Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - KEVIN POLLAK: Precocious to Cocky, Happy Accidents on Set & Self Soothing Impressions

Episode Date: September 9, 2025

Kevin Pollak (The Usual Suspects, A Few Good Men) joins us this week to share how he was able to ‘fake it til he made’ it and rise to the different opportunities afforded in his career that have cemented his legacy in film history. Kevin talks about his background as a comic and how it drives his hunger to keep creating in this industry. We also receive a masterclass in impressions, learn crazy stories from A Few Good Men, and find out the dangers of small talk with Walter Matthau. Thank you to our sponsors: 🚀 Rocket Money: https://rocketmoney.com/inside 🏠 Wayfair: https://www.wayfair.com/ ❤️ This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://betterhelp.com/inside and get on your way to being your best self __________________________________________________ 💖 Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/insideofyou⁠ 👕 Inside Of You Merch: ⁠https://store.insideofyoupodcast.com/⁠ __________________________________________________ Watch or listen to more episodes! 📺 ⁠https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/show⁠ __________________________________________________ Follow us online! 📸 Instagram: ⁠https://instagram.com/insideofyoupodcast/⁠ 🤣 TikTok: ⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@insideofyou_podcast⁠ 📘 Facebook: ⁠https://www.facebook.com/insideofyoupodcast/⁠ 🐦 Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/insideofyoupod⁠ 🌐 Website: ⁠https://www.insideofyoupodcast.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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the Defender 110 pushes what's possible. Learn more at land rover.ca. You're listening to Inside of You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum. Ryan Tejas is here. I am. Good to see you, my friend. Hello, how are you? Yeah, I got a haircut, but my hair's kind of wild today.

I kind of woke up like this. How you feel about it? Looks good. Doesn't? It does. With the, uh, your, uh, the sides and the part? The sides are shorter than they usually are. They are.

We'll see. People will probably tell me if they hate it. But, you know, so. I don't hate it. You don't hate it? No. That's all that matters, really. Thank you.

Yeah. Uh, I hope you guys had a good week. I hope you're taking care of yourselves and, uh, you know, taking a step in the right direction. I was in Toronto at a con and it was crazy and fun and so many people came up talking about both podcasts. I mean, almost everybody, almost everyone. Both them? Yeah. They just really, um, you know, they, they talk about how inside of you has helped them and it just, it baffles me.

It's like, you know, you don't, it's just, it's hard for me to understand. because I just kind of ask the questions I ask and I'm interested in mental health and I'm interested in all these things and how and maybe it's a selfish reason and I inadvertently help others because I want to ask questions that might help me but in part I'm helping maybe them I can see that yeah and you know so I didn't expect to get such a response but it's cool so thank you for supporting this podcast we've been going on for years now and if you want to continue listening, then keep listening and spread the word, write a review, which really helps. And join Patreon.

Patreon.com slash inside of you. And you can become a member and there's a lot of perks. There's different tiers. I send you boxes and messages and this and that. There's one that you could be on the show. Yes, you could be on inside of you as a guest. So check that out. And if you want to get back to the show, patreon.com slash inside of you.

Also, if you want to go to my Instagram at the Michael Rosenbaum, the link tree, all my cons that are coming up with Tom and Kristen and the Smallville gang. We had a good time in Toronto. Had a really good Q&A. Nice. And, yeah, it was fun. I had fun. I'm exhausted now, but the people gave me the energy, you know, the fans when they're there, they just gave you some energy. And then all of a sudden, you're like, why can't just I'm freaking tired?

But it was awesome. Also, inside of you, online store. You can get scripts autographed by me, Lex Miss, the pilot episode, Tumblr, ship keys from the show, lunchboxes, all that stuff, autograph. Funko pops, the Lex Luthers, which people can't find. But I got them, and they're really signed by me. I sign them. So you don't have to worry about a discrepancy. Last but not least, Rosie's puppy fresh breath is on Amazon.

If you want to get, if your breath on the breath, your dog is an atrocity. You just get a cap full and in the dogs of water. It's odorless, tasteless. A dog won't even know, but you'll know when you kiss your dog that the breath is good. Yeah. Rosie's puppy fresh breath. What else can I say? That's really about it, Ryan.

You going to therapy? You can't care yourself? Yeah. I'm doing all right. Doing all right. Doing our head. Doing right. We're going to Chicago.

We are going to Chicago. That's coming up in a couple weeks. Yes. like two weeks uh or is it this week oh yeah no it won't be i don't know i don't know how this is scheduled oh it will be at the end of this week it'll be this weekend so if you haven't gotten your tickets go to chicago man it's it's all smallville folks we're doing a smallville nights tom and i loads of people coming that's a blast and uh we'll be seeing and signing and taking pictures and all that stuff i wanted to get a patreon group together but it might be

tough because um um uh tom's bringing his family and uh it just might be difficult to do so we're trying to figure that out if possible so um well you'll know soon today's tuesday so they'll know in the next few days you'll know what's going but uh ryan will be there ryan will be there so um i'm excited you're going thank you'll be fun to go you're going to catch a cuppy's game gonna try if i can be cool Yeah, Wrigley Field's pretty incredible. It's pretty great. That's pretty incredible, guys.

I just saw it 28 years later for the first time. The new one. Yeah. I know you don't like horror. No. I loved it. Yeah. I thought it was great.

I gave it two roses. Yeah. Really unique, fun, intense. I recommend seeing it. And I don't recommend a lot of movies. Oh, speaking to zombies, we haven't talked about that yet. Oh, yeah. As you can see right there, we have the Sean of the Dead, 20 years.

bloody years signed by the cast uh simon pegs sent me the poster autographs said sorry it was so late i'm like i didn't even remember it's crazy it's so nice of him to do that so the poster's now up i took off the uh gary oldman autograph so i'll have to find a place for that but right now that's that's the home for sean of the dead Kevin pollock is here uh what a wonderful human being and so funny what a history he has he's done so many things and And, you know, talking to him about working with Nicholson and hearing his stories, it's just, just sit back and enjoy this one. This is, I really enjoyed Kevin Pollock. Very good.

Yeah, he was, he was a blast to be around. I got some, he has some, I don't know, like I said, there's such a history with him. He's worked with so many people. He's been in the business. He tells it how it is. And let's get inside of Kevin Pollock. It's my point of you. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum.

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so they know that I sent you. Don't wait. Download the Rocket Money app today and tell them you heard about them from my show. Yeah, that's Harrison Ford. He's the hardest to do an impression of. Really?

I mean, the only thing I could think I was like, look, kid. Yeah. You've got to go so subtle. Here's the thing. You probably know that I started out and stand up in San Francisco with Dana Carvey. And Dana and I both did voices and impressions.

We both wanted to be on Saturday Night Live. in the late 70s and into the 80s and then he got Saturday Night Live and six months later I got Barry Levinson's movie Avalon

and was stamped dramatic actor. Right. Which was not the plan. There was no training at all. I was a stand-up comedian, period. Anywho, I mentioned Dana because he became a master of finding

the one little key that opens the impression, right? Of every actor, every... Well, everyone that he does. Right. So, and I've been told there's a couple of mine that that might be the case. But finding that, like, I can teach you to do Jason Statham. I love it, because I do a lot of impressions, but I don't do Jason Statham.

