Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson - You Can’t Fake Funny with Paul Feig

Episode Date: December 8, 2025

No joke, you’ll never guess what the genius behind blockbuster comedies like ‘Bridesmaids’ and ‘The Heat’ did before hitting it big. He takes Kate and Oliver through his humble beginning to his big break moment and reveals the project that STILL gets more buzz than all his box office wins. Plus, what he calls the true tragedy of comedy and whether audiences will see a sequel of his latest thriller ‘The Housemaid.’See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. December. December is when we really slow down as a family. So Colorado is always happening, of course. But we go first half, a little snow, the second half, maybe a little sun, thinking about maybe Mexico,

maybe some Cabo San Lucas. And staying in a home on Airbnb makes trips like that so much more personal. It feels like you are a part of the neighborhood. If you're heading out this holiday season, think about hosting your own home on Airbnb with a co-host network. With a co-host network, you can have a local expert handle everything from guest communication to styling your space.

Find a co-host at Airbnb.ca.ca. slash host. If a Lenovo gaming computer is on your holiday list, don't shop around. Just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com. It's your last chance to score exclusive deals on the gaming PCs you want, like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming desktop and Lenovo Lock Gaming laptop. So avoid all that shopping, chaos, and price comparing, and just go directly to the source. It's Lenovo.com, where PCs are up to 35% off. That's Lenovo.com.

Lenovo, Lenovo. I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product with every sip you get a little something different. Visit Gentleman'scut Bourbon.com or your nearest Total Wines or Bevmo.

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I knew it was a bomb the second that it exploded. I felt it ripped through me. In Season 2 of Rip Current, we asked, who tried to kill Judy Berry and why. They were climbing trees, and they were. sabotaging logging equipment in the woods. She received death threats before the bombing. She received more threats after the bombing. I think that this is a deliberate attempt to sabotage our movement. Episodes of Rip Current Season 2 are available now.

Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Kate Hudson. And my name is Oliver Hudson. We wanted to do something that has. highlighted our relationship and what it's like to be siblings we are a sibling reverie no no sibling reverie don't do that with your mouth sibling revelry that's good it's so gorgeous and this In the, I got out of here, I was so nice, I'm so happy.

First trip out. First trip to the des. First trip to the des. I'm jealous. The boys are trying to come down there. Yeah, Wilder's coming. I talked to him. Yeah, I was like, call her Auntie K to call mom.

I don't know. He writes me these long, like, manipulative text messages. I'm like, stop. Just say you want to come stay. He's like, I have my friend. It's like, okay, I haven't gotten a hold of, go, go. I'm like, Wilder, just call me. Just call me and

He's like March 13th The moon was high Well I'm excited Yeah Paul Fieg is in our waiting room He's done some amazing things His life is very interesting Only child

He wrote freaks and freaks and geeks I didn't know that Yeah oh yeah No that's where he started Set him on his path And then he's promoting this new movie with Sidney that is a departure.

I know. Yeah. It's interesting. I know. I'm excited. I think he's honestly, he's wonderful. And obviously he produced

in coat snatched, which mom was in. Yes. Yeah. This is true. Mm-hmm. And I mean, he's done. I mean, we could go on and on.

But this is fun. And I love talking shop. So let's do it. Let's talk shop. Yeah. Oh, there is. Hi. Hello there.

My goodness. So good to see you. Nice to see you. Look at how dapper you are, sir. Me, ah, you know, this old thing. This old thing. Welcome to our podcast. I'm excited because these are always my favorite ones talking.

I said to allie to talking shop. Yeah, here, here. I love it. No, it's really, it's great to meet you. And, Kate, I go way back, having watched you because one of my closest friends is Betsy Beers, who produced 200 cigarettes. Oh, my God. Betsy.

And when I saw, when she showed me the first time, I was like, who was that woman? That's the funniest woman I've ever seen on my life. And it was you. So you were just so great. I was just talking about that movie with my, with my middle son, because he's turning into quite the cinephile, wants to watch everything. And I was like, 200 cigarettes. Don't sleep on that movie. It's such a great, fun movie.

It really was. It holds that there's so many people. Yeah, who's the cast? I mean, wasn't Chappelle in that as well? Paul Rudd. Paul Rudd. And Courtney, Courtney Love. Courtney Love, Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck.

Right. Elvis Costello. I was going to say cameo by Elvis Costello, who said, Gangway, mate, or something, he walked past camera. Gabby, Christina Ricci. Like, it was a crazy cast. Yeah, who's who? Directed by Risa Garza.

Brayman. Brayman. Brayman Garcia. Yeah, who was a casting director at the time. You know, so she wasn't. so funny because my son Wilder, who's 18 now, he wants to be an actor and he took her class because Risa is now teaching. Oh, really?

Yeah, that's cool. So he took Risa's class. She's great. I was asked this at a women in film luncheon just the other day, they were like, who's been the most influential women in this industry for you? And I said, you know what? It's the casting directors. Like the women along the journey for me.

that were my biggest cheerleaders were, you know, Mary Vernue, Gail Levin, like all of these great female casting directors that were really like in your corner. They were there, I mean, they're sort of not spoken about enough. Oh, 100%. Well, do you know Alison Jones? Oh, yeah. Yeah, Alison's my person.

She's the best. I mean, Wyatt knows her well. Allison's cast Wyatt in a couple things. Yeah. She's cast me in a couple things. Yeah, she's the greatest. I call her the mother of modern comedy. She's discovered everybody.

She has. I mean, didn't she cast Freaks and Geeks? Yeah. She won the first casting Emmy for casting Freaks and Geeks. Yes, that's right. Freaks and Geeks is the best. Thanks. Well, Paul, let's start from the beginning.

