Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - NEAL MCDONOUGH Becoming the ‘Bad Guy’ for his Faith & Family

Episode Date: August 24, 2021

The incredibly interesting and kind Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers, Minority Report) joins me this week for his first ever podcast to discuss being blackballed for a period of time for decisions he made for his family and his journey in becoming a Hollywood bad guy for his faith. Neal and I talk about our shared path towards villainry in the majority of his work and the exact details behind his industry cold shoulder that sent him into a dark point in his life. We also talk about working with Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, Angels in the Outfield, and Neal’s exciting upcoming role as former president Dwight D. Eisenhower in the upcoming season of American Horror Story! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Sometimes I feel like my energy is down. But then, you know, you don't want to be all high strung on these things when people are listening on the road and it's easy going. It's easy to listen to. Hey, how are you? I don't want to hear that show. No, you want it comforting. You want it comforting.

All announcers should talk like this, Ryan. It should be gentle inside of you. Gently inside of you. I appreciate all the fan mail. I appreciate all the well wishes. You guys are great. All my patrons, I love you. You know that. If you want to

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get right into the interview. But if you want to to follow us. If you're listening for Neil McDonough, I'd love for you to follow the podcast on the social and subscribe. Means a lot. Spread the word. At Inside of You podcast on the Instagram and Facebook at Inside of You pod on the tweeter. And that's how that is. And then you can subscribe on YouTube. You can watch the whole video or you could listen in your car like some of you are doing right now. Raj, I know you're there. I know you're listening. Just a random name. I mean, he's a patron.

So I thought I'd give him a shout out. You know what I mean? I hope he doesn't crash when he hears that. Yeah. Well, what the heck? No, he'd probably just be upset about it. And if you want to shop at the inside of you online store, go there, and there's tons of stuff. Lex Luthor autograph, pictures, there's, you can get small the lunch boxes inside of you, tumblers, t-shirts, much more.

Also, my band Sunspin. I'm wearing the Sunspin shirt. You can go to sunspin.com, get shirts, book zooms with me, lots of other stuff. and yeah that's that's that and great guest did you enjoy this one yeah it was a fun one i did this guy has been in everything like desperate housewives band of brothers minority report flags of our father walking tall just i mean everything he's been in everything and he's always so committed and what a great story and how open he was uh i'm excited about this one I think this one's, I think people are going to like this one.

I hope you like it. I'm sure you'll tell me if you don't. He's also a friend of mine. I play ice hockey with him. He and his wife have a wonderful relationship. I love watching them together. They're the perfect example of the rare example when a couple just works. They work so well together.

And I love the love that they share. And it gives me hope. Let's get inside of Neil McDonough. It's my point of view. 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. All right. So look, we know each other.

We go to these hockey tournaments. It's been many years, but I always, I always just loved you and Ruevae, your wife. and I just, you have this energy together where you see a couple together and you're like, oh, that couple. You know, that couple's gonna make it. A lot of couples you look at and you don't see that, but with you guys.

So, groping with each other 21 years later. That's kind of the key to it. It's, you know, we're sitting here last night, you know, having dinner. We're back here in Canada now. We're quarantining for a while. And, you know, a song comes on the radio and the kids are just hanging out of all having dinner

and I just grab her and started dancing where they're in front of all the kids, and dipped her, and then so what you do? you got to show your kids love too and affection that's you know that's what that's what makes everyone happy Neil this podcast isn't about me

but I never saw that once I never saw my father grab my mother and kiss her and I mean maybe I saw him kiss her once or but like yeah it was very rare to see them it was a different it was a different time it was

my mom and dad you know kiss each other but I never saw them really groping but you know they they were they were you know, affectionate enough in that time and age, but, you know,

now it's a different time. And it's okay to show your feelings and your emotions towards people. And, you know, I think, I think that's, if there's anything good

that's come out of all this as of latest, you know, find the people that you love and love the snot out of it. Don't stop loving and enjoy them because you don't know what's up next. You don't know what's coming on tomorrow.

You don't, and you can't worry about what happened yesterday. All you can worry about is what's happening in this moment right now and just find the love. And Michael, you've always been that way. You've always been about, okay, you know, we'd be in locker rooms and it'd be, you know, tense or boring and something. You'd come in and start cracking jokes and make everyone, you know, light and happy.

And, you know, you're amazing at that. You are the love infuser in every room that I go to, which is great. Well, I think it comes from insecurity. I come into a room and I just feel like I have to say something. I have to do something. If they laugh, they like me. But no, no, no, it does. You know, everyone's, you know, everyone's serious in life.

Life has gotten very serious on so many levels. Yeah. You know, but you, Rosie, you come in and just, you shake it up. And it's, it's, it's, you know, this is my, by the way, my first podcast. This is the very first podcast you're doing. The very first one. Very first one. I'm honored.

I'm honored, too. And I, and I give credit a lot to the wife, the wifey Rovey, because Rivey made that happened, didn't she? Totally. Absolutely. If it weren't you, I, you know, I'm, you know, I'm, you know, a pretty private guy. Why is it? Why is it that you don't do podcasts?

Have you not been asked? I'm sure you've been asked. Yeah, I just never, I like, I love acting and I love the mystique of Neil McDonough as this actor and that no one really knows that much about him. But in real life, I'm this really goofy family guy, you know, and I kind of, I like my private life with with obeying the kids, you know, as much as I put myself out there, you know, I coach all the kids in their sports or, you know, I'm there for all the meetings or I'm different, whatever it takes it to make the kids, you know, succeed whenever they can succeed in or be happier, you know, I'm always, I'm all in. but acting to me is my job and I generally don't talk about it too much all right well well by the way we have this new segment called um how you doing it's kind of a mental health check in it's just how you doing and and it's just like right now I know you're quarantining in in Canada and you got the family you got five of you well six of you count in Rovey seven of you counting you seven you're the

Brady bunch but I mean how are you doing are you are I mean look you're a happy go lucky guy but You know, how are you feeling? How you doing? I've always been that guy. You know, I have a great relationship with God. And that's kind of paramount to me. And it's God first, me second, or family first, me second. You know, those kind of the mantries that I always kind of live by.

So, you know, through all this, you know, through this pandemic, as horrible and horrific as it has been for so many people, you know, you know, just, you know, tragic on, you know, personal ways, and economic ways, there's so many ways that's been so hard. And it's been hard on us, too. But, you know, overall, it has given me, you know, a phenomenal gift that I got to spend an exorbitant amount of time with my wife and my five kids, you know. And, you know, we just did a film this last year called Boone that Rabin and I produced together. And we did in Spokane, which was, which was awesome.