Okay. He, he... How do you tap into that? So I'll get to that second. Okay. The first thing is just to follow through with the... Because I will digress till the end of time. Yes.

But finding the key to Harrison Ford was Luke Skywalker himself. So when he did Harrison for the first time and just dropped a voice down, listen, kid, you know. Right? So that's all he kind of did was just to be. Yeah. So if you played with it, you'd have it. I think I need to hear myself to do. It's harder to like, on the microphone, on the headset, you can just be like, look.

kid yeah it's a good chance really you know it's just nothing it's nothing isn't it is that what he does well there's a little more to it you know there's just a little grump here and uh but that's so the key to jason statham he says i've never done by the way harrison for before this moment i just remember hearing how you get that just like that i just remember hearing um hamill do it you know yeah and that was the thing that tapped me into so the the thing with uh jason Statham, he says six words faster than any human being on the planet. If you say these six words, and again, gruff up your voice just a little, you too will have a Jason Statham. The six words are, do you know what I mean? Do you know what I mean? Which he says as,

domain. Dummy. So it's, he's boiled six words down to two syllables. Yeah. Joe. a man's name, mean, because Joe's a little pissy. Jomey. Jomey. I put you an edge here. You'd be dead in 60 seconds. Jermaine. Jimmy.

Do you fucking know what are me? Do you know? I fucking mean. That's it. Joe Mane. Wow. Yeah. Now, it turns out after following all these new British shows that I love,

almost every Brit says Jomeen instead of, do you know what I mean? Right. So you could do any of them. So he's not the only one, but he was the first one that I sort of noticed it about. You know, I always wanted it. James Mason. I just remember in... You're too young for James.

Well, I remember James Mason in the movie where you know, Warren Beaties is the Los Angeles Rams player. Heaven can wait. It's time now, Joe. Yeah, that's it. That's very good.

It's time now. Again, his is a little more breathy also. It's time to go now, Joe. Something like that, yes. Times go now, Joe. By the way, you have a job that you're waiting to hear about. Is this the directing job or is it the acting job?

Well, they're kind of... They go hand in hand. I'm going to just sound like an asshole. They're, they're, they're, listen, if you don't have irons in the fire, I don't know that you're actually in show business. Yeah, you have to. And then every now and then, uh, things get heated up around the same time. And in this case, there are three things that are racing to the, uh, hopeful finish line. Again, I was telling you before we went on.

Yeah. I don't believe anything's real. Tell them at the premiere. Have you always been like that? Um. No, no. And I'm still a glass-half-filled guy. I don't want to be surprised and disappointed by someone else fucking things up. If I'm at the wheel, we're going to be fine. Right. But when you let your age and handle it. No, no. My team's pretty good. You know, I've been through, as you get to my age, I've been through several teams. But I had lunch yesterday with my attorney of 40 years.

Wow. My business attorney. Right. So ultimately, they drive. the deals, the, the business attorneys. The agents do the great, um, navigating. Navigating front work. Yeah. And then finesse work. Uh, and I love my guys now.

Um, it's not always been the case. That's a tricky thing. Um, I feel like I could teach a six month course on just navigating reps. Um, you do sort of have to not microman. manage, for lack of a better term, but, like, sort of, you don't want things to just break away, go away. You don't want them to come in too hard, but there's certain things you do want. Yes. Certain phrases you want said by them. Fuck you. He won't do it for less than a million. They've got, they've got that down,

but then they've lost the subtlety and the nuance of, of, just kidding, you know. So what, it took me probably 30 years to realize that, Technically, in order for them to succeed, agents need to be more ambitious than their clients. And for the most part, they are, if they're doing well. They are more ambitious than the client. Of their workday, again, this is all under the six-month course. I'll give you the quickie. Of their workday, 80% of every workday is looking after the highest earner.

client. Of the remaining 20%, 80% of that remaining 20% is finding new clients. That's actually how they get bonuses and keep their jobs, is signing new clients, because the beast feeds on new. Is this why my agent hasn't called me in five years? It needs new. So the problem with you and I are the phone rings occasionally enough so that the clients know what to do when the phone rings. where they check our avails. Right. Right. And the agent does very well when the phone rings because of the, of that.

So it's 18% of the whole hundred. 80% for the highest earners. Right. 18% to finding a new new. And then the last 2% is looking after people like ourselves who have a body of work and the phone rings. You know, for me, 90. They don't have to do the work.

The work just comes every once in a while. They're happy to do the work, in my case. They're very happy to do the work. And they're very happy to chase things. I also found get younger people representing you because they're making their bones. And it's helpful for them to have a calling card of even somebody at my level that gives them a little bit oomph to do their jobs. So they are hungry, but they've got a mandate, 80% for the highest earners, 18%. percent is finding new clients and that last two percent you better make sure the earners are happy so

to your point we do have to hustle on our own we do have to keep those plates spinning on our own and i learned maybe 15 plus years ago if you're not creating you're waiting we're sort of trained as talent to wait for the phone group yeah so and this is probably useful in life as well if you're not creating you're waiting don't wait for your life to happen. I absolutely agree. And that didn't happen for me until about probably 10 years ago when I thought, well, I'm kind of bored. Yep. That'll do it. Complacency or, you know, it's, yeah. What is it the, uh, what is it about the idle hands? Are you going to, are you searching for an adage, a well-known adage? You know, the idle hands, the devil's, uh, workshop. Yep.

It's right in there. Something help me out. Your dance, no. You're a Harvard grad. No, no. I graduated from university in nine months my friends called it dropping out but I was done really yep I don't agree with that you don't agree with the role that you're dumb done oh you're projecting again

no let me ask you talk about hunger yeah in terms of like the business do you think you've lost no do you think you've lost any of that just that that that desire that push that no energy no so you because i think i have i think there was a certain tenacity there was a certain

uh just a will that i had that i i want to prove myself i want to get this done i want to be this and then that kind of just goes away well that's a young person's game for sure right and ambition in all caps is also a young person right drive no um interest in creating and working and doing new things that hasn't you love work yes you love being on set well it's because it's creating you're right i love my down time i love completely not really fuck off right but i i feel very alive because i came up from stand-up right yes i did direct a documentary called misery loves comedy the thesis being you have to be miserable to be funny it's kind of true technically it's still on uh amazon uh and where i

interviewed 60 annoyingly famous funny people with the premise do you have to be miserable to be funny But from it, I realized that being on many things, but one of which was being on stage is a drug that can't be replicated. Many standups have chased alcohol and drugs searching for that high. Yes. But actual endorphins are released. And also, more importantly, perhaps, there's a sense of control on stage as a standup when you get to a certain level of accomplishment. Yeah. You're taking the audience for a ride of your choosing for an hour or whatever.

it is um and they can turn on you in a moment's notice and you live with that fact having faced it many times there's a chapter in the movie called bombs away and you've bombed many times please i mean it's the worst feeling in the world i've done i've done stand-up and bombing is it's it's hard to the feeling you get you feel like you're dying you feel like you're you don't want to be alive yes but so it is in order to walk you have to put on shoes and there is a great British comedian and actor and writer whose name is

slipping but it'll come to me in a moment one of the people I interviewed and he said he found a trick when bombing because you're doing the same basically the same stuff that has killed before but this crowd has decided for whatever reason because they're there are

an original organism that's never gathered as this group ever before nor will they ever again it's a very strange thing and sometimes they can just turn and and it doesn't take much so this guy is brilliant and he said when this happens i just slow down i used to you know sweat and speed up but now i just slow down and ooze confidence so the audience starts to think wait a second i thought this guy was doing horribly i guess it's me yeah because he's so confident Why is he having so much fun in his comfort, which is just brilliant beyond belief?

