Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - James Bond’s BILLY MAGNUSSEN: Hunger for Purpose
Episode Date: November 2, 2021Quite possibly the most charming ‘bad guy’ Billy Magnussen (No Time to Die, The Many Saints of Newark) joins me this week to discuss his process of overcoming fear, taking risk in a world of rando...m chaos, and how he approaches an “eff me” attitude when it comes to the roles he plays. Billy talks about his new gig in The Sopranos universe in the HBO Max series the Many Saints of Newark and some pretty interesting challenges he’s had to face on and off set for it. We also talk about his intense fight scene with Daniel Craig in the new James Bond film No Time to Die, his hilarious encounter meeting Meryll Streep, and trying to cultivate lasting relationships in Los Angeles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum.
I hope you enjoy your week.
I hope I thank you for sharing your time with us here on the podcast.
Ryan's here with me.
Hello.
Ryan, how you doing the day?
I'm okay.
How are you?
Doing pretty good.
We had an early podcast this morning.
We did.
And now we're gearing up to do these ads and things like that.
So we can keep the show going.
I appreciate everybody listening.
It means a ton to me.
also we're going to be getting right into billy magnuson here in a second from no time to die the new bond movie made for love on hbo many saints of newer the guy's rocking it he was a great interview i had a ball talking with him what a what a pleasurable just a good human being yeah it's pretty cool and uh i think you guys will really enjoy this podcast um a shout out to all my patrons if you want to help the podcast out a little more there's a lot of perks and fun stuff and uh that's patreon dot
slash inside of you, P-A-T-R-E-O-N, patreon.com slash inside of you.
Also, I'd love for you to, if you're here for Billy, to subscribe to the podcast.
You can watch it on YouTube, you can listen on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and anywhere else you get your podcast.
And what are our handles, Ryan?
At Inside of You Pod on Twitter, at Inside of You podcast on Instagram and Facebook.
That's it.
It's very simple.
And keep this podcast going.
I ask for your help.
Your, what's the word?
Support.
support would be the right word.
It's good word.
Really fun interview.
Anything going on here in the next week?
I'll be at the L.A. Comic-Con on December 4th and 5th.
Tom Willie and I are doing a small little night.
So if you're in L.A., you might want to see that.
It's a really great little two-man show that we do,
and we're going to be signing autographs that weekend at the L.A.
Comic-Con.
So get your tickets.
Get your tickets.
And also, November 20th, November 20th,
we're going to be doing a stage it my band sunspin you go to sunspin.com get tickets you
can watch it virtually we do two shows 2 p.m. 6 p.m. Pacific standard time on Saturday
November 20th and it is on the 20th isn't it isn't that right I hope so I I would hope so
that's all I have to say fucking hell jeez Ryan you okay over there it is it's a 20th uh fuck it
let's just get right into it let's get into uh this guy he's uh I'll let you uh let you listen and let
you decide. I'm babbling, so I'm going to get right into it. Let's get inside of Billy
Magnuson. It's my point of you. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum.
Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum was not recorded in front of a live studio audience.
Dude, the first thing I want to say is Ryan here, my engineer, the first thing he said was
he's got you have a podcast who you oh it's uh my buddy put it together uh kyle chevron and
lemorn morris lemorn was on the podcast lord's a great guy lemorn's a great guy he's a great guy he's hilarious
he's hilarious he he they wrote like a scripted podcast so it's like a bunch of episodes and you're on
it yeah are you one of the hosts no it's not like that it's scripted so it's a story about like a
it's a throwback 80s action like comedy that's uh just scripted out great
Donors just like, but how did you get Rick Ashley to do the music for it? I don't know. I don't know.
You don't know Rick? That wasn't my job. That wasn't my job. But you know who Rick Ashley is. Of course I know. Rick roll people all the time. Never going to give you off. Never going to let you down. Never going to run around and desert you. All right. Now you're a singer. You do Broadway. I did Broadway, but not not singing wise. Like that what those people do, eight days a week singing is unbelievable. I've done theater just like live.
A lot of theater.
Straight plays and stuff like that.
I mean, come on.
You got nominated for a Tony.
Luckily, yeah, it's crazy.
It's such a weird, weird thing.
Again, you just kind of go through your career and do what you do and kind of shit just happens.
And stay humble.
At least, I don't know how to do anything else.
Have you gone into any asshole phase?
Because you're in your 30s.
I mean, have you gone into like, hey, I'm fucking cool as shit?
I'm like, I went and I'm sure those stages were like, hey, all right.
And then you realize, hey, shut the hell up.
You're an idiot.
No, I, probably my whole life has been the asshole stage, you know, like all my jobs are like
cast as like the asshole. Are you mostly cast as the asshole? I feel like I play the villain
a lot more than the hero. So it's always... I never would have thought that I would have thought
you were a leading guy, guy next door, the good guy. I could see you play to Jeffrey Dahmer.
Oh, Jesus. Can you see the Jeffrey Dahmer though? Thanks. I really appreciate... Well, you kind of like have
his resemblance to him or resemblance. I don't know.
what he looks like he's a good looking dude i'll google him i mean he's a serial killer yeah but
that's not good that's not that's not that's not can i say something about you so i don't know
look we never met each other before i know and like when was small bill smallville smallville was like
2001 to 2011 or something um i don't know what it is man but you stuck in my head for years i never
watched the show or maybe like came across that episode once and you were in it and i don't know
there's just actors in this world that like stuck with me and you were one of them and i don't know
exactly why you know where you just like i mean that's a good thing yeah you really i think they're
um you have a quality that i think some of my characters have is this like it's a the bad guy
but he's so charming at it you know i appreciate that there's something that's the key it's the key is
to, I always say is play it grounded and you don't, no one shows off their evil. They cover it.
Yeah. Well, no one's the villain in their own story. That's one of my famous lines in the,
and I am the villain of the story. It was one of my favorite things to say. Thank you. Well, you kind of
did that. I saw it, because I saw it Made for Love. Oh, yeah. HBO series. Yeah. No, and I want, like,
he's, and you're, the character's like really framed as a, he's a bad guy, but like, you, for some
reason by the end of it you're still kind of likable and it was kind of frustrating to watch i was like that's
good that's the point right again no one's the villain in their own story so maybe that's why you're
getting cast so much in roles because you have this likeability and they're like oh we could see him
play that guy but like he'll you'll like him you'll like instantly hate him i i guess i don't know
do you ever go into a project being like is this the character if they're going to love or hate i you
just kind of like play the scene and play the story more than anything i so you don't have an agenda like
when you go into it you just say hey these are the lines i'm going to hit my mark i'm going to play it a
certain way i mean how does that work for you yeah i would say more than anything like as in i don't
know if you feel this way as an actor i've said this quote so many times but you're color in someone
else's palette you could be the best blue but you can only be blue right but again you could
work with them as much as you can but you're not the the painter yeah you're just the color i mean
you've i mean you're doing all this great stuff the many saints of new work that just came out yeah no
time to die working with Daniel Craig i mean i read that i'm just like you got so many things going but
i want to take it back i want to see like did you always want to be an actor from a from a young age
no no i just uh no i didn't know what i want to do when i was young i was what did you do when
you were young like everybody else were you played out in the in the woods you know i went like road
bicycles i don't know really it wasn't um yeah it wasn't i wish i had something that was crazy
I had definitely like ADD or something
that was just all over the place.
Don't we all?
Don't we all?
But yeah, it wasn't,
I was never afraid to be on stage, I guess.
Like, if like our school was doing something,
they would always ask me to emce just because I would be the only kid
that would be like, okay, I'll do it.
How do you emcee a show?
I don't know, it was like whenever you were a kid.
I'm Billy Magnuson and you're watching Into the Woods.
PS 97, hey.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
doing a bunch of, I don't know.
You just had charisma at a young age?
I guess.
I don't know.
Now, listen, were your parents very supportive?
Like, you know, I had, I come from dysfunction.
So, you know, I could talk all day about my family.
But those that listen know that I have that.
Did you have any kind of dysfunction or were you just, did you have a normal upbringing?
