Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum - Red Notice’s CHRIS DIAMANTOPOULOS: Getting Stooged

Episode Date: February 1, 2022

Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley, Red Notice) joins us this week to discuss his wild story of getting paid nothing for his dream role in The Three Stooges and portraying iconic figures like Mickey Mouse and Robin Williams. Chris and I talk about the drama surrounding The Three Stooges, changing his role in Red Notice, and the impact his insane character in Silicon Valley has had on the hustle and grind culture of millennials today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Hello. It's good to see you. Good to see you too. You look like your hair's growing. It is growing. A little bearded. It looked like a Josh Brolin's dad. James Brolin.

James Brolin. But a younger James Brolin. A younger James Brown. Real handsome young Amityville horror James Brolin. I'll take it. Anybody's seen that movie? I will take it. I loved it.

Hey, I hope you're enjoying your week. Thank you for spending an hour with us. It means a lot. If you like the interview today or you don't like it, I ask you to subscribe. Write a review. It really truly helps the podcast. And it means a lot. It means a lot.

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Can I do that? A little bit, oh, damn, man, it's getting too sexy. Oh, sorry. Too sexy. Too sexy for my inside of you jacket. But you can get a lot of great stuff there inside of you stuff and I appreciate it. And you can also go to sunspin.com. That's the name of the band, Sunspin. And you can get a bunch of merch there and book Zooms. with me and Rob. It's always a blast. We just zoomed with Leanne and Michelle. That was a fun time. All right. Also, if you like the show, follow us. You can follow us on, tell them about it, Ryan.

At Inside of You pod on Twitter, at inside of your podcast on Facebook. You know where to go, Facebook. You guys know where to go, right? It's right in front of you. Facebook, it is the gram. It means a lot. So support the podcast, and it takes a second to go follow us and write a review and subscribe. Well, you can do all of it really quickly. So today's guest, Chris Diamantopoulos. Now, listen, if you don't know him, you're going to thoroughly enjoy this interview. I loved this interview.

This guy floored us with impressions. Floored us with impressions. My God. The Three Stooges, Robin Williams' impression, he was in the Three Stooges, and that story of how they treated him was astonishing. Yeah.

I can't wait for you to hear that. They didn't pay the guy a cent. He's the voice of Mickey Mouse. He's in Red Notice on Netflix. The guy's blown up. He's a super. talent. I loved having them in the podcast. If you don't know him, have a listen. Let's get inside of Chris Diamantopoulos. It's my point of you. You're listening to Inside of You with Michael

Rosenbaum. Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum was not recorded in front of a live studio audience. Actually, this is really nice. It's a nice setup. You like the setup. I have a a home studio too. And I put a tremendous amount of time and effort into it, particularly, you know, once we realized we were in all this. And, and, um, this COVID thing. This COVID thing. It was gratifying to do. But I have to say, I think, I think what you've done here, see, I focused a great deal of time on the technical aspects being, you know, because I've recorded so many, I have to, I'm recording so many series from in there. Right. I wanted it to be sort of. So you're recording, like, you do a lot of animation.

and you're doing all the animation from your own home studio. All of it, yeah. Yeah, I did a whole season of The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse there. And you play the voice of Mickey Mouse? Well, hot dog, I sure do. And you auditioned for that, of course.

I did, and I actually passed on the audition. I got the audition right after I had done the Three Sto, the Farley Brothers, Three Stooges movie. I tested for that. Did you know? They're the one you got. You would have been great. But you look like you could be a Mo.

You got the eyebrows. You got the... You know, I am a lifelong. the Stoge fan. As a matter of fact, the first public speaking engagement I ever did when I was in grade six in Toronto. We were supposed to do a speech, 20 minute speech. Each kid was supposed to do one at the end of the year. Right. Kids did like Everglades or volcanoes. I did Mo Howard. Uh, and it's been my life. Can you jump into Mo Howard anytime? What are you complaining about? What are you talking about here? You know, dude, I mean, for me, Mo was, uh, Mo was, oh my God, Mo, WUTV, Buffalo 29. That was

Mo. I love actors, Ryan, Ryan, the engineer here. Ryan is my main man, my main man thinking then. I love when actors can do impressions. I've always done impressions and sometimes you bring an actor on here and they go, no, I don't do impressions, but you come in here. The first thing you see is Indiana Jones and you start doing the crusade. Just do give me a little piece of the crusade. It's last crusade. It wasn't always shared. You're old enough to be her grandfather. Well, I'm as human as the next man. I was the next man. Ships that pass in the night. Remember the last time we had a quiet drink? Huh? What are you talking about? We never talked. It's the lonely way to grow up, Dad. If you've been an ordinary average guy like the other guy's

fathers, you'd have understood that. Actually, I was a wonderful father. When? Did I ever tell you to clean up, go to bed, wash your ears, do your homework? No. I respected your privacy and I taught you self-reliance. All right, we'll stop there. That's amazing. Yeah. Well, I mean, the amazing thing is that that's all that's in there. And I think it'll be a quick transition between this and senility. You know, it should be. I think so. I think it'll be pretty seamless.

I'll just drift off into that beautiful little, you know, magical memorize. There's like, you know, a good 15, 16 movies that are just locked in there and I'll just live in there. What are some other movies that are locked in there? Oh, man. Well, the court jester, Danny Kay, the court jester. That's the first one that was ever locked in. there. If you haven't seen it. No, no. So you should. Danny fucking Kay, though, dancer, right? So he was, Danny Kay was everything. As a matter of fact, at his height, Danny Kay was the top movie star, TV star, radio star, and Broadway star. Wow. He was, he was tremendously facile with his mouth. And he did these amazing tongue twister songs and scenes that actually his wife, Sylvia Fine, was the author of most of them. You ever heard the pellet with the poisons in the vessel?

with the pestle of the childs from the palaces of the brew that is true. Oh, he's just, he's just this, he was, he was everything. For me, when I was nine years old and I saw the court jester, that was it. So first it was the Stooges, right? The Stooges was, that was my life. So you memorized all that stuff. There was, so WUTV, Buffalo 29 had like a good, I want to say they had like 40 or 50 stude shorts that they would air in syndication. Now you're watching this in Toronto. Yep, in Toronto. In Toronto, you're getting this station Buffalo 29 and that's where you're watching all of stuff that gets just lodged into the brain. As a matter of fact, it's it's WUTV Buffalo 29 that's the reason that I don't have a Canadian accent because I learned, I'm Greek.

And my first language was Greek at home, but I learned how to speak English watching my favorite American actors. So I never developed a Canadian accent because I wanted to sound just like Harrison Ford. Do your friends? Do your friends have Canadian accents? Absolutely. Like how do they talk? Well, so most of my friends in Toronto, many of my friends in Toronto, are Greek Canadians. So they would, they'd say, look, I'm sorry, but I grew up in Toronto. So, you know, this is how I talk, you know. So, you know, it's okay.

Sorry. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you're not, you're not cool with that. Yeah, no, but it was really, I, I was imitate, fully imitating the American accent. Wow.

And so, and I guess it boated well. But yes, memorized too many. Jerry McGuire's one that's in there for some reason. That's a great movie. Jerry McGuire. Oh, man. You got to give it. Because people.

like this. We don't get a lot of people that do impressions. And I feel like I'm already always reiterating or spitting out old impressions that I do. So people, I'm sure they would like to hear some of this. So give me a little Jerry McGuire. Oh, my God, Jerry McGuire. It's just such a great. Let's give you a little. I love, I love when he says, you see this coat? Well, I don't need it. You can have it because I am cloaked in failure. I love cloaked in failure. I love cloaked in failure. is a line that I view. Anytime my wife, I'm walking out of an audition, she's like, how to go?