You know the road pictures, road to Italy, the two guys doing Michael Kane? It's not Steve Coogan. It's the other guy. It's the other guy. Michael King. Yeah, that whole thing's hilarious. Rob Bryden is his name. That's great.

And he really tapped into something with that move. I've yet to try it, but man, it makes sense. Although I do, after this many years, sometimes they'll make it fiscally irresponsible for me to sit on my couch. and I'll go out and do a stand-up date. And when those moments come after all these years, I do sort of smile and chuckle like, okay, I'm sorry, in my mind. I'm sorry, you didn't get that. I certainly know.

It's funny. Do you get nervous still? I've never been nervous. Acting? It's a sociopath. Acting or calm, stand-up? It makes me think I could also have thrived as a serial killer. Wait a minute.

So you have no fear when you're acting? I have empathy, but I don't have fear. When you're acting too. What happens for me... Jesus, you're lucky. What happens... It is. It's in the genetic pool.

What happens for me is excitement, not nerves. So even when I'm standing behind that curtain to do the tonight show with Carson the very first time, and I'm about to go out and sit on the couch, that's how it was arranged and planned that I waited until I had some movie or something. They could just bring me to the couch where I would do Peter Falk and whoever and Johnny would flip. But standing behind that curtain for the first time, you would think anyone in their right mine would be nervous beyond belief. I had been waiting since I was 10 for this moment. So to me, it was Christmas morning for a nine-year-old girl. That's a, that's got to be an

awesome feeling. Just cackling. So you're always excited about life. Yes, yes, yes. Well, no, not always. When it's something exciting coming up where one might be nervous, I just get excited. I don't live a moment by moment in excitement. So Mrs. Maisel, I know that with those lines, they want them boom boom boom boom and like you know you got to know them inside out and this and that first of all do you have any problems learning lines are you quick at that and b did a do you like do you thrive on a set like that now i like um first of all and b i like going from numerical to alphabetical very very much whether you did that out of well this is all part of the nerves and excitement because i the reason i say that is because i think because i've heard so many so much from

other actors and friends who are on that show that it's a tight chip and the lines are fast and this and you got to know them and they get really upset if you don't know your shit. So that made me a little nervous. So that's why I jumped to that. Sure, sure. So they, I'll just pluck one thing out of what you said, which is they get really angry, did you say? If you don't know your shit. Or, you know, annoyed. They annoyed. They didn't ever. They were weirdly patient with all of us. they depended on you knowing your shit and they appreciated you knowing your shit but they never got angry or even annoyed

they would just go all right let's try again because Amy Sherman Paldino fell in love with the eight page oneer so all of my co-stars came from theater I did not I came from stand-up in fact while doing stand-up and acting in films I had a few opportunities and offers to do

Broadway and I thought why would I want to share the stage with all those other people but that's just the brain of the stand-up you know I mean I'll you go out and you I've got it I don't I want to own the stage I'm going to share it these people talk to people

that seems strange let me talk to the audience it'll be great but so I did not come from the A page oneer it is a little theater piece and having just watched this new show with Stephen Graham called maybe the new everything shot in one

adolescence yeah I just finished it last night you'd think I'm on episode two remember the fucking name so so that whole those whole episodes are done in one which means they rehearse from what I've heard for three weeks and then they shoot for a week until they get it in one take so we would rehearse for hours

to do an eight page oneer and then shoot as many times as a take to get it right so with 14 moving parts often of those eight-page-woners, you just don't want to be the one who's the reason we're going again. That's why you're nervous. But not nerves. It's focus. I did have to step up my actor game, because again, I'm not trained. I sort of learned while I earned coming up as I did. And I'm fortunate enough to study from so many greats. But I'd not ever done it. And when I'm in an eight-paid scene, at the top of the scene, I'll say to A. Tom Cruise, so what do you think we should do? And then he talks for A pages. And then I say, all right, let's go. I mean, that's when my idea of an A page, right, as a character actor. So to be in this show, and they wrote my character, Moisemezel, as bombastic, a blowheart, who never stopped talking. So that was alien to me. And I had to learn.

how to do that, how to memorize that insanity. And then the annoying, super annoying part is that memorization does come easy for, and I don't know why. Easy. I'll forget the name of. Ryan. Oh, I was going to say Ryan. No, I'll forget.

No, I remember Ryan. Yeah. No, I'll forget the name of that television show. You just reminded me of that I finished watching last night. no problem but memorizing an a paid scene um i can do and the and the the the answer is simple if the question is how i read it a hundred times literally a hundred times a hundred times that's jeff you just got to do put in the 10 000 hours what do you do you get and you go to your bedroom you go to your study your quiet time i just go away from whatever the distractions for

how long in the house might be as long as it takes to read it a hundred times i don't know depends Depends on how long it is. Are you counting a hundred times? No, but yes. In the vicinity, in the... Yeah, no, I mean, I say a hundred times because it could be more and it could be less, but I read it so many times and just reading, not breaking it down, not acting it, just reading it because it needs to be muscle memory, that those words in that order.

Then, once you have that freedom, you can live in the moment because you won't be struggling, for the words they're going to be there yeah now i'm free to do whatever the fuck yeah that's how i roll i like to know inside out i don't want there to be any discrepancy i don't want there to be any i want to pick up a glass and not think twice about it most people don't realize how much of their personal information is being bought and sold every day data brokers are making billions pulling details about you from public records in the internet then packaging and selling it usually without your consent that's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. It's why you get endless robocalls and why ads seem to follow you everywhere. That's where ORA comes in.

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points. I think I just stole it. I'm a donut stealer. Ooh, earn points so fast, it'll seem too good to be true. Plus, join Tim's rewards today and get enough points for a free donut, drink, or timbits. With 800 points after registration, activation, and first purchase of a dollar or more. See the Tim's app for details at participating in restaurants in Canada for a limited time. Did you ever feel the pressure of, I got to show, I got to step up for these, because you've worked with the biggest actors around, the biggest. There's no bigger. And did you ever feel the pressure of like, I don't want to let them. down. Yeah. Sure. But I, I love that pressure. I mean, I love that opportunity. I don't consider

it pressure. I consider it an opportunity. You want, you, deep down, you want to impress them, don't you? Um, I think deep down, yes, what's on the surface is more, just be good. Just be good. Just be good. Yeah. Turns out everyone wants us to do well when you're in, when you're acting in a thing. The crew wants you to fucking get it right. The director, your co-star, everyone wants you to do good. So just do good. Don't think you have to impress anyone. Just, you know.

