Happy Sad Confused - Michelle Yeoh & the cast of STAR TREK: SECTION 31

Episode Date: January 27, 2025

Michelle Yeoh leads a ragtag group of misfits in the STAR TREK film SECTION 31 and joins Josh on the stage of the 92Y to discuss her approach to fight scenes, why she stayed with Star Trek, and why she's in every big genre property nowadays. Also featured Rob Kazinsky, Omari Hardwick, and Olatunde Osunsanmi SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Quince -- Go to Quince.com/happysadco for 365 day returns and free shipping! Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes, video versions of the podcast, and more! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is an eight-episode Hulu Original Limited series that blends gripping pacing with emotional complexity, offering a dramatized look as it revisits the wrongful conviction of Amanda Knox for the tragic murder of Meredith Kircher and the relentless media storm that followed. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is now streaming only on Disney Plus.

actor any of you were mistaken for. Does it ever happen? Lucy Liu, Gongli, Z. I did memoirs of a gay shirt. Two days, three days, I was mistaken for every one of them. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Hey guys, it's Josh here.

How's everybody doing? Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. I'm about to take you to another live event we taped at the 92nd Street Y. And this one made my nerd heart very happy. It was Star Trek. It was a Star Trek event, guys. As I say, in the taping you'll see in just a moment, you know, I get to moderate a lot of things and host a lot of things. But it was Star Trek, really.

Star Trek and Star Wars, not a unique story when I was a little kid that got me so excited about movies and TV and I went to the conventions in here in New York City and I stayed in line to get the autographs of all the stars. So anytime I get to host a Star Trek event, there's something special about it. So that's coming up. That's the main event in just a second. I'll talk more about that in a minute. I just want to say hello to you guys. Hope you all are doing well, I myself somehow managed to squeeze in like a 36-hour cold flu between like two events. Like everybody's sick, right?

So it did not, it did not elude me either. I came down pretty hard with a bad cold flu thing. But thankfully, I rallied just in time for the Star Trek events. So anyway, long story short, I hope you guys are feeling all right where you are and you're evading whatever is going around, you might be able to hear in my voice, my nasally tones more so than ever. But I'm fine. I'm okay. Reminders.

We have no events to mention right now, but there's always something cooking, and there are things cooking. So stay tuned for event announcements in New York and perhaps other places for Happy, Say, Confused. As always, go to our Patreon page. If you are so inclined, patreon.com slash happy, say I'm confused. You're going to get all the early access. the upcoming event announcements, ask a question of the stars, get autographed posters. Oh, I was going to show this.

Speaking to Star Trek, got a couple of these. This is the entire cast of Star Trek Section 31. You want a Michelle Yo autographed poster? Yeah, that's badass. So go over to Patreon, all the information it's over there, but with annual memberships, we give away autographed posters from our events, and there are a ton of cool ones to choose from. So check it out, patreon.com slash happy, sad, confused. That's about it. No other big updates. We've got some cool guests coming up. I'll just say it because, yeah, why not?

Key Hui Kwan, because he kind of makes a cameo. He does make a cameo in this episode. Taped a great episode with Key, Academy Award winning actor, Ki Kui Kwan, starring in Love Hurts. So he is the sweetest man on the planet. You'll see. It's his second appearance on Happy second views. It's actually, as he reminded me, I didn't realize this at the time, his first appearance on happy second fuse was his very first podcast. So he's got a special place in his heart for happy, and that makes me very, very, very happy. Okay, so let's talk Star Trek for a second. This event was a live event at the 9th 2nd Street, Y, New York City. This was with the director of Star Trek Section 31, as well as the cast, Omari Hardwick, Rob Kaczynski, and Meshire

I know. Let's hold on that for a second. Michelle yo had never talked to Michelle before in my life. And I am pleased to report, she is amazing. She is amazing. I love her. So damn much. So chill, so cool backstage. Just really easy to talk to and disarming for the international global icon that she truly is. I fell in love with her. I mean, I was already in love with her, but she was fantastic. And you'll see in the conversation, too. She's so charming and funny and self-deprecating. Loved her, loved her, loved her. Five stars, Michelle Yo, keep being you. This is a slight spoiler conversation. So Star Trek Section 31 is on Paramount Plus right now. So the best way to consume this conversation is check out the movie first, because there are some spoilers in here. So I want to give

you some warning on that um this is a new kind of star trek movie this is a little bit more of the guardians of the galaxy mission impossible oceans 11 vibe you'll see it's a different vibe for a star trick thing but we got to try new things guys i love my wholesome you know classic star trek but i also like to see new things so give it a shot star trek section 31 uh it's on paramount plus check out that movie um and yeah let's get right to it like i said a little bit of a spoiled conversation, a lot of laughs, a lot of fun with this great charming cast and director. Star Trek Section 31.