I don't know what's normal.
I had mine.
What do you remember?
I come from a big, like, Catholic family in New York.
You know, there was my dad.
had like seven sisters and two brothers and then the amount of cousins I had growing up in New York
and they were all my grandma Ruth was like that was my grandma really I have Ruth I'm tattooed on
my arm oh beautiful Ruthie is she still with you no she's she's sadly passed yeah mine too years ago
she was a blessing yeah I got the other one though the Lithuanian one what's her name
Oetelia my Oetelia Oetelia Oetelia Oetia she's Lithuanian she has that accent she talks like this
yes we call her Maltula what is motula man it means loved one because Buna is Buna is
is grandma in Lithuanian, but we say Motula.
Because she was like, I'm not gonna be called grandma.
Don't you dare do that.
Right, right.
Don't age me.
Yeah.
I never meet someone with a grandma Ruthie.
In fact, I do this thing on Instagram
where I do this Snapchat, like grandma looking woman.
And I'm like, hi everyone, it's Aunt Ruthie.
And I do this whole thing.
Did she have the New York accent and all that?
My grandma, oh yeah, she didn't.
She always had a big cigarette in her mouth,
a big ash that was about to fall.
And I go, hey, you're gonna burn the house down.
Get out of here.
I'm not burning the house down.
But you, so you had a big family.
Yeah, so I grew up just, and there was a lot to sift or fight through, I guess, you can say.
But I think it was very supportive.
But once she passed away, the family, like, spread out a lot more.
Isn't that something that's what happened with my grandmother.
When she died, everybody, there was no more meeting place.
Yeah, the matriarch was gone.
And now everybody kind of like spread out and live their own lives.
It's kind of sad, though, those days where you're all together and you're eating and you're bitching and people are
arguing in the kitchen over.
Oh, it was crazy.
It was always, there was never a dull moment, you know.
There was always something going on.
And I do miss it.
And, like, I think I crave that as an older man.
Like, I would like to have that again.
Do you think you want to have kids in a family?
Hell yeah.
You do.
Yeah, 100%.
I want to do the whole thing.
But you have to be in a relationship.
I have to do that, yeah.
And right now, you're single.
Yep.
That's what I am.
Hey, buddy.
Perpetually single.
I mean, L.A. is a tough city.
Why is it so tough?
Is it, you know, people in the Midwest always say, you know, my friends.
where I grew up in Indiana. I was born in New York, but they always were like, you know,
why aren't you married and why aren't you? And it's just, it's different. In the Midwest, it's
the mentality of like people wanting family and there. It's just, I guess, I don't know if there's
that much more to do. Maybe LA, there's just so much scenery and there's like, oh, there's this.
I don't, I think the city just naturally gravitates people who are on an individual journey
more than anything. And that's the priority over a partnership. Selfishness is what you're saying.
there's a yeah yeah i would say so well i guess like if you want to have a career you have to do
everything you can to have that career and if something impedes that which is crazy because
i i think all this shit is chaos and there's opportunity and it's either you swing when you got
the opportunity or you don't you know yeah and i i'm not afraid to like fail you know are you really
not afraid to fail i think like this tattoo i got it's you failed i always no
It reminds me that my friends are assholes
But what is it? What does it say? It's just a string
It's a string I thought it was actually a string
Yeah, no, it's a string and like you have other friends that have that? No, because they were like
We were like graduate college and you know, they're like let's get tattoos
We were drinking off the wagon down McDougal Street in New York
And I was like, okay, I'll go first and I got my tattoo and my fucking buddies didn't do it
And I'm like, are you fucking kidding me dudes? Were you drunk? Of course. You're 22 in New York
just going crazy yeah and they didn't get it so it shows you how much they care about you
bill and i still love them yeah you still love them even though they didn't but it it represents
facing a fear i for some reason any time i've been very like i don't know if a big fear is in front
of me i have to go right into it that means i have to do it really no matter how scared you are
even if it's like karaoke or something okay i hate it and because i'm so scared of it i'm like
god damn it i have to do it right yeah but
it's like that's kind of been my driving force anything that like puts me off weirdly i'm like
that's where i'm going have you failed yeah plenty of time you have what have you failed at
failed at so many things um specifically i think trusting yourself a lot that's where failure comes from
when you don't trust yourself isn't it yeah i think so it's where you like avoid something that's
deep inside you and you'll keep pushing it down or hiding from it.
And that's a big, I think that's the biggest failure.
What is, what is that, what is that, what is that, what's the one thing that scares you?
The one thing you're afraid of failing at.
Not trying.
God.
I mean, you're such, that's such a good attitude.
Not trying.
I think I don't try sometimes because I'm like, I do not want to sit myself up for a failure.
There's that quote.
Like the, the biggest regret is not trying or something like that.
Yeah.
I would rather regret, I would hate to regret not trying, like to not see where it goes,
not go on the adventure, not go around the riverbed, you know, I've got to go into Pocahontas.
But you had to learn that.
Like, I mean, you had to have like, where your parents loving were like, Billy, I love you,
I'm proud of you.
They were like that.
They were affectionate and like, I remember going to church like as a kid and, you know,
we would hug my dad all the time and my mom and people would come up to him and be like, wow,
your sons are so affectionate towards you and right it just kind of was the households we were in see
not me dude i'm sorry what's the trauma i never kissed we don't all have traumas we definitely
no i know but i never kissed my father my father never looked at me and said i love you i'm proud of
you you you're doing great uh whatever you do i'll support you i never heard any of those things so
really it's surprising that i'm even here talking to you right now well that's that shows the the
the strength that you have within you already. You don't need it. But sometimes you have to look at
that strength and go, look what you accomplished. Look what you. That's what I need to do more is kind of
look at, look at that. Look at what you've done. Look what brought you here. Look how you got here.
Yeah. But did it. Do you take the time to reflect? Do you ever celebrate yourself? I think you do
with the 50 top bachelor. Oh God. That's the one. You said don't bring it up. Go ahead. Say it.
No, no. Tell them what you see. I see a lot of cool things. Well, there's only one
thing of me up there too there's a picture of me and steve martin but there's a picture of me with
the 50th most eligible bastard that's the only picture of me i have in the house the rest are just
movie stuff and but it's the podcast room and it's in a distance and the one thing you see that makes
everybody listening think that i am ego and i don't find that at all i don't think you are at all
no i mean we all are we all can be we all can be but you have to you only got one point of view
yeah i guess that's true so what was it that got you really in acting what was it
besides you started emceeing like in high school for for things no it wasn't i was a big jock i was
actually i was i was a big wrestler i did football i wrestle too really weight class uh
i was such a low weight class that i was 16 and 1 and 12 of them were forfeits because no one
weighed that little no one was that light so i was like i'm 16 and 1 i was like nobody could wrestle
you you weigh 8 pounds i mean i was a really small kid in my high school i graduated i think you're
taller than me, man. I'm six foot now, but I grew after a high school. I grew like eight inches or
nine inches. Were you always in shape and always tall and always? No, I think I'm built like a brick
shit house. But you're solid? Solid. Yeah, yeah. So I was like 160 as a freshman. Are you kidding
me? Yeah. So you played, you wrestle? Were you a good wrestler? I was pretty good. My brother's the
real one. He was the heavyweight state champion in Georgia. But, wow. Yeah, dude. Now, wait a minute.
We forgot something. What's up, bro? Your dad was a kickboxer? Yeah, a professional kick.
boxer yeah he did so did he toughen you up um he taught me a lot of martial arts i think
again like in the 80s and 90s martial arts was like a huge huge thing right after the karate kid
yeah and then so he kind of brought me into that fold growing up i remember like having to walk
to get my like yellow belt uh i think like six miles in the snow in new york because he's like this
is going to make you a man are you serious a frozen man i don't think he ever said those words but i think
it was like for him he was like this is a journey my son must take you know yeah he just a kid
being like i don't want to jeez did you get picked on at school at all or you were always a bigger
kid so you didn't get really bullied no i just i'm not looking to fight anyone i also like
trap like we moved out of new i left new york at eight years old and moved down to
miami went to georgia after that so i was like i was always the new kid in school weirdly
and you got to like redefine yourself a little bit.