Like, where were you raised? And right outside Detroit in Michigan, Mount Clemens, Michigan, it was called. Mm-hmm. Yes. And, you know, very blue collar. my dad owned an army surplus store so there you go wow only only child right only child yeah that's how this happens exactly and your mom uh my mom was uh she was a working woman until she met my dad and then when they had me she uh she just became a full-time mom until i got to my early

early teens and then she went back to work for my father working in at the store and the back office But she always loved working women. Her working women were her heroes. And she, I think she always kind of, you know, not resented, but regretted that she gave up her career to, you know, but she didn't really. I mean, she worked for the phone company in Canada because she was Canadian. So I am a half Canadian, officially half Canadian. Oh, you have two passports. You're the one of the lucky.

My son is English. So he's got two passports. And he's about to get his third because he's also. Irish. Oh, God. So you can get three. Yeah, he's going to get three, which I'm like, oh, we need to try to get ours. It's in the works. It's with the consulate. Yeah. There you go. We're trying to get our Italian citizenship. Oh, that would that be the best. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think there's towns where they pay you to come and live there. I know, exactly. We'll give you one euro to buy this dilapidated building. Yeah, but it's funny because then there are these stipulations. Well, if you do, you have to invest X amount of dollars. into the economy.

I think there are these little loopholes. Another simple favor we shot in Italy. And the cautionary tale is don't work where you normally vacation. Oh, really? Well, I mean, it's great, but it's also still like, you know. Yeah. Yeah, no, it's true. Italians like to chill out.

Yeah, no very much so. It's a thing. Like, I think culturally there's certain, there's different areas that are just, the way they work, like now that I've worked all over the world, like, the, the craziest place for me for crew that like worked hard and played hard, both was Australia. Like to me, they're like, they work crazy hard and then they're just like wasted by like 10.30 p.m. Exactly. Which is not a bad, not a bad way to work. And they get up and they charge. Oh, yeah. They were like, they were like, you know, it's they have that, that mentality that,

power through mentality, whereas Italians are like, I don't take a two hour break. All right. What is, what we found in Italy is it, four knows equally. Anything you, anything you ask for,

no, we can't possibly. Well, why not? Because it's not done that. Well, why now? And finally,

okay. So my producing partner, Laura Fisher, like, she learned the lesson the hard way. It's like, suddenly realized, no,

we can get anything we need. If we just, where did you shoot in Italy? In Rome and Capri. Oh, gosh. Yeah. Because Capri is my favorite place in the world. Yeah.

That was where it's like, oh, shoot, why am I working here? Because my brain thinks I'm on vacation. Yeah. And now everybody hates me too because we're blocking the road. Right. Now you go back. They're like, no, you need to leave. I know, exactly.

No, now they like me again because they like the movies, fortunately. Well, so Detroit, like, growing up, what was it like in Detroit? were you still in sort of the working class heyday of Detroit before? Yeah, yeah. I mean, it was, you know, I was born in 62, so I kind of grew up through the late 60s and early 70s, in 70s, all the 70s there. And it was very, I mean, that was when the auto industry was completely collapsing. And so there's a lot of depression.

And my father owning an Army surplus store kind of catered to people that had no money. So ironically, his store did really well, selling cheap goods. But it was an interesting time, you know, and show business was just like a, another planet, you know, when I, when my dad and my dad's friends who thought I was going to take over his store, like heard I was going to go to California to try to be in show biz. It was just like, why are you running off to the circus? You have this wonderful business here. You know, they just thought it was a pipe dream. Like, I was crazy. Yeah, couldn't have been more different.

How old were you when you made this decision? Well, I mean, I wanted to do it since I was like five years old. But then when I was 17, that's when I kind of said, I'm going to go. So I called Universal Studios. I called all the studios. A friend of my dad's was out in Hollywood, and he sent us a copy of variety. And so I went through the production list and called all the main numbers of the studios, asking if they needed actors. And, of course, no, and they did not.

But finally got to Universal last. And they said, well, we need tour guides. And if you can get here in two days, we're doing. auditions for the tour guide. And so put my next neighbor in the car and we drove out. Wow. So you drove, you drove to California to become a Universal

Studios tour guide. Yes, I did. I did. And did you get the job? I did. I got put into the training program for two weeks and then, but then you still wasn't guaranteed you were going to get the job. But they gave me the job and they said, okay, we're going to hire you, but you have to sit out in the sun every day because my acne was so

terrible. You've got to get some color and get rid of that acne. So, okay. Yeah. There you go. Did it work? Not really. I just got burned and that was broken out.

Now, what made you want to be an actor? Like, what was it that was the thing that drew you to it? I just always wanted to. When I was five years old, I was the lead elf in a Christmas pageant. And my father dressed me in this kind of army surplus clothes to look like. an elf, it was a ridiculous costume. And the minute I walked on stage, the whole place went crazy laughing. And they're laughing at me.

But all I heard was, wow, I just made all these people laugh. I want to do this for the rest of my life. And honestly, it never left me. That was the first shot of heroin, if you will, just going like, I got to get in and do this thing. Was there any history in your family of, like, anyone that was in the arts or? No, it was by my parents were both wannabes. my dad was obsessed with like jokes but like you know old time jokes that take five minutes to tell you know which i can't do um but he was like a raconteur he could just tell an old joke and

keep a whole table kind of like wrapped until he got to the you know punchline it was funny the whole way through and then my mom just like silly stuff like she was really um i know she she her claim to fame was she played charlie chaplin at some party once and that was you know and she imitated him. So she thought that was the greatest thing ever. So she liked really goofy, dumb humor. And then my dad, like, really smart kind of word smithery. And so I think that's why I'm kind of,

I'm sort of high and low with my comedy. But it's really unbelievable because you obviously just explained your comedy. You know, I mean, because someone is shitting in the street, but at the same time, there is that smart intellectual shit. that goes on with that too. There you go. Yeah, that's what I love. You know, when I did Freaks and Geeks, there was kind of this feeling of like, oh, I was sort of classier than I am.