Enjoy. Welcome, everybody. Hi, 92nd Street Y audience. I'm Josh Horowitz. Welcome, guys. This is a live taping of my podcast, Happy Say I Confused, and it's also a very special night because we're technically opening night of Star Trek Section 31, guys. As we tape this.

just a few hours, this movie, yes, this Star Trek movie, the first in many years, is going to be released on Paramount Plus, but this audience in New York City just got a sneak peek, and you guys liked it, I take it, yes? I'm so thrilled you guys are with us tonight. Look, I get to moderate a lot of things for 92nd Street Y and for my podcast, but anytime I get to do Star Trek, I'm going to be honest, it makes my inner geek heart really damn happy. Because I grew up, a Treki. I went to Star Trek conventions. I was obsessed and now to see Star Trek back in such a huge way with this amazing cast and crew. This is going to be fun. We're going to talk Star Trek tonight. What better way to spend an evening, right? Okay. So I want you guys to give a warm New York City welcome. Let's begin with the director of Star Trek Section 31. Owatundee, Ushu Somi. Come on out. Oatundee! You're going to go over there.

Please give a warm welcome to Rob Kaczynski, everybody. Rob. Omari Hardwick, come on out, Omari. And she is an Academy Award winner. She's an emperor. She is an icon. Michelle Yo is with us, everybody. Thank you.

Is that Emily Gonzalez and Casey Rowe? We have some extra cash members in the audience too. We should get some lot too, yeah. Big Night, congratulations, everybody. You guys have been making the rounds, but we're so privileged. You're making the time to chat with us tonight. As I said, technically speaking, we're in the last hours.

This movie is about to drop. How are you feeling as this first Star Trek film in nine years comes out for the world? Did you drop at midnight? Well, you know, yeah. Tonight? Tonight? It's happening.

I don't know. You're just you at 24th, don't you? And you think, well, I don't know. Lunchtime, but no, it's, yeah, it's like in two hours. Brilliant. Look at what I'm doing. Tonight is in midnight. Yeah, yeah.

Well, I know, but I don't know why that didn't occur to me until exactly this moment. Are you still, it's the 24th in London right now? Do you know what? Yes, it is. Maybe it's dropped in London. Has it? Maybe it dropped in another part of the world. You see what happens.

I think, I regret my, I regret the, I regret the question already. God, guys. Here's what I'll say. Congratulations are in order on many fronts. I want to start with you, Michelle. A very big day. Congratulations on Starchic Section 31.

And we should also say, Wicked. Ten Oscar nominations. I guess when it rains, it pours. This is a good day to be Michelle Yo. Yes? Yes, it's a very good day. I must say, I'm so blessed. First of all, let's start with Wicked, because today we had 10 nominations.

I was only a little bummed that John M. Chu did not get nominated, and Alice Brooks our D.P. as well, because they really truly did. We wouldn't be here without them, right? So how'd that happen? Anyway, really, really happy for Cynthia and Ariana. They were, like, sobbing on the phone. We were all crying for all the best good reasons. Yeah. And then, now with my amazing cast, who's that dude over there? No, because he doesn't normally look like that. He's wearing like shorts and flip-flops on set. In Canada, in Windsor.

True. He looks like some surfer dude. And we're filming in Toronto, and you know how cold it can get there, right? But I'm so happy that I got to reprise my role, Philippa Jojo, and then get to work with these. Super talented, talented actors, actresses. I wish Sam, Richardson. I've never seen somebody can sweat on.

On command, a true skill. And Sven, who else am I forgetting? So we had a lot of fun. When we walked on to Ced, we always put our faces out and put it on fun. So speak combining Star Trek and Wicked. Is this a musical cast? Because I remember, Omar, you told me

there was some karaokeing during production. We did karaoke on set and offset. We also, just so you guys know, as much of a powerhouse as Michelle Yo may be, when I say, Michelle, you say... Yo! Sounds like gave me any coaches now. When we did our unofficial rap party,

it was Michelle's night to celebrate us all. She and her friends, her lovely friends, some of whom are here. And we got to go hang out with Michelle, and we did a moment of, I guess, flash dance meets, what else? Dirty dancing. And there might have been a Michelle Yo flying in the air, landing across us. And so it was a very musical cast. It was a lot of fun. We were given permission to just let loose and remain.

And it's a testament to Michelle Yo. She is obviously very elegant, very classy, but she is a riot. And we enjoyed it. We enjoyed it. And let's not forget that we've got a Grammy-nominated member of the cast here as well. That's right.

A lot of talent on this stage, to say the least. Look, I'm sure you can't grow up on the planet Earth and not have Star Trek touch your life. I was saying to this audience how important it was to me growing up. Who's the biggest, who did Trek have the biggest influence on, on the stage growing up? Hmm. Yes, it may well be me, yes. Um, uh, scale of one to 10, one to 10 dilithium crystals, how many did it? 20, 30, 40, I mean, 31. I'm an autistic human being. I was diagnosed at 30 and if you

have the privilege of having that spectrum disorder, you tend to to fixate on things. And for me, it was Star Trek. And Star Trek has been my comfort blanket since I was eight years old. And there's not a single episode that I don't mouth along with. There's not been a moment in my life where I'm not watching one of the shows. It has been the guiding force of morality and who I want to be and how I want the world to be since I was old enough to understand the concept of a world. Star Trek is it. I would imagine each of you had that moment walking onto these sets where it's like, this isn't just another film or TV set.