I think, I don't know, do you have friends from kindergarten still?
No, I have a friend from my, when you say friend, do you mean someone you still hang out with?
I guess.
I know a lot of people at my age that know people that they've went through a whole grade system with their whole life and they're still friends.
And you're like, I never had that.
I never had a solidifying group growing up.
It was always malleable and changing and like long-term relationship.
are tough for me.
Maybe that affected you.
Maybe somehow right now, it's like you're always
perpetually, you're just, you're moving,
you're changing, you know, because as an actor,
you got to go different places, you've got to film,
you got to leave for three months.
And that's hard to have a relationship with someone
who is not really comfortable with themselves
or trust is a big thing.
You know, all they hear in tabloids
is, oh, this actor cheated or this actor did this or this, you know,
actress.
Well, I'm not, that's, I don't do that.
Well, I'm just saying malleable.
Like, you know, it's like, you know, yeah, I don't do that either.
Yeah.
I mean, when I was younger, I mean, if I went off and did a movie, I usually didn't have a relationship.
I never, I never have relationships.
What am I talking about?
I mean, I do, but they just never work out.
I'll be.
I think you'll find it someday.
You do?
I do.
I hope so.
Yeah.
Because, I mean, I'd like to.
I think it's about choice a lot of times.
It's a choice you make every day.
I think.
Tell me more.
Tell you more.
Well, you seem to have.
some knowledge of those. I have no knowledge
because it doesn't seem to work out for me.
Well.
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the Rocket Money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show. What were we talking
about? I don't know. Life. We were talking about life. Life. Life. I mean, so your dad was a kickboxer
and what was your mom doing? She was like an aerobics instructor.
you had this athletic family doing jazzercise in the house while your dad's kickboxing so he was more
of a carpenter and like i remember i think he like won a fight and he really like beat someone up
and there's actually he's a um a plaque that's on my birthday five years before i was born of him
like standing over a guy and that was his like let's fight because he just he's like i can't do this
it was different from sparring sparring you're not hurting someone right and like
he hurt someone. And he was like, I can't do it anymore. Did he teach you that, like,
sort of about like, you know, you don't want to hurt someone, you don't want to start fights,
you don't want to, was he a good role model in that regard? Yeah, yeah. I think he definitely
stand up for your beliefs and stand up for who you are, but there's no need to escalate
things into physical. Right. Don't get me wrong. I've been in fights, but you can take care
of yourself though? You have to. But you can, you can stay on your own. Yeah, of course.
You have to. Have you lost a fight? Yeah. You have. Yeah. I've won too.
You've won.
Feels good to win.
It's, you know, I'd rather not be in a fight.
The people choose fights with you because you're a handsome guy.
They're like, hey, pretty boy and they want to like, dude, last night.
I went to a concert last night.
What concert?
Hall notes?
No, it was at the Fonda.
This band tennis, I don't know.
It was a buddy's friend.
I'm a friend of a buddy's band.
Right.
And I remember just like, you're like, shit, let's go dance.
Let's go dance in the pit or whatever.
And starting to dance.
And people in fucking L.A.
we're not dancing and elbowing a girl legitimately pushed her like dropped her drink on me
there and I was like what the fuck is going on like are we not at a concert can we not dance like
what's that about it's like a mosh pit I don't know what it is about I don't know so what you do
laugh laugh you just laughed you didn't say hey what the fuck you know I was like I'm gonna keep
dancing what you can't ruin my time yeah if you're having such a shitty time you can't
bother me. People try to ruin my time all the time. I'll be at a concert. And what do you do when you
go to a concert, Ryan? You dance. You listen to music. You dance. You stand up. You enjoy yourself.
Yeah. Right. So I'm at a concert, a lot of concerts. And maybe because I listen to like light
70s and 80s music. But I'm there to watch haul and oats or Lionel Richie. And I'm going to dance
in the ceiling. I'm up there and they're like, dude, you got these assholes in the back going,
sit down. And finally I turn around and I get mad. I go, I'm about a fucking concert, dude,
enjoying myself why don't you go home with your fucking binoculars yeah what are you doing here
watch a DVD or the people that bust out the camera phones and they start recording the concert you're
like what why'd you come why don't why wouldn't you just watch it on the concert you too right
I think there that is a big thing with society right now that we are so separated from the
moment and like where we are it's all about being present it's so hard too I try so hard I'm
listen to Eckhart Toll, you know, and I'm like the power of now in the car.
And, you know, it's like, I got a good one for you.
Please.
Michael, Michael, a singer.
It's, um, write that down.
Something surrender, living from a place of surrender.
And what did you learn from that book?
Um, that everything's a gift.
Every moment's a gift.
Because to, to have this moment, fucking supernova's 13 billion years of reality had to happen for
this moment to happen and you have nothing you can't affect it at all you can just observe it and
experience it so just living your life every day and being grateful and thankful yeah i'm not saying
it's easy because you're a constant battle with this guy up here yeah but and your feelings and
do you say gratitudes in the morning do you pray do you anything learn from your catholic days going
to church no nothing like that i think i i'm fortunate to just kind of have that when i wake up in the
morning. I love, I love it. I love feeling that sun. I love making my cup of coffee and it's like my
favorite part of the day. What do you do to, to be present? What do you, what things do you do you do?
Are you saying like, yeah, like some people will go to the beach. Some people will go to go hike.
Some people will do nothing like me. I identify things. I say, what are the color of your eyes? What's the
color of your shirt? I just try to really just be here and like, I'm colorblind. Are you? I am. What color
your eyes blue they are blue yeah but like even that just like name things and just be like
where am i here instead of being stuck in my head like what's around you do that unconsciously
subconsciously no sometimes you have to force you it's a battle all the time don't you think yeah
like i'm here i like your hat yeah i like uh your headphones look good on your head thanks buddy this is
a nice jacket you have ryan you have good uh good head of hair yeah take your shirt off bud
yeah take your shirt off ryan yeah let's really be let's really be let's really be
be present. If we're going to be present, give us a present. So, all right, talk to me about
like when you got into acting and how that story. You want, let's keep going into the acting.
See, this is like also the thing that drives me crazy about L.A. It's like, as we talk about,
but you know what? Let's talk about this, though. You did soap operas. I loved it.
As the world. But see, that, that frightens me. That's one of my biggest fears because of the amount
of dialogue you have to learn for a soap opera. Oh, yeah, 40 pages overnight. Do you have a
photographic memory? No, it was a muscle. But the guy that played my dad,
in that show, he would literally have three pages of dialogue and they would, I don't know if you
ever did a soap opera. No, look at me. Do I look like I could be in a soap opera? Yeah, why not?
Because I wasn't beautiful looking. Dude, you're so talented. Again, you stuck with me. You
or at least from my opinion, I think you're talented. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that.
Well, I just never, I remember auditioning for soap operas when I was in New York for like days.
Oh, you're in New York? Yeah, I was born in New York. And then I moved to Indiana and then I went to
college in kentucky and then i moved back to new york but i remember auditioning for like days of our
lives and yeah um because i like days of our lives stefano and those characters but uh i never got a
call back never nothing for so far which is probably you know i'm glad because all that dialogue but
but talk to me about that um i was the guy who played my dad he was so good they would go three
two one in action and he would literally have the pages and they'd go three two one he'd put it in
his shirt and he would have the whole thing members how is that possible if i had that gift
I'd be fearless too.
But it's a muscle.
I have to admit, like, when I was doing it at that time, like, the first few months was
like, it was tough.
Were you stressed?
At first.
And then once you go, fuck it, you let it go.
All of a sudden, it was just like a muscle memory.
You knew what was going on.
You're there.
Not saying I hit the line every time, but you got finally an understanding, especially
being in a TV show, the length you were, didn't become like just kind of second nature.
It did become more of a muscle, but I always worried about it.
I always wanted to know my lines.
