SmartLess - "Claire Danes"

Episode Date: November 17, 2025

It’s our start-gift: Claire Danes. Cursed cows, Moroccan cats, a Kentucky Schnoodle, and “very cute dirt.” It’s another episode of ‘How To Remain Employed and Local,’ also known (in some circles) as SmartLess. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of SmartLess ad-free and a whole week early. Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

That was a good drink. Speaking of drinking things up, welcome to smartless. Smart. So, listener, you've missed ten seconds of this, of this, another attempt at us doing a podcast, where I mentioned how fresh Will looks. And then Will seemed to imply he knew his way around the verbiage of a facial. And I had a facial scheduled for the other day because my wife is. What was the dude's name? Oh, you, my wife's very diligent about getting me a facial,

making sure I get a facial every, like, six months. And I got to say, I don't push back a lot. Yeah, you know? Because it feels good. It's comfy. It's comfy, it feels good. I feel weird with, you know, I got a tiny bit of prepubescent facial hair on my face. And I wonder if it's, I'm just wasting my time.

there i don't know with the effectiveness they do a lot of guys like that i i forget to shave a lot of times too but you know uh i just got one last week it was really bad yeah well that's what i was going to ask how how often am i the only guy here um no i get him i get him like once or twice a year but but the last one i had i didn't this is no offense to anybody i just didn't understand a lot of what she said so i she she she was you know i didn't anybody take any offense to that's why i just didn't understand her unless you want to do it imitation of what she sounded like and then we'll decide if it's offensive i do not want to i just am stating a fact i did not understand it's probably my fault i was trying to i was trying to i was trying to drag you

into deep water let me just can you can you just reveal what continent she may have been from well that's good something eastern eastern asia but not eastern european because it'd be a different accent but if well anyway i feel like i've had a couple facials in my time as well i think i probably had eight total in my life, and I think they've generally been Eastern European bent. That's right. Wait, you're saying, you're in, you're under oath now, sir, you need to understand.

Only eight facials in your life. Maybe 10. Yeah, God, I don't know about that. Really? You don't like them? Yeah, yeah, yeah, I do like them, and it's one of those things. It's kind of like massages. I always forget.

Yeah, I fall asleep. I do it, and then I go, oh, this is great. How many times have you had your fingers, and toes done. While the facial? No, no, no, no, separate. Are we talking, are we talking Manny Petty? Yeah, Beth.

Okay. And, uh, I would say, I would say less or more than your face. I got my first, my first time I ever had a pedicure, a manicure was when I was 30, no, but I was about 31, probably 32. Yeah. So it's been, it's been, what, 30 years since then. So it's like 25 years. And so I would say I probably have, I don't know, 25?

So more on the fingers and the toes. Oh, really? Generally not the fingers, generally just the toes because they get kind of gnarly. Right, and my heel gets gnarly. You like an open-toe shoe. I used to, remember I used to wear a lot of flips. Well, you don't wear socks ever.

And I never wear socks, so my heels get kind of gross. They'd get them cracked. Do you wear underwear? Yes. Okay. Why are we focusing on? Jason never wears his underwear. No, there was a stretch there through a rest of development

where I went to command over some way of reason. And then he would go to the, then he'd wrap his unit in toilet paper for the half an hour, so he'd soak up all the driplets. I was rushing to get back on camera, and I don't want a spot. And then 20 minutes later, like in between setups, he'd like pull out this disgusting toilet paper and put it in a 35-galland trash kit. On set.

True story. So, wow. So Manny Pettys, often, facial, not so much. Not often. I mean, I probably got one in the spring, Manny Petty. I like going at like 9 a.m. I go to a spot. I've gotten to a few times.

I like going to 9 a.m. This is disgusting. Right when they, by the way, says you, you live like a pampered prince. If people knew how you live. Dude, I don't have a target time. I like to hit my Manny Petty's on, you know, at my, what was at my spot?

Is that what you said? I have a spot. I have a spot over here. And it's always fingers and toes at the same time. You ever go in for just the one, one or the other? No. Because you rush for time? Feet.

It's primarily feet. And also, like, because they rub your feet. So it feels nice. You like to soak, don't you. But I would say in 25 years, probably 25 times. That's an average of once a year. Shawnee, what about you? I've gotten to Maddie Petty.

The last one I got, she scrubbed my calves so hard. I broke out into hives after it was over. Huh. I'm definitely Eastern European. That's not a thing. No, that was on Larchmont. But it has nothing to do with her doing the calves. Yeah, it was terrible.

Well, listen, thanks for the weird morning chat. Wait, wait, wait, hold on one second. I forgot I have something I need to say and announce. I'm going to be doing a show called the... Sorry, we're out of time. Great having you on the show. I'm best luck in whatever you're doing. We never got to it.