I'm in Star Trek. Yeah. What's that moment for you? Can you recall? Can any of you recall a I'm in Star Trek moment? Yeah. I probably had a pre-production, and it was just a phone call with, you know, our director, at the helm steering the ship, and that being all the tuned-D. And we had a conversation just about all the historical meaning of what Star Trek has meant.

To Rob's great point, Gene Roddenberry and family, created a world in which you know you draw a line in the sand and you stay on this side and or that side. And it invited in all misfits, all pariah, all outcast, all color, shape, sizes, sexual orientation, gender, religious affiliation. It didn't matter. And so when Tundi said to me, oh, we have not had

a lot of you with your face in the seat that I'm trying to put you in. When he said that to me, I thought, man, you got me at hello. And just for him to entrust in me, that which obviously was entrusted upon, and then Avery Brooks, to LaVar Burton, to Nichols and Zoe Saldana and Saniqua and on and on San Sam Richardson while coerting this opportunity as a fellow African-American man from Detroit, me from Atlanta, two chocolate cities, and for Tune Day to go, bring some chocolate, bro, to this universe. That was a pinch me moment. Just the conversation with my director. I mean, it's in the DNA of the show. It goes back to the original series. You mentioned

Nichelle. I believe it wasn't the first interracial kiss on network television, Star Trek? For you, Michelle, look, this goes back to Discovery. And I know you were brought on, but it wasn't necessarily to be on for season upon season. So give me a little sense of your history with the show and how much you willed this into existence. Because it sounds like we wouldn't have Section 31 if you didn't really say to Alex Kurtzman, make it happen. Well, I'm not quite the nerd. Because the problem with me, I can hardly remember what I did last week, so let alone remember all the different episodes of things

and movies that I love or, you know, TV series. But I did remember very, very clearly right from the start, I wanted to be spark. I don't know why. I always wanted it. I thought he was the coolest thing with the Vulcan pinch and the eyebrow. So when they came calling, I remember, oh, like, Star Trek, yes, hell yeah.

But, of course, I'm very cool. Yeah, interesting. Yeah, tell me about it. And he goes, like, you're going to be like the captain. That's a big deal, right? It's not just you're going to be in the ship, be one of the, I don't know, carrying coffee around. And they said, you're going to be the captain.

That sounded great already. They had me there, and they go, and then I don't know why. Something went and something sounds a little off here. So I said, you're not going to kill me, right? You're not going to kill me off. Then they went a little quiet and they go, uh, unfortunate, yes.

Yes, yes, but listen, okay, Captain Philippa Jojo dies in episode two, I think. That's right. Episode two. What a run, though. Oh, I know. She gets killed, but it's a very dramatic death. She gets, I don't care if it's dramatic. not. She dies, but she gets killed by the Klingon.

After a great fight, I'm like, seriously, guys, I don't want to be just a little bleep on the Star Trek world. I want to be part of the Star Trek family, and everybody will remember me forever and ever, right? Yeah. So then I said, no. But wait, you come back. You know, you get very sad.

skeptical yeah everybody comes back in science fiction and be cloning you i don't know what then they no but when you come back you really come back that sounds intriguing why well spoiler a warning and this this audience has seen it's he didn't make it so he can come back i was reassuring him there are always possibilities that's what the best of you anyway so Yeah, we'll be making. Do you just like to have the dream job presented to you and then they kill you? She does. See, and then I came back.

And the first thing when you see her, you hear her say, don't you bow before your emperor? I thought that was like a rock solid sentence and then you see, and of course my number one. Can you imagine the first episode trudging down the sand dunes? two figures, they unveil themselves and Suniqua, the most amazing Suniqua Martin Green. Right. It was like, I still find it difficult to say, but two minorities. How did we become minorities? I don't know, I'm Chinese, you know. I can't believe I'm a minority anywhere in the world.

Tusha. Right? Let's just talk numbers, guys. guys. But the most important thing was two women, the captain and her number one, and they're Star Trek.

This is Star Trek. This is the essence of what Star Trek is about. So when we finished, I think we haven't even finished filming in season one. I met Alex. I called Alex Kisman. Hey, let's have lunch. Of course, you know, Alex

is the nicest, sweetest, most patient guy in the world, apart from being an amazing director and storyteller and our lord and master. So I said to him, you know, spin-off. He looked at me and was like, spin-off from what? Spin-off, Section 31, Philippa Jojo. And he's like, oh, we haven't even launched Discovery yet. But I had the confidence.

I thought, ah, this is an amazing, the story, the character. so many stories to tell. So I hung on to it. I mean, it's taken years and different iterations, but... Yeah, but good things takes time, you know? And it's worth waiting for, right? Otherwise, yeah. That's right.

I'll say also, it speaks volumes. I mean, you've never been more busy in your life. The opportunities, I mean, justifiably so that you have, and that you said, no, I still want to do this. This is important to me. Tunday, talk to me. You've directed a lot of trek. when this, like how far back in this development process did you go?