And, you know, the whole family was with us the whole time. So literally, I was sitting, we were sitting there having dinner last night and sitting around the table. And I said to Rubet and said, you know, we haven't, we've been with the kids 24-7 for a year. and we love each other more today than we did even yesterday and it's been such a blessing to get to hang out with with them and get to know them because usually we're at work or you're traveling or they're at sports or they're at ballet or something

you know it's been great that on one level that we've got to spend so much time with each other and learn from each other and try to make each other better but don't you don't I mean come on you're human you got to have bad days you got to lose your stuff every once in a while oh absolutely you're you know we're dads or humans husbands, but you know, you're always trying to be, you know, you know, I'm blessed

that I'm not that intelligent, you know, that I can just keep my nose down and keep pressing with the same kind of message in my head of trying to find goodness and try to be the best that I can be in everything that I do. Wow. You know, so it's, it's kind of always a driving force to me. How can I eat better? What can I do to work out better? What can I do to make God happy? What can I do to make Burbank and the kids happier? So, like, five years ago, you know, you know, as a young, as a good Irish, guy you know i love drinking you know it was it was part of my everyday thing and it was always there accessible especially in hollywood it's like hey nil have a drink have another drink have another

drink yeah and five years ago i just cut it out i said okay i'm done i can't do this anymore and for five years i've been sobered and it's been you know you know the greatest decision second greatest decision i ever made in my life i've obviously asking ever to marry me were you were you drinking a lot though for someone to yeah i was you know i was a hollywood guy you're always strength. And it's always part in a Irish. So, you know, it definitely became a problem for me. And it was a problem that I didn't want my kids to see. And I didn't want, look, being, being a, trying to be the best dad you can be. That doesn't fit in. Trying to be the best husband you can be. It doesn't fit in. And trying to be great at work. You know, the last five years of work for me have been, you know,

really just phenomenal from just being, you know, the bad guy in everything to, you know, the good guy. and right now I'm off doing Ryan Murphy just called me this week to play Eisenhower in American Horror Store. Wow. Wow, I could totally see that. I can totally see it. That's fantastic.

Yeah, so, you know, the good Lord works in strange ways. Here we are, you know, are moving back to California, don't know where, don't know what we're going to do, and then we get this, you know, shooting the show now this fall, you know, at Fox. You know, it's a great way to come back into Los Angeles And I, you know, I couldn't be happy or more blessed that this gift was given to me from above and from Ryan Murphy.

That's amazing. So when I meet Ryan, there's going to be a big hug going his way because that's such a great gift to play. Someone that I have always looked up to as, you know, a centrist when it comes to politics, as was Eisenhower. You know, the things that that guy did, you know, everyone, you know, he was, he almost ran on the Democratic ticket. You know, he finally ran a Republican ticket. But, you know, he was this amazing guy who cared so much about humanity and learning so much about him now in the last couple of days doing more research. I'm just, you know, gobsmacked and how fortunate I have to play something amazing like Ike. That is freaking awesome.

You know, you talk about religion and you're a devout Catholic and you've been, I mean, was this something that was instilled on you by your parents and or from a young age that you just kept with you and it got stronger and stronger? Was that a kind of thing? or did you find it at an age? Or how did that happen? No, it was, it was, you know, my parents were, you know, growing up in Boston, I lived right across the street from the church at St. Peter's. So, you know, I was always at the church or, you know, playing stickball in front of the church or, you know, when we finally moved to Kate Cod, I spent a lot of time, you know,

going to mass every Sunday with, you know, my mom would, we had a motel. So my mom would go to the early mass. My dad would go to the evening mass. Your parents owned, they were motel owners. Yeah, small motel. mom-and-pop motel, 40-room motel in Cape Cod, great way to grow up, had a lake, had a coffee shop. You know, by the time I was five,

I was washing dishes in the restaurant and showing rooms. And, you know, and by the time I was 20, I was running, we bought a second motel. And it was just a great way to grow up and learn business. It was a really fantastic place. Right. But, you know, so I would go to church with my dad, you know, on Sundays at 5 o'clock.

And, you know, it was always just a bonding time with me and my dad. And I always loved that time. And, you know, we would do the baskets and do the collections. And they were going to Johnsloff restaurant, which is in Hyannis, the whole family we meet after. And, you know, my brothers and my sister, you know, four older brothers and an older sister, they all went to parochial school. I was the only one who didn't. So, you know, I'm the only one who's really still practicing Catholicism, which it was interesting.

So it was more of an organic, you know, relationship that I had. And then when I was in high school, I did this thing called Echo. and I really became close to God in my relationship and tried to just aspire to be better instead of being, you know, I just tried to be the best of everything I could do. I became very competitive with just myself, not with anybody else.

And it was a relationship with God, I always just to say, be the best you can be. Just try harder. Well, that's got to be tough. That's got to be tough because in Hollywood to be someone who's religious. Now, obviously, you've talked about this ad nauseum, and people know about it, but, like, you've gotten, like, released or couldn't do roles

or refused to do roles based on, like, you won't do a kissing scene, right? But some of it, unless, you know, the great, yeah, I won't do kissing scenes. I've never wanted to do it. And, you know, I got crucified about 10 years ago where, you know, they thought I was this religious zealot that I wouldn't do sex scenes. It was really because I love my wife born and I love my craft. And people couldn't understand that. They couldn't grasp that.

So I had to become the best bad guy because I had to provide for my, five kids and a beautiful life. And so you know, that's what I had to keep doing. And then finally a couple of years ago when I started to executive produce things, I did this movie called Greater, which is this faith-based football film. A phenomenal

movie. And, you know, that started me on the trend of doing these good guys with this gray paths and grappling with their faith. And now this film that we just finished called Boone is that he's a hitman who has to find his place with God.

And it's, you know, it's great that I, that Ravey and I now get to create vehicles for me that I get to write and be in that I don't have to just do, you know, movies that are out there that I have to go fight for. I can build my own movies and craft them that way. And so for me to also have that ability to make movies that talk about God and talk about how we are flawed and how we all make mistakes and how it's how you, you know, get up after you make a mistake, not, not wallowing. and your mistake. Yeah. A better person. And I like making movies like that and TV shows like that. And, you know, that's, if I never make a movie for anyone else again for the rest of my life,

I'm okay with it. As long as I'm making movies that. That's crazy. That's crazy. And it's great message. I mean, you know, you talk about that. And you think it was scoundrels, right? That was the big thing that scoundrels, you wouldn't do a sex scene or something.

And then they released you. And so you're saying after that, it was a very difficult time in your life for work. I mean, were you only getting back? Talk about drinking then. You know, there was two years of me not getting a job and losing my, you know, big house at Hancock Park and Tars and everything and begging from this. And, you know, I was never a guy who would ask to borrow money from anyone.

I'd rather just figure out myself. So I lost basically everything. And then, you know, I've told the story before that, you know, and me being a great, you know, go to church every day. You know, always praying, trying to figure out what's going on. in one day in my house before we had to sell it before we got foreclosed on

to start with you know I remember saying to God why have you forgotten about me what have I done that I deserved this and as soon as I came out of my mouth Michael I fell to the ground and started sobbing and two minutes later

I got a phone call from Graham Yost who wrote Band of Brothers in Boomtown and goes hey you want to be the villain a couple episodes of Justify yes I do it was kind of the greatest thing that ever happened to me in so many ways because I fell in love with acting again because I had something to prove.