It's either, you know, great or cloaked in failure. Yes, yes. No, the other one that comes from that is, it is an up at dawn pride-swallowing siege that I will never be able to fully tell you about. Okay, Rod, up at dawn, pride-swallowing siege. Those are, that's also a good audition story. I do a very, you know, the obscure ones, like,

oh, oh, wait, wait, we're she a great big fan person. Put the lotion in the basket or gets the hose again. Don't you hurt my precious, lady? You don't know what pain is. You know, stuff like that. Dude, that's phenomenal. Lawrence Turney, here are your names. Mr. Blue.

Mr. Brown. Mr. Pink. Oh, my God, I mean, Mr. Pink for him. Because you're a... Well, I can't say it. Yeah, I can't say it. That's very good. But I close my eyes and I'm there.

That's good. I never left the house. I would always do... Isn't Mr. Brown a little close to Mr. shit? That's your name. You would... I just, I wouldn't leave... I'd get so enamored by moving.

that I would just, you know, I'd get lost. I think that was a way to escape for me as a kid. Braveheart was a big one for me too. Braveheart. I just recently watched Braveheart for the first time. Yes. Does it hold up? It does. It was really fun.

A trouble with Scotland is that it's full of Scots. Perhaps it's time to re-institute an old custom. Grant them prima nocta, first night. I mean, it's really fucking, I'm sorry, we were not allowed to swear on this. Yeah, you can swear. Oh, yeah, God, God, God, God, God, God, when you really stop and think about, oh, it's Most of my guests don't. They don't.

No, no, I'm kidding. No, they do, they do. People swear. Ryan, you swear? Oh, gosh. Oh, there you go, Ryan. In fact, Ryan was just quoting you. He was like, oh, dude, he's from Silicon Valley.

Yes. And I go, oh, yes. And the first thing I say, well, what do you know about Silicon Valley? And what did you say, Ryan? Oh, it's this guy fucks. There it is. That's it. And I, you know, it's funny.

I looked at Ryan because I walked in here and I looked at you and no, no, no disrespect. But I think Ryan's the guy in the house doing all the fucking. Ryan is doing all the fucking. But what a classic line do you have people come up to you and say, Oh my God. Yes, so much. I mean, when I lived in, this guy fucks. When I lived in New York City, it's when I really realized, oh, my gosh, yeah,

that character and that particular episode. Russ Hanuman. Russ Hanuman resonated so much with this sort of 18 to 55 year old, you know, startup VC bro demographic. And it's, listen, I think it's lovely. when you as an actor do something that resonates with with the fan base it's it's gratifying it's challenging when I'm walking my six year old daughter and someone's like hey this guy fucks and she's like what do you say daddy I'm like he said this guy's a fox and she's like that's equally

weird dad equally weird yeah but that's cool though when people recognize you and say oh my god it's a signature yeah you know there's a signature line it and and you know look I have I'm so I'm so lucky I've only ever acted in my life. I've never held another job. Really? Since you were like nine, right? Yeah, I did commercials and, and your parents were all for this? So my folks, and I do have to fucking give it to my parents, man, because my parents are lovely, educated traditional Greeks.

They don't have a concept of, you know, sort of like they're not stage parents. They didn't understand any of it. What they did fully recognize almost before I did was that I had a keen desire to entertain. and, and they knew that they had to do something about that. Well, what, what was that? Were you, were you doing impressions like you were for me just now? Yeah, yeah. Were you always, what were you doing?

Yeah. I was doing, when we would go to Greece in the summers, we didn't have a TV, where, and, and my parents would just have me reenact Stooges shorts, you know, and, and it was, it was just, they saw that it was more than just me messing around. They actually saw that there was skill there. And I remember my mom signed me up for this improv class That was just this it was the Saturday afternoon thing That she'd read about in the paper

And I ended up getting an agent from that And started to do commercials And that was it was a fun little I had like a little moment Like nine to 11 I actually did a lot of local commercials in Toronto And then and then when people were recognizing you It really started happening Hey you're the Rice Krispies guy

Hey you're the Honda commercial guy You know it was a little thing it was sweet But then puberty slapped me in the face like a fucking sledgehammer. And overnight, I went from like precocious attractive commercial kid to, oh my God, what happened to you, man? It was awkward. Just as awkward as could be. One of my headshots from that era, my brother describes as the shaken awake, sprayed in the face with Crisco, and hair lit on fire. That's what I... Now I want to see a picture. I got to find it. Now I got to see a picture. It's one small eye, one big eye. It was really, really bad. But that was

the best thing that ever happened to me because it made me realize that, okay, so I'm not going to be remembered for my looks. It's got to be something else. And I started really a deep dive into, and that's where Danny Kay came into play. Because his was a facility with language and with music and with, as you said, with dance and song. And so I started really getting into musicals and really started getting into stage performance. And, and I went into it with great aplomb. I really wanted to be like Bing Crosby or Gene Kelly. Well, it's funny because you played Sinatra in the Kennedys. That's true.

I did. I did. And so you have a knack for that kind of old school feel? Is that what you're saying? I love that vernacular. That era, I think, yeah, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. That sweet hot kind of thing. There's something about the way that they spoke, the cadence. There was a musicality to it. There was a romance to it. I had the distinct pleasure

of doing a such an odd project that was just so beautiful because it was a singular opportunity. I did one of these televised live musicals. I did the Christmas Story Live for Fox. That scares the shit out of me. Oh, it's the, listen, I'm a Broadway veteran, right? I did eight shows a week for 15 years.

Right. And that's, I did Le Miserables, Rob, I did the Fulmante. I did a waitress. Right. But I'll tell you, that Christmas story live was the most harrowing and exhilarating experience, performance experience I've ever done because how did you play I played the old man I played old man Parker oh great which was and you know when compasses yes exactly when when when Scott Ellis called me

about it I was like really I'm not I think I'm like 20 years too young dude and he said no no no it's it's not we're not redoing the movie we're redoing the Broadway musical I didn't know that they had done a musical and and and when I when I sort of looked at it he said you know you've got you got to be able to sing and dance and and I thought about it and I was like I love Scott Ellis I think he's a brilliant director, and I'd worked with Maya, Maya Rudolph and I had done up all night together. I'm in love with her. I think she's just the greatest. You played her on and I created that guy. They were like, we don't know what this guy, we want this guy to be. And we made him my Armenian Taylor. He was this guy, Avah, don't call me my friend, my friend. He's, yeah, yeah,

he's the guy who had a beautiful bathroom with a yacuzzi tub. Yeah. But you had to sing. I mean, are you a good singer? I am a good singer. I'm a good singer. I'm a good singer. I, you know, I spent, listen, I spent years and years and years on Broadway honing my voice. So yeah, it turns out that I, I can sing. Inside of You is brought to you by Quince. I love Quince, Ryan. I've told you this before. I got this awesome $60 cashmere sweater.

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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. What do you sing when you're alone in the shower? That's not musical theater. What is it? Do you like like I love yacht rock? I love Chicago. I love foreigner. I love the 80s. I love Depeche Mode. I love the, I sing a lot of George Michael, dude. What do you sing?

Time can never man. See that, the tonality. The careless whispers of a good friend to the heart mind. Dime, Ding, Dign Dignorance is kind. There's no comfort in the truth. Yeah, yeah, totally, dude. Wow. You know, I have a friend who has a theory that the late great George Michael may have sold his soul to the devil. how so it's fascinating apparently there's no record of george michael ever taking any instrumental or musical lesson ever and yet his first produced albums he is he was the instrumentalist he did he did vocals trumpet keyboards guitar and out of nowhere from like literally there's no record no one has records of him playing any instruments he was never even in the school choir and out of nowhere he's got this angelic perfectly melodic fully understood resonant voice

and yeah she seems to think that he sold the soul to the devil. I've always thought that. I've always looked at some people's careers and people who make exorbitant amounts of money and think they sold their soul to the devil. Something must be going on. They did something. There's something. There's something there's something. I really believe I mean I hate to say really believe it because it makes you sound like a crazy

person. But it's just too insane sometimes to think somebody could be either that good or you know and it's the Paganini, the Paganini myth right? You heard of Paganini. He was the violinist that was so gifted in his time that it wasn't a rumor. It was a firm belief in the social construct that this man sold his soul to the devil. That's how well he played.