The biggest fear, I'm doing a movie coming up and like, you know, if I don't have the lines on me, if I don't have the script, if I don't have, they wait, if they're changing things. That's a big fear of mine. I'm like, I want to know it so well that I can move around. I can pick up this glass right here and I could just talk to you while I'm doing my lines because I know them so well. And I always read a lot when I was younger about, you know, I wouldn't say I read a lot, but like, you know, watching, you know, Anthony Hopkins talk about acting or Michael Kane and saying,
Learn your lines.
That was a terrible cane.
But, you know, the more you know your shit and not just going, oh, I got them.
Because sometimes I see people in the makeup trailer and they're learning their lines.
And I'm like, how can you be great if you're just learning your lines now?
How can you be great?
I don't want to be good.
Well, I think you're exactly right.
How can you be great when you do it that way?
Right.
Dude, I think that's the trick.
I remember doing a play.
It was a two-hander in New York.
and I spent before the first table read I had I hired someone to just come and read half the play with me every day and I just read it I never I never memorized the line I just read the half the play every day and by that first table read I didn't even have to look at the script are you serious yeah how smart is that that that was probably the best thing I ever figured out to do like I didn't think it like I was just like I don't want to be unprepared and then once you get to that point you do get to throw it
all the way it's just it's there that's true i always remember that the more you do a play the more
you rehearse the more you read it you kind of get the lines yeah once you know the story and
you're like you know but you never have to think about it right yeah that's a that's like getting
into any character i think it's it is the three months or two months before that you're just
doing everything for muscle memory you're just letting like when i did polly like just sitting in that
fucking i would take a shower polly on uh the many saints of newark which is now on
HBO max which you can watch which you guys got to check out but learning those
mannerism it was just i had to live with them over and over again so once i got to set with all
those shit and all the blah blah blah i didn't have to think about those body or my manorisms
or the lines or the way he spoke his cadence and all that stuff but you did like you knew this guy
you met this guy who played no i only met him finally uh or tony uh he was just on
set one day and stuff like that but it was all before i was just like watching youtube video oh you watch
interviews and i like i was like i got to figure out who tony is not not polly walnuts you know right
because obviously i think the line the line between tony and polly is very thin was he like uh
you doing it all wrong what the fuck i do that what are you doing no not at all how you doing
hey thanks for doing this you're playing me how cool is it this like kind of like thing to the side you
always talked to the side of his mouth with this lisp so that's what you did
do that again that was cool how you did that you just i i'm doing like a bill murray from catty
i haven't done it it was two years ago i did this thing so it's like really and it just came out now
muscle memory man right wow i think i don't know so what you do you just kind of i don't know
he had this thing and i just saw i away his mouth sat he was five the best line i ever heard
was like i loved that cuck-sucker like a brother and then he fucked me in the ass
is that paul one of your lines no that's just him from the show and i was just like
david chase writing that line is brilliant because like it's just the most absurd
absurd line when you audition for this i read somewhere that you didn't even like you never
had seen sopranos no i never no i had never seen it and i auditioned for a different
character in the film and i didn't get it i failed i didn't get it did they just offer you the other
role and they were like hey would you be interested in trying this route and i was like okay and
And then I did you audition for that?
No, I didn't.
You didn't?
Not that time, no.
But because I auditioned for another character.
So you came to set, like knowing what you're going to do.
And sometimes that's hard when you get an offer and you get on set and you're starting
to do this mouth thing.
Like, you know, I'm doing this.
Well, it's okay.
There's like a roadmap when you have to, the character kind of already existed.
So you're just kind of falling.
But they were excited to see what you were bringing to it.
No, they were not.
They hated me.
What?
Get out.
Get out.
Oh, it was challenging.
What do you mean?
it was a challenging one that's all i can say you can just say it was a challenging role no it was
the other stuff was challenging it was just challenging being on set yeah it was just like there was a lot
of cooks uh that i'm gonna leave this you can leave that alone i can leave it alone but overall did you
love the other actors you were working on oh that's the thing like the crew the guy the crew and the
the other actors were fantastic world theater guys so we had like this we we had a what
not nomenclature,
where you could speak the same language
and we can talk about
and the trust in the space
was wonderful because everyone is doing
some weird shit.
Right.
You know?
And yeah.
But how do you trust yourself
when you're the people around you're not kind of like
you're like you're just doing your lines.
You're reading them.
You're acting them out.
You're trusting yourself.
Is it hard to trust yourself
when there's some chaos going on,
whatever that was?
Of course.
So you just stick with it?
No, you just let go.
What are you going to do?
You're there?
You're going to do what you're,
I've got such a good attitude.
Yeah.
Billy Magnuson.
He's got such a good attitude here.
Thanks, man.
What was the hardest part about that, about doing that part, about being in the many
saints of Newark?
I think it was letting go.
It was like, just keep going down this avenue.
Just keep going.
Like, this is what you rehearse.
This is what you practice.
This is what you prepared.
So trust it.
You've done this process and so many other projects.
Why don't you just continue down it?
It's challenging.
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Ever wonder how dark the world can really get?
Well, we dive into the twisted, the terrifying, and the true stories behind some of the world's most chilling crimes.
Hi, I'm Ben.
And I'm Nicole.
Together we host Wicked and Grimm, a true crime podcast that unpacks real-life horrors, one case at a time.
With deep research, dark storytelling, and the occasional drink to take the edge off,
we're here to explore the Wicked and reveal the Grim.
are wicked and grim follow and listen on your favorite podcast platform do you watch yourself yeah
does a carpenter look at a table after he built it yeah but there's some some actors who don't like
to watch themselves i think that's weird man it is i think it's weird too and i think it's bullshit i think
every actor says no i don't watch myself they watch themselves i guarantee yeah of course they do
because again you can't see what you're doing you can't learn or you can't grow unless they
really don't and you're like that's why they do the same thing over and over
again yeah yeah you have to you have to be invested in yourself not in like a selfish way but like
this is your in the acting career like we are the product that's what sucks like you are the
product so you have to constantly mold it and shape it and work on it and right which is exhausting
i the problem i had actually one of my biggest failures was uh connecting myself worth to my
career and i hate that feeling explain that explain that
Your self-worth to your career.
Like, are you worthy?
Are you good enough to be this part, to be a successful actor, to be someone that people
want to hire?
No, you know this game is a, it's a game of knows.
How many knows have you gotten?
A million.
I'm waiting on a no today.
I'm honestly waiting on a fucking no today.
I hope it's, it's at least maybe.
Trying to sell a show I pitched and wrote.
Oh, good luck, man.
And I felt like the, you know, the president was in the meeting.
and I felt like he loved it.
But like, you know, I'm so used to rejection now that it's just like, how am I going to
prepare me?
And usually I'm like, okay, let's go to the next one.
Let's go the next one.
But sometimes you go, this was, this was, is it me?
Or no, well, maybe.
But no, it's like, this is too good.
What's the problem?
Yeah.
What is, sometimes you get.
And it probably sometimes has nothing to do with actually the project.
That's what's crazy.
And that's what I'm saying, like, like disassociate yourself from the product.
like the career how do you do that i have no clue man you're still you're still wondering about that you still have
self-doubt you still like of course you do you do of course again but all you can do is let it go
you say that so freely like i just let it go do you really just let it go no there's nights i've
stayed up there's weeks i've gone through this i have been on benders i've been self-sabotaging myself
over and over again but like yeah but what what value
does that actually bring to my life?
It brings nothing.
So it's just kind of constantly going back.
It's a practice, you know.
Isn't that something like you'll run lines and you're nervous
and you're like, I want to be great and you get on there
and you know the first take's not great
and you're like in your head a little bit, you know, you have to.
And sometimes you say to yourself,
fuck everybody here.
Because at the end of the day, when this say, they say cut,
I'm on screen.
Yeah.
So what do I give a fuck about anybody?
Just have it.
And those are the days where I was the best.
I just said, this is for me.
I'm fucking full of confidence.
And it wasn't all the time.
But when I felt that, I go, why can't you feel like that all the time?
And what is it about that?