I had approved that I am a great actor and that, you know, a person that you want to have on your set. And after the very first take of the first scene, Graham came up to me and goes, you want to be the bill for the whole year, don't you know, I do? And I was. And because of that, you know, awards came and attention came and all of a sudden everyone started forgetting about the other stuff. And, you know, it's been, you know, the last 10 years of work has been, you know,

Coming up here in Vancouver with all the shows, you know, I owe so much to Greg Prylantiberg for bringing me up for, you know, a little flotian legends. Right. Yellowstone came up with that in suits and, you know, all these other shows and movies that it's just been, it's just been a phenomenal, phenomenal couple of years. And, yeah, I couldn't be happier.

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subscriptions with members saving up to $740 a year when they use all of the app's premium features. Get alerts if your bills increase in price, if there's unusual activity in your accounts, if you're close to going over budget, and even when you're doing a good job. How doesn't everybody have Rocket Money? It's insane. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster with Rocket Money. Download the Rocket Money app and enter my show name inside of you with Michael Rosenbaum in the survey 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. I mean, do you deep down like playing the villain better or is it kind of like, you don't

because you've played it so many times? You know, it's not that I really like playing guys more like us, guys who are human, a guy sort of flawed, guys who are trying to do the right thing. And those are the guys that I've always gravitated towards. I've always loved, you know, John Wayne's movies. You know, I always loved, you know, Clint Eastwood's movies. I love the simple messages of this guy's. flawed but at the end of the day he's going to be the

Popeye Doyle he's going to get the job done however he has to do it he's going to get the job done and I love those guys you know it's kind of like my dad or my family growing up you know we get the job done and that's kind of the guys that are like someone to play villains yeah they're fun they're absolutely fun

you know it's like to play a villain they play one of the greatest villains of all time and you know to have that you know kind of fun you know you can ever make a bad choice as long as you believe it you can go as big as you want or as small as you want as a villain and no one ever gives you notes. Good guys get notes.

That's for sure. For me, I could kill 50 guys in a scene, and after that, you know, we're laughing, going back home and everything's gone. But if as a good guy, you know, with, you know, hard on sleep type of characters I've been playing, especially for the last few years, it's hard to sluff those guys up.

You know, if you go back to, you know, Buck Compton and Band of Brothers or, you know, White Cane and Tinman, those are the good guys that I played that were really hard for me to shake off because I had a really big deal. into me and pull out more of the real Neil McDonough to play those characters instead of playing Damien Dark, which was a blast. Don't get me wrong. I had a phenomenal time playing Damien Dark

for all these years. And I look forward to playing him again. But I do love playing the good guys because I get to learn more about me and appreciate what I have. Is Morgan Little Buck, is that that comes from? Little Buck is bigger than me now. He's 15 and 6'1 and he's just this great kid he you know all the kids have done you know really well and ruby is just you know just the most incredible mother you know so they're doing really well at school really well at sports you know morgan last year uh as a freshman they gave way this this award citizen of the year uh in his high school and they gave it to morgan and i was like well it's because you got all a's and captain of his teams and asked the principal i was no it's what he does with the

developmentally disabled kids like what you didn't know this they didn't know and he goes yeah he walks every morning he takes the kids who have you know down syndrome or autism and walks him to the cafeteria for lunch and how old he was 14 at the time you know when you know a freshman in high school uh grade eight up here uh so you know i asked him about and goes yeah well you know people kind of perceived me to be this kind of good cool kid I guess so I said you know I didn't want to see these kids get laughed at so I'll welcome them to lunch that just makes me want to tear up right there I just felt it like right when you said that like right when you said that like And that, I got to tell you, that's good parenting. I mean, you know, things like that. Yeah, it's, you know, and we try to infuse, you know, we talk about God a lot, talk about your relationship with God in life and how you can strive to be the best. You can be at, you know, whatever you do and to try to always do the right thing.

And a lot of people don't have the bravery or the, you know, the hoodspout of it again and to kind of do the right thing. And, you know, that kid is, you know, he does it. And now that permeates to all of our other kids, you know, our kids are, you know, they're all dynamized. in their own different ways. And, you know, Rame and I are just so blessed to have them as our kids and getting to know them so well over the last year. It's been, you know, the blessing in icing on the cage.

I love it. You just did a June 6th, the D-Day Zoom with 200 people from Band of Brothers. Who was on that Zoom with you? Anybody famous? Well, Donnie Walberg finally came on, which is great. Donnie was in. Kurt Acevedo was on there. Freddie Joe, our technical advisor,

and a bunch of the cast and it was basically mostly just fans just kind of tuning in and again, you know, I don't, this is the first time I had done any kind of Zoom thing for Vennan Brothers

and it was awesome, you know, that Matthew put this whole thing together and to talk about the braver of these guys, you know, everyone who was part of Vada Brothers learned so much

because we got to learn from from a generation that didn't complain. You know, here you are a light infantry, supposed to be going into Normandy for a day or two with a leg back. that is probably going to get blown off your leg.

That is, of course, if you survive the landing. And then to be there for, you know, almost two months, you know, without, you know, having to scrounge for food, I'm a scrounge for weapons, have a scrounge for bullets, have it scrounge for everything. You know, these guys learned toughness at a young age. And, you know, it permeated through us like crazy.

You know, I remember when we were talking about the other day, about four or five days into boot camp, it was almost like a mutiny because they were just beating us up so bad which you know i really enjoyed uh really you enjoyed that my dad was a sergeant in the army so i i love pt i love you know that i love you know that i really do um so did you see other guys cry did anybody get real yeah just a lot of the english guys couldn't you know because it pro so pro-american you know bed brothers are fantastic a lot of the english guys who get the sweetest nicest guys are like what is what What did we sign up for?

And then Tom Hanks came in a helicopter with his castaway beard and hair and gave us this speech as to why we owe it to the men of Easy Company to work our butts off to tell the truth because they died for us. And we're not for them. We wouldn't be speaking English right now. We wouldn't be the America that we are right now. We wouldn't be the great country that we became. We're not for these men who gave their lives for us.

Michael, after that, everyone was just like, yes, sir. Was he emotional? Was he emotional during that speech? Yeah, it was he, because it meant the world to him. It wasn't just because it was his show and, you know, who was the producer and writer and director. You know, he, he, he, he, Tom Hanks is different from just about everyone else I've ever met

because he did it because it was the right thing. You know, he flew all the way from Hawaii just for a 20-minute speech and then flew right back. Who does that? You know, it could be a video conference or something way back then or something, but no, Tom Hanks said, let's get on a plane and fly over there and talk to the boys and make sure they're on the right track.

And after that, you know, we tore it up because we knew we owed it to these guys who gave everything for our freedom. What was the worst day that you could remember that you were just physically and mentally done more so than you've ever been? There had to be probably it was a winter's day, I would assume. Yeah, no, it was the hardest, you know, for me,

always knowing that my character is going to have a mental breakdown. I got the greatest acting lesson here. I went to Syracuse University in Lambda and London, and the greatest schools, theater all over the place, pure method actor, crazy. And about two months into dating Rubei, because we met in the first day I got into town,

she says, look, you're not my sergeant. You're going to, like, work, you punch your card at clock, and when you're done, work, it stays at work, and you live your life after. Method actor, you know, I live my character 24-7. This is what I'm supposed to do. Those are the two loneliest days I've ever had. And then I finally went back to Ravet,

And I said, you know, I think you've got to point that maybe I need to live my life a little more instead of just worrying about the character. And after that, you know, since then, you know, it helps so much with acting. I couldn't even explain to you that you have to open up to life to it to really become a great vessel for whoever is giving you the dialogue. So you're able to turn off, like you're able to turn off now. You're not. I can turn up between takes.

