, I do feel like I was ready with an answer. Like I knew exactly the kind of women in the, and they, kind of stories I wanted to do and it blows my mind but also I I knew and I had been writing enough at Groundlings that I was like I like doing the stuff I generate right because so many of the things I read I just didn't understand what was funny

and so so many times with the female like with the with the female parts I just thought oh god I'd love to play the friend I'd love to play that guy's role right where there's actually a character and there's faults and he's got quirks and he's not perfect which is what you got to do in Pridesmaids it was just everyone had a character you're just all female yeah Annie Annie and Christian wrote

people they wrote real three-dimensional flawed strange people and it was it's funny that it was it's such a great movie I still love it but everyone acted like you know it had cracked the world open right it's just that somebody

finally wrote real like we're supposed to all be pretending to be real people right the whole that's the bottom line with acting in a movie and why we go to see a story we want to hear a story about other people so it to me it's more shocking when people don't do that or you see three funny parts and then like there's three crazy guys and then there's one woman I'm like boy she has no perspective it's a character trait as opposed to like a human being right it's like you know angry and sullen and bitter and then the woman's description is like leggy

like that's not a character trait right it's a physical description she's a bummer too like Ralph you bet don't go don't be don't be such a child like a bunch of that

like while he's doing all these fun things he's getting to like throw you know gum at the wall or whatever and she's like oh my wall I just had that painted it's like oh I'm like if there's three weird guys that hang out with a woman

It's like, I bet that woman's pretty weird, too. Yeah, yeah. So it's just, it's nice that I, you know, to be able to build my own characters and build this world is beyond a joy. Talking about building your own characters, this is a character and the boss that goes way back to the groundlings, right? And I'm curious, like, when you guys start to contemplate building a film around this character, like, is it, like, do you know from the start, like, oh, yeah, there's definitely a world. There's definitely a story I can build around it because, you know, it's a different task, right? Like, there's something that works on the stage in short form, and then there's something that works for 90 or 100 minutes. For sure.

Was it a no-brainer that this character could sustain? And it does. In retrospect, obviously it does. But was it a no-brainer at first? Well, Steve Mallory, that we wrote this with, who's actually Carl in the movie, who I eviscerate his deceased wife, as you do. He and I had worked on this about seven years ago. Yeah. We did, we kind of did a pretty detailed outline of what we thought a feature for her could be.

And a lot of, a lot of the elements are still in it. I mean, we proceeded to rewrite it 25 times before we shot. But, you know, the basic just was there. And certainly her character was there. Difference was eight years ago, nobody, nobody took the maid. Yeah, nobody, somebody, somebody, like, I can't remember, we were doing it something for, We heard someone, I can't remember what network was looking for movies. And they're like, they need movies 24 hours.

They'll basically buy anything. And then we, you know, tried to pitch ours. You tested that. We tested that. We tested the theory. Apparently. We were the basically. We were the one caveat.

Basically, we were that. All 99 in, not yours. So, but, you know, even with that happening, it just still, she always stayed in my head. And I was like, God, I'd love to. I would just love to give her her moment. And then, you know, when Universal said, what do you really, what do you want to do? Like, the question was not even fully asked. And I said, I wouldn't do Michelle down now.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do? So what was, like, the comic premise of her at the start, at the groundlings versus, like, where she's at now? Was it, like, the rebound, too? Was it also her kind of coming back into a world? No, no. She was a tidal wave. I kicked in the door. Welcome to the jungles playing really loud.