Wow. I love that idea. Yeah. I like it too. It's like that whole, what is it, the Charlie Daniels. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. The devil went down to Georgia looking for a soul to steal. He was in a bind, he was way behind, he was looking to make a deal.

Looking to make a deal. What was that? What was that? give the devil is due i better fiddle a gold against your soul because i think i'm better than you the boy said my name's johnny and it might be a sin but i'll take your bet you're gonna regret i'm the best it's ever been that's it anyway that's it man so did you're but you trained so as a you didn't sell your soul to the devil no your parents threw you in improv they threw you in class they threw you here's the deal i'll say this i have i have like isolated moments i did i did saturday

morning improv class for nine weeks when I was nine that was a big improv at nine but there was a really big I mean I still use elements from that I mean I always remember never to say no right in a scene and if someone's if someone goes off you just as long as you don't say no the scene can carry on yes that's still like one of the best lessons I've ever gotten and then there was a brief by the way what he's saying is if you don't know because we just skimmed over that in other words if you're doing the scene and you're improvising and some guy goes we are going to the hospital you don't say no or not we're going to the amusement part you go with your you listen and you go with you you got to go with it you got to go with it so it's it's a it's a bad thing if you if you change direction correct and and as

I said after when puberty hit and I started realizing I had to sort of figure out what else I was good at I was I was a big medieval history and and and sword and sandals movie buff so the court jester led me to all the Earl Flynn movies and the Michael Cortiz films and and and and then and then they led me to, that also led me into, into good old fashioned movie musicals. And I remember seeing Peter O'Toole in the, you know, not so well conceived, but, but for me, nostalgically beautiful man of La Mancha. Right. Which was a big, a big turn point for me because when I saw that, I thought, that's what I want to do. Now, you'd really realize I was 15 years old and I wanted to play a 58 year old playing an 80 year old. That's what, and that's what I'm still striving

for. But I remember, I remember viscerally, the impact it had on me, because I went to my, drama teacher in high school. And I said, I want to do, we need to do Man of La Mancha. And I remember him saying to me, I'll never forget this. Mr. Graham, God rest his soul. He was wonderful. But he said to me, oh, no, no, no, you can't do that. You're not a good enough singer. And we need, if we're going to do that show, we need someone that can really sing. And I took a year and a half and figured out exactly what it was I wanted to do. I took some voice lessons. That was the year and a half that I really took my voice lessons. When he said this, in your mind, you immediately said, I'm going to go train for something that's not even guaranteed that they're going to make.

He said, no, we're not going to do that. We're not going to do that because they picked a musical every two years. Oh, my God. And I trained with a Canadian baritone and I learned how to control my larynx. I learned how to drop my larynx. I learned how to breathe. And I learned opera. And that foundation, it was a good eight months that I trained regularly. Did he know this, the teacher? No. He didn't. No, but on the, we had a school project the following, two years later, that was, we had to present a song and a scene. And how old are you? I was 17 years old. 17 years old.

Yeah, yeah, just turned 17. And we had to present a song and a scene. And I hired an accompanist and I said, I want to do mine last. So I want, because we did two students each class until we got through the class. I said, I want to do my last and I want a whole class. Give me, give me the whole class. He's like, well, you're only doing one scene and one song. I said, I'm doing a little bit of a one act.

And he said, okay. And so I went in and I did. I set up, I set the scene. I did one act of, I will impersonate a man. Come, enter into my imagination and see him. His name Alonzo Kehanna, a country squire no longer young, bony and hollow-faced, eyes that burn with the fire of inner vision. Being retired, he has much time for books.

He studies them from morn to night And often through the night as well And all he reads oppresses him Fills him with indignation At man's murderous ways towards man You are doing this to the Cole class Yeah, yeah And you're supposed to sing

Yes, and then I said No longer will he be plain Alonzo Kehanna And as I'm doing this I'm putting on a mustache And putting on a wig and putting on the eyebrows But a dauntless knight Known as Don Quixote Dilamancher Hear me now Thou bleak and unbearable world

Thou art base and debauched as can be And a night Yeah, yeah, yeah. Full confidence. Full the whole thing. You weren't even nervous. No, I knew it had to be done And when I finished, my teacher said,

Fuck you, we'll do the show. And we did it. And that was... Are you kidding me as a 17-year-old kid? Yeah. You have, you... I don't even know. I mean, I never had drive like that.

I mean, it's the only thing I ever wanted It's the only thing I've ever been remotely good at, and it still fuels every aspect of my life. I mean, look, other than my children and my family, my wife, it's really, I mean, it's boring. It's terrible, but it's all I like. It's all I like. You love, do you love to audition? Look, I would love it if I knew that for every X amount of auditions, I would get X amount of jobs. It's not that I love to audition.

and it's not that I hate to audition. Okay, I love when a specific task is placed before me and they say, you know, we need to see you do this. I love that. And the more specific, the better for me because then it takes the guesswork out. I would love to think that after certain displays of some skill that certain correlative projects might not require so much audition

and that maybe somebody would be like, oh, wait, if he could do X, Y, and Z, we only need him to do B. Yeah, yeah, bring this guy and let's have a meeting with him. Sometimes it's a little, it can feel a little like, gosh, really, they need to see it. Okay. But I provided it's something that I think I can add value to and that will add value to my life that I'll enjoy doing, I don't turn down an audition because at the end of it all, I don't want to not get a job

because I was too lazy to put my hat in the ring. Do you learn lines quickly? I can't audition unless I know them all. If I'm not fully memorized, I don't want to read on it. And how long will it take you to, let's say, do it? I developed a skill recently, well, not recently. I developed when I was, when I was doing Broadway, and all of my lay miss friends can attest to this because I still play poker with them every Sunday. When I was doing Broadway, all I used to say to the guys was, I'm going to be a movie star one day.

I'm going to be a movie star one day. I'm going to be movie star one day. They're like, yeah, you'll be a movie star one day. Good luck. And I remember getting my first TV audition when I was in New York for like 30. watch or something. And it was like for two lines. And I sucked because I spent so much time like combing my hair the way I thought the character's hair would be. I didn't even fucking look at the lines. For two lines. Yeah, I just biffed. I wasn't good. And I wasn't good because I wasn't prepared

the way I should have been prepared. And I remember the first time I ever got a callback was when I memorized the line. I just memorized the lines. I didn't even give a particularly good performance. I just was looking at the casting director and engaged in the scene. And and and they were like, oh, we'd love to see, we'd love to have you come back for the director. And this like light went off in my head of like, oh, shit. I just need, if I know my lines, I'm probably like 50% better off than the schmucks that have got their faces buried in the page. And at least I'm gratifying the writer by showing deference and respect to the material.

And then if I can add to that some layer of creative choice and character, well, then maybe I've got a shot at this. And it was, it was really interesting because it was in the season that followed that. We had gone, I met my wife. on the subway and we went out to L.A. She was an aspiring actor. She was 22, but looked like she was 16. And so I would drive her to auditions and they'd say your dad has to wait outside because

I was 26 and I looked like I was 40. And what happened though was when I started getting some small co-star auditions, it was just being memorized that would get me, it would get me to the next stage. Isn't that something? Just being prepared. Just casting directors seeing that this guy put the time in. That's it. And now we can work with him.

Well, this is it. And it's also not egg on their face when they bring me in for the network or they bring me in for a director that I'm going to be prepared. Now, look, I had a friend that went to like his third audition and he was reading a book. And when they called him in, he still had the book in his hand. He didn't know the lines. And he just had that junez-a-saquois. And he got like a 10-year gig on some show.