All right. So this is a one act. Where is it, Williamstown? No. This is a show called The Unknown. It's a one-man play, which is now, I guess, people are calling them solos. It's written by David Kale, directed by Lee Silverman.

It's at Studio C-view in New York City for 10 weeks only. Tickets are in sale now at the Unknown Play.com. Wait, when does it start? January 31st. January 31st. May I just say publicly here. I've said to you privately. I just think it's so freaking admirable and badass

that you raised your hand in. said yes to doing a one-man show is like, I mean, you know, seeing Krasinski do his thing and I, our buddy Billy Cruttup has done it, Laura Lee's out of the way, that's the same writer-director of that show. Yeah, I just, it's like what a monumental thing to take on. You convince me, I'll go see it. I just, I'm so, I just checking my schedule. I can't wait. Unknown. Who knows what will happen? I'm so proud of you, Shepard. I'm so proud of you, Thank you, thank you, thank you. Because it's very easy to just sit back and not do anything and just enjoy,

but you're challenging yourself and it's rad. Thank you, thank you. I'm not going to come, but I do think that it will probably be good. All right. Well, thank you for that. Yeah. Who are you, and who are your co-stars? Yeah, so it's, that's my friend who listens a lot.

The Unknown Play.com, that's where you get your ticket. The Unknown Play.com, and it starts the end of January. Get your tickets now. I will be there with bells on. Thank you, thank you. Yep. Let's get to our guest. We're going to ask her what her hygiene routine is.

I'll bet it's significant because you know what? This is called self-care. It's not hygiene. It's self-care, by the way. Yeah, self-care. She's been impressing critics and audiences for over 30 years, you guys, achieving incredible success, yet finds herself even more relevant today than ever before. Okay, she's been awarded multiple Emmys, Golden Globes, Sags, all that crap.

And she's been named one of times most influential people in the world. Wow. That's something none of us can say. Never will now. She's Yale educated. Also, you can't say that. She's a proud mother of three. You can't say that.

And she's very kind to the women of Afghanistan. Can you guys say that? No. Guys, let's welcome Chris and Clara's girl, the one and only Claire Dane's. Come on now. Hi, guys. Oh, my gosh, I'm such a big fan. Right, I mean, she's everything.

Look at her. It's really nice to meet you. The gang. And you are. Yeah, you have all had more facials than I have, I think, ever. Is that true? Come on. Yeah.

Really? Occasionally, like, I'm gifted a facial by, I don't know. Right. Like a start gift from an agent. Yes, something like that. And I'll go. A start gift. And I enjoy it, but I, yeah, I forget to.

But I do get my nails done weekly. Yeah. Okay. Oh, you do. Because it's like my office. I get a lot of work done. I never do the fingers. I experimented with the gels for a little while, but that was quite stressful because I don't know.

And it's also a whole different look, right? I mean, I've got two daughters, and I'm starting to get educated on the gels versus let's have some discipline and let it grow out naturally. Yeah. I feel like it is a cultural statement to have gels on. It is, and you can't, you have to go back to get them off. So that is the hard part. That made me feel kind of panicked and claustrophobic. Or you can be on the volleyball team and then they just come off naturally.

Right. Well, but I don't play enough volleyball. I like the way J.B. couches it in, oh, my daughter's helped educate me. Like, fucking bullshit. I know how you live, babe, baby. Nice to fucking try. My weekend gel sessions. How many times as you go, like, oh, well, my kids really, I'm like, no, you like it.

I like Chels. I used to drag my son, Cyrus, our eldest son, with me to the salon. And I got, he, at about five, he had had enough. But until then, and then I had to bribe him with, like, an iPad. No, no, but I just really enjoyed that experience of going with him. What about all fancy dancing? Does he get the feats and toes done? Very, very.

occasionally. Yeah. You kind of keep your man tight, you know? Yeah. Or are you the kind of gal that likes their guy to have a little bit of, a little bit of dirt under the nails? It depends what kind of dirt. Yeah.

If it's like cute upstate dirt, sure. Right. That's very cute dirt. Because some women, I'm not, you know, some women, they're kind of turned off by a guy that actually keeps himself very clean and very, I'm one of those guys. I would turn a woman off. I respect it. I understand thread count.

I understand candles and syroats and things. No, I'm for it. But, yeah. I'm not like a man's man. No, no. That's a quote. You won't find me on a horse unless. Hang on a second.

I'm emailing the smartless merch people right now. We've got a new hoodie coming out. I'm not a manman. Claire, where are we finding you? What part of the world? What side of the United States are you on right now? I live in New York City. Yes, so jealous.

This looks like it could be a brownstone, too. It's a brownstone. We've been here not for very long. We've been here about a year because we had this oopsie-dazy third baby. Oh, she's going to love hearing that. You've got to be careful. Yeah, yeah.