Let's start with that. kicked in the door and I went right up into the audience and I did a seminar and I I couldn't it was really dicey but really fun because I couldn't go from there's probably like four sections I could only motivate to the next section because I talked to people yeah and if they wouldn't engage with me I literally the the bit required them to engage me because I made an example of them right so I made someone answer me like I would pretend to be like talking about like the principles of making money. And I started, you know, I've got $14 million in the bank and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Just driving, driving, driving, and I would keep getting distracted by someone. I said, I'm going to stop. And this is a key thing if you ever have this happen in business. You look familiar to me, sir. If you run into someone you know, you're doing it for a reason. And in business, that might be the most important contact, figured out. So I would take some person that's saying, how do we know each other? and people were always like

no please don't pick on me I'm like I'm not picking on you and I couldn't get so I would grind them down and be like where do you get coffee where do you do this and I would go through this whole series of thing finally where it's like that's it

we go to you know we go to the same gym and then I would turn back around and say world number one pick some sucker out of a crowd and make them think they're special so I would use them and it's a miracle then the other people wouldn't want to answer

I was so strange. But some people really, really raked me over the coals. But she was really successful. You saw her kind of manipulating, and it was still a self, it was a self-help seminar of how to make money. Have you ever, whether for research or for fun or whatever, like, read up or the Tony Robbins, the whatever, like. I've read, I've read little bits and pieces, but I had such a weird feeling for, I think, how she. She did it, and it was more, like, charisma and charm that I was like, I don't think we're going to get into the... It was less about the actual business speak, because, boy, if you need to help for me with the business, like, oh, well, rule the 12 steps of business.

I'd be like, oh, man, I'm... All our business speaks still sounded like it was year one at Groundland. By the binary bookline, I don't know business words. Everybody, whenever there's an office scene at the ground, and somebody goes, oh, here's the Anderson file, and they walk off really fast. The infamous Anderson file. Because nobody knows. There's probably 700 scenes of Gratlington about the end. All the secrets of the earth are in the Anderson Puff.

Mr. Pritchett is upset. Bye. But there is something, I mean, it actually brings me back a lot to, like, my childhood of watching, like, I know you've referenced Leona Helmsley. I grew up in New York. Like, she was, like, huge. Especially when I was writing this. That's someone who I've always had a fascination with her. I mean, she's, I mean, the, just the crazy.

Crazy stories, the look, locking into that look. I think it's probably why Michelle has short red, spiky hair. Sure. There's also, I mean, is there any influence, do you think of things like, I mean, again, kind of the fish out of the water, her kind of comeback, her kind of like comeuppance, like, I think back to trading places and that kind of thing. I mean, are those touchstones at all that enter into your mind when you're approaching this or not really. Those are some of my favorite movies, you know, back in the, you know, that sort of thing of like somebody who has a fall and a rise and that was a good movie. I mean, for me, it's structurally in a film. I really, I love to watch someone who seems to not need anyone to watch them finally crumble.

And then, as an audience member, I love to hopefully like the person enough that I found myself rooting for them. Right. And I love when a character is really, really flawed, and you love them anyway. Like, that's the biggest hat trick to me. It's what I love. Like, if you're like, I don't know why I like her. She's saying awful things. She's doing the wrong things, but I find myself sitting here rooting for.

And I think when you do that, like, I love the unlovable character. I don't know what it is. It's like a, I don't know why I, like, feel it more or something. It's like a degree of difficulty. It's like, it's just like the Greg Loganus dive 9.9. You're like, I'm going for it. And when it works, it must be so rewarding. When it works, it's just, it's a blast.

And I always, especially if I really love it. I love a character. If I love playing a character, I also usually I'm quite in love with them. And I get such a soft spot for the characters I play. And then I get very protective of them. Right. So it becomes increasingly important that you see their humanity and their faults. And then you see them, in spite of doing it wrong, you see them really trying to be better. Like I just... I remember we were doing, we started the boss with the sword fight stuff. And I remember, you know, I think it took like five. five days and then there were maybe six and then some more stuff with Pete because we had Pete dinklage for the first two weeks and I remember like on day seven Melissa comes up to me and very sweetly as she always is but she just goes I feel like I haven't had my you know I haven't

turned and I'm like we're having a we're having a sword fight when am I'm going to do to your turn I just yeah and she was just so concerned and I was like well you're going to get to do it we're not we're not shooting in order but it's the real minds world it really is but I'm always just like I feel like I'm just being aggressive. Right. Well, yes, because you've been swinging the sword. I got five days. Peter Dinklage.