Why can't we just, once we, it's almost like my mind is like, you're great.
So the next time you should be great.
Yeah.
But why don't you feel like shit right now?
Why don't you feel confident?
So I want to rephrase what you kind of said.
You said, fuck everyone here.
I think that everyone here is actually yourself.
And you go, fuck myself.
Fuck myself.
Fuck myself.
That's not everyone has not.
nothing to do with anyone else. It's actually the fight you're having in your
own head. Yes. So how do you shut that guy up and go? What do you do? What do you do to shut
him up? It's hard. I don't know. You look at someone's eyes and say, your eyes are brown.
The sky's blue. I don't, I, again, it's, uh, I actually, doing the soap opera is one of the,
one of the best gifts I've ever got in my career. Oh, because it was like right off the bat.
And Ellen, uh, she played my mother on the show. Ellen DeGeneres. No.
Alan Dolan, I think her name is, and lovely woman.
And I remember one of the days, like, I was probably like, maybe three months into it, like, doing soaps.
And it was one of those days where I was like, not hitting my marks.
And I was like, God damn it.
It's just, like, really struggling.
And I was like, oh, my attitude was shitty.
And she came up to me.
She was like, say your fucking lines.
No one gives a fuck about you worrying or being bad.
Okay.
Say your lines.
We all want to go home.
No one gives a shit.
And, like, to realize that, like, I was putting all this pressure on me and, like, doing all this other shit.
It was like, that's not the point of it.
You know, you are a part in this wheel.
Wow.
Yeah, it was just.
That could have crushed an actor.
No, it actually helped.
It was, it helped so much because it was just so honest.
And I think that, that shit always resonates with me.
I think that's kind of what I hate about Hollywood a little bit is the deception of it all.
Like, you could just tell me no.
Or don't do that.
or anything don't like pussyfoot around it just like put it on the table like it doesn't help
anyone to you know not hurt their feelings right you know because it's not about you're actually
doing somewhat service by being authentic and honest right at least i feel when you watch yourself
i mean did you watch your performance in the many saints and go huh that's pretty good yeah i did
i was like you know like all right this works it worked it worked it worked because i had
no i had no clue at least actually when i did the a d r uh i just remember me like oh okay okay i'm not
i can like go to bed and like feel what were you worried about that you were coming across this
over the top or everything everything you just worry about that shit yeah of course and no
called and said hey we saw the dailies you're great um no no one said that you just hope that
this is a big deal this is the prequel for sopranos this is but you never again back to
that you never watched the show at the time because someone said or maybe you said you couldn't afford
HBO at the time. In college? No, of course I couldn't afford HBO. No. No. Yeah, no, never
watch it until the finally I got the job so I just like binged it. It's a great series like the
I still haven't seen it. Oh the whole premise a mobster going to therapy and like it's fantastic
a great setup for that like right I think it's brilliant. Who's your favorite character in the show?
I mean, Tony Soprano.
He was the favorite.
Yeah, I mean, James Canafini was, is an unbelievable actor.
I remember seeing him in God of Carnage on Broadway.
And he was fantastic.
He just had a presence and a light around him.
Was it called levity?
Is that what it is?
Weight?
Levity?
I don't know.
Is that like a magnetism?
Magnetism.
He has magnetism.
Yeah.
Right.
Yeah.
Do you ever get starstruck?
Because like when you're working with Daniel Craig on No Time to Die,
I mean, and you've got this, you know, you've got fight scenes and stuff.
Like, are you like, oh, fuck Daniel Craig?
Yeah, yeah, sure.
But again, it's not about the individual.
It's more like my expectations of it.
So you don't get, like, you get a little star struck at first.
I got like weird star shark.
I remember meeting Bill Irwin the first time.
Right.
And like, I was, I just love clowns.
And he was like the famous, most famous clown in the world.
Right.
And I remember meeting him on Broadway.
I was just like, fuck, Bill Irwin.
No one knew who.
What clown was he?
No, he just had this clowning bit.
He would just do these bits, and they're, like, all on YouTube.
And you met him, and you were Star-Straught.
Yeah, and he's a nice guy, and, yeah, a wonderful guy.
But you think you would have said, no, I got Starstruck when I met Demi Moore.
I got Starstruck when I met.
Yeah, no, Demi was great.
Like, you, again, I won the first time I met a Merrill Street.
I was doing it.
Merrill Street, you worked with Merrill Street?
And into the woods, yeah.
She was into the
Holy shit
I got to watch this
She's the one who got
Tell me
Tell me please
I was doing a play
So I was doing a play
Vanya and Sonny and Moshin and Spike
The one you got nominated for
Yeah
Sigourney Weaver was like my girlfriend
In it
Oh come on man
David Hyde Pierce
We're doing the show at Lincoln Center
And after the show
David and I shared a dressing room
Knock on the you know
Knock on the door
I open it
And all I can think is like
You're her
You're the chick
You're I couldn't think of her name
I couldn't think of Meryl Streep's name.
Well, when you open a door and it's Meryl Streep, you're like, what the fuck?
Yeah.
And then, uh, uh, what's you say?
Hey, is David there?
Oh, it wasn't you're great.
Oh, yeah.
Well, the story cuts to like, I get into the woods, I audition for it, whatever.
Um, and she basically, during like a table read, leans over and goes, I got you this job.
You know, because of the play.
Are you serious?
Yeah.
Merrill Streep fought for you.
you? I don't know if she fought for me, but I think she gave me the opportunity to audition.
She was like, get this guy in here. Wow. Yeah. Did you get a picture? Well, you worked
with her. So you have photos of you at Merrill. Are you cool now? Could you text Merrill and say
what's up? No. No, nothing like that. Anybody you became friends with, the Sigourney, the,
yeah. Sogorney's great. You could text her. Yeah. You can say, Sigourney. What's up? Yeah, all the time.
What do you call her? Signey. Oh, okay. Maybe you have a nickname like Gorney or Sig. No, no. Or
Oh, she just go by SIG, yeah.
She goes by SIG?
I think so.
Oh, hey, Ripley, what's going on?
No, no, no.
That's amazing.
What was this, you had this unbelievable fight scene.
I haven't, I haven't seen this with Daniel Craig.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Crazy.
No time to die.
So crazy.
Talk to me about that.
And how do you prepare for that?
How do you?
Months of, like, there was this French, what do you call it?
Fight choreographer?
Yeah, like the combat.
What do you go?
Stunt crew.
Stunt crew.
Yeah, and they brought.
me in, you know, a few months before I started and I would go to London and train and we just worked
on the dance of the fight. How long was the, was the fight? The fight itself? Like on screen.
I couldn't, 45 seconds. And it probably took you how many months to really get it down.
Not, but I have dance training and I think it's all dancing, weirdly, you know, the choreography.
I had it fast, but you know, you're just, you're waiting to shoot the thing, so you just go and
practice and all your kick you're fighting and your karate that you took to it all helped out in this
yeah of course and like how to throw a punch properly and how was daniel crag was he tell me about how
he wasn't gentleman he's a gentleman he's a great guy he's funny um i i feel so fortunate to sit
across the table from him and like just get to know him and like toss jokes around in between takes
and he he's a real gentleman and he he is a great number one you know have you worked with any bad number
ones? Yeah. You have. You won't talk about that though. No, it's not worth it. It's not worth it.
All I can say is, all I can say is like when someone makes the project about themselves rather than
the project, that's when I know it's bad. It's the biggest issue because we all, everyone that's
standing in the room agreed to do this project, not fuck with someone's ego. So what do you do?
What do you do when someone's got an ego? Someone's like, you know, you're like, ah, this is about them.
How do we do you just, what do you do? What's your approach?
Let him do what they got to do and just avoid it.
Worry about yourself.
Worry about everybody else.
Do you want me to call you like Sir Bunderbatch?
I don't care.
Yeah, sure, whatever.
So, Kennedy Cumberbatch was an asshole.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
I was just kidding.
No, no, no, you didn't work with him, did you?
No, never.
I'm a big fan, though.
Yeah, who isn't?