Was there ever a time in your- Get your head out of your ass? Was there ever a time in your life that you just felt that if you looked back, go, God, I was cocky. I was a bit of an asshole. I went from precocious to cocky at around 11. But it was, without knowing it was. was going to be a term to be overused, it was fake it to you make it for sure. It wasn't,

I think I'm great. It was, I have to fool them that I, that I'm comfortable and know what I'm doing. And like a true sociopath, I became that. That's amazing. I, I'm still. Well, it's amazing until this is a part of a dateline episode. I'm just, yes, you're a serial killer. We had a recording of him saying. What does make you nervous? What things do make you nervous? Hmm. Getting married? No. I mean, I've been with the same one for 18 years now and I put in 20 on the previous. So within those relationships, I did time, within those relationships, I do strive to make that person happy. So it's not just people pleasing. It's make that person happy. But a big part of make that person happy is,

dear God, don't fuck this up again. Whatever this is. You don't want to fuck up. Yeah. So I get, I do get, um, nervous about that. Like a trip to Costco, oh, I should get the thing. She'll, she, she mentioned this the other day. And then a brain, voice kicks in. Yeah, but she knew you were going to Costco and didn't mention it.

So for this trip, do you want to be that guy who comes home with this thing? And then she goes, what the fuck are you doing for the 1100th time? Yeah. You know, so, and I eventually came up with this bit based on that because once I was sent to the store to get a list of items, Rafe's, you call it Ralphs, but if Rayfe finds can spell, pronounce his Ralph as Rafe, we call it Rafe's. I'm going to start calling it Rafe. Please do. Thank you.

Use it as your own. I was sent to Raves with a list, and on my drive there, of course, as a man. I'd not written down this list. So on my drive there, I'm trying to remember these items. And while I'm trying to remember these items, one of them pops into my memory, and I say it into my rearview mirror inexplicably as Liam Neeson. Now, I say inexplicably because I had not thought of impersonating Liam Neeson ever, ever. So I can't. explain why, in this moment, when I remembered the grocery item, I said to my rearview mirror, Bononers.

Now, I've never heard Liam Neeson say bananas in a movie ever, so I don't, I don't know where this game from. And now all I can do is picture him in an eye hop. What would you like on your pancakes, Mr. Neeson? Banoners. Go, I will find you. Do you laugh at yourself? Sometimes.

So then I'm at the grocery store, for real in this moment, looking, I'm in the spice rack where men go to die. I'm convinced. Looking for this very specific spice that no one really needs, but it's on this fucking list. I'm looking for this. And then, you know, people talk to themselves. I think we all do, right? When you're alone, when you're alone.

We think out loud is really what it is. And sometimes you just need to talk it through. and so now I'm in the spice row staring at a thousand spice containers looking for the one I have been sent together and my frustration leads me to Al Pacino and I'm not kidding I'm talking to the spice racks because I see a repeating brand of spice McCormick everything is McCormick I don't know. Kuman, what's that?

I don't know what that is. You're doing this in the aisle. Yep. To no one. McCormick. This is just, I'm thinking out loud, I'm talking to myself, but because these voices live inside me, and I find them more entertaining than my own voice,

I will then entertain myself in a spice rack at raves. McCormick, what year did Al Pacino become an old black blues player? so yeah so the the i don't know what the answer to the question is well you were getting the spices for your wife and these things come to you yeah yeah so it it is um it is all that what's the memorization thing i think i covered it yes i think i think you really covered that what is the have you ever been starstruck oh yeah to this day if i see someone who would who would make you starstruck that you haven't worked with um well we just lost jean hackman and when i ran into him i he's my favorite actor of all right you run into him of all

time oh he's mine too ago like uh 20 years ago maybe or yeah it was do you do you do gene hackman no i just know that i hadn't thought of it well i always think of postcards from the edge when he's talking to merrill streep oh and he just says he goes i forgot what he says about fucking your you don't you're fucking my movie you understand yeah god damn it i'll kill you i'll kill you i'll kill you you go back home and you figure whatever shit you got like that kind of intensity yeah yeah like i'll fucking kill you yeah you're not gonna fuck my movie up yeah that intensity he has was just like you you just don't see it no just he demanded that attention raw raw i don't know how much of that was on the page and how much of that was him because it feels like it's all him we're exiting

the golden globes and out of that fucking theater venue is a bottleneck and I find myself moving an inch per minute standing next to my acting hero. He's my favorite of all time. And so it takes me probably seven solid, very endless minutes of inching up this bottleneck, standing next to my hero before I say I'll be beyond remiss of it and yelling at myself later if I don't say to you. that I've been a fan for a long time. And he smiled.

And then 11 inches later, which took an hour, seemed like, he said, and I have you. And even if he was just being kind, which I'm convinced he was, I don't think so. It was, you know, you can take me now. So in terms of being awestruck or starstruck, that's the biggest one.

But, you know, first time you meet any of these people, I call them. These Mount Rushmore, be it larger than life characters, yeah. Mathelan Lemon, you know, the people I've worked with. I died in Denzel Washington's arms. Spoiler alert, but that's every young Jewish boy's dream. In case your listeners didn't know that. Ontario, the wait is over. The gold standard

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With him? Yeah. Oh, but it was just the one time of doing in prep for the movie that he said, let's go have dinner. Was it a nice lunch with Genzo, Washington? It was a dinner, and it was very casual. Was it just you and him? Yep.

And it was at Genghis Cohen. Were you nervous? Yeah. Uh, no. I was excited. Again, I was excited. Jesus, this guy's a psychopath. Well, well, you know, listen, um, maybe my version of what, uh, excitement is would be someone else's nerves. Yeah, yeah. Nerves to me, it sounds like a voice in your head saying, don't fuck this up. Right. So I wasn't that at all. I was, this is unbelievably cool. This is so fucking cool. I mean, Walter Mathau. Well, that's, you're doing it all wrong. Like, what is, is he, is he a grumpy, old man. Yes. He's the part he played. Yep.

Born with a basset hound's face, looked 65 at 10 probably, and an absolute Mount Rushmore figure to me in my youth, Mathel and Lemon, both, showed that a character actor could be a movie star. You know, neither one of them were a leading man necessarily, but they became them. And first time I met him was on the set. Very last minute, they were shooting something that he was in and I wasn't. I'd just come for a wardrobe fitting. And the director said, oh, hey, let me introduce you to Walter and he walked me over.

Walter is literally on the set, surrounded by cameras and crew. They're setting something up. Walter, this is Kevin Pollock. He's playing your son. And then the director excused himself to go do something. And I'm standing there next to Mount Rushmore, having just been introduced. And I, foolishly, as I will learn, decided to make small talk with Walter Mather and said, so Walter, uh, um, script's pretty good, huh?

And he said, the script sucks, kid. I owe my bookie two million. And, uh, is it perfect. Zero. A script. Let's do it again. The script sucks, kid. I owe my bookie, two million.