Poor Peter. But I think it's a mark of kind of what she's saying is that she loves these characters so much. And she, you know, so when I hear that, obviously, first of all, I just think it's sort of great that she cares so much and is asking it. And I wish everybody would. And everyone really kind of does. But it just, it makes me happy that she's like that far into it, that she's concerned. Like, I haven't done it yet. And I'm like, we have 38 more days.

We'll get there. Yeah. I mean, you have, you mentioned Peter and Kristen Bell is excellent in this. I mean, is there kind of like a criteria in terms of, is kind of one of the only criteria, like, if they're willing to play, if they're willing to kind of like have no vanity or just go wherever they need to go. I mean, did you know Peter or Kristen prior to this and know the lengths that they would go for comedy? We did not. We do, we like to chat with people, meet people. really get a sense of people before we work with them, just because, you know, just in case.

Yeah, you want to, yeah, exactly. You know what I mean? Loving way, it's a crazy check. You're looking for the scary, something behind the eyes, like, wait. So if we even, you know, to start to chat with somebody, it's because obviously we're huge fans. We're huge fans of so many people. There's so many more people we'd love to work with for sure. But, you know, that, yeah, I mean, so the criteria being first, they, A, have to be an awesome

actor. B, it's a comedy so we have to see flashes of that they're really funny. And even Pete in Game of Thrones as Tyrion, like sometimes he's really funny. Right. And then C, we have our lovingly said crazy check and both of them passed with

flying colors or they were so crazy or we're all crazy. I'm not sure. They were all equally crazy. But yeah, I think there's something too because we work in a style that's pretty loose. I mean it's strange because we obsess over the script so much. I mean, the way we obsess over the script, we write and rewrite and rewrite

and rewrite until we start shooting. And then every single night, after we've shot all day, we rewrite the pages for the next day. And then in hair and makeup that morning, we will usually sit and rewrite them again. Right. And then we get to set and do that once, and then we're off the rail. So it's like, it's almost insane that we work so hard on the script, but I'm always like, but it helps you understand the scene though it helps you get there if you have that path really really strong like that then you can go off and and hiring these great people it's like you do want to make sure that that's not going to rattle somebody

and they're so willing to be like yeah let's roll the dice like I don't know what's going to happen neither do I and I'm fine with that yeah they have to trust you just as much as you trust them totally because the the minute we've got it like once maybe twice I'm like okay so it seemed like this part was really fun so maybe could we like start to go in that direction and you know Peter I don't think had done a ton of improv before this movie

and he took to it really quickly and just enjoyed it I think Kristen had he's also I mean yeah both of them are great at it but I didn't I mean Pete is such a kind of impressive actor yeah he has just a presence and yeah

like there's an energy coming out of him that is remarkable but to find out like he truly truly is I would say that one of the top five funniest people I've ever met in my life yeah which was quite a dry wit right like a very

crushingly funny and you're and him and Tim Simon's got along so well like just kind of creating this family atmosphere like they were like hanging out like they were brothers like after 20 minutes and it was just making each of their laugh and then and then Krista just following Peter out and asking him

super intense Game of Thrones kind of kind of just started an all-wound. Amazing. It just was, yeah, just like, I don't know, I think when you all hit it off like that and kind of really are having such a good time, I think you feel that. Yeah. I think you can sense it. I know you always hear those stories of like, those people actually hated this stuff with the chemistry.

I'm like, I don't want to hate someone for 40 days. I want to have a blast. Life is short. Come on, guys. I want to go. It's hard to get a movie made. I mean, there's a million reasons that you can face. and let's not have one of them that we're all just being jerks to one another.

Exactly, exactly. Are you guys constantly working on material to work on together? Like, is there always something kind of like brewing? Yeah, we're on to our next one. We just finished a rewrite on the next one that we're going to do. Based on an existing character or something different new? No, based on a new one. Yeah.

Idea of Ben had. An idea that I had. Thank you very much. I'm a little tired of this. whole Steve Mallory, Melissa, outline situation. Suddenly Ben realizes that, yes, when you move in on the microphone, we can hear you.