Because this was initially going to be a series where you involved then or only when it turned into a movie. Give me a sense of how you got involved in this one. Yeah, I received a phone call from Alex saying, hey, we're going to do a Section 31 pilot, and I'd love for you to direct it. And I thought, okay, great. And he told me a little bit about the conversation he had with Hugh

and that he's going to bring on Craig to write it, Craig Sweeney, who also wrote the movie. And, yeah, we actually had two parallel rooms going. We had Section 31, we actually had a concept meeting on Section 31 while we were shooting the finale of Season 2 of Discovery. So we were doing two at the same time. And then a million things happened from COVID to, you name it. It happened.

other iterations of the series. And then one day, Alex likes to call me and tell me stuff. So it's always something. And he says, we're going to do a movie. And I thought, oh, that is exactly the right way to approach this, given all the things that we were able to learn and excavate from setting up the series, picking out the most salient points, it just felt really right. and so I was attached to the movie and we were able to get it done. Rob, what's a Star Trek audition like versus other auditions?

Is there anything different about auditioning for Trek? Yeah, I mean, it's like any other audition except you're 100% sure you're not going to get it. I was 100%. I was like, well, I mean, what are the chances that I'm going to be on my dream show? I mean, I'll make a bad tape. Who cares? I'm not going to make any effort.

And I really, I mean, I was in my gym gear. I looked like crap. I didn't... I was really... I'm gonna... I've still got it because I've been saving it because I'm gonna run it

next to the scene that it ended up being and boy, are you gonna be like, how did you get the job? And then he's like, yeah, man, you nailed it. Like, oh, thank you very much. It was a...

Yeah, it came out of a bowl out of the blue for me. Can I go back and just say one thing about Michelle Yo? Here we go. What's doing? Ready. This is the... going to drop the bomb. When you win an Oscar, you're the most powerful person in the world.

Your most powerful point in life. And you can say, get me Spielberg. And he'll be like, yes, Miss Yo. And Michelle Yo, and she won her Oscar, she decided that the thing that she wanted to do most was this. Now, as a fan, you want the things you love to be in the hands of people who love it as much. as you do. And if that doesn't show that Michelle Yohentunday and all of these guys love Trek as much as we do, I mean, that made me feel so inspired that you did that and I will forever be grateful that you did. Thank you. adventures and see for yourself how Volvo's legendary safety brings peace of mind to every crisp

morning commute this September lease a 2026 XC90 plug-in hybrid from $599 biweekly at 3.99% during the Volvo fall experience event condition supply visit your local Volvo retailer or go to explore Volvo.com oh this is it the day you finally ask for that big promotion you're in front of your mirror with your Starbucks coffee. Be confident. Assertive. Remember eye contact, but also remember to blink. Smile, but not too much. That's weird. What if you aren't any good at your job? What if they dem out you instead? Okay, don't be silly. You're smart. You're driven. You're going to be late if you keep talking to the mirror. This promotion is yours. Go get them. Starbucks. It's never just coffee.

Look, it honors Trek, but this is a different side of Trek than we've seen before, and I've seen a lot of Trek in my life. Talk to me a little bit about, I mean, creative touchstones. I would imagine stuff like Guardians of the Galaxy, Mission Impossible, like is that stuff mentioned in the creative development process or even on set when you're making this? Yeah, you know, sure, that stuff's mentioned, but, you know, what was really interesting in coming up with the visual design for this was taking a look at, okay, we have a really fascinating, nuanced character in Philippa Giorgio. And what is Philippa Giorgio? She is unpredictable. She's fierce. She's got a bit of wild energy. She's learned kindness. And you take that

those emotions and those adjectives and then you apply it to the visuals. And, you know, it's just the way that I approach directing and visualizing what a movie should be and what it should look like is You either take the, what does the scene mean? And what does the movie feel like? And or you go with the characters.

And then you build out from that. And in this movie, as you saw, we have some very interesting characters. And it was really important to me that the visual design represent that. So what does that mean? It means that, you know, we now have snap zooms, zoom ins and outs for the first time in this modern era of trek. of Trek. It means we've got different colors, bold colors, that are very different from what we've seen on disco or seen on Strange New Worlds or Picard. You know, it means that we've got sets that have a bit more texture than what we would ordinarily see. Each of it going back to character and the emotion of the story.

I'm curious, like, yeah. I mean, this is, I was going to say, as you were talking, I'm like, that makes perfect sense because she's a flamboyant, big character. And, yeah. And from the costume design, the set design, the camera, moves, that reflects Philippa. That's right. And you ripple that through every department. You know, we mentioned Gershah, who's here in the audience. And she did all the costumes. And not only she'd done them in Section 31, she's done them on Discovery,

and may I dare say that has rippled through all of the live action, this era of Star Trek. So, Michelle, do you have a lot of empathy for your character? We see more of the backstory in this. She comes from very dark beginnings, and I guess you can empathize to a degree, but she still has done some despicable things in her life. Thank God I'm not a method actor, right? Sitting where I am, I'm happy, too, yeah.