I figure out a way to really, to do that because, you know, it was a gift that Renee gave me. And, you know, when I'm working, I'm working. But when I'm not, I can, you know, channel it and such. But, you know, the worst thing, knowing that my character is going to break down was when I had to do my final, you know, near the end, when Buck Compton started to break, you know, that was by far the hardest thing that I probably ever had to do as an actor after spending so much time with these guys

knowing what Buck went through and to see his friends just blown up in front of him. you know that moment where I come out of the foxhole and I dropped my helmet was just it was you know pent up emotion from several months of knowing this moment was coming and what came out of me was was you know unscripted and just raw and I just you know I like to call it puking on the canvas and I love just puking my soul on a canvas and that was that was one of my best pukes you know I just I just lit it all out there because you know I you know I I owed it to Buck and to his family and to everyone to make sure that I did it right. And I think we did.

And it was such a blessing. Do you like direction? Do you like when a director comes up to you and tells you? First of all, I hate direction on the first take. Let me do a first take before you give me any notes here. Let's let me get into this a little bit. But is it something that you welcome it? You enjoy it.

Or is it something that just, you know, always rubs your. the wrong way usually and you're like fuck here we go again well being an athlete that i was you know playing so many years in sports right that i treated the first take like it's game day so i get uber prepared for things you know i know my dialogue backwards and forwards and upside down and everything you know jimmy stewart when you know once i read this one quote and goes what's the key to that it's just memorizing your lines over and over and over and over and then just saying it and there's something true to that so for me my first take is always my best take um so i'm always really prepared and i come with

such choices then you know i'll talk to the director beforehand you know to kind of say okay what are you feeling for this and you know what what's your take on this and i'll i'll take their information his or her direction and then and then have that in the back of my head and work with it um so generally i don't generally get a lot of direction because i'm so prepared you know TV, you don't have a lot of time for direction anyway, because get your lines out, let's move on, we get a 12-page day to go. So, you know, you better be prepared. When it comes to feature films,

you know, directors have a little bit more time. It can kind of tweak and get little nuances and such. So I do like when, you know, good directors have good ideas. I don't particularly like when bad directors have bad ideas. And, you know, I'll just non-politely and say thank you. And

try to make them happy, too. You know, I always want to make everybody happy as a team player. Right. you know i definitely prefer a good direction i mean have you ever had it where you have this direction and you're so set on what you want to do and it's like a 180 and this guy's asking to do things that you're like and it's frustrating and you like how do you deal with that have you dealt with that yeah in in my earlier years when i'd come in with this is what i'm going to do and wouldn't take into consideration what everyone else is doing you know then that would be hard you know

right out of the game but i learned quick to this isn't about me it's a team sport acting to me as the greatest team sport. So for me, it's, it's being as malleable as possible, like a big piece of clay, just memorizing my dialogue and taking in what the director has. So if you come in so set as to this is your game plan, like Ali, Ali would go into a fight and you really wouldn't watch much tape and see it feel the punches in the first round or two and kind of get through it, you know, and that's kind of acting for me. I don't want to come with such a game plan that, you know,

if this is exactly what I'm going to do and the director wants something exactly different, well, then that's not going to work. Right. So it's, you know, this is why I love producing now, because, you know, look, I'm doing it long enough. I'm doing it for, you know, 130 movies and TV shows or went out of what the town is now, something like that. I know this, I see celebrated in my 53rd death scene in a movie.

Pretty good. You died 53 times. 53 times. They're good ones, too. And not like, like, idly, think ones, like good, solid death scenes in movies and TV shows. So it's pretty awesome. Somebody needs to do a compilation of that and show all your death scenes in order. Oh, that would be good.

Wouldn't that be great? That would be really good. Yeah, yeah, that'd be great. What's your best death, your favorite death scene that you were in? Being stabbed to death in the chest by Anthony Hopkins and Red 2 is just a blast because, well, which was of Anthony Hopkins. That was pretty great. death scenes

I mean there's just so many good ones well didn't you die in ravenous oh died in ravelace yeah I got eaten in ravenous that was that was great fun they hung me upside down to kill me and drive me out like a like a lamb skewer and just flayed me I guess that was the best

I mean you were nuts in that movie you and Carlisle well like that you know there is there's one I was still pure method that you know we're shooting in the check Republic and Slovakia and I made them take the beds out of my hotel room so I sleep on the floor like a soldier and run obscene amounts of miles and run up water mains you know clearly completely completely I'm kind of little claustrophobic so I figured my character had to overcome his his fears of this and I was nuts you know you know ice cold baths every day just to prove how tough I was

and bazillion pushups and weights and everything you know it was now I do the same thing but but you know differently you know it's a you know I've grown as a human being I think And, you know, even after doing all this acting for so many years, I feel like I'm just scratching at it now. I'm really starting to understand, oh, that's the nuance that I was looking for years ago, that I wasn't smart enough or confident enough to be able to do it. And now, after doing it with so many people and for so many people, you know, it's a lot easier for me now to be able to really act well.

And, again, you know, a lot of it is because I have so much to draw from when you have a wife like Brebe and five kids and a great life, there's tons of things that you can draw from good and bad. so by having a big wholesome life it certainly helps with my hacking for certain you do you do what i do you say you said it a couple times where you're not that smart which is is bullshit i say that in my listeners always like stop saying you're not smart stop doing that to yourself it stems from childhood and not thinking it was smart enough and people tell me i'm not smart enough so i say it uh it's not that i think i'm an idiot i just think everybody's different different caliber of smart you know street smart whatever. Obviously, you're smart.

You're an intelligent guy. I mean, you couldn't be doing the things you're doing, right? I'm a good hunch person. I go with my gut instinct is always really good. Yeah. You know, you can go to the great universities in the world and so on. So it doesn't necessarily be smart. You know, Ravey never went to college and she's by far

the smartest. Certainly, the most streetwise, savvy person that I know. And she can ask people things that I wouldn't even have the balls to even think about asking. And she gets it done. And And, you know, everyone says you've had such a great career, you know, well, like, yeah, I've had such a great career because my partner is, you know, so phenomenal. And she keeps me cranking.