It's like, guys, there's like a fart joke in every episode. So, you know, but I did like things to be real. You know, I find, you know, life is funny because it's serious and then it's hilarious and it's serious again. Yeah, I was reading and you said something interesting, which I totally believe, which is, you know, of course there's punchline comedy. But it comes from empathy. Yeah.

Yeah. Which makes total sense. You know, it's that relateability. It's that, oh, my God, I feel you. I feel that. Yeah. Because, I mean, I love clever humor, you know, and words smithery and all that. But I think, especially now because of YouTube and the fact that we're watching so much, like, real life stuff, you know, people get hit the balls and whatever.

But, you know, things that guys captured on film. and it's so human to us that I think when it if something feels too kind of overwritten I think people can appreciate it but they don't necessarily go like wow I really relate to that yeah yeah it's also like I feel like the at least the comedians that I know a lot of them not all of them but a lot of them are they're they are actually like well not that I'm thinking about it there are some that aren't very empathetic I'm like, wait a minute. Comedians are, there are kind of two types of comedians.

Yeah, I'm like, there's some that have no empathy. Yeah. And then there's some that are so empathic. There's such empaths. It's the only way out for them is to find humor in it. Oh, 100%. Well, it's like, you know, I just was at a women in a film event last night. And Kristen Wigg was there who I hadn't seen it a little while.

And it was just so nice to catch up with her. But she is. She's so empathetic. But her comedy comes from the fact that she's just like dying inside, you know, trying to do the right thing and try not to upset anybody. And it's so sweet. I love her so much. I realized the other day my mom, I went with my mom on a deep dive with all of her

characters because my mom had never really seen them. And she, it was like, what is this? I'm like, mom, you've got, you can't believe you haven't really done a deep dive on Kristen. Like she's hilarious. And I got her character where she did on it as now where she was like, don't make me sing. No, yeah. Don't make me sing. It's my favorite.

No, but that's interesting about Kristen. There's like tragedy there. There's like something like yearning or, you know, it's like it's so, it's amazing. Yeah, just characters that are barely holding themselves together. You know, and that's really fun. Our heart bleeds for them and yet we like to laugh with them. Mm-hmm. Ooh, December. Man, this is one of my favorite months. My favorite winter month, for sure. Christmas is coming. And it's such a special month. It's when my family and I really, really slow down, celebrate being together. We've been talking about heading to Japan of all places. My sons are obsessed with anime. They want to go to Japan. So we're thinking about it. We are in Colorado. There's no doubt. But after Colorado, we are thinking about Japan. The kids are very excited about skiing Hokkaido.

which is incredible snow. I've seen it all over social media. I've been looking at videos, exploring Tokyo's neighborhoods and eating their weight in ramen. Trips like that are truly unforgettable. And what makes it even better is staying at a place on Airbnb

where you can get that authentic local feel. It's not just about the sites. It's about living the experience together. And if you're traveling this holiday season, it is a perfect time to think about hosting your own home on Airbnb. The best part is you don't have to do it all by yourself. With Airbnb's co-hosts network, you can hire a local co-host to manage everything.

While you're away, find a co-host at Airbnb.ca slash host. If a Lenovo gaming computer is on your holiday list, don't shop around. Just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com. It's your last chance to score exclusive deals on the gaming PCs you want, like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming desktop and Lenovo Lock Gaming laptop. So avoid all that shopping chaos and price comparing, and just go directly to the source. Lenovo.com, where PCs are up to 35% off.

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Try HelloFresh today and get 50% off the first box with free shipping. Go to HelloFresh.com and use promo code Meal 50. That's Hellofresh.combe, promo code meal 50. I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different. visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com or your nearest total wines or bevmo this message is intended for audiences 21 and older gentlemen's cut bourbon boon county kentucky for more on gentlemen's cut bourbon please visit gentlemen's cut bourbon dot com please enjoy responsibly what up y'all it's your boy kev on stage i want to tell you about my new podcast called not my best moment where i talk to artists athletes entertainers creators friends people i admire who had

massive success about their massive failures. What did they mess up on? What is their heartbreak? And what did they learn from it? I got judged horribly. The judges were like, you're trash. I don't know how you got on the show. Boo. Somebody had tomatoes. Now, I'm kidding. But if they had tomatoes, they would have thrown the tomatoes. Let's be honest. We've all had those moments we'd rather forget. We bumped our head. We made a mistake. The deal fell through. We're embarrassed. We failed. But this podcast is about that and how we made it. through. So when they sat me down, they were kind of like, we got into the small talk and they were just like, so what do you got? What? What ideas? And I was like, oh no. What? Check out not my

best moment with me, Kevin on stage on the Iheart radio app, Apple podcast, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast. I'm a little biased about this and maybe it's a projection of just my own like thing of loving to do comedy and then feeling like it's very underappreciated. in terms of, like, being a serious actor. Yeah. And I actually find that the people who can be comedic are usually my favorite overall actors, whether they're dramatic or comedic.

Like, they can hit, there's a different kind of connection to timing and understanding of, like, humanity for some reason in comedic actors that make their dramatic work so wonderful when you, see it you know i mean okay let's let's talk about this because it this is the the you know what upsets me about the industry and yet i don't care ultimately you know that the the funny people get so written off as just being well they're just funny you know i mean my example i always bring up of this is steve corral never won an emmy for the for the office that's not saying never won't an emmy for it and i would talk to voters about that going why and they go like well he just

he shows up and he's crazy. I'm like, are you fucking out of your mind? Yeah, you've no idea how hard that is. Yeah, and how much that is not, Steve Krell is not Michael Scott

at all in real life. Or the intelligence that it takes to actually be able to create a character like that. Exactly. But the reason you don't win awards is it looks easy. If you do it right,

it looks easy. And so then you get no credit for it. And as we know, it's one of the hardest things in the world. I feel like that with women and when women are charming. Like, certain women who have this innate charm that somehow people just go like, oh, well, that's just

an easy. Yeah. That's, and you're, and you, I, I know a lot of them. And you're like, it's so underappreciated that it's actually, it's actually a part of the craft. Yeah. Going back to the Steve Carell thing, I would love to get the nominees together and say, okay, you do the office. Now, Steve, you do this show. See, see who's, what's the most different. And I can guarantee you no one could do what Steve did. I know. And Steve could probably do what some of these other people. Totally.