I got a, I got a, I got a. learning to do that. Zero exaggeration. Jesus. So you're like, okay. In terms of what he said. He was an infamous gamble. Yeah. And so, yeah. So then learning from these guys, literally what, how to behave on set, how to treat everyone with kindness and respect. You should write a book. I did. No, about how to, called how to treat bigger, bigger stars than you yeah well i mean so that approach so you meet nicholson for the first time yeah what do you do after you've learned that because this is years later yeah how do you you don't make you i'm not making small talk again jack was uh uh already cool to four generations going on six

right so he was so cool and we're technically co-stars that i am out of rome reverence leaving him alone. I'm not going up to Jack. Hi, Jack. I'm Kevin. How are you? That's not happening. Instead, I'm going to endear myself to him through behavior and respect. At the table read, I don't know if I've ever told us. There's a, in a giant soundstage, empty, they set up a squareish horseshoe of tables for maybe 60 people to sit around for this one and only table read of this Aaron Sorkan script that had been a huge Broadway success over 500 performances already at that point. A few good men. And we had, you know, I had met Tom briefly in Rob Reiner's office, but otherwise I didn't really know.

oh i i i nope that's it so rob reiner stands up to address when everyone finally and jacks the last one to enter of course and the giant soundstage doors part and he walks in you know backlit silhouette and got and crosses to it and you know then now you can hear a pin drop the king has arrived and uh so everyone's finally seated rob stands to address everyone and he says you know welcome them. This is amazing. I'm so glad you could all make it. Actors, please keep in mind that you've got the job. This is not an audition performance. We just want to hear it out loud one time to celebrate the beginning of the production. But he goes on for what seems like 17 minutes. I am, where's Waldo in this cast? Let's be clear. I am surrounded by.

Tom Cruise, Kevin Bacon, Keeper Sutherland, Jack Nicholson. Yeah, even J.T. Walsh. Oh, yeah. I mean, the cast, and Rob Reiner is batting a thousand at this point. Oh, yeah. Spinal tap. Of course. Was it Harry Mansolly?

Princess Bride he had done. I don't actually know the chronological order. I just know that he was batting a thousand. Whether misery or stand by me, any of those had come before. I don't remember. But he's just, and he's six, three and big. and... Meathead. And gives this passionate welcome speech.

At the end of which, me, the unknown, says loud enough for everyone to hear, and you are... Yep, I took that swing. I took that swing. Because that either lands or it doesn't. It landed. It landed. And I just look over at Jack, and he's very happy. Yeah.

Yeah, he's very happy. He's very, very happy. and then that made you feel good yes then i know he likes me because he's fucking with me while we're shooting what was he doing which which he was surprising that he was gregarious and goofy not standoffish and aloof he was having the most fun on set um i've said this before in my act many times and on talk shows when when rob ryner said action he was letter perfect never missed a syllable we shot that courtroom scene solilo for days he was as a clinic to watch.

But when Rob said, cut, Jack looked like he'd been stoned for three days. He was just the happiest camper. And, but yeah, so, so, yeah. By the way, just to interject, when he said you can't handle the truth, you were there every, every take. Yeah. Obviously. But my point is, my question is, did you see different versions of you can't handle the truth? did he do a subtle one like you can't handle the truth and they're like oh a little bigger a little bigger

did you see how it evolved or was it always big we uh had the luxury of rehearsal so uh again on an empty sound stage with tape on the ground the way i suppose you would rehearse a play or so i've been told um and rob bryner worked with tom to me and i first for uh several days and then eventually brought Jack in. And Rob, because he was an actor, when he articulates to an actor what he wants, he ends up kind of acting out the scene without really giving line readings per se, which for your listeners, that's when a director, in an actor's mind, the director is saying, no, no, don't do it like that. Do it like this. And they gave it a name, line readings. And it became a curse to an actor that a director can do. Never, ever, ever. I love it. Okay. But you know you're aware

that actors don't like it. I love to be directed too. But the line reading, and even when I started directing, I learned, I would just go up to an actor and say, give me like 11% more. And then let the actor figure out what the fuck that means. Yeah. You know, casting, writing and casting, I learned from Barry Levinson. Very early is everything. You get the right people saying, saying these words, just fucking sit back and shut up. Roll film. Yeah, get a great shooter, get a great cutter, you're off to the race. Right.

So Jack comes in, and Rob had spent previous three days with Tom DeMean, I, as I said, talking through these scenes, we would act them. And then he would give what to the layman would appear to be a line reading, as again, his way to articulate what he's looking for. You know, when you get to the place, to the thing, and you say this, and he says, says it, I wouldn't want to see the passion, the thing, whatever the thing is. Right. He would

never say, don't do it like that. Because it's just undermining the performer. We're children in a sandbox. We can't be scolded, right? We'll curl up and die. So he knows that. So it's definitely not

accusatory or any of those things. But we have three days to get used to this style of directing. Jack Nicholson comes in to answer your question was it different every take Jack sits down

and through niceties and get to know you's and all that Rob says where do you want to start and it's decided he's going to start with the soliloquy and it's you know it's brilliantly written and he does the soliloquy for the first time

in front of anyone I would like to say if you had an overhead camera shooting from the rafters down onto we actors and our director. You would see Tom DeMey and I in a straight line as Jack finishes and Rob begins to direct seconds before the line reading articulation. From the overhead camera, you would see Tom DeMe and I take one step back because we know what's coming. We didn't, but that's what it felt like. And so sure enough, Rob says, oh, man, Jack, we could shoot right now. That was just, you know, and compliment after compliment. And then sure enough, he says, and then you know when you get not a but, an and, and you know when you get to that

spot where you're really coming in for the kill against Tom, and he starts and makes so you know he's saying the lines. And that's, of course, when Tom to me and I take that one step back from the overhead camera angle. And Rob finishes. and Jack is still seated as if he were on the stand for all of this and he just looks up at Rob and he says

yes well I guess I'm not there yet am I now that was Jack's way of saying gotcha but I'm not going to do it right now no I just just I hear what you're saying yeah go sit down

I'm Jack Nicholson you know what I mean Oh, my God, it's a great story. And then on the set, it wasn't finding it. It was fine-tuning. It wasn't, I'm going to give you 11 versions. You decide which one you want in post. It was very slight variations on a performance.

Yeah, it wasn't like, you can't handle. No, that's not the right one. You can't, no, that's not it. The truth. Yeah. I'm going to change the line. But he did. he he was goofy and gregarious always for example when the cameras over jack's shoulder

onto tom in that final moment i when tom comes at him and says i want the truth yeah for that moment the cameras next to jack's face those of you not watching but listening the cameras next to Jack's face shooting from basically Jack's point of view, or POV, onto Tom. It's important to know that Jack's face is next to the camera, not on camera. Only Tom can see Jack's face. And his face is so close to the camera, so Tom has something to react. And while Tom is doing his approach, very intense moment in the movie, a crescendo, if you will, Jack is doing this. right next to the lens

making faces he's making a goofy ass face and what's Tom doing is he staying in character he utterly stays in character it might have intensified his focus he finishes the take it may be the take that's in the movie it was so fucking great

but he finishes Rob Yel's cut and Tom smacks Jack in the shoulder and they laugh because it was an unbelievably unprofess hilarious thing for jack to do and and they you know it was the first take uh so no one or no you know what i'm not going to say it was the first take it was the first time jack did that in a take uh so it was so out of left field that it was fucking hilarious wow but that hilarity was not enjoyed obviously until rob said cut because right tom stayed in it you know there's that famous

mission impossible broke his ankle yeah tom stayed in it right yeah i mean that's true that's who he is That's truly ridiculous. Jesus. Yeah. I wonder if the great actors always think, I want to go first. I want to get my close-up first. For Jack, was it like, or other big actors, can you recall? They're like, I want to do this.