She's like, you know, what did you do today? How have you moved the needle forward? You know, so, you know, always having that, you know, in my corner is immeasurable of the importance to that. 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. We are Wicked and Grim. Follow and listen on your favorite podcast platform. You know, you always hear about people constantly working. I'm like, why does that guy go from movie to movie? I mean, he can't be alone with himself

or that woman, or that actress can't. It amazes me how you can go from one job to the next job to the, you really, when you hear about these actors who just love acting, are you, do you really truly just love it you want to act every day if you could? Not every day for certain, you know, but when I do, I don't, you know, playing villains on TV for the last six years. you're working two days a week and you know the cushy hours

you know the doctor's hours you know so I get to have a life you know if you're the you know I've been the lead guy on TV shows before and that's it's brutal it's so people understand how hard it is you know to do you know 14 hours a day plus traveling there and back you know

before you know hair and makeup you're 16 17 hours a day for nine months of the year and you get burnt and you don't really get to act or enjoy it so much you know now with the 10 episode types of orders it's so much more refreshing and the writing gets better and the shows are better um i think so you know right now we're in that you know in a perfect time for for acting that

there's tons of stuff out there uh you can and if you you know yeah i'm blessed because i get worked asked to work you know a ton but i also love that i love being in front of the camera you know it's it's my favorite team sport you know getting in front of that camera and creating something really terrific. And, you know, it's, for me, it's the only job I've ever really had. It's the only job I could ever, I love how my thing in the buns is Morgan McDonough. I just noticed. I just noticed that too. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, long may I keep working because it's, it's something I'm, you know, I can't pound a nail. You know, I'm not good at a lot of things, but my catchphrases, but man, I can act. And, you know, it's, and it works. You know, people keep hiring me because I'm really good at what I do,

and I'm good on a set, and it's, you know, I love doing what I do. It pales comparison how much I love my wife and kids. Yeah. But that shows on the set, you know. I would enjoy acting more if it just didn't take as long. Like these, the TV shows, there's like, all of a sudden, you're four hours on one scene.

And when I was younger, I would do it and I would play around. But now you get to be in your 40s, you're almost 15, and you're like, these, it's a lot of work of doing the same redundancies. Well, you know, I mean, you were, you were on one of the biggest hit shows of all time playing one of the greatest villains of all time. You know, what was that like? I mean, it was, I wasn't the lead. So even though I had to shave my head and work, you know, three or four days a week and there were long hours, but I wasn't working five, six days a week, 14 hours like you were talking about like Tom was. Tom had that, that was a handful.

That was not easy. But, you know, when you talk about committing playing that villain, it was, it did weigh on me, though. It did weigh on me because I felt like I was overly. just intense. I was trying. I would try when the camera stopped. I would make jokes and laugh and fart. But like, I had to because it was just so intense, especially some seasons where I had to flip out. But look, I think for me, I did acting because, you know, I was accepted. I think that people as a young, you know, when I was in high school, no one knew who I was, no one cared who I was. And then I did a play. And all of a sudden people are like, oh, you're pretty good at that. And then I was

like oh then hell i guess i should just do that and i told the story but like it's it's true and then i just started doing it because oh you're good at it and people like when you do that but i never thought for a second do you how much i enjoyed it and i think i enjoyed it for a time and i think i will again but you know i'm definitely not so eager like i used to be like i got to work i got to do this i think and i'm very lucky in a lot of ways and i'm very grateful but i also you know i'm always curious to see how much actors really love acting and that's just their passion or they do it because it's a paycheck or so I don't know it gets a little convoluted yeah it you know I always say if you do for a paycheck you do it for the wrong reasons you have you have to do I tell my kids

or Renee tells the kids you know don't play a sport because you think that's going to be your key to getting a scholarship for for college play sport because you love playing a sport and then be the best that you can be. It's kind of simple. But you've got to practice. You've got to put in the time. You've got to put in the effort. You've got to work hard towards something if you want to be great at something. You know, so for me, I love acting. I literally love being in front of a camera

and creating something different, you know. So the play that you were in high school, do you remember the play? Of course I do. It's the play that everybody does. See if you could name it. Guys and dolls? Close. Close. Greece. I played this guy. I played this guy Vince Fontaine. He was just the wacky DJ.

He goes, hey, hey, I'm the main brain. Vince Fontaine spinning the stacks of wax here at the house of wax. W AXX, cruising time, 10, 26, sharpshooters, and I did this whole, and I remember. You still remember it. Oh, yeah, and for the first time of my life, I remember I was terrified. I mean, terrified. To the point where they had this little W.A.XX.X. Box on the second floor of the stage.

And the director said, Michael, we need to see you because I was hiding behind it so you can just hearing me is we need to see your face we need to see your face keep moving keep moving i was so scared to be seen and it wasn't until that play ended and i walked out and i wasn't the lead role i wasn't a big role and the applause you hear a difference in applause and i was listening i was like wait a minute they just applauded a lot loud louder loudly for whatever for me and they just went nuts. And I, it felt, I had a feeling that I never had before where, hey, you're good at something. That was the first time I thought, and that that's how I became an actor is really because I think if they would have booed me off the stage or I don't know if I was okay or I needed

to be great in that moment to then become an actor. I had to be great, I think, in that moment in order to keep doing it and having the confidence to keep doing it. That was, It was when I was in high school, it was, and I tell my kids, I couldn't find myself, couldn't find who I was. You know, my brother, you know, selected my courses for my freshman year, and he was, my brother was just this crazy smart guy. And my, you know, I was failing my freshman year in high school, and I didn't make a hockey team, and I didn't make the baseball team. I was like, what is going on with my life? And then I audition for Snoopy, and you're a good man, Charlie Brown. And I went to the audition.

My mom practiced with me at home, and I went up for the auditioned, and I nailed it. And the director was like, who are you? I'm like, Neil McDonnell-Denna. I'm like, where are you from? I'm like, from here, from Hyattis. Why have I never seen you any plays before? I know. I've been saying the same thing.

Yeah, I didn't get, I tried for the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seven, the eighth grade plays, and I got nothing. And finally, you know, my freshman year, I get this. And my opening night, I go to standing ovation. And after that, everything in my life changed. You know, it was because of theater that all of a sudden I started building up that confidence again. And before you know it, I was, you know, back on the sports teams, class president, class clown, all of these things. I remember, you know, listening to an album by George Carlin.

So if you're going to be amount to anything in life, it starts with you becoming the class clown in high school. And I took that to heart. And, you know, I became the class clown. You know, who would have thought that, you know, when I came to go into Hollywood to be a comedian, I turned into the very dramatic actor that I became, which is pretty interesting because I was always the goofy clown guy.

But if we weren't, you know, we're similar. We had that rush at 14 years old of, ooh, this is a complete acceptance right here. This is a good thing. I want to keep doing this. And then after that, it was just, it was the only job I've ever really had my whole life is entertaining people. Yeah. I think the stars have to align.

I think they did in a lot of ways. It sounds for you. I mean, for me, even when I went to college, I was still terrified. And these, look, for everybody listening, acting classes in the green rooms where the actors hang out, they are the most intimidating, effing rooms that you could be in. And they all are like, oh, he sucks. You know, I'm better than him. They had this look on their faces. Like, they're just, you know, Olivier.

And I'm just in there going, oh, I don't know, hey, guys, trying to befriend everybody making jokes like I did in the locker room like you were talking about earlier. That's right. And then I remember just finally, you know, in class, I was, I did something. And an actor comes up to me and goes, hey, I'm directing this play. And my actor just fell off. Will you do it?