You know, Steve lost almost every time to Alec Baldwin. It's like, look, Adam Baldwin was really funny on 30 Rock, but it was just more of like an obvious kind of, you know, no, no shade to Alex. No, of course not. But at the same time, because I'm team, I'm team, Steve. Those things do you become like,

it can be trivial when you're inside. of it, sometimes the whole, you know, experience of like, you know, whether it be critical or like the, you know, it's, and I think from the, or the creative place, you just, it's so hard to get anything made, let alone anything good. Like, you know. So it's kind of, it's, and then, and then sometimes you wonder why kind of like a fine art, you wonder why something becomes so big. and so popular or somebody does when you're looking around and you're seeing so much talent. There's a lot of luck there, too. Yeah, it's very interesting business to like hang your hat. Well, I find that a little annoying in that way because it's kind of like throughout the year, you just go, okay, it's these 10 things have been anointed or these six things have been anointed for award season.

And we're just going to hear about those the whole time. You know, and I always, I always feel like I waste my, my academy votes, but at the same time, I vote for the movies that I, I really like that I know aren't going to get votes just because, you know, I like those movies and they, they do what they're supposed to have done. They entertained an audience, you know, and that's so kind of discounted as being like, okay, well, you're just pandering. It's like, I'm not, I'm making the movies, the reason that the studio wants me to make these movies is to entertain people, and that's why I want to do it. That's, I agree, I feel like, and as I really think that one of the things that sometimes we lose sight of is what it is to make a movie that makes you feel something and that people want to see, meaning like that it can have everything, it can be funny, it can be sad, it can be inspiring, it can be big and epic. and that that is, if you look at the best pictures of the year, that it should also incorporate in a sense of like what is moving people as a whole,

not just a sort of internal understanding of, you know, whether be, and by there's, I think there's a place for all of it, but there has been a huge shift. Like when you start to see in the sort of 2010, the shift of best picture. Well, then they, well, now best pictures are 7,000 of them. It's like every film that was made that year is nominated. That's good picture.

There's a lot of them. But it did shift a little bit, you know, because we sort of somewhere along the line felt like that the bigger movies weren't necessarily the best crafted films. What, in fact, like making a big movie that people want to go see is so hard. You know, and I think maybe the Marvel world kind of shifted that. a little bit for everybody. Yeah, I mean, people start to resent, you know, movies that make a lot of money. And look, and I get that awards are great for kind of supporting smaller films at the same

time. But, you know, like a movie this year, like Sinners, giant movie, and it's going to win a ton of awards. And it so deserves it because it worked on every single level, you know, and that's what I really admire. And if it was up to me, also weapons would be up for Best Picture. Yeah, I just watched that. Well, I hope you watch our movie.

Yeah, I hope you watch me in Hughes movie, too. Okay, done. I'm in. Yeah, weapons was great, but the ending was abrupt for me. I said, whoa, I mean, I wasn't expecting that, you know. But it was funny. Oh, my God. Oh, it was so funny.

Oh, my God. It was so great. Oh, at the end. I saw sinners. I loved it. What's his name? Craigers, right? Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, he's, uh, that last sequence when she's, you know, the kids are chasing or it was hysterical. It was like almost, it turned into like a French farce or something. The sound design is the funniest part of it. I was watching with my daughter, which is another story who's 12, but she loves horror and she loves scary. And when you know, you know when he did his job, when she just starts cracking up. Exactly. I mean, she was laughing her ass off and she got it.

Horror is the new comedy, you know? It really is. That's why all of us, all those comedy guys are going into thrillers and horrors and all the horror movies, just because it's a second way to get a, a reaction out of an audience. That's what Oliver was saying. Like, we love this departure for you. You know, it's like not what you would expect as we know your work. But before we get into that, I'm curious.

What started like your desire? You know, you came to act. But then where did the sort of writing and, you know, the itch to write and produce and create? Well, it was all kind of part and parcel. because I, you know, I, when I was a kid, I remember reading about Woody Allen and then like he, it's like, wait, he stars and he writes and he directed it. Like, he does it all. I was like, how do you do that? Then Albert Brooks, you know, and all these people. And so I was kind of like, well, I want to do that. I want to part and parcel with it all. And so I went to film school still as an actor, kind of thinking I'm going to be able to direct myself and make movies of myself. And then also thought I'll be better on set because I'll understand how movies made and stuff like that. And then, It just kind of, you know, acting kind of chased me out of it because, you know, I was doing really well for a character actor for 15 years. And I was a regular on like five different TVs, network TV series, you know, but they all

got canceled after the first season. And then finally when I was on Sabrina the Teenage Witch and it was finally a hit, and I, you know, I did one season on that. And then they wrote me out. And it was like, I was like, I may be the writings on the wall. Like, I got to get out of this. My wife had been saying to me for a, you know, a few. years like maybe you should start thinking about you know going behind the camera

which always nice to hear your wife say that but she was right she was right i'm i was like i was very limited in what i could do you know i was i was funny but i was funny either being a total goofball or being the sarcastic underplayed guy and that was kind of it so you know so i'm very happy that i got out and and what what kind of work that you saw when you were younger kind of defined like who you wanted to be as an artist not that it doesn't shift

and change but like for instance for me and I think for Ollie to like parenthood when we were kids like that kind of Jim Brooks

like that kind of tone was Oliver and I's like that's what we want to do you know we want to make movies like that or Oliver loved also like you know

Evil Dead and Evil Dead too yeah evil dead too yeah evil dead too It was comedies of all time. It was incredible comedy. It's amazing. I mean, for me, it was a weird road because when I was an actor, you know, in coming up, as a kid in Michigan, movies to me weren't something you made.