I just, that's never been me. You know what I mean? For me. Me neither. I always have to work. It's not only always have to work. it's it's after 35 years I still haven't cracked after the job is done it's literally right back to the drawing board and I mean it's and especially now in COVID I'm not auditioning for

anyone I am I'm self taping which is effectively it's a precasting you know what I mean I'm making a tape in my studio without any direction and someone reading lines off camera yeah so sometimes I'll someone zoom the lines in, sometimes my wife will put the baby to bed and she'll come in and read with me. And that's horrifying because it's my wife seeing me at my most insecure, you know, and she's she's so good. And for her, things come so easily. So it is this really amazing thing that after all these years and after, you know, some successes and whatever, it still all goes back to make a tape. Maybe a casting associate sees it. Maybe the casting director sees it. Maybe they get it to the producer. Maybe that, you know what I mean? It's still that.

it's it's now it's not to say that an offer won't come here and there without a tape but what's an offer that you have you've had what are offers like let me let me name something red notice did you get an offer no no I auditioned for that true story uh no no I auditioned and then I had to have a Zoom meeting as well the Kennedys oh well actually Sinatra was an offer but it was after I had done uh 24 with with with Joel Sernau but also I auditioned to play Bobby and they liked my Bobby but but they hired the right Bobby. They had Barry Pepper, who's a great actor. But they said, hey, look, we're not going to have you for Bobby, but do you want to be Frankie? And of course, I said, yeah, of course. Yeah. Fantastic. But what are some roles that you, out of 10 auditions that you go out for? Let's say 10.

How many do you get a callback for? Be honest. Don't do. Even if it's nine, you know. Listen, man. So, okay. Because you work hard. I could tell. So I have a feeling that you probably get called back or you're up in the mix for many, many roles. I, I, so we are, what is this? We're in, uh, December of 2021, right? And we hit the pandemic. So I, I came to Los Angeles. We left New York. During the pandemic, you left New York to come to the, in July. Yes. We left, we left New York in June. We just had a baby and we didn't know where we were going to live. We found a house. I built a studio. We were able, I was able to sort of, you know, carry on with the animation stuff. And then when auditions started to come in, I started putting myself on tape between i would say between august of 2020 and now i i i have auditioned probably on

average at least at least two times a week two times a week i have booked off of those auditions one job two times a week since august of 2020 so roughly i'd say like 50 50, 60 auditions and you booked one. What was the one you booked? That was true story. That was true story on Netflix. Yeah. Which is one of the biggest shows now. Isn't it? And they've done a great job, man. It is. I think it's the number one series on Netflix right now. And Red Notice you mentioned is the number one movie on Netflix, which is great. And that was a process that the audition for that, I changed the character to make him Greek because I wanted to find a way in that felt organic to me. And it was all good. I was set to be a pudgy Greek billionaire arms dealer. And then to, to, And two and a half weeks in, it was a flag on the play. Rosson called me and said that apparently Ryan had done a movie recently where there was a pudgy Greek bad guy.

And he was like, we don't want to do that again. So he said, I think I'm going to need to recast this. I said, no, no, no, no, no. Actually, I was going to call you. I have got a great idea. He should be. And I sort of pulled this out of my ass. I was like, he should be of unknown European origin.

And he was like, well, what does he sound like? I was like, well, that's the thing. his dad strangled him so his voice is broken and he was like oh i love that we'll call him soto i was like yes and he's like and i want him to be a wait a minute this came about your character came about in red notice on a phone conversation now i mean the character was written but the but the new and improved the new and improved character the new and improved character soto voce hence i like this yes yeah i used a little uh sean harris uh i just loved that idea of So his dad, his dad strangled him.

And he was left with this paralyzed vocal cord, which I loved. It's fun. That's, do they talk about it in that? Yeah, well, so in, there were more, there were more scenes that sort of pointed to it. You hear it in, in, in some of the dialogue, and you hear it even in some of my character's dialogue. But it's sort of a, like a blink and you'll miss it, a moment. But yeah, no, all this is to say, look, I, I, one booking in 55 to 68. what does that tell you what i mean if you have to talk to fellow actors out there are people who are

trying to become an actor how hard is it to be an actor it's it's it's what my buddy nick wyman always says your job is to audition just just shut up and do the audition it's it might be a chance for you to act you might not have acted in a while so just and look you ask me how i memorize lines i do a thing where i i read through the material all of it the the the stage direction all the lines i read through it as many times as it takes me to be able to read it out loud as fast as I possibly can read it without tripping over a single word, regardless of whether it's my dialogue or not. If I trip over the word, I have to start all over again. And I just keep doing it. It's basically like running it in Italian to do it to the point where I can speak it so quickly that I'll never, you know,

I won't, I won't trip over a single word. So it's just, it's almost like you're getting, you're exhausted probably learning this. That's it. And in my tongue, exhausted. It's, I fully exhaust myself and then I realize, oh, I totally know what the scene's about because I've read it 100 times or 200 times or 300 times. And then when I know what the scene's about, then the pressure's off because then the lines are there because they make sense because the scene is very, very clear. I get it. I know what the character's trying to do. But no, I mean, look, I'm doing the second season of Made for Love this year, which is a great show on HBO, which I love. And that was an offer, which was really nice. And that came about through, I think, through some of my past work on

HBO. It came about through Silicon Valley. And, and, and, uh, and that's, that's a real joy. And it's, you know, it's rare to be able to be on a show that I watched and then didn't have to audition for and they, and they called me in. Reading, playing, learning. Stellist lenses do more than just correct your child's vision. They slow down the progression of myopia. So your child can continue to discover all the world has to offer through their own eyes. Light the path to a brighter future. with Stellist Lenses for Myopia Control. Learn more at SLR.com

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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 what's tough about getting an offer for? It sounds so great and it's amazing when someone gives you an offer for a role. But I've had this happen where I came on set after they went through the contract, worked it out, one of the leads. I get on there and they want me to do something totally different. Yeah. So if you audition for it and they like you, it's based on your audition

and you know what you're doing. Yeah. And then you get there with an offer and no audition and now they want to change things up. Well, you're like, I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. It can be tenuous. I will say for Silicon Valley, I was such a fan of the show that when I got the audition for Russ Hanneman, it was supposed to be a two to three episode arc. But I loved it. I was like, let me in. And I, when I auditioned for it, I had so many different versions. of the way that I wanted to do it that I gave them like five different... I gave him like a Matt McConaughey version

where it was kind of like a little more laid back a little more... In each take? Yes, I did a totally different thing. Well, they like, what is he doing? Right. And yet, when I got the part and my agent called him was like,

it looks like you got this part, I said, find out which version they want. Yeah, send me the version. Because they're really different fucking versions. Yeah. And I remember, and I was like, have you asked? He's like, we've asked, we've asked.

We haven't heard anything. And they're like, okay, you're on set tomorrow. I was like, which fucking version is going to be. And I show up and there's Mike Judge. And I was like, hey, Mr. Judge, listen. He's like, oh, yeah, great, great.

I'm glad you're here. I was like, do you know which version of the character you want? And he was like, yeah, yeah, no, whatever you did is good. It's funny. You're good. And I was like, but I did five different ones. But what I loved about that, what he was like, just go fucking do it. Just do it.

Yeah, you're good. You think it's all that different. It wasn't that different. It's still you. It's still you. Just do it. And it was, it was, I was like, okay. And then Alec was like, give, give, give,

Alex, Alec Berg, who by the great Alec Berg, fucking Alec Berg from Seinfeld, which is like the only show that I watch when I'm in my trailer, Seinfeld's on the background. I just said Jason Alexander on the podcast. He was brilliant. He was brilliant. I loved, wasn't that great?