And I was confronted. Like, I don't know if I even want to become an actor. really but he he just says because you please do it and I said yes and it was prelude to a kiss and it was this the role of her father and again scared to death but then I heard that applause again and that something rang in my brain that said okay dude now this is obvious you have to do this which right which wasn't my father I remember taking us out to Denny's he was a fancy guy we like Denny's and I'm like I want to be an actor I was like a sophomore in college and he goes eat your steak

I'll never forget that he goes eat your steak he didn't want to talk about that it was like he works for pharmaceutical plan he busted his ass he's never missed a day at work he worked hard he worked you know and then you want to be an actor you're going to college to become an effing actor and so you know I didn't get that

immediate support I don't think they and I had to prove to myself and prove to them that I was good enough so I think you're always doing that right you're always trying to prove to everybody that you're good it's once in life you you only have to prove to yourself that you get freedom. You know, how many times

you play the game of, say, pool against someone and you get nervous because you think that they're better than you. Well, you're going to lose that game. Yeah. And if you win that game, but once you give over to, there is no competition in life.

The only person I can compete with is myself and be the best Neil McDonough that I can be. Then competition goes out the window and then you can really zone in on being the best you actually can be. You can't be if you are taking other people in consideration for competition. And that's a hard lesson to learn.

You know, going to those audition rooms, you see, you know, when you're a fresh actor, you're both, you see all these other, you know, named faces in the room, you're like, oh my gosh, what am I even doing here? You've already lost, you know? So it's once you realize how unique and awesome you are that God creating only one me or one you,

then you don't care so much. And then when it doesn't go your way, you don't take it so brutally at times, you know? And when it does go your way, you don't get so over-excited. You're like, yeah, well, like, that's what we should have been. You know, so you look at, you know, Roger Federer playing tennis. You know, when he wins, it was like the day at the office for him.

When he loses, okay, I lost that one. I'll try, I got to figure out how to be better next time. You know, those kind of athletes are the ones I always love watching because it's not overly emotional. They just get their job done and go home and kiss their wife. And that's kind of how I've run my career, at least for the last 21 years. So you never, to this, you've gotten over that whole thing of doubting or, oh, my God, this guy's better, this. You're not, you've been done with that for years.

You go in and you do your job and you know what you're going to do. And there's no fear. There's no sort of worrying about, can I, can I do this when you get a role or? No, no, it's, I've never, I've never been that guy. I've always, I'm always really, look, I know God gave me this great talent. I'm not going to waste it. You know, so when it comes to entertaining, I know how to entertain,

I know how to, you know, be in front of the camera. I know how to get the most out of other actors, how to make a scene better. You know, it's some of always, you know, I've always been really good at it. And, you know, it's like when you play with better players, your game gets lifted. You know, my high coach in high school says,

when you play with crap, we play light crap. Didn't use the crap word, use a different way. You know, and that's always kind of stuck in my brain. that when you play with better players, your game goes up. And so I love playing with great players. Right. And it's been, you know, I've been blessed to be able to work with, you know,

some of the greatest actors and directors in Hollywood. And it's, you know, Revei says, you know, you got to write a book saying, Just Famous Enough, because you can, you know, you can travel everywhere. Everyone knows your face. You know, everyone says hi, but you don't have a camera stuck up your backside everywhere you go. Yeah.

Because I love acting. I'm great at what I do. You know, it's, you know, my life is so much more important to me than just acting and, and, um, and bring up these five kids. That's, that's, that's paramount for a, for a man. That's beautiful. You know, Ryan was, Ryan was, Ryan, my, uh, engineer editor was just talking before this, he's like, he was an angels in America. Angels in the outfield. In the outfield, angels in the outfield. That's totally different thing. Angels, yeah, because angels in the outfield, but like I was,

and he's like, and there's so many names in that movie. Oh, okay. Here's, here's the, here's Angels in the Outfield for you. So my mom had just passed away, And I was just devastated back in 1993. I was back home for a couple months. I was like, I don't want to keep doing this. I just kind of moved to Hollywood. I did a few mini-series and stuff. And things were starting to hook.

And then after that, I was just devastated. And then I came out to Hollywood because they were auditioning for this movie, Angels and the Elfield. And it's funny, Eisenhower's favorite film of all time was the original Angels and the Upfield. Just a little tidbit there. Nice, nice. So, you know, when I auditioned for it, in the script, it says,

Whit Bass throws pitch. And I told the director, you know, I play college baseball. You know, I've got some ideas. I want to make this guy really quirky and different and such. And he's like, great, perfect. You get the part. And because I came with such confidence. So during, they had, like, you know, baseball boot camp.

And, you know, it was Carney Lanceford and all these such pro guys. You know, after a couple days of boot camp, like, you know, you can just, you don't have to be here. You can just, you know, take the week off. and do whatever you want, but we've got to work these guys for baseball because not a very good baseball player. I went back to my hotel room, and every day I would look in the mirror and try to figure out the goofiest things for this character. And so I came up with the idea

of, and I went to the director, and there's tens of thousands of fans in the stadium in Oakland. I said, it's my first shot. First shot of the movie, first shot of a movie, any movie. And I said, look, give me a favor. Can you follow me with the camera? I'm going to come in from, you know, from first base, I'm going to do something going into the mound. He looks at me like I have nine heads.

He's like, what? Just trust me, this one take. It's all these is one take, but I've got this great idea I've been working out in my hotel room for the last week. And Bill Deere, bless his soul, said, okay, boys follow Neil with the counter. And I worked this thing sliding in my hotel room.

So I would run in from first base, slide into the pitcher's mound, circle the mound a few times, grab the rosin bag, do this crazy stuff, and throw the first pitch, and the place went bonkers, just lost it. And Bill's like, you can do anything you want in your afternoon. Since then, I've worked in a few movies with Bill. But it's that stupid.

What? That I've had since I was a kid that my mom instilled in me. There's no one like you in a deal. There's no one like you. You know, as a kid, I had dyslexia. I had a list by all these impediments against me. You know, and to have this kind of confidence that my mom instilled in me, you know, was, you know, amazing.

And then, you know, when I met Rabay in 2000, you know, I finally had someone, you know, a woman in my corner again and still infusing that confidence in me. And it's just kept going. But I've been blessed that I've had two women mentors in my life that have always kind of pressed me to be the best that I could be. And because of that, I have this dumb confidence. And I can get up in front of thousands of people and speak and, you know, and do these things because, you know, that's the messages that I have and who I am and what I stand for is, you know, it's, I guess it's kind of, you know, unique and it's just it's me and have you ever had a director call you like spielberg or anybody like that just you just nodded your head spielberg called you yeah well one of the the best calls that stephen ever made to me was uh we had just done a pilot called boomtown you know i just did

bandit brothers and i just did a minority report uh and he was supposed to be jimmy smits was supposed to play this Hispanic swarthy lover type guy on boomtown and he dropped out in the 11th hour and stephen said what about Neil McDonough and they called me an audition for it and I got the park and piling great was an awesome show and we're in Montreal doing timeline and I still didn't have a whole lot of money at the time and Rubei and I went into this really high-end jewelry store looking at you know wedding rings and she saw one and she said this is the one that I really And I was like, oh, my gosh, it's so expensive. Oh, my gosh.