So do you feel for her? You know, that's the thing. That was the interesting thing about Philippa Giorgio. I was very happy when Craig Sweeney, our writer, I mean, he was hold away for two years, more than two years writing this and tweaking it and all that. But to start the movie with that was such an amazing scene. You all saw that.

Of course you saw that. When you open up and you see this beautiful girl, obviously she's been through a lot. And they draw you into this very intimate family home and that environment of just simple living. but so full of love and heart, right? And then you discover to be the emperor, this is the choice you have to make,

and there can only be one. And how do you, at that point, think anyone can make a choice like that? But like we always say, is it nurture and nature, right? Maybe it's a bit of both to be able to make that step. But they lived in that kind of world was kill or be killed. And we find out very quickly

that Saan, who didn't do that, still had everybody killed and in a worst possible way. But I love that we're two, but one, and that was Tunday. That we reminded you constantly of that love. And so when I see that character like that, Philippa Jojo, I look at that character deep down inside, there is something there.

It was, you know, it's not something that you. made up. It was there and it's always been there. And that's why I think the crew from Discovery saw that as well, much as they knew how all the atrocious things that she did. And even when she comes to the prime, she sometimes said, yeah, just blow them up. What? You know, and she looks at them with disdain like, oh God, you guys are just so hopeless. You can't make up your mind. You can't do things right. Just step out of the way. And that's the amazing thing about her is you never really know when she's joking or she's not, and probably half the time she's not. So to get a chance to play someone like that where you're always

on your toes, but you can't hate her. Because you, as, I think as us as human beings, we empathize. And that what makes us human. And that in us, there's always compassion and kindness. And that's, I think, our superpowers. So for me to explore, to start off with the amazing who was kind and benevolent and much loved, and suddenly, to in this, I don't know what she was, at the beginning, she was just all-powerful and scary, even to me sometimes. But we found those moments where it was huge, funny,

you know, things that came out of mouth was like, I don't know whether to laugh or not, but if I don't, I'm going to cry out of fear. So I did, I did empathize with them, because she was lonely as hell, right? right? She was like the long wolf always, no one she could trust and

it was really, even her own daughter in the mirror universe was ready to kill her. Everybody was ready to kill her at any point. It was only in discovery that she discovered she can, you know, she was being hugged, oh God, she's being like, you know, taken

care of and that was a very, it's good to discover that it deep inside there, you learn to forgive yourself. You learn to forgive you. Yes, sometimes we take the wrong path. But if you think, well, nobody's going to forgive me.

Nobody, I don't care about it, then that's even worse. So this was, Section 31 was a redemption for her. Let's talk about some practical, important stuff. Who complained more? Sam about his contacts or Rob about his costume? Yeah, it's me.

I mean, you cannot compare. You see the point? Contact lenses to a 50 to 60-pound suit made of batteries and pain. And, Rob, don't forget, you also had to wear contact lenses sometimes. And I had to wear contact lenses. Which, by the way, I can't do.

And I was crying my eyes out and having panic attacks about it, but I was like, in Star Trek, we'll wear the lenses. But these guys were amazing. Rob is not high maintenance, but he was high maintenance. but he was high-maintenance in this movie. Dude, yeah. It was not my best hours, but it was my finest. I want to get into some of the amazing fight sequences in the film,

and I want to do it by way of a little video message that I got from an acquaintance. I got a chance to catch up with a mutual Kiwi Kuan the other day, and Key wanted to send in a little hello and message for his Everything Everywhere co-star. Let's take a look, shall we? Hi, guys. Hi, Josh. Hello, Michelle. First of all, congratulations on your brand new movie, Section 31. I'm so excited and I can't wait to see it.

I miss you so much. We had such an incredible time making everything everywhere all at once. And I still, to the stay, you know, I sometimes I still think about that. It puts me, you know, puts me in a great mood. Anyway, you know, I, you have an incredible career. You're such an amazing actress and all your fans knows, you know, the incredible action stuff that you do. And over the years, you have also worked with some really incredible male, you know, male actors that are pretty good with martial arts. For example, you work with Jackie Chan, Chow Yun, Fatt, Donny Yan, Jet Li, and that guy, what's his name?

Yes, Ki Hui Kuan from everything, everywhere all at once. Okay, so my question for you is, out of all your male co-stars, which of them is physical abilities that impress you the most? That is awesome. I can you not answer to him. No pressure. Oh no, I'll just ask them to fight it out. Right. Just sit and watch, man.

That's great. Come on, Jackie. Key and Charles. No, Charles will sit down with me. We'll watch them. Right, yeah. Fight for my love in front of me. That's the way to do it.

I did want to say, I mean, not to go off topic too much, but it's the 25th anniversary of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I mean, an all-time classic. That really changed how we perceived how action could be done for most of the world that hadn't seen it done that way. Was it a game changer for you in terms of you'd done a lot of fighting in films before? But did that change your approach to marriage? sharing action with drama and acting at the time?