He's, like, fantastic.
See, when I, I get a little starstruck.
Like, you know what I?
Did you ever see his, like, thing when he was the dragon and, like, the CGI shit?
No.
Him crawling around on the floor, like.
Oh, it's a fucking unbelievable.
He was the dragon in The Hobbit, the new Hobbit movie, Smog.
Smog, yeah.
So he had to put on the suit with the dots on it and he...
Crawling around the floor.
Mitz.
Dude, homeboy.
So hard.
I'm like, I see the dragon.
Really?
He was a dragon.
Yes.
He looked like a dragon and his...
Even his cadence was just like so...
Well, he didn't look anything like a dragon.
That's the thing.
He's wearing the suit.
But you buy it by his mannerisms in his physicality.
Oh, yeah.
I see a...
tail basically he's like using the tail and you're like that's insane his his imagination is so great
and like him fucking um circus and he circus i dream of doing roles like that those guys are
unbelievable put a mask on me put me and i would love have you done anything like that yet
no the most is the prosthetics or like big characters like in aladdin i had a big
aladdin i hear you were great in that 30 seconds of screen time but i hear you were it was a fun
character. My friend Troy
said, you know anything about this Billy Magnuson
he's like, yeah, Aladdin.
Oh, yeah, 30 seconds.
30 seconds. And what'd you do? If I got that much.
And it was screen capture?
No, no. It was just an
character. No, it was a real character. I just put a character.
I'm just saying more just like big
characters. I love that. Like, the bigger
you can make a character and like the world you
can play in, that's what I want.
I want to like transform
and just do Andy Circus shit.
Who do you want to work with besides Andy
circus who are some of the actors that you you yeah oh i'd work with you there we go bud i got some
projects man let's go i'm not kidding you better answer your phone though or maggie over there your
publicist better answer your phone sounds good man no i got some good stuff man i that yeah you're great
i mean you've done so much stuff and you're now old do you 36 36 do you yeah you i feel
49 i'm 49 and i feel every bit of it right how old are you 33 fuck you fuck you it's just unbelievable
how much better you feel at 33 than 49.
Yeah.
And even 36.
Yeah.
I felt, you know.
It's crazy.
You just, your mentality changes.
That's for sure.
I think there's still so much to learn and stuff.
I imagine, what were you at 36?
Where was your headspace?
Let me see.
I was 36.
You know, I think I was, I was just caught up in all of it.
And I was just doing it and you don't stop and it's just nonstop.
And then all of a sudden, you know,
It wasn't until I was like 44, 45.
I started going, what's it all about, man?
Why did I have to fucking care about what's it all about?
Why couldn't I continue to just not give a shit?
Yeah.
Because I think in my mind, there's got to be something more.
There's got to be something more than just doing something, getting attention,
getting credit for it, being, you know, people like your, there's got to be more,
there's got to be purpose.
Dude, tell me, keep going down this rabbit hole.
Well, you know, just like, you know, going to the,
working at the Ronald McDonald's house and helping kids and like doing movie nights with them
and then becoming friends with one of the kids who has cancer and becoming close friends
of this family and just driving up there to him at two hours and spending the day with him
and worth more than your whole career worth more than anything worth more than anything and like
I love this kid he's like my brother so much the point where he has terminal cancer that
I find myself praying saying remember the exorcist you ever see the exorcist
remember at the end when he says come into me take me the priest says
I say that. I'm like, let this kid live, man. Let this kid have a wonderful life. Just take me. I've had a good life, man. I'm good. And it's not like I'm talking in a macabre sort of way. It's just like it just, it is unfair. And by by hanging out with him and seeing what a great, just a great human being he is and how he looks at life and how things get him excited, that for instance, he, uh,
he likes to sing but he's never really done anything professional and you know he's not like a singer
but he's somebody said hey you like this blake shelton song lonely tonight and so they brought him
into the studio and he just sang it and you know it was already recorded the song was recorded
and uh so he did it and he just loved and i listened to and i go oh my god god this is so good it sounds
so great and his dad texts me and says hey i don't know if you know blake shelton and i go i don't
he goes but you know if you can get if there's any way we can get this video this song to blake
shelton and i wrote a letter to blake shelton really and my publicist got it to blake shelton
and within two days blake shelton sent a video and i showed it at his house for him and seeing
his eyes light up and blake's like that's the hardest song i've ever sang and you crushed it
if you were in the voice i would have hit you right in and you know and just talking to him and
his eyes were just like what what's going and just that i could even do anything to make that
happen meant the world to me i believe that that makes me feel so much better than all the other
stuff it seems like it's superficial but there's another good book you should check out yeah it's called
the second mountain and uh i think this is what it's about it's like there's this um you you have
that journey that you climbed in your 30 20s and 30s and everything and you're like it's my career
my career and then all of a sudden you find like this kid is an example of this other fulfilling
thing in your life that's actually worth value than this other thing that you were climbing to the top
and you you made it man you have a successful career you did it and then you probably were like
why am I empty 100% I kind of fought that my whole life I think there's that I'm a feeling of like
why do I feel empty there's just and people will sit there and go you have a house you have friends
you have you know you're not broke you're you have a career you have all these stuff
things and I acknowledge it and I'm like going yeah yeah yeah but why don't I feel it I hear you
and so what do you do what do you what is it that you do do I'm in the valley right now between the
two I feel I feel I'm in the valley like I am so I have so many great opportunities in my life
and great things that come and then I find myself sitting there and being like I'm empty I feel empty
a little bit um because I think personally I think it's family and like it's like community and
all this stuff and like our career was very isolating and you put to the side and again I'm grateful
for all of it yeah but there is that hunger for like purpose actual purpose I mean it's so everybody
I think everybody just wants that it's like you know you hear about those people who just
constantly work and I always think what are they covering up yeah they always have to work they
always have to be on they always have to get the next job right well what happens if they stop running
because eventually we all stop running yeah and you face it you
Face yourself.
And you face it, no matter how old you are.
And so I'm kind of grateful that I'm facing it now in a lot of ways.
And so it's just like, what do you do about it?
And how many times would you honestly say you've redefined yourself to yourself?
I don't know.
Or have you always been the same person?
I think I'm redefining myself now.
I think now is in the last five years, you know, going to get help, you know, just like mentally.
I wasn't ever knock on wood addicted to drugs or alcohol.
But like getting my mindset.
and clear and finding out who I really am because, you know, for me, I grew up like I wasn't,
I didn't have the relationship you had with your family. I mean, I love my family and God bless him,
but I just feel like I was doing everything for attention, like just to get attention,
just some people like me, acknowledged me, accepted me. And that kind of carried on where all of a
sudden I'm like, wait a minute, you've been doing this since you're like 17 since you're, like,
did that first play in high school.
And so it's not enough.
And they have this thing.
I've talked about it.
But it's like love and attention have the same feeling.
Like if people admire you and they love what you're doing, that's the same feeling
as love.
But the only thing is one isn't sustainable.
Yeah.
One sort of is like, you know, well, it's always the tank's always going to empty out.
And like if you actually love yourself, it's always going to be filled.
Yeah.
And it's a hard thing to do.
That's a hard thing to do.
But I think if you do more things for other people, if you help people, if you, I think
that's the true, then you can identify yourself hopefully as someone who can love and be loved.
Love is a giving act.
It's a giving way.
It is.
Take it.
Right.
You can't take love.
Right.
You can only give it.
Yeah.
I feel, you know, I feel like my grandmother really fucking loves me.
Yeah.
She probably does.
That's a good feeling.
She's with us, man.
Well, she's my grandma who's still alive.
Blanche.
she just said, you know, since the beginning, you know,
her and my grandfather used to just write me these letters
that were so proud of you.
And like, and I think they knew that I struggled, you know.
Yeah.
But they always write me these letters.
And even my grandparents, like, you know,
we're so proud of you and all the work you've done.
But just know that regardless of all this,
how much you know we, you know how much we've always loved you.
Yeah.
And I believe that.
Sometimes it's hard for me to believe.
Really?
Believe that I can be loved.