I'll never be able to afford this. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? What am I going to do? Bring, bring, bring. Hi, Stephen. Hey, Neil, what are you doing right now? I'm in a two-hurt shop looking for a ring for a bed.

He goes, buy her one the size of Texas because boomtown just got picked up for a full season. Okay, thank you, bye. What? He called you? And that was it. You know, and, you know, I went to the guy and said, Oh, my. Can you hold this ring for me for like a month or two?

here's a little money, but I just want to make sure that this money's coming in, but this is the ring she wants, he's like, no problem, I'll save it for you. And he did. And, you know, if it weren't for Steven Spielberg, my gosh, I would certainly not be here talking to you right now because, you know, you know, giving a guy, you know, I basically stopped acting in the late 90s, the 99.

I was saying, you know, I did pretty well. Had a good career. It wasn't really, you know, really taking off. It was, you know, 10 years now of doing it, you know, had fun. I'd just go home and do, you know, local theater in Boston or whatever, but I'll go home and work. run the motel with my dad and, you know, we'll do that.

And then I got a call, a friend of mine said, Steven Spielberg's looking for you for this show called Band of Brothers. Really? Because, yeah, they want you audition. I was like, when? Tuesday. And I got a one-way ticket because I was not going to get this part. One-way ticket for $693. It's all the money I had. And I slept. I went to audition for it.

And when I went to audition, there's like 15 people in the first. room. But at this point, I had no fear whatsoever because if it didn't work, I'm going back to Cape Conn. It's good. And I'm like, who do I read with? And all of a sudden, this hand reaches up and it's Tom Hanks. What the heck is going on here? Yeah. And after about 10 seconds, he diffused any tension and did the audition. And after the audition, he says, you know, do you crush that, don't you? I'm like, yeah, I do. He goes, all right, once you come back to tomorrow and let's you read for Buckcompton. Great. Came back to the next day, I arrived for Buck Compton and slept on my buddy's closet floor for three months waiting for the final callback

and we got the final call back and then I finally got the part and you know I remember the first call was to my dad that you know that I got Banda brothers and then you know the first night I got to London I met Rube and because of that and then we did you know when we were in another great Stephen stories where we at the Banda brothers at the Golden Globes we just won the Golden Globe for best miniseries and we tried to get into trade of VIX. It was me and Ravei and a bunch of the band of brothers guys and, you know, the security guys, they're like, uh, no. There's a certain roped off area that were just all the huge celebrities and they were having none of us. And Stephen saw Rubei and I and he walked across and he grabbed me and he had to lift the rope.

Is this come on in? And he goes, how do you feel like it? It was a great night and goes, how would you like to play Tom Cruise's best male in minority report? And I squeeze Rubei's heart, her hand. Like I literally thought I broke every, and I'm trying to be like Steve. McQueen who, yeah, Stephen, that sounds great. I'd love to do that. It would be fantastic. Meanwhile, inside, I'm just like, you know, fireworks and it's going bonkers inside.

I would be an idiot, me. I'd be like, what? Are you kidding? Hell, yeah, I would. And it was, you know, so he's, you know, from that and, you know, you know, flags for our fathers and public morals and, you know, the missing one of the truth. He loves you.

Wow, to have Steven Spielberg in your corner. You're doing all right. And he's, he was, he's been. certainly a mentor to me and, you know, and phenomenal to my career. And I can never, ever say thank him enough to Steven Spielberg for giving me the opportunity because who knows if I ever would have met, but I'm sure I would. But, you know, the delight that I've had ever since I met Stephen compared to before I met Stephen, it's the gift that keeps giving every day.

All right. This is called, this is it. This is called Rapid Fire with, I'm sorry, this is called Shit Talking with Neil McDonough. This is Rapid Fire. So you just answer fast. these are from my patrons if you want to join patreon please do patreon dot com slash inside of you it's a fun family here we go lee n p you have been in many tv series over the years and played many roles are there any roles or genres that you refuse to portray or act in no badly written

ones i want to lauren w you're such a nice guy in real life what is the most fun bad guy you have ever played walking tall is a blast because i got to do it opposite to wayne and He's such a great. One of my favorite scenes of all time was the last scene where he takes the big wood log and smashes my legs against the trees. And Duane was having a hard time coming up with that instead of just that look on his face.

The director was like, no, no, no, emotional. You got to get emotional. And I'm sitting the cameras on him. My face is right here, the camera's right here, and here's Duane right in front of him. Emotion. I can't grab him. Emotion.

Mike, hold on one second. I go over to the craft service tab table. and I give a four or five, and this is where the stupid confidence comes back in, I give a four or five packets of ketchup and I squeeze him into my mouth, and the director sees him do it. And he yells action,

and he smashes my legs, and as soon as he smashed my legs, I spit blood all over his face, which is ketchup. To look on Duane's face, I thought he was literally going to kill me. And he swung so hard with this rubber mallet that, you know,

and afterwards, I fell to the floor laughing in hysterics because, you know, it worked. I got him, but it was, you know, to play, to be, you know, into that kind of character and play the really tap into it and also to help out another actor to be to be to be the best that he can possibly be. It was one of the was, you know, you know, when you look at all the villains that I play and I play a lot of them, it's hard to beat that one. You know, Yellowstone was great because I got to go opposite Kevin, which is, you know,

Kevin Costner's pound for pound, I consider probably the greatest, you know, screen actor of all time. He understands the camera better than anybody. But working with Dwayne was Wow. Michelle K, if you could have a mulligan for something, what would it be? A mulligan for something.

Yeah, I'm kind of trying to figure out, I know what a mulligan is. Like in golf, you get an extra swing. Right? Yeah. You know, it's funny. My daughter Clover, a couple weeks to ask me, Dad, if you could go back and be 45 instead of 55, would you do it? And I said, no. I said, if that was the case, I would

missed all the steps between 45 and 55 and watching all you kids grow and and all that stuff so you know i wouldn't change i'm not really a molligan guy you know what what what god's given me is so you know knee-bucklingly incredible and and awesome and inspiring and you know so you learn from your mistakes and if you don't learn from your mistakes you're not really being a great human being we all make mistakes we all do dumb stuff but it like i said before it's it's the ones who who get up and dust themselves off and realize what they did and try to be better

and so mulligans to me aren't so interesting so no all right no mulligans man last one little lisa do you have any funny behind the scenes stories from Arrow or Legends of Tomorrow um well go go if

if I had to do a mulligan uh the only the only thing that I miss in my life is pairing the two greatest women that I've ever had in my life in the same room. You know, my mom never met Rubei, and that's... I appreciate you.

I mean, I could see how important that is to you. I mean, that came to you. I mean, you don't need to say anything. You don't need to say anything after that. I'm not sure if it's a mulligan, but it'll happen one day later on when we're all said and done, but, you know, you got me going, man.

Come on. You're getting me going now, Neil. See, you're doing what you did to the rock to me. Catch up, please. You're rocking me. You're rocking me right now. Gosh. By the way, did you do any impressions?