He was so great. Oh, man, I wish I could have been here. I'm the biggest Seinfeld fan there is. The biggest Seinfeld fan there is. We talked about the marine biologist. We talked about that whole episode where they... Didn't they give him that monologue at the last minute? At the last they talked about it.

Can you do that? The scene was angry that day, my friends. No, I didn't mean that. The actual scene's going to do the scene from marine biologists. No, I mean, can you do that off the cuff? Listen, what's funny is the more pressure there is attached to something, the more I can perform. If it's an audition and it comes up last minute,

it's like pulling fucking teeth. But if I have to go on stage and do something, I just buckle in and do it. And that's what Christmas Story Live was, because I had this giant, no, no, no, no, this huge dance number. this massive like, like, uh, Bugsby Berkeley dance number that we never rehearsed on the actual set because it wasn't ready until performance day.

That's terrifying. And the first time I did it complete with a costume change on set and a front flip and all of this. The first time I did it was the time that we recorded it and it was live. How was it? It was exhilarating because I did it. And my wife says there's this one moment in the bloody song where you see in my face where I've gotten through like all of these hurdles and there's this look in my face. of like, motherfucker, I just did that.

Like, this, this, this, this, this matters because you were yourself for a split nuance. Yes, split nuance of holy shit. I did that. I did that. Yes, back to the character. Yes, yes. Now back in. Wow.

Yeah, yeah. That's terrific. Do you get nervous? Do you get nervous when you're on set? You get nervous for an audition. Do you get nervous in meetings to you? And how do you deal with that if you do? I do.

I get nervous every time. Get nervous with everything. I have a, a standard level of. anxiety and I'm a perfectionist and I I have this thing that that still after all these years hasn't gone away. I'm just, I'm eager to please. I just want it all to go right. I know. I want it to. Yeah. And I think that's, that's, I had a friend recently that said to me, you can afford to be cocky. And I was like, I can't. I can't because right when I think I can be cocky about something, particularly in the industry, it's so ephemeral. It goes. It's the hardest thing

to get and it's the easiest thing to lose that the moment that you love. So yes, I do get nervous. I step on to set. I feel good. I feel prepared. I think the more prepared I can be, the less nervous I'll feel. It's the wild cards that throw me. I'm fully prepared. I know what I'm doing. I got everything. And then a director will come up and give me a note that's so left field of anything I thought. It makes your nerves kind of peek. Oh, it's just this notion of, oh, fuck. I've got this all figured out completely wrong. And so that makes me nervous. Auditions now are very different than they were, but, you know, going into meet producers or going into a test to meet, you know, studio executives, that's a nerve-wracking experience because they're also asking you to do something

that's so inorganic to what the actual end result is. You know, the end result is you're on a set that's closed and you're doing a performance that's nuanced and small and for the screen. When you go into book these massive jobs, you're in a boardroom. with all of these executives around the table and you're giving a performance that, you know, you have to nuance in the right direction. It can't be what you're going to ultimately do on the day because they won't, yes, there's no charisma there.

You know, they can't see it. And it can't be, hi, everybody, welcome to the show. You know what I mean? Because then they're going to be like, oh, it's too big. So it really is, I mean, look, with stooges, oh my God, I couldn't. I remember testing for the Farley brothers for that. I remember going in a room and there was Sean Hayes

and there was like, so, I bet you were there. How many auditions did you have? I had three. I had one where I sent my tape into one of the producers, then they brought me in, and then I came in with a bunch of you guys. I still have the audition, and I'm proud of it. I had a wig, and I was like, you know, you fucking killed it. I had 14 over six months.

14! Dude, when I heard about this, I called my agent and my manager, and I said, I'm the biggest stooge fan there is. I got to go in, and I got to go do this. and she said, you're not a celebrity and you're not a comedian. I don't think I can get you an appointment. And it was a friend of mine that called me

that was like, hey, are you going to the Stooges thing? And he's like, you're a Stoge fan, right? And I was like, yeah, yeah. He's like, are you going? I was like, yeah, yeah, when are you going? He's like, I'm going on Friday. I was like, yeah, where is that? He's like, where is it again?

Did you just show up? Yep. You, hold on a second. You had no audition, no agent representation going into that. I mean, you had an agent. I had an agent. But you just signed in. I went.

to a Hasidic wig shop and bought a wig. I cut a wig. I went to a latex foam store and I padded my neighbor's suit. My neighbor's much bigger than me so that I could lose my neck and fill out some girth. And I got to the audition. And at the audition, there was a big sign that said, do not come in character. And I walked in there and I saw all these guys in jeans and a t-shirt. And I was like, how the fuck are they going to find molarian curly?

like looking like this ridiculous and so when the casting director came out i remember it was rick montgomery he opened the door and he went hey i uh he looked at me in costume it was a ridiculous fucking costume but he was just like oh god all right come on in and i and i went in and it was one there was one page of sides it was just one page of sides i didn't have you had that little bowl cut had the bowl cut and i didn't do the sides i did a i did a uh i did a bunch of little things from from the shorts you know you see that sore over there each one of us grab a broom we go out and we sweep in front of the place the boss comes out sees three conscientious guys and offers us a job it's simple come on get gone i did i did all this shit and they were like huh and then and then

they were like okay come back um and and and and and i got a note and they were like your costume's terrible so you if you're going to come in costume you got to do something better so i hired christian tinsley who did the makeup for the passion of the christ and i got him to do under dry bags on me and a full face cast. And I, my wife was doing a show. You fucking went above and beyond what anybody else would do. And you didn't even have an audition. I had to get it. You didn't have. I had to get it. I was the guy. I had to. I had to. I had to get it. And I, I, I broke into the Warner Brothers costume warehouse. And I borrowed a fat suit and period clothes and I went back over and over and over again. They kept bring me back, kept bringing me back,

kept bring me back. And then I wouldn't hear anything for in costume. In like you, I never went out, not only in costume, in character. Sign in and hi, hi, boss, how you doing? I never, ever, ever. Were people looking at you like, holy, yes, they thought I was a fucking lunatic. And, and, and Pete was, Pete would go, oh, it's Mo. It's Mo. And, and Bob, and Bobby was like, yeah, you do. You got the Moe thing. I was like, oh, thank you very much. And they were like, all right, all right. And anytime I'd go in, I'd try and find a moment to do something slapsticky.

Like in one of my auditions, I pretended I didn't see the chair. I fell right over it. And they all got up from their chairs like they thought it really happened. And every moment was a chance to show them a little bit more that I understood the Stooges. But dude, I got my heartbroken so many times because I remember reading Variety right after an audition, right after one of the auditions that Johnny Knoxville got the part. And I was like, oh, my God. And then, and it turns out, Pete told me that he did have the part. They offered it to him.

He accepted. And then Pete and Johnny had a talk. And Johnny was like, well, I'm not going to do an impression because I don't, that's not what I do. It's going to be like the modern Mo. And Pete was like, no, no, no, this is the stooges. And Johnny was like, I'm not sure this is going to work. And so then they went back to the drawing board and the more auditions. And then I read, sorry, then my manager called and said, I'm sorry, it's the end of the line.

They have offered it to Hank his area. And they had. And he would have been one. They just kept going. They saw Mo right in front of them and they kept going around. But he wanted too much money. And I wrote a letter to the head of Fox at the time, basically a plea for why they should hire me.

And in the letter, I said, I'll do it for free. Don't pay me. And they didn't. They took me up on it, man. Yeah, it cost me money to do that movie because I had to move my newborn and my wife to Atlanta for 16 weeks. And I got paid, what was it, Schedule, Schedule F. Is that true?

Yeah, yeah. They really did. didn't pay you. No. They paid you as minimal as they could for being the star of the movie. The lowest I could have possibly. What is that? What is Schedule F? Tell people what Schedule F is. I got 30. Schedule F is fuck off. I got $32,000 for, for that movie. $32,000, 16 weeks in Atlanta. And it's probably costing you half that to live there. Oh yeah. No, no. It cost us. I think it cost us. I ended up factoring. It cost me about $16,000 to keep the place in Los Angeles, moved to Atlanta, and, you know, and be there.