The doubt, because it's that self-doubt.
Yeah.
Because, again, probably a drama from growing up being like, I'm not getting the attention or the
support I need or my feelings being recognized and like my awareness.
Dude, we've all been through it.
You don't believe it.
You don't believe it.
Someone says, I love you.
And you're like, what's the catch?
What's the catch here?
Thank you.
I love you too.
Yeah.
But you're like, no.
Dude, I fucking really love you.
Yeah.
And that's what I mean?
But it could end there.
That's what's crazy and we can't accept it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't know why we push it away.
And I think, I think, you know, I'm, I don't want to say wise enough, but I'm old.
I think you're good.
You've got years, experiences.
But I know that I am.
I know that I am loved.
I know that there are people in my life that love me.
And that, that feels good.
And I love you.
I love you.
Thank you.
I could turn to that.
I could turn to them.
I love you.
And I believe, Billy.
I believe, I believe that you're a lovable person that you really want to love.
Maggie, I love you, too.
Well, you know, this has been, this has been a really great conversation.
The funny thing is, I don't know you, and I talked effort.
effortlessly to you. I just feel like it's just very easy. You're someone that...
There's no intention. There's no expectation. Well, there's no expectation. It's just more about
finding something from you or finding something from me that you get, that you go, hey, we're all
striving through the same thing. We all end up at the same place. It doesn't matter who you are.
It's like, how do you get there? And you learn from people. That's what this podcast is about.
I think it's just learning. You know, maybe someone takes something you said.
and goes, you know, what he said really made sense to me.
And that's it.
And most everything I say that doesn't make sense.
No, it makes beautiful sense.
I think it does.
It really does.
What do you got going on now?
Because you've got so much going on.
Many Saints of Newark is on HBO, Max now.
When does no time to die come out?
It's already out.
It's out.
It came out last Friday.
Last Friday.
Yeah.
Yeah, last Friday.
Yeah.
So you got two blockbuster things going on right now.
Crazy.
Crazy opportunity.
What's next? What are you working on now?
I have this film coming out called The Survivor with Ben Foster and Barry Levinson directed.
It's going to be on HBO.
How tough was that?
That was, again, two months preparation.
So I had to learn a German accent through, well, it's an English-speaking German accent.
Spreaching, can you listen and write.
I can't.
Bisseen?
No.
I'm like you.
I'm not French
and you?
Yeah
I can't say that
I can't say that
it's a perverted
but like
I'm Libidique
I like you
Yeah
But I remember
What's the one
I remember where I lived
In Munich
Oh no
I don't know
My grandmother's listening
She's like
No
Oh Jewish woman
But I remember
Learning for this
Audition
And I never forgot it
I didn't get the part
But I remember
Learning German
For the audition
But it was like
But I remember
I remember saying things
Like
I lived in on
Prince
to get in Strasse and Troge Strasser next to the Freedensengel in Munchin.
Yeah.
Licking on my ars.
You know, kissin on my ars.
I also know how to say, will you blow me?
That's my mch test my schwanzblossen.
Baby, baby, baby.
Baby, baby.
And then say that line.
Baby, baby, moch test you my schwanzblossen.
That doesn't sound sexy at all.
No, it doesn't sound sexy.
I'll be quiet now.
But you have to learn a German accent.
through an English
like a British accent
So wait wait wait so you're speaking British
But like it's British accent
Like a German who learned English
Through a British accent
So let me hear something
No
Give me an idea
The German people always
Vandotis
Yeah I don't know
That's great
Yeah
It was tough
But then if I was speaking to a German
In the film
I had to speak German
So what would you say
I don't remember the lines
or anything.
Milt taste do my schwan's blossom, baby, baby.
That's what you do.
Yeah, it was crazy.
So, yeah, German, English, if I was speaking to the Jewish people, and if I'm speaking
to German, it would have to be all in German.
Have you seen the movie?
Yeah.
Do you like it?
I did.
It was a real passion project.
And Ben Foster is...
He's incredible.
Incredible.
Did you ever see Lone Survivor?
Yeah.
God, that movie's so good.
Dude, Homeboy's so good.
He is so talented.
That's great.
Yeah.
I'm excited for you.
You got a lot great stuff going on.
And you deserve it.
You're a great guy.
and he's super talented and this is uh lastly this is called shit talking with billy magnusin
these are my patrons if you want to join patron to get back to the podcast or give a little extra
the podcast i love my patrons they support the podcast so much but these are just kind of rapid fire
oh shit uh by the way emily asked the game night cast seems like a great group of people to hang out
with who is the funniest to film with the funniest to that's baitman i can watch bateman do anything
he could he the way he delivers a line it's just so dry and so beautifully like the cadence of it
he has he has it down he was just so funny to watch to hang out with lomor and morris
i love that guy and sharon horgan i would die for her she's absolutely a treasure by the way
how beautiful is rachel mcadams she's gorgeous and she's so sweet i met her once at a party
and she was so nice she's so nice man how many guys just crush how many women men everyone
and just crush on Rachel McAdams.
I mean, she is, she's a, she is who she is, and I love her, I love her, yeah.
But Sharon Horgan, fantastic human being.
Really?
So funny.
I think I just saw an interview with two of you.
They paired you up, right?
We could not make it through the day, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
No, she's Irish, Irish, Irish, Irish.
Can you do an Irish accent?
No, I could do it.
No, fine, fine.
If I get paid for it.
Steph A, made for love quickly became a must-bin show.
Are you excited about the second season?
Do you have any idea on when it will come out?
Yeah, we actually start shooting on Monday, uh, season two. So I'm really excited about that and like where
they're going to take it. Just got so much going on, dude. Not really. I feel like I have no, I'm like nothing to do.
Well, maybe you have time to read one of these books or, you know, work at the wrong Donald House.
Throw a throw a, throw a, have you ever been to the Magic Castle? I'm a member.
Shut up. Yeah. Do you do magic tricks? I don't do magic tricks, but I like magic tricks. I'm like a four-year-old
watching magic. I'm like, oh my God. Me too. Did you see that? I'm a big to work. How did he put my name in a
orange. I put my name in an
orange. I'm going to get this tattoo?
How did he do it? I flip
the hell out. Same.
Let's see. I want to go to the Magic Castle. If you want to hang out,
take you the Magic Castle. I'll take you whenever you want.
I'm ready. Just email me whenever you want to go.
Let's go.
The Chief. If you had to live
on a breakfast cereal the rest of your life, which one would
it be? A Lucky Charms, I think. I was going to say
Lucky Charms. Oh, dude.
Or
Maybe some fruit loops.
No, or it's weird
I would go Honey Nut Cheerios too
I like Honey Nut but Lucky Charms
All those
Lucky Charms give it all day
Can you name all the charms
And Lucky Charms?
Rainbow Heart
Diamond
Diamond?
There's a diamond
Is there a diamond?
How does the song go?
There's a song
After me Lucky Charles
Hearts and Stars and the Red Balloon
It ends with and the Red Balloon
Doesn't it?
I think he got it
My dude
There we go
Omar loved your performance
in the Oath
Oh, simultaneously hilarious and terrifying.
How did you approach playing such a complicated character?
Had fun with Ike Barron Holtz and was like, can I just, I,
all I could think it was like this guy that used to work with my dad growing up.
And I was like, this is the guy, the most conservative, like, right-wing person, the stash, all the haircut and everything.
And it's the guy's dead serious.
Like, I think that's where humor lies.
It's being dead, dead-in, dead serious.
Not deadpan, dead serious.
anything you're doing anything you're saying commit to it it's real it's what your character
believes yes it's 100% and do you know like no it's wonderful man would he be a good guest
yeah ike's great he's he's funny you know i wish i had bits or like people that do bits like i just
don't what do you do impressions no not one no come on you got to do one do one impression i mean
everybody does walking that's an easy one your son fuck had that he is that bitch who a girlfriend
and they took my narcotics.
I always do that, but like, yeah.
Did you see seven psychopaths?
No.
You haven't seen seven psychopaths?
No.
Fantastic film.