No. You know, and it's people say, tell me a joke. I can't remember a joke to save my life. You know, it's, you know, impressions. You know, I'm not much of the impression guy. You know, I've always loved Ted Baxter, you know, for the Mary Tyler Moore show. You know, that's been a good day, good news. You know, those kinds of guys, I loved growing up.

But impressions, you know, I guess impression is kind of like, you know, my priest growing up, you know, Father Duffy was this, you know, I remember at my mom's funeral. I was talking to my brother about it earlier today. Father Duffy was, you know, this priest who'd been on there way too long and was a friend of the family, but he had all sides. And at my mother's funeral, he started, Father Duffy, you know, from Boston, started talking about Karen McDougal, how close she is. he's Catherine McDonough. And his sidekick, Father Oza, would be perfect. Yeah, Catherine would, you know, and in the Himalayas, the Ouija, the Ouija

wichi boards, and literally, he'd go off on these tangents. So, you know, if I'm doing an impression, it's generally people, characters from me growing up as a kid in Boston, that these characters are just so, you know, embedded, you know, in my skull that, you know, I use those characters for characters that I play. And I love being able to tap into the crazy, bizarre world of growing up

in Boston, in Cape Cod and finding these real life from very wealthy businessmen to carpenters who have dream problems or businessmen are a dream problems. I mean, they all have dream problems in Boston. You know, so that's those are my impressions. Well, man, this is

I hope you had fun. This has been really fun for me. And I hate that this is the way we have to catch up. But hey, I love that I got to know so much more about you and the family and your life. And I really appreciate you taking the time and I can't wait to see you guys again I really can't

so we got to make that happen it was awesome it's been too long last time I saw you was in a locker in a locker room was I dressed was I dressed now you're kind of dressed somewhat dressed keep a clean no we don't have to keep a clean

I was but yeah I'm you know I miss seeing you and now they're moving back to we're really excited about that and excited to get home and you know my brother-in-law who's, you know, one of my best friends, you know, to hang out with Ryan and Jen and, you know, all my other friends back in Los Angeles and to be back there is, I can't wait to get back. Well, I want to hang out with you when you come back. You got to invite me over. I got to meet the kids and all that. Oh, you will. You will for sure. For sure. I would love that. I would love that. I would love that. I'll keep it clean. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing here. They've heard it all. They have. They have. This has been a joy. I love you. Give my love to Ravei. And thanks for doing this. Thanks, brother.

All right, man. you guys. God bless you. Thanks for listening to the podcast today. I really appreciate it. If you like the podcast, if you want to subscribe, that would be grand.

Spread the word. Go on our Twitter. What's the handles if they want to follow us? We are at Inside of You Pod on Twitter, at Inside of You podcast on Instagram and Facebook. Yes, that would be amazing. And subscribe. Go to YouTube.

You can watch these. Spread the word. Also, just another shout out to my patrons, who I love you. If you want to join and give a little to the podcast, a little indigestion here. If you want to give a little more to the podcast, you can go to Patreon, P-A-T-R-E-O-N, Patreon.com slash inside of you. And I'll write you a message after you join.

And there's lots of perks and it's a bunch of great stuff. It's become a big family. A lot of people have become very close friends through the Patreon. I never knew what it was. And now I just think it's, think the world of it because so many people have gotten so close. Have you heard that? Yeah. Who doesn't want a new friend?

Yeah, I mean, you really do meet people who have the same interests, and I can name many people, Leanne's become friends with Janine and, you know, Betsy's become good friends with, I mean, it's just like, you know, they, I see it and it makes me smile. So join Patreon, go to patreon.com slash inside of you. Also go to the inside of you online store if you want any merch, great merch, Lexluther stuff and the sunspin.com. You can get banned stuff. this cool shirt I'm wearing and you could book a Zoom with me and uh and you could check when we're playing because we play every month so Ryan did you have a uh did you have a good week I had a good week I didn't ask you on the intro no because we got to save for the outroes now because we got to get to it well we can get to it but it's nice to just at least you know see check in yeah week was fine you're doing well you got a haircut I got a haircut and you got a haircut we got a haircut we had a week of haircuts we did we look at us I think we look a little younger I know you do

I don't know if I look younger with a haircut. I think I look older with a haircut. No, I think you look younger with a haircut. Are you sure? Yeah. Is it the glasses that make me older? Let's get inside of the patrons. I'm going to give the shout-outs.

These are to the top-tier patrons who give a lot to the podcast, and I don't forget them. I think about them fondly, and they go above and beyond. Let's go. Nancy D. Leah S., Trisha F. Sarah, V., Little Lisa, Yukiko, Jill E, Brian H., Mama, Lauren. Nico P. Jerry W. Robert L. Jason W. Apothean. Kristen. K. Amelia. Allison. L. Raj. C.

Joshua D. Emily S. C.J.P. Samantha M. Jennifer N. Stacey L. J. S. Jemal F. Janelle B. Kimberly E. Mike E. L. Don. Supremo. That's Dan. 99 more Ramira Santiago M. Sarah F. Chad W. Leanne P. Janine R. Ray A. Maya P. Maddie S. Shannon D. Matt W. Belinda. N. Don't know how you got that one. James R. Chris H. Dave H. Spider-Man. J. Sheila G. Brad D. Ray H. Tab of the T. Tom N. Liliana A. Michelle K. Michael S. Talia M. Betsy D. Claire baby. Laura L. Chad L. Rochelle, Nathan E, Marion, Meg K, Janelle P, Traff, L, Dan, N, O Jetta. A Jedda. A Jedda. O J., Lorraine G, C., Veronica, K, Big Stevie W, Kendall T, Carol D, Angel M, Rian, C.

I don't think that's it. It's not it. A few more. There's a few more. How do you know that? Because I know what the last few look like. All right. It's not Rian and C.

Corey K, Super Sam, Emily C. Coleman G. Dev Nexon. Michelle A. Liz L. Jeremy C. Andy T. Cody R. Sebastian K. Gavanator. Ann H. Dave C. Elliott M. John B. Brandy D. Yvore. Camille S. Bono. Orbano. Bono. We do this every time. The C. The C. The. And then the letter C. Joey M. P.T.S. and Willie F. Hey, thanks for the new listeners, the new members of Patreon, and I really appreciate it. My week was pretty good. I'm always, you know, I'm working on myself and working on the stress levels and the anxiety and trying to, you know, we can control our thoughts in a lot of ways.

It's not really that you can control your thoughts, but you could sort of guide your thoughts and you can like stop yourself when you're going down this dark path and say, stop, this is a thought. This isn't real. This hasn't happened. I do that sometimes. I stop myself. Shut the fuck up. This isn't real.

What are you doing yourself? Anyway, I'll leave you with that. From the Hollywood Hills. The Hollywood Hills, California. That was Michael Rosebob, and I have Ryan Taylor's over here. Hey, we wave to the camera. We wave to the camera. We do it all the time.

And thank you for allowing to be inside of each and every one of you. Thanks for listening to the podcast. Thanks for supporting the podcast. Supporting me, supporting Ryan, Bryce. all of us. And yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. 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-advantaged 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. Stacking Benjamin's follow and listen on your favorite platform.