I think most important it's Ang Lee who did that. Because the Hong Kong action sequences, the way they choreographed, the way they create, the way they work is very, very different. I mean, today I was on the Drew Barrymore show and she did Charlie's Angels, right? and she said she brought over Master Yun Waping's brother because he was training them.

And it's very, very different. We didn't at that point have the luxury of rehearsal time. So, for example, when I did Crouching Tiger, I have no clue what kind of action sequences I'm going to get into. I just know my character very well and understand what the drama was behind that action sequence. So you get, you're all dressed up, I get there, and I'm standing there with Master Yun Wapengangli

and Peter Powell, our director, our DP, and I'm on top of the wall. Remember that sequence where we're in the wall area? I'm running out of the roof. And then I'm standing on top of the wall, and they go, okay, so you run down this corridor, the side of the wall, up onto the ledge of the wall, and then down the wall, you pick up the stone

and you throw it at the mass fighter, and go, like, down the side of the wall? Okay. I'm martial arts, right? I can do anything. So for us, the learning on the spot was something that I learned a lot

from my days in Hong Kong. So, which helped tremendously now when I go onto a film set so I can spend less time with the rehearsal in the way. But the most important, important thing, like you say, it's the drama that propels it, you know. Otherwise, it's just two arms and two legs, you know, flailing around. But, for example, when we did in Section 31, and thanks to Gersha, with the costumes, right, Tunday, right, and Chris McGuire, our son team, how do we pair them up?

Like the first action sequence, Philippa Georgian, doesn't really give two hoots about why she's doing that. She just wants to get that thing and get He's blot out of her barram. So it's not, I know, it's okay. I love you guys. Never welcome. But, you know, you were like infringing on my thing. No, no, no, it's fair. It's fair.

It's fair. It's fair. So here, what the excitement was, how do we make the fights different? Apart from the drama that pushes it, where the fight sequence with San at the end is high-intensity drama, right? That propelled that kind of fight. So through the collaboration, and it's a real, real collaboration in that sense that we talk about, you know, what's the message here, why are we doing this, we get this, and then they talk about face pots, and I don't know what the hell that was, but then with the costume, we said, well, she's an inventor, and she's had time on her hands, so she's going to make, she's going to be a walking lethal weapon. So the choker, our amazing, glamorous choker

becomes this like dagger, dagger. And Mario, our props master, was like very carefully. Can you imagine our prop master, like putting Sorovsky crystals on the dagger? And then the cape, you wanted the cape, right? I wanted the cape, yeah. You wanted the cape.

And so we figured, you know, she has razor blades all along her cape, right? And then she has these bangles with her sleeves that opens up the fours. field so that when, you know, she can take the hits. So it's a lot of fun to be able to do that. But I think all my years in training with the Hong Kong films, that's really helped very much.

So I can, you know, really sit down and go at it with you guys. But I did enjoy it. I think I do enjoy, like, for example, the high flair of the first one and also the very dramatic one, right, where it wasn't just about fighting and beating, but why we would doing that. We're going to add four more hours tonight so I can listen to Michelle, yo, talk about fight scenes because that was amazing. Sorry, I'm sorry.

I do get carried away. No, no, no, no. That was awesome. But watching these guys do it, it was like, oh, why don't I have muscle like that? I can just crash through a wall. Since we can talk a little bit of spoilers, how did we get Jamie Lee Curtis involved, guys? What happened? That's a nice surprise.

another Academy Award winner joining the fray. Is that an Everything Everywhere phone call? Well, yeah, well, we were, myself, Alex, and Craig were having a conversation about, okay, who should play control? Like, who should be there at the end of the movie? I thought, oh, wouldn't it be great if it was something that we all know and recognize?

And then we reached out to Michelle. You know, is there anybody that you could think of? And then she said... And then, of course, they say, could you call her? That's right. Right? And at first I thought about it. Yeah, we had that conversation.

And I was like, and then I went back and thought, maybe taking advantage of your friend. Exactly. And someone then, I know a very good friend of hers. And I was talking to me, what do you think? Do you think? Take advantage of her. She'd expect you do.

do that. Yeah. And that's what I love about Jamie is like if she, she's very committed and when she's there for you, only if she believes in it. So obviously she did believe in it because she was busy. She was starting her own new movie and but she came. She did it. She was great.

She was great. She came in and killed it in two hours in and out. It was fast. It was actually the first day of principal for Not many people know that, yeah. We shot her first. The very last scene, we shot a big part of it first. We did that for everything everywhere all at once too. Oh! The very last shot we shot on the first day.