Was it a dream come true, though? It was. You know, it's funny, man. It wasn't a perfect movie, but it was a perfect experience. How were the Fairley Brothers to work with? They're lovely. You know, they're salt to the earth guys. They are the antithesis of any sort of autours, right?

But they still create memorable, massively, globally, impactful. movies, right? But they do it without any pretense. They are exactly what you would expect them to be. And they're, they were, it was, it was a unique, singular, and marvelous experience. And Sean, Will and I will be forever connected in, in that regard. I mean, those are, those, Sean and Will, if they ever call or need anything or it's, I'm, they're my voice. How did they get away with giving you Schedule F for a studio film? I've just never heard that before. Schedule F is something that you hear about with independent movies everybody's getting scheduled left we're getting the same money it's uh what do they call it yeah favored nations i was going to say united nations yeah yeah yeah it's the united

nation same thing um and it just is is baffling did you i mean did your agents try to fight that or did you just say i want this don't even bother i was so listen man that's crazy it's crazy it's funny right but but how often in our lives forget about our careers as actors but how often in our lives are we ever faced with an opportunity to inhabit and pay homage to something that had a massive impact on us as children? I mean, to really be a part of something. You got to understand. It wasn't like I was, oh, yeah, I like the Stooges. No, no, no, no, no. I had my brother for Christmas when I was 13 got me the print of Moly and Curley on the golf course. It was on my, it was on my wall. Like, I mean, I was obsessed with the Stooges.

So, yeah, you know, I remember, I don't even remember when they called, they're like, this is the offer. I was like, right, yeah, I got the offer. You know what I mean? And as a matter of fact, this is a good story. Please. This is a good story. I didn't get the offer.

I'm like, God, I can't fucking believe this happened. I'm still remembering it. Yeah. So I don't hear anything after my last audition. I don't hear anything. And then... And you're going crazy. I'm going nuts. And then I get a call from my agent who said, it looks like they want to do a proper screen test with you, Sean and Will. And Pete and Bob are going to do this on the Fox Lod. And Pete called me and said, listen, the studio is starting to waffle on how they feel about bringing this movie forth. And we feel like we want to show them exactly what we want to do. So we want to make a scene, a proper scene from the movie. movie. And he said, no pressure, but this really is, he said, and I said, wait, what does this mean?

He goes, doesn't mean you got the part. But I want you to do this with us. And it's going to kind of live or die on if this works. So you'll get the part, but if it doesn't work, we're not making the fucking movie. So, you know, no pressure. So I go. And you drive the scene. I'm sure Mo drives all the scenes. Yes. Mo definitely did drive the scene. And we did the scene and it was great. But then I don't hear anything. I forget two and a half fucking no one calls you. But I'm dying. And at this point my stomach is like eating itself okay and I get a call I'm never forget this I'm driving through Laurel Canyon right around here right and the reception is for shit oh yeah thank you okay and I get a call and I and I and it's a it's a 310 number that I don't recognize and I pull over and

is this Mo? And I said yeah it's Pete Farrelly and I said hi he goes well well well what the hell man are you doing our movie or not and I and I was like wait what he goes you you got the offer you know, right? And I said, no, no, wait, what? Oh, oh my God, thank you. And he's like, call your agent. So I call my agent. And my agent says, yeah, well, yeah, no, no, we got the offer. It's a shitty offer. They came in with no money. And I was like, wait, wait. I've been going. So my entire life, I've been working toward getting this role. Six months, I've auditioned for this thing 14 times. And we got the offer and you didn't tell me. Well, no, no, we were going to tell you, and I, I, I snapped, snapped. And it was, it was just this, okay, you're fired.

It's done, like, it's done. You fired them. I had, are you kidding? How can, I mean, it's, it's, it's the, it's your dream and they're shitting on it. Come on now. Listen, I understand. And by the way, I would have loved it if they doubled the offer or tripled it or whatever the hell it. But call me, call me. This is your dream. This is my fucking dream. You've been slaving in there. Dying. Dying. And it was the middle of pilot season, too, where. in between these auditions, I would go in and make it to studio and not make it to network, or make it to network and I was the second choice. Or make it to studio, make it to network, I'm the choice, and then the pilot doesn't happen. You know what I mean? So you fired them on that

call. It happened right then and there. You said you're fired. And what they say? And they said, you're overreacting. And I said, I've never been more sanguine in my life, in my career. You're fired. And it wasn't an easy thing because I really liked my agents. I wouldn't have use the word sanguine, because I'm not exactly sure what it means. But I applaud you for for doing that. That, I mean, chutzpah. I had to. I had to for my nine-year-old self and for my 90-year-old self. I had to. Wow. Yeah. Did you ever meet anybody related to Moe or any family numbers? I did. There was a time where Will and I were invited to Philadelphia for, I think it was a stooge convention in honor of Larry. And I met Mo's, I want to say I met Mo's daughter.

And I met some of his family. And they even gave me the most beautiful Mo, Mo made clay and ceramic things. You still have them? I have this beautiful bathtub that he made with his little signature Mo face on the bottom of it. It's one of my little precious little child. Do you have the poster in your house? I do. Yeah, I have it in my studio, actually. You have a studio. Yeah. Yeah. What other things do you have in your studio? I have my first, the first ever drawing of my Mickey Mouse that Paul Rudish did for me, which is marvelous. I have some renderings of my Dark Wing duck, which I did for duck tales.

And I did a pilot where I was going to be the new Dark Wing. For Mickey Mouse Edition, by the way, how many, did you go in and say like two lines and that was it? No, no, no, no, that was, so I think I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I, you know, I passed on it at first. Right, right, you said that. Yeah, yeah, but it was, we went to the old. old animation building, and I had to re-voice the entire brave little Taylor. So it was all the original, original score and original voices other than, you know, me going in and doing waltz,

Ah, yes, your honor, and how? I was all alone. I heard them coming. I looked up. They were here, there, everywhere, a whole bunch of them. Yeah, I had to redo the whole thing. And then they they revoiced that old animation. It's one of the most exhilarating things I've ever done. Holy shit. You've got to do some cool fucking things. Yeah, I am, I got a horseshoe up my I mean, you portray Robin Williams and behind the camera, which I have to see now. And like, how hard is that to portray? I mean, he's so physical.

So nuanced, so all over the place. I remember my manager at the time called and said, so there's this. And he's like, look, these movies are sort of these salacious, you know, behind the scenes of Three's Company or Charlie's Angels or whatever it is. He's like, they're doing a Mork and Mindy one. It's like a low budget thing.

They're going to shoot it in Vancouver in like 12, 13 days, whatever it is. But they need a Robin Williams. Williams and they can't find it. And I remember saying, and my wife is usually the one to sort of remind me why I do what I do. I was like, I was like, I love Robin Williams. I adore him, but I'm not Robin. I don't look anything like the guy. I don't sound anything like him. And she said, okay, well, who would you cast? I was like, I don't know, like Jim Carrey or whatever. I, I would I wouldn't, she said, who would you cast? She said, Jim Carrey's not going to do a $500,000 movie.