They were examples of what you wanted to be. So, like, when I saw Closer Counters of the Third Kind, I was like, oh, I want UFOs to come and take me away, you know. So it was kind of weird than that way. And then I was also just way into like the Marx Brothers and, you know, a, you know, a, you know, a, you know, a, you know, a, you know, Spector Clouseau, those, you know, Pink Panther movies and all that. So I think I just wanted to be kind of like a clown, but like a realistic clown. You know, that's why when Steve Martin hit the scene, he was just my be all and end all. I wanted to be Steve Martin.

Yeah, the jerk, the jerk, the jerk, right. Seminole, seminal movie for me. Yeah. Like that was probably what I wanted to do more than anything is my version of that. Do you ever put yourself in your movies? Yeah, I occasionally. I'll do a thing or two like if you see the movie spy

there's a drunk guy who walks into the wall and falls down that's me I played a doctor in the heat but the problem Oliver is that as a director you've got so much power you know and then the minute you step in front of the camera all your power goes away

and then all the people you're telling what to do on screen suddenly see that you're not that good and it's kind of like they're like this guy's giving me directions He can barely say his lines. Yeah, so I've kind of pulled back, but I will pop up here and here and there. So did you write Freaks and Geeks?

Was that your first thing? Was it just a speck you wrote and sent it to judge? Yeah, exactly. I wrote it as a speck. I was out on the road trying to promote this low, low budget independent film that I wrote direct and starred in that never got released. And was just out on this college tour with it and thought, I've got to write something. I was always writing. I mean, I'm constantly writing scripts.

And, yeah, I've always wanted to do something about my high school experience and wrote it as a spec, yeah, and sent it to Judd, who was an old friend. And, yeah, they picked it up. So, I mean, it was crazy. So I created this show thinking it was probably the one I thought that wasn't going to go, like all the other things I wrote and I was so, you know, into because they were all these movie scripts. And this was the first time I went like, maybe I'll write like an hour TV show. Because my friend Matt Reeves had just done Felicity with JJ. And he sent that to me. I go the hour format.

That's kind of like a movie. So I'll write it for that. And then suddenly had a show in the air. Wow. How cool. And you were closed. Like you've been close with Judd for a long time. Yeah.

I've known him. Yeah. We were all stand-ups together. So I've known him since he was like 16 or 17 years old. I love that whole career. Like you every, I love that when you find these sort of clusters of like drive, talent, especially comedy, you know, working. with Ike right now, Baron Haltz and Mindy.

And like, you know, you sort of lean on each other and all these things and everybody has their kind of role, you know, and like their strong suit. Yeah. And when you get everybody together, especially in like a writing room or on set or whatever, it's just there's nothing more fun. Yeah. Well, comedian actors are great because they're team players because you have to be because you can't do it by yourself.

it's not like stand-ups sometimes aren't great you know just because there's so much about being in control of themselves and getting the laugh and there are ones that can be really good but i find it general as more people come from the improv world are tend to be the best and tend to be the best actors too yeah oh my god we i'm working with drew tarver who's like a great like he does that what's it's it's cb UCB yeah he's so good great. He's so, like, working with him is one of the great joys of my working life so far, because he just can make any, literally something out of anything. Yeah. Those are people I like to hire, like, especially in, you know, small roles that are nothing roles because I know they're

going to show up and make it into a something role, you know, it's going to, even if it's one moment, it's a memorable moment that's not wasted of just somebody going like, yeah, they're over there, you know, it becomes something. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It's been great. When you started working on the office, how did that come about? I, it was, well, the backstory, and that was actually, after, you know, Ricky Derva's show, you know, had been done, they were trying to get everybody to do it. And they came to me to develop it for television.

I was like, forget it. I'm not touching that. That show was so classic and great. Like, who, who, what mad person would go in and do that? And, of course, Greg Daniels comes in and makes it brilliant. No, that was, I would just direct. a lot of television at the time and doing a rest of development and things like that. And yeah, they contacted me about doing an episode in that, in the first full season,

because they did those six one-offs, and I was involved in that. But the irony was I was doing a pilot at the same time as they were doing the pilot for the office. And where they were editing is where we were shooting a scene. And Greg Daniels came over to me, and it was Rodney Rothman. and Jonathan Groff and said, like, come in here. I need your advice on something. And he was trying to figure out what the opening music for the show was going to be. And so he played us a couple of songs.

And then with the one that they ended up using, we're all like, oh, that's the one. That's really cool. So it was like this big team effort of all of us going like, that's it. And so every time I hear it, it's like, wow, we were kind of in that decision. That's kind of cool. That's cool. You're so right. That's what's so great about comedy is just how collaborative it all is.

Yeah. And those egos, obviously, you know, there's competition. You hear all these S&L stories about, you know, people competing. But at the end of the day, you can, you only make each other better, you know, and if you can let go of those, eat that ego. Yeah. Well, I think S&L gets hardcore because they're fighting to get what they wrote on the air. I think once it's, you know, with a movie or a television show, it's all set.

So now people are just showing up to make it the best it can be. And then it tends to be pretty, you know, everybody going in the same direction. Yeah. Are you big on improv and letting everyone just go off the rails? Well, yeah. I mean, we do a lot of that, but at the same time, it's controlled chaos. You know, the script's very tight. The scene structure is very tight.