Rob Reiner has told the story of asking Jack that, which is the version I can share, which is we come to the day where we're going to shoot the courtroom. Jack of a stuff. And it's the soliloquy time once again. And Rob goes to Jack in the morning and says, so what do you want to do, pal? It's up to you. You want to start with us on you or us on the other actors watching you

so you can warm up to what will ultimately be your coverage? I'm happy to start either way. It's totally up to you. And it's decided that they're going to start on the other actors in the scene and Jack will be off camera so he can sort of warm up after three takes or so of the exact same level of intensity that Jack will ultimately do on camera which is insane Rob has to go over to Jack and say hey man you're doing incredible but a little too incredible. And I understand you wanting to give to your co-stars. But I need you to save something

from when the camera comes around, which may not be until after lunch. So, you know, maybe give me 87% instead of 110. And famously, Jack said to Rob, I just love to act, Robbie. You know, that was the only way he could sort of process why he was giving so much. Normally, you would, you would give 100%. But as proof is in the pudding, that particular performance needs to get to a screaming match, basically. So you can't, you got to give me something for on-camera after a line. Yeah, can you tone it down? Sorry, man, I just love to act. I just love to act.

Oh, hi, buddy. Who's the best? You are. I wish I could spend all day with you instead. Uh, Dave, you're huff mute. Hey, happens to the best of us. Enjoy some goldfish cheddar crackers. Goldfish have short memories.

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world's most chilling crimes. Hi, I'm Ben. And I'm Nicole. Together, we host Wicked and Grim, 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. We are Wicked and Grim.

Follow and listen on your favorite. podcast platform. Have you ever worked on a movie where you're like, oh, God, I can't stay on a director. Maybe it's not that you can't stand. And you're like, I don't know if this guy knows what he's doing. I don't know. Sure. And then all of a sudden you watch the movie.

You're like, what the for? This is great. Yeah. Well, not so often that this is great, but this is way better than I thought it would be. It's quite rare that something's great. Right. Although I will say Brian Singer was 26. So you didn't have a lot of faith.

Or 25. And he and McCory both hadn't done anything, really. They did some basically student film. This was their first real thing. Was he nervous on set? I sensed a fake it till you make it. I sensed not false bravado, but someone trying to be cool. I think Benicia probably fucked with him, didn't he?

well he was 25 so we all fucked with him but there was a case where he couldn't quite articulate he was more of a technical guy not a performance guy so you know there's a couple of great amazing shots cross fades lighting changes um and he worked it all out uh with tom his cinematographer and they um his his way he just came to us and said i can't really explain why I need you to just stand there and not do anything, but please just stand there and not do anything. And so there were enough of those where he couldn't really articulate that I thought, hmm, I wonder how this is, we all knew it was the best script we'd ever read. And I will still argue it remains that way. Although that Academy Award winning

screenplay remains the best script I've ever read, but I will put a blind $10 wager if you know the film well enough to quote some of my lines to me that 90%

of them I improvised because I was given that freedom. The lines were great, but... The one in the jail cell. Wasn't there one in the... I'm not going to lead the witness. You've got to come up with the one you're thinking of. I just can't remember it's been so long.

since I've seen it. Well, I mean, I give you a... I remember when you guys are all kind of talking in there and like... I can give you an example. When we're all first rounded up, right, individually, and I'm in a garage and I'm working on a side mirror with a screwdriver and the back, the garage door behind me opens up and five officers flooded with guns drunk. And then I wipe my face and I say, you sure you're brought enough guys and I throw the rag

over the side mirror? There was nothing written for that scene. Wow. Dialogue. There was no dialogue written for that scene. How much fun do you have doing that? Oh, again, I've done a few good men where you have to be letter perfect. I've done maizea where you have to be letter perfect.

I just had this conversation in a Zoom with an alleged employer. And I said, I'm comfortable doing it either way. If you want to give me the freedom to want to say your lines, say your lines, but have a little freedom to put them in my mouth, right? So while he wrote in the, Chris McCory wrote in the interrogation scene, what are you going to do if I can arrest you for this, whatever the guy says, and I say, fuck your father in the shower and have a snack. He wrote that, but I surrounded it with when the guy says, I can put you in Queens on

the day of the robbery. I live in Queens I live in Queens Einstein What do you got a team of monkeys Working around the clock on this So I just gave it that little filler Right before I said What was written

I'm gonna put your father So just those little freedoms Right Did you think they were Were you surprised that all of them were in there? Yeah Like he kept like almost all of them Of course including by the way

The very first time You mentioned Benizio The very first time Benicio speaks In the lockup for the first time my character says what the fuck did he just say yes okay so that was not only a hundred percent improvised it wasn't improvised that was me breaking the scene and saying to the director what the fuck that he just said because we were not told he was going to do mumbles we were not told he was going to so you're talking to the director and they just use that yep

what the fuck did he say what the fuck did he just say so funny the And you know this, because it's been told many times by me and others. The poster of the suspects lined up, the lineup scene, is, for the most part, a series of outtakes. We were meant to say it very stoically, very seriously. I'm the littlest suspect who speaks first when I say, give me the keys, you fucking cock sucker. And I say it as written, which, so the idea was we were going to be very stoic. I remember this, as you're saying. Very stoic and unimpressed that we'd been gathered.

Right. that we'd been arrested. So we're supposed, as a fuck you to the police, we're supposed to not be impressed and be very dry. So I read it that way as the first person to do the scene. And then everyone after me is either laughing or hitting each other or fucking around. And it was the only day where we, the suspects at lunch, were approached by the director who said,

you guys are fucking me. I got nothing. I got nothing. We can't get through. a take without laughing. I've said this. It'd be great if you didn't laugh at all. We can't afford to lose half a day. We have. So when we come back from lunch, I need you to please settle down and do it. Well, that was like telling nine-year-olds, don't laugh at the funeral. We go back after lunch and fuck it up even more, not on purpose, but because now there's a pressure to not

fuck it up. And one of us is getting to fuck up every day. And the end of the day, he threw up his hands and said, well, I've got nothing. Thanks, guys. And to his credit, and the editor, John Otman, who also did the music. Yeah. They created a series of those outtakes. And it gave an instant sense of camaraderie that didn't exist in the written version. And also a potentially more powerful, fuck you to the police, were not impressed that you arrested us. Which was the initial intent of the written. That is amazing. So happy accidents. Uh, to the instigree. Uh, I, you know, so I'm looking at the clock. I'm like, fuck, I could talk to him. I could, you're the one of the only guests I've had that I could sit here and talk to you all day. Oh, no. Oh, no. No, this is.

I feel like I've done all the talk. No, but I'm, I'm mesmerized. I mean, you, you, you can tell because I'm just like, I'm just like, I never get like that. I start. I'm like, I get bored and I'm like. Is Charlie name of your dog? What's your dog? Charlie's one of them. Yeah. How'd you remember that? I don't know. Adolescence. I don't know.

Adolescence. Thank you. Ryan, I started to see Charlie in your face when you were staring at me. Gap mouth. Yeah, it was just really, I was so intrigued. All right, this is called shit talking with Kevin Pollock. These are rapid fire. These are from my top tier patrons who support the show.