So I alluded to this earlier that this is a film that kind of pushes at the boundaries of what TREC has been. And I think that's absolutely necessary as any franchise evolves. I'm just curious for you guys, you know, where do you want to see TREC go? it's great to see to honor kind of the traditions but I don't know I myself I'm excited about seeing Starfleet Academy and I'm see and seeing this and do any of you have votes on kind of like where do you want to see Trek what aspects you want to see and explore in the future that haven't been explored thus far you know that's a great question you know it was we really pushed the limits on 31

and you know I thought Rob and Omari brought something like really special you along with the rest of the cast, and they had these huge footsteps to follow in. Michelle Yo's footsteps, Sinequa, you know, Patrick Stewart, you go on and on. And I thought you guys were just killed it. And I hope you guys really appreciated what they were able to bring tonight. But I'm also, it's interesting, involved in SFA. And it's really interesting examining what's happening with Starfleet Academy. I don't want to say too much and get in trouble here.

but that's it is an interesting way forward and I think there's also a lot of untold stories for Section 31 I was going to say so yeah what's do we see this if anyone's voting here

a series of movies an actual series what do you envision exploring next with America do you think there'll be sequels do you think there'll be a T how many movies are going to do Do you think there'll be a TV show? Can you let us in?

Well, I think first we have to ask Michelle. Michelle, is there going to be a TV series or movie? You didn't hear what I just said. I said I don't care whether it's TV or movie. Just do it. I just wonder we keep doing it, right? As long as we have our fans, we need your support to tell them, yes. Are there any traits from your characters you would like to see in yourselves?

What's a trait in your character that you admire that you could absorb, perhaps? Don't self-censor. You got something. Carl, Michelle, you must have something. You must have something. She murders well. I told you I'm not a method actor, okay? I'm going to come and beat you up afterwards. Wow. I said the thing that I take away from Zeph is his stupidity. I think you can get that.

I admire his kindness and his goodness in the face of being the least intelligent person to make him. Sometimes it's easier in life just to be a little stupid, yeah. Amari, what about for you? He's the true life is the best way. I think it would probably be, um, a lock has a, uh, a... Hot. He's, yeah.

Hot. It's a true, it's a true family. Yeah. He's, you know what? He's a very much a cross teeth. Come on, Michelle. He's very, very, very, you know. much a cross-tie.I guy.

And I'm not as much that. I'm not as much that. I'm super, I execute really well, but I'm not so cross-tee's so, you know, Gershah helps in terms of, could you imagine that? Could you imagine if Tune and Alex Kirchman and everybody hired me just because they liked

the way I looked in Gersh's suit? That means anybody in here could have played a lot. Bro, I know, Michelle ain't telling me I'm hot, so like, you can't take it. Yeah, and by the way, she's not telling me that either. Yeah, yeah, I don't think she said it to him. We're all desperate for Michelle saying we're hot.

So, so in addition to be, except the compliments, yeah. Yeah, in addition to being an amazing talent, you are hot. I need key to, I need key to come back. Come back. Not fair. Hey, working my ass off in Shakespeare, for fucking 30 years. What the hell did that do for me?

You're just hot, buddy. Hot. Great. I'm wasting a lot of freaking money. To be hot. Okay, talented as well. All right, so much for the sequel. You guys are never working together again. This is what the end of a press tour looks like, by the way.

Thank you. Oh, my gosh. Thank you very much. 92 Y. Why? This episode is brought to you by Square. You're not just running a restaurant. You're building something big.

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Michelle, you have become, I mean, no surprise. Every genre film wants you. Not only, you know, Marvel and Star Trek, you're going to be an avatar. You're going to be in a Blade Runner series. I'm very excited about this. Are you gravitating towards that kind of work or is it coming your way?

Is it, are you, what is up with you just occupying this space in the genre world right now, you think? I think we're like Magnus. Have you shot Blade Runner yet? Just so for my nerds. We still have three more weeks left. We've been shooting since last July. Oh, God. Yes, it's been fantastic.

It really is. It's an incredible world. And I'm working with this beautiful, brilliant young actors. Hunter Schaefer. So we, we have fun. She's hot too. Michelle hasn't looked in the mirror lately. I've never seen someone more sad to be called hot. We did not know about Blair. That's the most exciting thing ever.

Castmates, did you guys know about? Yeah, I didn't know. This is... What, Casey? No, but I agree. We didn't. We're just idiots. Oh, the ladies knew. We didn't know about Blade Runner.

We're excited. Where have you been the last few months? Yeah, we're spending another hour talking Blade Runner and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, okay? Yeah. And Avatar. Wow, well, I'm just going to go and be in either the first, second, or third most expensive movie of all, like the biggest grossing movie of all time after the other two avatars. Okay, time is sadly running short, so I'm going to give you guys the happy, say I can fuse for family random questions.

Are you ready? Yep. Here we go, guys. Dogs or cats? Dogs. Dogs. Unanimous. Oh, poor cats.

Sorry, Sam Richardson. Yeah. Oh, he's not representing the cats. Okay. What do you guys collect? What do we collect? Soundstracks. Oh, awesome.

Soundtracks. Soundtracks? Yeah, records for me. Old records. I mean, I collect kind of a thousand different things from a thousand different properties. I've got every version of the Normandy that's ever been, like, minted. I've got, like, crazy action figures. I'm one of you.

You're that guy, yeah. You're at a safe place. It's okay. I'm that guy. I spend all my money on toys. Least surprising news ever. I got you. Michelle, do you collect anything?

Besides awards for everything everywhere all once? Yes, I do, I collect watches. That's okay, that's cool. Crazy watch collection. Yes, you do. Yes, I do. What is the best video game of all time? Gallagher.