And then it's within the scene where we go, we can play with that punchline. We'll play with that joke. Play with that connective tissue there. And so that's where we would play around a lot. Yeah. Paul, do you only direct the things you write or do you direct things? no I I'm I that was my goal and then I just realize if I'm just going to sit around and write I'm not going to get enough movies made because the ideas don't come to me that fast and I get more inspired by like a script that is a great idea or is kind of great but needs needs work that's when I get excited because I find my way in and then I can kind of make it my own and do a lot of rewriting on stuff but no I I you know I was very driven by I read that felini's last words or one of his last words on his deathbed were, I wish I made more movies. And I really

understand that because if you sit around waiting for the perfect thing all the time, you know, it's just fun to be working. You're not obviously not making things you don't think are good. Yeah. But if you can find your way into something and make it your own and then then it becomes a passion for you, that's exciting. It also feels like it's just such a muscle. Like you have to be working it all the time. That's like anything. You know, it's like. Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's like, you know, You know, I find that way about acting. It's like when you get on a set and you haven't been acting for a while, you're like, oh, I don't know.

Well, that's a weird thing about when you make a movie because, you know, there's so much time for prep. And then you got your, you know, two, three, four months of production. And then it's another year of post. So every time you get back to a set, you're like, wow, it's been a year since I was here, even though I do it all the time. So that's what I love by being a TV director when I was doing it.

It's just, you're just going from set to set to set, genre, genre. and you learn so much because one day you're doing a medical drama the next day you're doing a mockumentary the next day you're doing like a show about a drug dealer you know and it's yeah I learned a lot I learned how to be very versatile by doing that

are you doing any TV? We have a TV our TV division and we're developing a lot of television but there's a bunch of pilots I'm supposed to direct but yeah movies are my bread and butter that's what I love the most let me ask you a quick question just about comedy in general from when you started until now

I mean where have you seen the evolution of it. I mean, is it where it was? No, comedy is so evolving. You know, it was, it's kind of gone from being very broad to being very behavioral.

And I, even though I love broad comedies as a kid, they aren't what I want to make. So like the 90s were very broad and naked gun. Yeah, like the Jim Carrey stuff, which was very, you know, he's been sure about. It's very funny. It's just, that's kind of

not what I wanted to do. I wanted a little more, not grounded, but I wanted a little more authenticity, I think, out of the characters. And I really credit, again, going back to what I was saying about YouTube,

I think the rise of that kind of like, you know, seeing videos of things that actually happened or very raw kind of, people just talking to the camera kind of stuff, made people like behavioral more than they like overproduced kind of, comedy. So for me, it's kind of a nice time, but look, it'll shift again. It always does.

And suddenly the broadest of broad comedies will suddenly be popular. I have this thing, because when we're doing our show, like, I, I'm not a broad comedian. Like, everything I do has to feel like it's coming from somewhere real, you know, just because it makes more sense to me. But then I have so much respect for people who can just be broad. Like, you know, because it takes. takes like this insane amount of like it's almost insane like commitment I mean commitment and and oh it's it's just oh so you don't you have to be a smart performer to be brought it's it's almost like you know you have to be a great singer to sing badly you know they always say because you could if you know how many times we've seen over the over the decades like certain celebrities will host s and

they're just trying so hard to be funny and you're just like oh man please dial it back please dial it back. So then you really appreciate people who can just go for it and be big and be hilarious. Yeah, it's definitely like my favorite. Like when I see someone able to do that, it's so great. The stand-up comedian is having a moment right now just in general. You know, with the podcasts, of course, which is promotional, but also these specials. You know, because, you know, I have a production company myself and, you know, I'm trying to get some of these guys into these shows.

but it's not monetarily advantageous. To be on a television show is only going to take money away from them now. 100%. I mean, I was a stand-up for five years, you know, back in the 80s and loved it. And I'm just glad to see that it's doing well, you know, right now because I think it's kind of the purest art form in a weird way

because it's a microphone and a person, you know, and doing a, ostensibly a one-person show. And, you know, that is a real craft to do that and be great at it. And it's really, I love watching great stand-up comedians. I don't miss doing it at all. Literally, you'd have put a gun to my head to go do it again. No, I know. It's funny, though, because you have these huge comedians who have become huge stars,

but they'll always go back to what they love. I mean, you know, Sandler's a very good friend of our families, and he actually bought my childhood home. But the guy is just epic and iconic, but he'll go from doing this movie to then winning an Academy Award and doing a crazy comedy. And then he has dates. He's been on the road for the last three months. It's like, dude, are you serious?

I love it. It's crazy. You can't stop. Ooh, December, man. This is one of my favorite months. My favorite winter month for sure. Christmas is coming and it's such a special month. It's when my family and I really, really slow down, celebrate being together. We've been talking about heading to Japan of all places. My sons are obsessed with anime. They want to go to Japan. So we're thinking about it. We are in Colorado. There's no doubt. But after Colorado, we are thinking about Japan. The kids are very excited about skiing Hokkaido, which is incredible snow. I've seen it all over social media. I've been looking at videos exploring Tokyo. neighborhoods and eating their weight in ramen.

Trips like that are truly unforgettable. And what makes it even better is staying at a place on Airbnb where you can get that authentic local feel. It's not just about the sites. It's about living the experience together. And if you're traveling this holiday season, it is a perfect time to think about hosting your own home on Airbnb. The best part is you don't have to do it all by yourself.

With Airbnb's co-hosts network, you can hire a local co-host to manage everything. While you're away, find a co-host at Airbnb. If a Lenovo gaming computer is on your holiday list, don't shop around, just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com. It's your last chance to score exclusive deals on the gaming PCs you want, like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming desktop and Lenovo Lock Gaming Laptop. So avoid all that shopping chaos and price comparing and just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com, where PCs are up to 35% off. That's Lenovo.com. Being a parent is basically a juggling act. Dinner, hockey practice, homework, a last-minute science project,

and someone's always, always shouting for you from another room. So yeah, I'll take any shortcuts that actually works. And that's why I'm all in on Hello Fresh. Fresh ingredients, super easy recipes, and over 80 options every week so everyone eats. No one complains, and I get to feel like I've got it all together, at least for dinner. And the best part, you're in total control. Skip a week, pause any time, pick what works for you. It's dinner on your terms.