Who would you cast? I said, I don't know. She goes, well, if you don't know, then you should audition for it. And then I went on a deep dive. I, I, I, you know, looked at all the inside the actor's studio stuff. And I looked at all his old standup. And there was some standup tapes that my brother had, my older brother, that were way too old for me that I remember watching. Some of his stuff in San Francisco. And, and I realized that, man, I was a huge Robin Williams fan. I mean, I, I was really, really engaged in what he did from stand up to all of his movies. And I remember when Goodwill hunting came out, I had that on a loop in my VHS. I watched it over and over and over and over again. So I guess a lot sort of, sort of by osmosis sort of impacted how I was able to sort of

recreate that. And I realized when I was able to find his voice and how he sort of held himself and how he talked and sort of there was kind of a quiet element to him and how he really didn't, he really He didn't want the attention, but well, he would take it. I mean, joke me if you can't take a fuck. And there was this sort of, geez, it's so good. It was this moment of like, oh, fuck, like, all right, well, his shoulders were higher. And that affects how he sounds. And he had kind of a very kind and almost a pleasant, his lipswear.

There was this, and it was like, oh, fuck, if I can, I think I might be able to do that. And so I thought, okay, but the only way I'm going to do this is if I can look in the mirror and see it. So I hired a wig maker. and I went to my optometrist and I got contact lenses made and and I found rainbow suspenders and I walked around the city in New York like that for a week and got on the bus and thanks chief okay I'll see you later and and sort of lived it and then I went to the audition fully in character and I remember it was Stephen O'Neill and NBC and it was at the Rockefeller Center and you had to like sign in and I fully went in in character and Stephen had seen me for a million other things and he was like hi Chris and I was like oh hello and he was like oh Christ. He was just like, what are you doing? But I didn't break it. And I went in and I had a whole routine set up. And I also realized, because I had the script for that, that they, all the impressions that they had in there, they weren't going to be able to use them. Because it was an unauthorized biography. And all those impressions were things that he had done. And I knew that

they were going to be in trouble. So I came up with all these impressions that we hadn't seen them do. And it all ended up in the film. That was a turning point. And you were, like, I can't do this. I couldn't even do an impression. impression. Yeah. And in the beginning, you really didn't have any idea how to do this guy. No, zero. And it wasn't until I watched Goodwill Hunting again and realized I'd remember, I mean, I knew that entire film inside out and backwards, that it was like, oh, gosh, I actually do understand his cadence, where he resonates, how he speaks. And I know it sounds like such a surfacey thing, just finding the voice, but it's not. I want you. It's so funny because I'm like,

I wish that we weren't on this podcast right now, because I'd want you. you to teach me how to do it. It's, it's a, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, how do you do that? Your arms and you're like, well, it's, yeah there's, there's, you know, it's funny. It's, it's, it's, it's watching what his mouth and his lips and his tongue and his face and, and, and, and, and, and, and he would also sort of change it some, it when he would did his mork, it would, it would shift and it's how he would shift. So you have to look like him to sound like it was a really neat. Yeah, but then it's also like you don't want it to just be an SNL sketch, right? You want it to actually be a living, breathing human beings. So there are other

elements too. I could talk to you forever. This is fun. This is fun. This is like, I'm like, I haven't even looked at any notes or anything. It's just so exciting to hear like what you do and what you, what you do to go after a role and what it takes to really be an actor. And it makes me feel like, I just haven't done enough. No, that's not true. Well, I mean, look, I've done, like, I feel like I've done some good work in my life, done some, stuff that no one has seen. But at the same time, I'm like, I look at an actor like you and you really, really put in the work and you don't question it. You really go after it. I'm pathological about it, though. And I do have to say, I don't think it's the only way in. I think that

there are, look, you have done remarkable work. You've done lasting work. And I don't think that there's, I think there are many ways to get to the end. I think for me, I'm, I've been so moved by the performances in movies and TV that have shaped who I am that I look at every opportunity that I am on screen as a chance to do something that could end up being that for someone, right? So I look, and I talk to my agents about this all the time. They'll be like, oh, it's just an audition. It's coming in. It's up for tomorrow. It's like, you don't know how much effort I put into these auditions. It's not just an audition. It's a real performance. for me. I give a piece of myself. It sounds cheesy, but it's true. Yeah. I don't, I mean,

when they say, hey, you get an audition tomorrow. It's like, I need a few days. Yeah, it's a lot. I mean, I've recently, I've, because I'm taping by myself, I've come up with a way where I have a screen and if it's last minute and I have to do it, I'll even put the sides up on a screen. How do you do that? Yeah. So that's, that's, you know, finding an eye mark on the screen with the sides and, and framing my handout of where the mouse is and just and scrolling through and finding a way to do it, but I will have to say, I do have to say that, it's not as good. I'd say, I'd say, like 19 times at a 20, I end up scrapping it and telling them if they, if they, if they, if you can give me an extra couple of days, I'll learn it and I'll do it.

But there, there have been a few times where it's like, oh shit. Has it ever worked? Yeah. I don't know that it's ever worked that I've booked anything from it. Has it ever worked? Yes, it actually has. It did work one time. Red notice. No, it wasn't red notice. No, no, it wasn't red notice. What was it? It was, uh, I did a small, a small, part for this upcoming Daisy Jones and the 6th that Amazon is doing. And it was a last minute thing. It was just a quick thing. But I didn't have time to memorize it. They wanted it that day. I did it. And I got it. So that was fun. And then you learned it. And then I learned it. Yeah. Jeez. Yeah. I mean, there's, I mean, you've done so many things. You always appear in all these

things. I mean, you're playing, you know, opposite gal gad. You say Gal Gadot. I do say Gal Gadot. Is it Gal Gadot? I think it's gadot. Godot. I think that's what it is. I know going with Godd. Sounds good to me. Yeah. And Ryan Reynolds and the rock and you're working with all these great people. And it's just like the more I talk to you,

the more I feel like, of course you are. You should be working with all these people. You should be. I really, truly, as corny as it sounds, do feel like it's, we're lucky to get up and be able to do this for a living. And, and, you know, I, I, of course, I want to keep progressing

and I want to keep growing and doing more things. But I also just, I really just want to keep moving. My wife always says to me, just keep your head down and do good work. And because the rest of it is all, it's vapor. It's all vapor, right? You know, and you think about the lauded performances from 1989. I mean, like, it doesn't matter unless the experience is meaningful. Because all of, it's all air.

It's just, it doesn't exist. So we might as well. joke them if they can't take a fuck if they can't take a fuck is that what he said yeah well it's fuck him if they can't take a joke and he flipped it joke him if they can't take a fuck which is brilliant joke them if they can't take a fuck how's that it's pretty good it's pretty good yeah well i need a lot of work i might this is uh by the way you got to promise me if you're ever up for an oscar okay you get you know one of these things you got to come back in the podcast no matter how big you get okay so i i'll make that's the deal so but we have to double edge that deal so the deal is

100%. If I become the next David Letterman. If you become the next David Letterman, I'm your first motherfucking guest. You could be the first guest. Great. Thank you. That's it. Okay, good. All right. This is called shit talking with Chris Diamantopoulos. Did I say that right? You said it right. Look at that fucking just got it. You got it. You said it like my mother. These are my patrons. These are patrons who pay extra for the podcast. They support it. They love the podcast. They want it to continue.

They give back. So they get to ask some questions. Great. Nico, I'm first generation Greek, America. I was wondering if there were any Greek traditions your friends here, had a hard time wrapping their heads around when you were growing up. Mine were name days. Oh, yeah, name days. Ah, Renico.

Bravo, Renico. I said, thanks, Nick. Thanks for the question. Yeah, you know, my Canadian friends growing up always felt like it was weird to see a full-skinned lamb on a spit in my backyard in April during Easter. Because we roast a skin lamb on the spit. Yeah, we roast a lamb.

And it's not just like, you know, you're not like barbecuing lamb piece. It's like a full land with the eyes and the teeth. Like it's a full beast. But we ate everything. And yeah, so my friends were always like, that's really intense. There's a lamb on a spit. A lamb on a spit is a lot to look at. Wow.

Maddie S. Loved how outrageous your character was in Red Notice. How did you prepare for the role? That's a nice question. And thanks for the compliment. I mean, you kind of talked about, yes. Well, you know what? I'll just say this.