Gallagher. Yeah, old school, I like it. Yeah, I'm with you. No, it's not. I just said it was. That hurts his heart for you to say that. But it's not, is it? What are you going to say, Pac-Man?

You can sit there and say Tetris is. What are you going to say, Pac-Man? They're important games, but I mean, have you played Mass Effect? Have you played Horizon? Have you played Assassin's Creed? You see, do you see what we mean by high-maintenance? Like, you can't, like, it's just... We've got to right cast, you're hot and high-maintenance. Gallagher.

Gallagher. Well, I got one from my childhood that I don't know that anybody will ever remember. Super Nintendo Act Razor. No. No, I was... Okay. That got zero votes at the party. Well...

Does anybody have an interesting wallpaper on their phone? What's the wallpaper on your phone? Does it reveal anything about yourself? No? Mine is my dogs. Oh. Yeah. Same. Yeah.

Yeah. Last actor any of you were mistaken for? Does that ever happen? An actor you were mistaken for. Does it ever happen? Lucy Liu, Gongli, Zee. I did memoirs of a gay shirt. Two days, three days.

I was mistaken for every one of them. How about this? the worst note a director has ever given you. What was it? You told me? What did you say, Tunday? Of course, obviously. Yeah, yeah. Oh, you get a reprieve. I was on a show once, and I did a scene. I was feeling pretty good about it.

The director walked up to me, and he just stood in front of me, and he kind of went, he was doing this thing with his hand. He was like trying to figure out how to, he started doing this. And then he just went, you know what? Just be better. Thank you very much. Pete, that was very useful. What was this name? Pete.

Yeah, go to hell, Pete. I think he's teaching in my old drama school. That's amazing. Anything stick out. You don't have to name names. There's any bad direction you've received over the years, Omari, Michelle? There's always bad direction. What's not helpful?

What do you not like hearing from a director generally? When directors start acting. Wine readings, that kind of thing? Yeah, line readings, like actual physical movement of how they want your face to like stop. I'm going to act, you're going to direct, and we're just going to do it. Yeah. No, I don't like directors when they're not prepared. You know?

Because when you're on set, you're wasting everybody's time. And when the question starts coming out, why do you do this? What's the motivation? Like, hell no. And finally, in the spirit of happy, say I confused, the name of my beloved podcast, an actor that always makes you happy. You see them on screen, you immediately light up. You're in a better mood.

Oh, that is a great question. Yeah. What do you see on? You see, no, an actor, a particular actor, whenever they're on screen, on screen, you're in a better mood. Is there an actor that you always gravitate towards? I, yeah, one, rest in peace, James O. Jones always made him. Great one. Yeah. Robin Williams.

He was... Robin Williams comes up a lot. He is a frequent answer. I always love Audrey Hepburn. Nice. Well, excluding current company, Denzel Washington. Excellent. Imagine a film with those four. Which one? Those four?

Yeah. Can you imagine that? I'm saying, like Tunei just named Denzel and so he's saying even when he's like, King Kong, ain't got nothing. You're still happy. I'm still happy. I'm still happy. I'm still happy.

Do it again. A movie that makes you sad always makes you tear up, makes you emotional. What movie makes you sad? Shawshank Redemption Shawshank Redemption That's a good one I feel hopeful too But it makes me sad

I was talking about this today actually I was doing a podcast And we got into this moment I was a Katie Sackoff's podcast And we were talking about Moana And you know You know that bit at the end

where she's got the heart of Tofiti And Tefiti is rushing towards her And she's so crazy angry and Moana's singing, I can see it inside. And he's just like, you're just like, no, don't. Like, give her her heart back. And like, it just brings a tear.

We were literally crying about it on the pot. I mean, it's sad, but it's absolutely like, Moana. I am such a stereo. You're such a. And unless you have an answer, I have a final question. That's okay. And final question, most importantly, a food that makes you confused. You don't get it.

Why do people like that? What's up with that food? Yeah. Got one? Escargo. Oh, okay. Oh, come on. He's calling you out.

He's going to get escargo tonight, right after that. Sardines are confusing to me. Sardines, okay. Same family. Yeah, same thing. Rob. Turkish delight. Oh, yeah.

What is, that's not a sweet, what is it? It doesn't taste, it's just powder and gelat it. It's horrible. Your voice is cracking. There's no delight in it. It's all, like, it's misery. Oh, you're enraged. Thank you guys for coming to see our comedy show.

Close us out, Michelle, a food you don't get. Kous-k-k-k-oos. There it is, guys. Like Harrison. I can't bite into it. Where'd you get that question? That's a great question. Well...

There's always one in the group. What about you? Food. I'm not a beats person. I can't get behind beats. Because you're confused. Oh, I love beats. Because you think you're dying later that night, right?

You think you're dying. You think you're dying later that night. Right. The super hot Omari Hardwick and the cast and director of Star Trek Section 31, everybody. Spread the Good World on Paramount Plus. Thank you for coming out tonight, guys. 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.

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