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I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different. Visit Gentleman's Cut Bourbon.com or your nearest Total Wines or Bevmo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit Gentleman's Cut bourbon.com. Please enjoy responsibly. What up, y'all? It's your boy, Kevin

Stage. I want to tell you about my new podcast called Not My Best Moment, where I talk to artists, athletes, entertainers, creators, friends, people I admire who had massive success about their massive failures. What did they mess up on? What is their heartbreak? And what did they learn from him? I got judged horribly. The judges were like, you're trash. I don't know how you got on the show. Boo. Somebody had tomatoes. I'm kidding. But if they had tomatoes, they would have thrown the tomatoes.

Let's be honest. We've all had those moments we'd rather forget. We bumped our head. We made a mistake. The deal fell through. We're embarrassed. We failed. But this podcast is about that and how we made it through.

So when they sat me down, they were kind of like, we got into the small talk. And they were just like, so what do you got? What? What ideas? And I was like, oh, no. What? Check out Not My Best Moment with me, Kev on stage, on the I Heart Radio app, Apple, podcast, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcast.

I want to get to the housemaid. Yes, please. This is your first psychological thriller. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's a simple favor a little bit, but this is much more in that direction. And it was a book?

Yeah. Yeah. The housemaid, it's still on the bestseller list. It's like, it's been a New York Times for like two years. It's crazy. And so how did this? come on your death. How was this something that you were drawn to do? I was doing another simple favor for Lionsgate, who I did the first one with, and it was going

really well, and they're really happy with how it was going. And then, unbeknownst to me, my business partner, Laura Fisher, had been kind of chasing this project that they had over there, because she knows I love thrillers. I mean, that's all I kind of watch. I don't watch much comedy. I really just watch thrillers and horror movies. And it just seemed like the perfect fit. So they, you know, send it to me and Sydney was already attached Sidney who I'd been wanting to work with a lot

and yeah I read it and it's just like I know how to do this I see this very clearly it's so much fun it's very Hitchcock and I guess like when you go into something like this like I know

casting like did you clearly got who you wanted I mean Sydney was already attached to it and then Amanda how did Amanda come on board Well, Amanda, I'd had a meeting. Who I love, by the way.

She's the greatest. We just spent a night together and had so much fun. Oh, she's the best. No, we'd had like coffee like 10 years prior of kind of a general meeting and just really hit it off. And it was like, we got to do something and just could never find the right thing. And then just the nature of this story, it seemed like the kind of physical similarities and size between Sydney and Amanda would really work really well. And then also knowing just how brilliant Amanda is as an actor.

It was just kind of like, let's go for Amanda for this. And then with Brandon Sclanar, he'd been doing, it ends with us with my buddy, Blake Lively. And when we were shooting another simple favor, she just kept saying like, I'm working with this guy. He's so amazing. His name is Brandon. And he's like funny and handsome and blah, blah, blah.

And so I was like, okay. And then met with him. And the minute he walked into the tower bar for us to have lunch, I was like, hired like I mean just this big physical presence and funny and everything and yeah so I really kind of got my dream cast and then Michaela Moroni was in another simple favor with me who I cast out of Italy and it's just like literally like the part was written for him so brought him is there is there comedy infused into this is it is it got a quirk yeah well you know this this one is I would never call it a comedy no I always say that all my movies are comedies ultimately there's just some

just are very, very dark. And this is the, it's the, let's say comedy. It's the great reaction from an audience of enormous release, let's just say. So it's kind of in the way the weapons did, you know, you're kind of terrified for the first, you know, two thirds. And then you're like, oh, I'm just going to relish what's happening now. And so we got a big response out. The audience is very interactive with this movie.

Oh, that's great. Especially like the third act, yeah. I'm sure you've seen it, but what about, you've seen happiness, Todd Salon's? Oh my God, yeah, yeah, totally. I mean, that movie was incredible to me. Kurt and I were in the theater watching that, and we were laughing our asses off. And they were, the theater goers were like not happy with us because it was such dark subject matter, but it was unbelievable. But you know that's what he's going for, you know?

That was like, welcome to the dollhouse. Someone was seeing that and just going like, oh, my God. But I was in Palm Springs at a theater with only a few other couples watching weapons and I'm laughing my ass off in the third act and people are turning around like, hey, this is very serious. You don't know what this filmmaker was doing

in the editing room. They were laughing their asses off too, I guarantee. Yeah. It's so, it's that sense of humor is such an interesting thing, isn't it? Yeah. It's like, it's such a, like, like, how you identify with your sense of humor just says everything about the rest of your life

and all the people that you end up. It's huge. Yeah, but that's why it's so hard to make a successful comedy because everybody's got a different sense of humor. Everybody can agree what's scary, what's sad, what's thrilling,

but nobody can agree on what's funny. That's true. What is Gene Hockman says? The only thing you can't lie at is how to make someone laugh. Like, you either make a laugh or you don't, you know? You can manipulate it. Can't fake a laugh. If you can, you're really good.

Since you're such a horror buff, I grew up on horror, love horror, and my kids are obsessed with horror and thriller. But here's the interesting thing. They're so desensitized to the old school movies. Like back, I was like, let me show you Diamond Island Elm Street. You know, let me show you Last House on the left. Let me show you spit on my gray. Let me show you all of these.

And they're like, Dad, like this is lame. You know, like Friday the 13th is lame. Even Texas chainsaw, which is a class, it's like, okay. You know, it's so funny. They don't look at that, those classics. But you should show them more psychological thrillers. They're not like, not like this horror horror. Yeah.

Not a terrorizer three here. Right, exactly. But those movies are too much for me. Do you have, like, do you have some favorites, like horror, like just iconic horror films for you? I mean, look, I'm, I'm a fan of the old James Whale movies. I mean, Bride of Frankistine. I live in his house. Oh, my God.

You're kidding. Kay. I live in the God. I live in the real house. Oh, my God. Wait, I go, please invite me over. I'll just walk around and just soak in the vibes.