Write that down, Ryan.
And I'm going to, oh my God, yeah.
All right, I'll watch it.
Fantastic movie.
I worked with Walking.
I love, I loved watching it every day.
It's Rockwell.
It's Colin Farrell.
Colin Farrell.
It is fantastic.
All right.
I'm in.
I'll watch that.
I need something to watch.
It's a whack-ass, but it's McDonald.
The guy did, did you ever see Em Bruges?
Yeah, same guy did director.
Yeah, he's a playwright as well.
Would you ever do a horror movie?
Here's my jam.
I have done when I was like one of my first ones.
It's called Blood Knight, the Legend of Mary Hatchet.
Nice.
Yeah, I heard about that one.
I remember that title.
Yeah, I don't think I saw it, but I remember.
The only problem with doing horror films is you shoot at night and I hate shooting at night
where you have to shoot, you're like days or about it.
Yeah, I like my morning.
What is lastly, I know this is a stupid question.
What's your best take usually?
The best take one?
take two or usually take three is when I fucking
finally it's when I'm driving home being like I should have
fucking done this
yeah right yeah you know what I'm talking about why wasn't I thinking that
what the fuck I misinterpreted the whole fucking taking a shower at home
you think it's three months later God why didn't I do that oh my God do you hold on
to things do you let things go I it's both like
when someone breaks up with you i hold i'll hold i'll hold it's certain things it's certain things like
i'll hold on to specific things that i where if i made the choice and i'm like oh man i need to
work on that or myself if it's someone else's choice you can't really right do anything about it
can you let things go or you someone that could just kind of let things go and let bygones be bygones
my friend recently told me he's like dude sometimes you got to let things go like i'll push
on people be like but what do you mean by that let's go let's go down the
conversation let's go down right he's like sometimes you just got to let it go bro
i got to work you hold on to things well again i think if be specific in life be make a choice
not making a choice drives me crazy like living in a state of limbo you're like what do you make a
choice who cares make a choice there's no there's no wrong answer it's just left to right
and left my fail so be it then go then go back right who gives a shit right just don't
do nothing favorite role you've ever done that you go fuck i killed it i loved it i'm in this this was
my favorite role i've done so far wow i i loved prince anders from aladdin it was just i loved
the character but then there's like other experiences like i've had that were just man i don't know
like with the career i doing a play doing tv film all these years after they they mean nothing to me
now it's weird it's just it doesn't exist anymore right and so you know like the hunt we're always on
the hunt for the next opportunity and like we fall in love with the work of it so like the film coming
out which i shot bond two years ago the the connection i have to it is different right you know because
in that while doing it you're like oh what the fuck and then you slowly let it go yeah and then it's gone
already right it's weird i love it love it well thank you for allowing me to be inside of you this has been
I love you.
This has been a real treat.
Really?
Really?
Did you have fun?
Yeah, this is my first podcast ever.
How easy was it?
It's never as good as this, though.
We'll never be as good as this again.
I hope not.
This is great, man.
I appreciate you.
And I'll take you to the Magic Castle.
Fuck yeah.
We'll go.
We have to dress up.
You have to dress up.
Easily, I would love to.
And we'll laugh like kids and we'll watch magic tricks.
You want to go, Ryan?
Yeah.
How about the three of us go?
Let's go.
Just three solo guys.
And thank you for the wine.
Looking sharp.
Thank you.
for the wine you brought me uh some uh kianti can you do an impression of uh county with father
yeah that's he says nice kianti yeah what does he say is like what was that line
i hate his brain i ate his liver with some father beans and a nice candy yeah yeah yeah i remember
i love that movie god he was great was he yeah i sent someone's tried to test me i hate his liver
with some fava beans and a nice candy.
It was something like that.
It was something like that.
All right, I'll let you go.
Cheers, brother.
Cheers.
He's got a lot going on, man.
Yeah, he's busy.
He's busy.
Do you want to be that busy?
Do you like being this busy?
No.
I don't know.
I don't.
I think I lost my wanting to be busy.
I think when I was younger,
I just wanted to constantly be busy.
And now I like time to nap.
really he did a movie called no time to die i want plenty of time to nap plenty of time to nap that's
the sequel if i was in a bomb movie plenty of time to nap would you see that one uh thank you guys
all for supporting the podcast and listening uh again go to patreon.com slash inside of you to support
the podcast and other ways to get back uh thank you um cumulus for supporting the podcast thank you
ryan thank you jason our editor wonderful job jason thank you bryce for my producing uh and thanks
Dylan for helping me get some guests and uh you know right now why don't we uh before i also before also
um la comic con i'll be there december fourth and fifth doing a smallville nights with tom welling
he'll be here so make sure you get your tickets and november 20th my band sunspin is playing
virtually on stage at com but you can get tickets on sunspin.com as well uh support the band
come see the band uh you could also go to sunspin.com for awesome merch you see stepan emel was wearing
sunspin hats and tom welling wear sunspin shirts and like uh you know i appreciate the support it's
really nice also if you want any inside of you merch go to the inside of you online store and there's
some great stuff um lex luther stuff smallville stuff uh inside of you stuff mugs all that all that jazz
why don't we get into the top tier patrons these are people who give back a little more a lot more
couldn't do the show with adam and here we go nancy d lea s trisha f sarah v little lisa
you Kiko Jill E. Brian H. Mama Lauren G.
Nico P. Jerry W. Robert B. Jason W.
Kristen K. Amelia O. Allison L. Raj. C. Joshua D. Emily S.
C.J.P. Samantha M. Jennifer N. Stacey. L.
Correct. Jemal F. Jinnel B. Kimberly E. Mike E. L.on Supremo. 99 more.
Amira. Santiago M. Sarah F. Chad W. Lian P. Janine R. Maya P. Maddie S. Belinda N. Chris H. I just got into
little Jack Nicholson there. Dave H. Spider-Man, Chase, Sheila G. Not to be confused with, Sheila E.
Brad D., Ray H. Tabitha T, Michelle K. Michael S. Talia M. Betsy D. Claire Baby.
Laura L. Chad L. Rochelle, Nathan E. Marion. Meg K. Janelle P. Trav L. Dan N. Lorain G. Big Stevie W. Kendall, T. Angel. Amerian, C. Corey K. Super Sam. Coleman G. Dev Nexon. Michelle A. Liz.
L, Liz I, Jeremy C, Andy T, Cody R, Sebastian K, Gavanator, Ann H, David C, John B, Brandy D, Yvore, Camille S, Bano, Bono, Bono, the chief. The chief.
Joey M, Willie F, Christina E, Adelaide, N, Jeffrey M, Omer, L. It's an I, right?
Well, go back to Stacey L. What does it say next to Stacey L? Is that an L?
Yeah, it's Omar I, because he's not doing the L.
Omar I. Hi, Omar I. Omari. Omari. Lina Ann Design, O TG, Eugene R, Chris P, Nikki G, Corey, and KTB. Thank you podcasters. Thank you, anybody who listens to the podcast. I really appreciate you. It means a ton to me. I hope you continue to listen. We'll try to give you good interviews and hopefully we'll all learn something, how to be a better human being. Thanks for taking the time while you're driving to work or you're doing whatever with your time. You're spending time with us.
I'm Michael Rosenbaum.
I'm Ryan Taylor.
From the Hollywood Hills.
Hollywood Hills, California.
Ryan, big wave.
Oh, is this what the kids are doing?
Thank you guys for listening.
Thank you allowing me for allowing me to be inside of each and every one of you.
I had a blast.
I hope you did too.
And take care.
Hi, I'm Joe Sal C.
Hi, host of the Stackin' Benjamin's podcast.
Today, we're going to talk about what if you came across $50,000.
What would you do?
put it into a tax advantage retirement account. The mortgage. That's what we do. Make a down payment on a
home. Something nice. Buying a vehicle. A separate bucket for this addition that we're adding.
$50,000. I'll buy a new podcast. You'll buy new friends. And we're done. Thanks for playing everybody.
We're out of here. Stacky Benjamin's follow and listen on your favorite platform.