Let's go deep. Let's go deep in his mic. You, of course, noticed the Vigo Carpathian poster hanging in my office. You make it over your head? I sure did. It's kind of an intimidation tactic for most guests. I didn't think it would do it to you.

But, I mean, obviously we're also excited about Ghostbusters. I'm getting lined. Me, too. I'm really excited about it. So I'm not even going to, I don't, care about spoilers or anything like that, but I'm just excited about, can you give me just background in terms of like when Paul first brought it up to you? Like you were working with Bill on St. Vincent. Was it in the air then? It wasn't. It really wasn't. And even when it was started

being talked about and that it was really happening, like people are like, are you doing it? I'm like, I've never talked to Paul about it. I think he, you know, I just didn't, I didn't know. I was like, I'm hoping I'm hoping I'm getting a call. Who you're going to call? See what they did? That's from Ghostbusters. That's from Ghostbusters. Guys, that's the Ghostbusters. No, he just, when he, you know, I just loved, first of all, I think Paul's ascetic, Paul's sense of comedy, his sense of story, his ability to pace something, brought to something.

You know, if the original Ghostbusters didn't exist, which by the way, I love, I'm a huge fan of them. I've shown my kids. They were like, they thought it was like the coolest thing ever. But the story of four unlikely. heroes that save New York City because there's a vortex and there's ghosts coming into it. It's like, yes, I want to do that movie.

Like, it still works. It's not like that old thing. I'm like, I'm sorry, but that's still the coolest premise. And you can't redo it because you just can't touch something like that. But to take that same story and do four unlikely heroes, like I just think that was such a fresh, cool way to do it.

It also looks cool. in just the early materials that, like, it seems like you're playing a little bit against type, not necessarily the character that I, that on paper you would have probably been cast for. And that speaks to Paul's interest and your interest. It was that kind of like a fun reversal to kind of let Leslie be the aggressor and you're kind of a different character. It was different. It was different to do. And, you know, I thought this will be interesting to kind of like just try to keep the pace of it going.

Yeah. And I like the thought of being, that keeping it really grounded because you're already dealing with ghosts and you're dealing with all this. crazy equipment I thought it can't be like everyone's nuts right so I kind of like the challenge of like being you know being the straighter person on it well boy Paul collected a great group of yeah I mean you've got it's like Leslie Kay you could put you the four of you and any of the roles and I mean it's really I think that he was I mean I don't know that I think I read this that he was like trying to figure out you know what would we compliment each other yeah totally I think that's just such interesting that must have been like a fun process for him but yeah

Yeah, you got the call. Also, what happens when you write four full characters, when you have four real three-dimensional humans written, it's, you know, and you can kind of, you can have to plug people in because, like, who's going to play what, how? Right. And that's, I think that's the fun of what he does so well. Well, I'm anxious and excited for, like, all this kind of crap of, like, this internet stuff of, like, this tiny minority of people that, like, and I'm sure it is, frankly, a tiny minority of, like, misogynist or whatever that can't take four women in a film. It's just almost too absurd to talk about. The weird, and I don't follow any of that stuff, but yeah, I've been shown things where it's like, you know, it's always like 2.38 a.m. Scranton, Ohio. I'm like, you're ruining my childhood. I'm like, I don't think it's us.

I think you might have a pretty rough go of it, but the fact that you're still in your mother's basement writing at 238 a.m. about that we're ruining the world. And it's me. It's like, it's like me. Oh, did you, you found my screen. She walks in on you at the laptop. Not me. I'm so sorry. But you were ruined in my child. I needed to take you down a notch, okay? You have a weird paneled basements in what I don't know about it.

Was this, I mean, I'm curious, was directing film something that was on your to-do list? Or did this kind of organically happen in terms of opportunity and where your respective careers were going? It organically happened. I mean, we wrote the script for Tammy. I started the script for Tammy because I knew that Melissa was a really good. actor and I wanted her to get a chance to show what she could do. And then, ironically, the only reason somebody wanted the script was after she had already shown what she could do in bridesmaids.