Patron.com slash inside of you. Here you go. Raj, tell me about a recent time you felt satisfaction. Raj. Raj. His name is Raj. He's a patron. Oh, I thought that was part.

of the question. No, tell me about a recent time you felt satisfaction. Rapid fire. When a very hot actor right now read a script of mine for me to direct and said yes for the leap. That's a level of satisfaction. I've rarely had in life. Cicely, what role made you feel most fulfilled? That's hard. So many, so many good ones. I've been too lucky to say just one. But what's the one role you think of? You're like, well, weirdly, it's the one no one saw. I played the first Jewish president in a film no one saw called deterrence. The writer-director, Rod Lurie, went on to do the contender with Joan Allen and Gary Oldman. Love it. But his movie before that that no one saw made for $7 is called deterrence.

And so I'm going to check it out for sure. Yeah, it was one of those bizarre, rare moments when I was number one on the call sheet. To the point where when he offered to me, I said, do you want no one to see this? I mean, I'm not being. self-deprecating. I'm a businessman, too. Little Lisa, what is the essential part of your daily routine? Coffee. Leanne, would love to hear your Shatner impression. How'd you come up with that? I bet you would. How did I come up with it? How did that come about? Oh, you watch Star Trek. Yeah, that literally is it. I mean, no one had really done it beforehand. I think John Belushi did it on SNL in that famous sketch. Maybe that was the only time, but he didn't,

really do an impression of Shatner, if you know the sketch. He, a little bit he did, but mostly he was doing a very funny take on being a captain of a ship. But for me, it was being a fan of the show, loving Shatner, since before that two episodes of the Twilight Zone, not the most famous one with the thing on the wing, but the one in the diner is actually my absolute favorite. In fact, the one in the diner, there's a moment where Captain Kirk is born. If you don't know the episode, check it out.

And he becomes obsessed with this little box on a diner table that's a fortune teller. You put in a penny, pull out the tab, and it tells you your fourth. I have that. It's this truth seer. Yeah. I have it in there. I have a replica. Yeah.

So you know the episode. Yes. So there's a moment, yeah, when his wife says, or a fiancee says to him, are we just going to stay here for the rest of our lives? And in his response, Captain Kirk is born because he answers, I don't know Yep That's verbatim

Drove a train through that pause Don't know Yeah God that's good All right 71 cars on that train That was driven through that pause I love

Not just a locomotive And I love that episode All in the diner With that little Yeah The little thing Where they jump across the street Yeah

Nick of time I think it's cool Would you do a couple Impressions If I just said If I said to say, would you rather say your own line or if I said you have to say, uh, fuck you very much or whatever line you want with each, I'm going to give you the actor. Okay. All right. Woody Allen.

You want me to just speak as him? Whatever you want. Well, you know, without sound of a big didactic, I think it's extremely important to remember that, uh, you know, this couch is from the Mary Tyler Moore collection of 1974. Jesus. And, uh, which he, which he opened. when they stole from Bob Hope. Alan Arkin. I remember Alan Arkin, wasn't he in Catch 22? Yes. Or he's like, I'm the bombardier.

He's something like that. It's almost like a walking in a way. But what does it Alan Arkin sound like? Well, interestingly enough, there's a time where we're all faced with the decision on a line reading, I guess you call it, how to say something. And it's interesting you touched on that one because I struggled for days. I didn't know how to say I'm a bombardee. here. I really didn't. You did it fairly well, but in the moment, I, I, uh, I think I just said it.

I stopped, I stopped thinking and said, you know what? Say it. Say it a line. Christopher Lloyd. Huh. That's it. Perfect. Robert De Niro. It's more of a face. I'll be honest with you. It's more of a face. Go to my, um, no, that was perfect. Go to my Instagram. After watching Alter. Alta Kings? I can't remember the Alto. Alto Kings, the new Barry Levinson film where De Niro plays two parts.

My better have put her phone on me and said, let's act out the scene of the movie we just came from when I boil the entire film down to De Niro talking to De Niro. It's on my Instagram. Kevin Pollock, one, two, three. Kevin Pollock, one, two, three. I wouldn't normally say such a thing, but it does.

It's the new, my favorite. He's taking the knife out of the cheese. you think he likes cheese Little Dudley Moore Oh my God When I was six My father God damn it

Don't they know That does children You must have hated this moose That laugh Oh my God That's brilliant Yeah I mean these are just

Amazing I just had Paul Riser On the show You'd be a little Paul Riser Well here's the thing And then I'll drive you home I don't feel as old Just sitting here talking to you.

There's a Dracula right across from me. I'm not comfortable. This is Robin Williams. Oh, don't be frightened. Ha ha! Yes. Do you spend hours? Have you spent hours getting these or did they just come to you? No, they, I think of the person and if it comes out, I'll pursue it.

If it doesn't, there's a lot of people, like, the worst question, I hope you weren't planning to ask it, is, what you do such great. impressions, which one did you try to do and you can't do? And the reason it's a horrible question is there's no fun, entertaining answer. Right. Because in the question, you've revealed, I couldn't do them. So as much fun as it may be to see me recreate someone in front of you, the opposite of that will happen as I tell you, oh, I tried to do X and I just couldn't. End of story. Fascinating, isn't it? I love if you could do it. There's been plenty, though, that I tried and couldn't. You know, it would be difficult. They're just not. Vince Vaughn.

Yeah, well, he's got a patter, right? So they're all musical rhythms. Yeah, he talks fast. So if you take something maybe from swingers, I don't like doing an impression by repeating dialogue from a movie if that's a little pedestrian. So I like to put them in the minutia. So I did a very short-lived podcast. I think I only did like 15 episodes.

It was called Talk and Walking. I think it's technically still out there somewhere where it was like my dinner with Andre, where I would have someone come over to the house, we'd sit at the dining room table, and I'd have a list of things, minutia, you know, fishing in Alaska, whatever the topic is.

And we would converse, I would speak only as Walkin. We never referenced my name or his name. We just, me and someone had a conversation for an hour, and I spoke only as Walkin the entire time. And what happened is, I drilled down into the nuance

conversational version, which is my favorite version of any impersonation. Right, when you could just get deep and have a real. Or you can just really talk about whatever it is. You've got a wine rack of sorts. I notice it's an odd number available to the bottles. But I find when I store wine, I do it incorrectly. I don't know how. I set them up on the counter.

Boom. They're stored. I don't need to find a home from my bottles of wine. I suppose I should. I drink them too fast. I made my own wine. Yeah, there you go. I did it.

Yeah. There's my picture on the wine. Nice. My bottles, they sit there and no one wants them. Yeah. See, it's nice. It's the nuance. And you can just keep getting on it, you know, deeper in the conversation. Yeah.