I had two weeks to get into the best physical shape of my life. Two weeks. Yeah. And I fasted, which I hadn't really done before. Does that really work? Yes. How now explain the fasting. So let's say you wake up, you wake up and when do you eat?

What time do you eat? So this is what I would do. I would wake up and I would try to wake up as late as possible because the longer you sleep, the less you're awake and you're not eating. I would drink lots of water. I would drink black coffee, and I would go for walks and drink water and drink coffee and go for walks. And then when it was about 6 or 7 p.m., I would break my fast with some grass-fed red meat. And then I would go to sleep again and fast again. And you lost weight and got tight and ripped?

Yeah, I mean, I probably lost, I probably only lost about like maybe eight or nine pounds, but because I was training at the same time, everything just sort of vacuum sealed. And I, so you worked out every day for two weeks. I didn't actually. The surprising thing is that it's, it's 99% diet is in terms of, in terms of cinematic aesthetics of looking good on screen, it's really what you eat, not the gym. I trained once or twice a week. That's it.

By the way, I'm just, this is completely irrelevant to what we're talking about. Yes. But I'm watching you now and I'm thinking there's a great impression that you probably can do, that you should do. If not, you should play this guy someday in a movie. you should play Johnny Carson. You know, I was thinking the same thing, actually. I was thinking, you know, they should do,

I was off the top of my head, they should do a limited series where I play Johnny Carson. Look at this. I just looked at you and I was like, you gotta be Johnny Carson. You know, I... Do you do impressions of Johnny Carson?

You've done that many times. I have not, but I will tell you this. I had heard that there is something percolating out there. I want to say... You embody Carson. and you have this like, I don't know what it is. There's something relaxed. It's out there.

I think it's Adam McKay. Yes, who's doing it. I did not know that. Ed, weird, wow, stuff. Great show tonight. Yes. Yeah, yeah. No, I, Adam McKay, if you're listening, come on.

Throw a good Greek Canadian kid of bone here and let me in the room. I used to Ed McMahon. I worked with Ed McMahon on this crappy TV show that I did back in 98 called The Tom Show. It was with Tom Arnold Ed McMahon. That wasn't a crappy show. That was a fun show. No, no, no, it was really bad.

She was ranked 138 at 137. That's the kind of material I'm into. But I said, I used to say to Ed every day, go, Ed, it was so cold this morning. And he goes, how cold was it, sir? So cold, I saw Robin putting his worm in the microwave. Weird wow stuff, Ed. But you nail it.

Wow. Leanne, what character that you have portrayed are you the most like? Oh, that's a great question. Mickey Mouse. I was going to say that. Mickey Mouse, is it? Yeah, yeah, probably. I think so.

What character that I've portrayed? Well, it's probably a combination of Moe and Mickey Mouse because I'm not that bright, but I've got a lot of gumption. I think you're bright. You segwine. Sanguine, see? That's what I'm telling you. You're segwayed to the sanguine.

Yeah, exactly. Jill E. What is better, the Rock's Tequila, Ryan Reynolds's gin, or Trace Camas Tequila? Tres Comas. Come on now. Listen, sorry, DJ, sorry, Ryan, but let's all be honest. and you got to try it. So my character on Silicon Valley

has this tequila called Trescomas, the three comma club because he's a billionaire, he's this obnoxious billionaire. Well, we actually made the tequila and sold it for a period of time. And surprisingly enough, it was delicious. Really?

Yeah, yeah. If you can find a bottle of it, I highly recommend it. Trace comas. Three comas. Tres comas. Danny, did Chris enjoy, that's you? Yes.

Did you enjoy the physical comedy aspects of playing Markey Bark on the rest of development? Oh, that was marvelous. Listen, I enjoy, being in the presence of Mitch Hurwitz. Yeah, I worked with him too. He was a smart guy.

Not only smart, but just a prince. And there was something about him. He's so Mozart-like and his understanding of what the overall scope of not only the episode, but the whole series was going to be that he would throw things out from behind the camera

that felt like these like random suggestions, but he knew how he was going to weave them into his story. I loved that. And the character was this beautiful, clueless, but I love characters that are completely unaware of how clueless they are. And that was really, really fun to play. And such great collaborators on that entire set. That was marvelous. Well, I mean, it's incredible. I mean, you get red notice on Netflix,

which is just kicking ass on Netflix right now. Yeah, it's the biggest Netflix movie ever. I mean, that's incredible. Crazy. And true story. Isn't it also doing great? It's the number one series on Netflix right now. Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Oh, yeah. And that's coming out, Disney Plus on December 3rd, and that's just terrific for people that love that franchise. Inside Job. That's a great adult animated show on Netflix. It's super fun. I mean, you, Netflix loves you. Well, I'm fortunate, man. I'll take it because I, it's funny when, you know, when it's time to open a bottle of wine and have dinner in front of the TV, that's what we're putting on. This is just incredible. I mean, the amount of work you've done, what you're doing, there's no stopping you,

man. I love it. I love how humble you are, but you're also a lot of fun. You have a lot of fun. You have and lost that that kid's spirit, the inner child. You could see it come out and you can see how much fun you have entertaining. Thanks, man. You know, it's really cool, man. It's really cool. You make it really easy. This is a great, for all the actors out there listening that are going

to be invited here, I highly recommend it. This is, this is like the best interview I've done. This is fun. Really? Yeah. Well, holy shit. So, yeah, let's, let's, I'm looking forward to you taking over the night show and me winning the Oscar. Oh, this has been fun. Ryan, do you have anything?

No, this has been, I didn't know they made triscomas tequila, though. You got to get on that, yeah, because Ryan, I miss that. Ryan Fux. Well, you're, Ryan Fux. That's true. Ryan Fux. If you don't know what we're talking about, it's on Silicon Valley, it's his character. It's Ryan Fux.

This guy. This has been a really big treat. You're going to come back on the podcast, right? My pleasure, yeah. I would love to have you back on. I love to hang out with you sometime. You're a great guy. Be fun.

Feelings mutual, man. Thanks for allowing me to be inside of you. Yeah, absolutely. Wait, where have I heard that before? His show. Yes, yes, exactly. All right, I'm going to have to give you a tumbler, an inside-y tumbler. Oh, I want one for sure.

I'm going to give it to you now. Yeah, all right. Let's go. That was one of my favorite interviews. I think you could tell. It was really just, it was effortless. I am not over the Robin Williams impression, just sitting in here listening to it. Just watching him transform.

Un-fucking real. I loved it. But he's been doing it his whole life, so I mean. Yeah. He better be good at it. Yeah, well, he's a. I really liked him. That guy fucks.

That guy fucks. What was that on? Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley when he said that famous line. Again, thank you. Follow us on our handles at Inside of You podcast on Twitter and Instagram at Inside You pod on the Facebook. Is that right?

Mm-hmm. And then go to patreon.com slash Inside You. If you want to support the podcast a little more, I welcome you to go there. I think you'll dig it. You can give anything to the podcast, 50 cents, quarter, a dollar, whatever you want. I mean, you know, it just helps the podcast. And the inside of you online store. Got tons of great stuff.

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But, you know, I thought we had a lot of fun. And it was a lot of fun seeing everybody there. So thank you for attending. And maybe you could bring someone to the next show at the end of this next month. There you go. Right now, we're going to read the top patrons. Great. Why don't we do that?

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your friends to listen and subscribe. I appreciate it. Means a hell of a lot, and reviews really help the show. From the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California, I'm Michael Rosenbaum. I'm Ryan, too. Hey, how are you, Ryan? Hi. Wave with the camera up there. We love you guys. Be good to yourself.

Thank you for allowing me to get inside of each and every one of you. Thanks for listening. Have a freaking glorious week. Be good to yourself. Just be good to yourself. Don't be so hard on yourself. How about that? That's good. That's good. I'm going to end it with that. See you. 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.