Right. So anyway, you know, we did Tammy. We wrote it. I was just, my plan was to just sort of, you know, be the executive producer guy and just try to make sure the story, like, tracked. Right. And then everyone that we went out to was unavailable or not interested. And we, hi-yo.

Hi-yo. Lack of interest. They call it the biz. Lack of interest. 2013 is a really busy time for me. I'm just not too interested, guys. Another funny thing is when we were taught to different people about it, again, I think it's because Ben and I saw it. We really saw that it's like, no, it's not like a slick shine.

It's like it needs to feel like Southern Illinois. It needs to have a certain look to the film. It needs to be shot a certain way. and every time, you know, we met with really great people that I, we both loved to work with, but for that particular project, that was so near and dear to our hearts. And we just kept saying, well, we know, you know, we kept explaining it more and more. And then the guys at New Line are so incredible. And they were kind of like, you know, the way you, the way they were here and describe it.

We flat out, we asked for Melissa and I both. We asked if we could co-direct it. Yeah, that was the initial. Yeah, and they're so cool over there. And Toby Merck, the head of New Line, he's like this really measured, really nice guy. And he goes, you know what, let me sleep on it. He likes to sleep on decisions. And he calls us, like, I don't know, three or four days later or something.

And says, yeah, if you guys want to do it, I think you are the right choice because you guys know the story the best and all that stuff. And then because of schedule, and because I also forced her out, Melissa no longer could. That's true, awkward conversation. She went to, she couldn't do pre-production because she was doing, what were you? The heat or something then, or was it? the heat because you were shooting the heat yeah yeah

well two for two guys here's to many more collaborations congratulations on this one before I let you go I have a sketchy Indiana Jones Fedora of random questions you want to pick one or two and see what's in your innermost thoughts I love a random question out of a dirty head

I know what you're into where haven't you been that you want to go Asia it's a big not been anywhere in Asia You've been nowhere in Asia That's surprising I know

I think I'm going For Ghostbusters Just went to Australia though When it was a gorgeous Loved it Nice Yeah that was amazing Let's see

My drink of choice is Glen live at 18 on the rug Nice Don't be a friend to send it Yes It's where you put it In the Starbucks cup here That's like

Yeah I know what's in there We're pounding We're so hammered Pick your own ending Here guys Guys zombies or vampires?

Vampires every time. Really? You're just over the zombie thing? I think I go zombies. Is this being killed by or becoming one? I'd take it either way. I would like to be, both. I'd like to, if I'm going to go down, I want it by vampires.

I find them more stylish. Okay. And then if I was going to be one, it could be a vampire and they always live in like a great brownstone and somehow they always have like money. That's true. I'd rather be in them. Those upper west side vampires.

And I can't sit. Wait, now it sounds like you want to be a vampire. I do want to be a vampire. Last one for you, Ben? Oh, here we go. The last gross thing I ate was, you know what, I had a, I had a BLT and the bacon smelled a little bit like fish, guys.

Cautionary tale for you guys out there. Watch your bacon intake. That doesn't smell like fish, and that's just, that's coming right from the heart. That's a PSA from Ben and Melissa. Go check out the boss. Thank you guys, as always. It's good to see you both.

Thanks, you too. Thank you. Hi, guys, Danielle Schneider here. Eileen, you've done it again. As you know, Casey Wilson and I are obsessed with all the real housewives. Eileen would be the cheapest, best date, because you could give her Claire's and she would think it's Cardi. So that's why we started Bitch Sesh, a Real Housewives breakdown show. And we've got some really exciting news.

Starting this week, we're going to cover the brand new season of Real Housewives of New York City. Yes. Is Erica here tonight? Maybe she is, bitches. So look for her new episodes every Thursday morning. Bitch Sesh is coming to the Big Apple, only on Ewell. On this podcast, I'll admit you come off like a little nasty. This has been an Earwolf production,

executive produced by Scott Ackerman, Adam Sacks, and Chris Bannon. For more information and content, visit Earwolf.com. American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences, decades or even hundreds of years after they happened. On the Infamous America podcast, you'll hear the true stories of the Salem Witch Trials and the escape attempts from Alcatraz,

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