The way I worked with him and he was just. The best. He's the best. He's such a weird man. Well, it's unique. It's unique. I don't know. that it's weird because it's impossible to be an original voice anymore, right, in life or

in your work. And when you find someone that's that original, I'm with you, we have to attach the word weird because what he says sometimes seem to come from. It's the inflections, right? The inflections. Yeah. Yeah. Well, but by the way, the same would be true of Vince Vaughn. If you went to do an impression of him, you'd have to find that musical rhythm with which he doles out. Floats and just lets it go. Yeah, exactly. You know who I'd love to do is George She's Scott. I just remember an exorcist three was like, it's not in the files. That's all I remember. Well, there's an intense anger. Yeah, when I was very young, I would do him from Patton. Patton. But that was very much a performance as opposed to what he might necessarily

sound like. Right. That's the fun for me is get them away from their roles and try to talk as them as a person. You've got the podcast. Had a pod. Well, I thought the, I thought the, uh, rewatch. The Maisel I did a year. I did a year. 50 episodes. It's out there. Um, my Mrs. So you could listen to that. Podcast. If you are a fan of the show, uh, the series, I had people from the show, not just cast, but also cinematographer, wardrobe genius, you know, department heads casting. I had people on the show and we just broke down episodes. Uh, that was a great, great, great, great fun to do. I, I did it for a year and, um, that was enough. I was kind of done. You were done. Yeah. I didn't even.

even get to the final season of the series. I just got, I got to the end of the year and I went, hmm, I think I'm done doing this. Yeah. Yeah, because I did, we've been doing a rewatch, yeah. On the, on the, on the first podcast starting in 2009, when there were less than 50 podcasts. I just started this six years ago and they were a hell of a lot less even than there are now. It's like everybody has. The exponential thing. Like being asked to be on someone's podcast. Yeah, I knew it. I was like, he doesn't want to do it. He doesn't want to do it. here you know but you did it no you were really kind to come on here no no you you you earned uh my being here how did i earn that uh i asked you asked and you had a history of doing the show

that uh relaxed my sphinker that that you knew what the fuck you were doing which is a big part of this you know it's i just want to talk to everyone kind of thinks they can talk to people on a microphone and I don't know that they can also I don't know if you found this in your podcast listening I used I I I will drop out of listening to a podcast that I love if the person the host has a not pleasant way of speaking yeah so they pronounce their T's as D's if they say important I'm gone isn't that something it's weird no I understand my ear and I'm like Ooh, I can't with this. I can't.

It's a voice. Like, you have to have. I'm not going to make fun of you by your name and call you out by the way you pronounce things because that's bullying and cruel. Yeah. But to those of you out there hosting a podcast, people have, you're right on the mic. You're an inch away from the mic. Yeah. It's got to be effortless.

The same reason you wouldn't chew a sandwich on Mike. Right. You know, I've got. And I don't like the people who are like, yeah, well, I don't know. I'm like, I can't. I can't. Yeah. I just,

I just kind of want to listen to something that I can just listen to the background. He started six months after I started mine. If you were doing Mark Marin, I wasn't sure. No. That was an impression. I know. I wasn't actually doing Mark Marin.

But now you can. Are you friends with Mark Merin? Friendly. Friendly. I like him. When we see each other, we get along very well. Hello.

I consider friendship a little deeper than that. So when you, to answer your question, honestly, I wouldn't necessarily calls friends, but we are certainly friendly with a job. Now, I know you can't talk about

the project that you might be directing. There's a project that you might be acting in and all this stuff. But is there anything else going on? There's a movie I did with Josh Gad and Alexandria, that something about a tree falling in the woods is in the title. Look for that. All right. David Diggs is also in the film.

Davy Diggs for 300. For 300. Would you ever do Celebrity Jeopardy? No. I've been told to do it. Me too. And I think I'd look like an idiot. I'm afraid.

Same here. Like for some reason. I'd get there and I'd just freeze. Well, here's what I would do, and I need to see this sketch on S&L if anyone's listening. You do get to a certain age where you ask me anything, and I know the answer, but I have to struggle for it. And that doesn't work on Jeopardy. I loved on Celebrity, you know, SNL when.

Oh, sure. Stand up and when it was all stand-up comedians, and Seinfeld was hosting. And he was like, somebody goes, I'll take Chicken McNuggets for a thousand. Yeah. And then he's like, if it McCombie. where I make thinks it does I don't want to make eat it that's right that's right yeah I love shit like that yeah yeah um who's your I know this is gonna be impossible the last question is who's your favorite would you say your top three comedians of all time are oh geez this could be one

when Albert Brooks is my unicorn comedy hero for sure in every regard stand-up his uh variety show appearances doing stand-up documentary was amazing all the films I could quote every line yeah Um, and then, um, uh, God, there's so many. Uh, Louis C.K. Bill Burr, Ricky Jervaise. Um, these are all, uh, probably more contemporary favorites. Who makes you laugh the most? When you watch something, look at it this way, physical comedy. Dave Chappelle, uh, Dave Chappelle is, oh, no, no, not the answer to your question. He's an answer to in my, in my list of favorite favorites. It's, uh, um, no, no, not the answer to your question. He's an answer to the, in my list of So favorites, it's, again, these are wholly unique original voices in an art form that it's

beyond rare to have an original voice. It really is impossible, you know, but I go back to Carlin and, you know, those guys. You know, the first album of Cheech and Chong will change your religion. It was so funny. Up and Smoke is one of my favorite movies. Yeah. They had comedy albums before the movies that. that, you know, you just listened to this voice from the stereo that was a seven-foot

wide piece of furniture and your mind was blown. You know what I mean? Yeah. Up in smoke. Yeah. How many times have you seen that? Yeah. I mean, yeah, please.

When the cop comes over and says, sir, can I see your license? Isn't it back there on the bumper? Yeah. You can't. I'm dead. You're done. That's it. Yeah.

This has been an absolute gem. I mean, you've been in everything. You've worked with the greats. You are. You are one of the greats. You're alleged. when I told these guys that you were coming on, my friends are like, no way, everybody immediately, it wasn't like, who's that? Let me, let me Google that. Everybody knows you. But by the way, it's interesting. Thank you for all of that. That's unbelievable. No, I really mean it. You're, you know what, you're dependable. Yes. You're a good actor, a great actor who's dependable. People know that he's going to bring it. And I, I, I maybe the most, thank you again, my, the most pride I take is coming from stand-up comedy to just being. loose and natural and authentic in front of a camera without training to do that is it personally,

in my heart, the greatest achievement. So to hear kudos from anyone is still a ridiculous notion, but yeah, there's a deep, deep, deep sense of pride in that being a possibility. I love it. Thank you for being here. Thank you. Wendy's most important deal of the day has a fresh lineup. Pick any two breakfast items for $4. New four-piece French toast sticks, bacon or sausage wrap, biscuit or English muffin sandwiches, small hot coffee, and more. Limited time only at participating Wendy's Taxes Extra. Thanks, Kevin, for being on the show.

I appreciate it. I thought you were awesome. I'd love to have you back some time. If you want to come back, you're always welcome. And, yeah, I hope you're still enjoying the podcast. I think people are still enjoying it, right? Yeah. Join Patreon and support the show, patron.com slash inside of you.

And right now we're going to read the top tier patrons. These folks give back so much to the show and keep it alive. And in no particular order, all these names I'm saying right here, I've messaged to all of you, thanking you. So I really do appreciate it. And this last week when I was in Toronto, I saw a lot of people that support the show. Little Lisa was there and Kevin E. And just a lot of people. And it was so cool to see them.

You know, they support so much and to give them a hug and to just tell them how grateful I am was really cool. And people are liking last week's episode that I interviewed a patron, a regular person. And we started that, those interviews. I don't know if you're aware of that. But we were interviewing it every month or every three weeks we have a patron on or, you know, that supports the podcast. Cool. Nice. Yeah, pretty cool. That's really nice.

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Get out of your head. And be good of yourself. All right. I'll see you next week. Hi, I'm Joe Sal C. Hi, host of the Stacking 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 edition 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.