He is there. Wow. How cool. Either that or his lover. I don't know. But there's definitely an energy in that house that remains. Oh, how great. I love it to us.

We grew up in, too, as kids. I bought it back. Yeah. She bought it back from. That's incredible. I did not. I did not know that. Yeah, he built it.

It was in the 30s, and I was about to tear it down. And then the fires happened. And I was like, no, I'm. I can't. I can't. I'm going to restore it. So, I'm restoring it. So much history in there. So much history. Do you ever find like, you know, Frankenstein props in the walls or anything? No, but I'm about to get into the walls. So we're about to like, I have to, I can't wait because I feel like there's things I'm going to end up seeing. I would hope so. Okay, Housemade Book has a sequel. Are, is it already, like, are you already thinking about making a sequel or is this something you're going to have to wait for? Well, the hope would be if the movie does really well, we could slam into a sequel.

because I really had a lot of fun doing this. And, you know, and Frida's books are really great. And the second book is really fun. So, yeah, fingers crossed. We'll see. It's up to the audience. December 19th, show up on that. December 19.

And it's only in theaters. The greatest thing. Great. This is what we need. This is so exciting. I know. I'm really like, really, it's kind of nerve-wracking, isn't it? Because you really want people to go see it because we want to be.

The collective experience is everything. It totally is. You know, and in my, that's all my movies have been up until the last three, because it's starting with the pandemic, I did three, you know, streamers, which has been fantastic for me because I got to keep making movies and God bless them for let me do it, but I'm so happy back in theaters because, you know, because when I'm doing my streaming, streaming movies, hit my mic, as I doing my streaming movies, we test them the same way.

We go to theaters, you know, recruit audiences of 250, 300 people. And so we engineered for that. And then we have a premiere and it goes, everybody goes crazy for, and then it just goes on TV and you're like, you don't get that experience of like driving around opening weekend,

like let's go into the bag of theaters. I felt that way about Glass Onion because we only had a week in the theater and it was such a, it's such knives out.

It's such a theater-going experience. Yeah, it's interactive, you know, that's how it should be. And it was huge. So we're like, oh my God, how did this not end up in the theater?

I know. Just you get stuck, you get stuck in the business model. and you can't, they can't break out of it. So, you know, and I, and I, you know, I'm not slamer about it. It's just, it's just like, it just feels better to be in a theater. It's exciting. Well, thanks for coming on, Paul.

Yeah, thanks, Paul. Appreciate it. Everybody go out and see House made December 19th. Yes. And tell your mom I said hi. I love her dearly. I love. Oh, yeah.

You did snatch your mom. And, um, you also did one of my favorites, uh, bridesmaids. Oh, thank you. Which was a great. It was an amazing thing for women. I tried to do that with Bride Wars. My first successful movie. Okay.

Third, third, uh, yeah. Third actual. Actual movie. When we went in to sell Bride Wars, um, we, we had a rated our comedy about women fighting over this wedding. And it just got, it just got slowly like it has to be PG-13. No, it has to be PG. And I was like, women are, we can, we can laugh at ourselves.

We can be rated R. And I would try to say like, look at, like, look at. like all of the comedies and the 80s of female driven comedies. They were rated our comedies. Like, we, you know, and, and when you guys came out and were able to do it, it did it so much for women. And so it was, it was a big deal for all of us.

It was quite a team effort. It was very lucky to be, to be involved. It was awesome. But thanks, Paul, and we'll see you around. Appreciate you, buddy. Thanks, thanks, Oliver. All right. Thanks, guys.

Talk to soon. See you later. What a dapper man. he's so great he's so sweet his voice is so great too he didn't talk like this you can be like a radio guy

he's like Casey Ksum I love it I love talking movies so much because I love making them and I love doing it and it's so fun and it's like we're so lucky

and I'm more of a theater guy so that was so great and I love the girls in it I've been spending actually time with them. So I've been spending time. I've seen Sydney quite a bit and I've seen Amanda and there's both so great and so sweet and everybody should go see these movies, their movies. There's a couple of them coming up, but this one looks really fun. So,

all right. Great. Love you. Love you. If a Lenovo gaming computer is on your holiday list, don't shop around. Just go directly to the source. Lenovo.com. It's your last chance to score exclusive deals on the gaming PCs you want, like the Lenovo Legion Tower 5 Gen 10 gaming desktop and Lenovo Locke gaming laptop. So avoid all that shopping chaos and price comparing and just go directly to the source, Lenovo.com, where PCs are up to 35% off. That's Lenovo.com.

I'm Stefan Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product with every sip you get a little something different. Visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com or your nearest total wines or Bevmo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit gentlemen's cut bourbon.com. Please enjoy responsibly. I'm I'm Ida Goli.

And I'm Maite Gomez-Garon, and this week on our podcast, Hungry for History, we talk oysters, plus the Miambe chief stops by. If you're not an oyster lover, don't even talk to me. Ancient Athenians used to scratch names onto oyster shells to vote politicians into exile. So our word ostracize is related to the word oyster. No way. Bring back the OsterCon. Listen to Hungry for History on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. I knew it was a bomb the second that it exploded.

I felt it ripped through me. In season two of RipCurrent, we asked who tried to kill Judy Berry and why. They were climbing trees and they were sabotaging logging equipment in the woods. She received death threats before the bombing. She received more threats after the bombing. I think that this is a deliberate attempt to sabotage our movement. Episodes of RipCurrent Season 2 are available now. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts.

or wherever you get your podcasts. You know the shade is always Shadiest right here. Season 6 of the podcast Reasonably Shady with Jazelle Brian and Robin Dixon is here dropping every Monday. As two of the founding members of the Real Housewives Potomac were giving you all the laughs, drama, and reality news you can handle. And you know we don't hold back.

So come be reasonable or shady with us each and every Monday. Listen to Reasonably Shady from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.