I'm not, yeah. I was so old when that's, happened. I was 44. How old is the baby? She's two now. Oh, cute. Wait, you got pregnant at 44? I sure did. Golly. Good for you, good for Hugh. I didn't think it was possible. I really didn't. Very rare. So, no, it was, I was terrified. But it all was okay. Can I use the term blessing? What a blessing. It was. Total blessing. How did you find having a surprise, as you said, a surprise blessing at that point. Well, you know, it was actually really interesting

because I did not foresee this at all. And it was weird. Suddenly I felt like a funny shame. Really? Like I was... People are going to know I make love. Yeah, like I was naughty. Like I had been caught, like, fornicating past the point I was meant to.

No, it was weird because I was... And it was, it was like I found an edge that I didn't, I hadn't been quite conscious of. Yeah. Like, there's a certain, like, I was going outside of the parameters a little bit. Right. And I, and I, and that was, that was, that was wild. How, what's the, what's the age spread with the, the kid right before it? Um, so Cyrus is 12.

He'll be 13 in December. Rowan, our second boy is seven. And then Shea, yeah, so there's about five years between each. But it's a trip. I mean, I have a teenager and a toddler. And this last one is a girl? A girl. Yeah.

Wow. Yeah, I know. I got really, really lucky. My God. Yeah, my OBGYN was like, you know you're having another boy. But no, turns out. You would have been pissed off. You definitely would have been pissed off.

I would have been delighted. But I am more delighted that I, yeah. That she's pretty cool. And she loves a tutu. Oh, yeah. Who doesn't? Who doesn't? A two-two and a tattoo.

I am noticing that this five-year gap is very good. My eldest just left the house for college, and the fact that I've still got a 13-year-olds. I've got another five years of, like, before I get really, really depressed. Yeah. It's great. Instead of just usually that usual gap of, what, two, three years or something like that. Yeah, you get built in.

I say I've got a five-year-old and an almost 17-year-old as of next week. Right. It's kind of a trip It's great It's amazing I have a five-year-old dog Yeah Sean with your daughter

You're going to be moving into a 3-3 pretty soon Let's be honest Do you take him to get pedicures too Do you have to bribe him with the iPad as well No I don't I don't go often enough Despite what I was asking Sean about his dog Oh is Sean's dog

Yeah exactly how often do you get Ricky's toes done Once a week Once a week Yeah once a week Yeah once a week you know and that's and that's a thing those those that nail grinder for a dog i like i don't know how they sit still for that well they well they you tie you tie their neck around the thing so they stay on the on the table what you know what are you doing the monster and then rickie gets up

no i'm kidding uh great you're covering the letters from pita here we fucking go where to go no because he's a golden door so you have to brush him out every week and all this stuff you wash him he gets real dirty anyway who cares When's the last time you washed your own dog, Sean? When he was a puppy? Yeah. Years ago. Absolutely years ago.

One's the last time you walked your own dog? Every, almost every day. Liar. I swear to you, I love taking a lot of walking. You actually do live in an area with sidewalks and trees and front yards. I would walk dogs. I'd have a dog walking service. Sorry, Claire, they'll be right with you.

They'd be trying to work out. Yeah, what about dogs there in the city? You have a dog there in the city? I had a dog. I had a schnoodle for about 16 years. His name was Ouija, but he passed. And then we adopted a cat when we were filming a season of Homeland in Morocco, Harold Hamza, and he was a bit of a nightmare.

He pissed on everything. Those Moroccan cats. Is he still with us or no? You know what? After a really rough five years of dealing with this, like, urine-soaked sofa, furniture. I had to re-home him, which was very stressful. I've done that. And not obvious.

But found this saint in Indiana, this woman who has a cat sanctuary. And then three months into that arrangement, which was actually ideal, we got, you know, weekly photos and reports and things. He died. Oh, like there was some clot. I don't know. I think he was funny. The whole thing was. Wild.

From the rough streets of Casablanca to a pretty cushy situation in Indiana. Yeah. Yeah. And then, so when Ouija died, we had Harold Hamza, and then we adopted another cat. Mary, as in, like, Christmas, our son Rowan named her that when he was like three in the middle of the summer. It was very confusing. And we said, why did you, why marry? Everybody thinks it's Mary, it's not.

He said, I just thought it was a good name for a cat. That's a great reason. Anyway. Wait, Claire, how do you and Jay, how do you guys know each other? Did you work together? We don't, really. I mean, we've had a conversation maybe, but. Right.

It is sort of surprising because we've both been banging around in the same. things since we were kids. I know it's a little weird. You guys had a conversation where was the location, Jason, we'll be right with you. Jason, I'm not asking you. I'm asking you, I'm asking for, because I want to get the truth. I think we, like, had a conversation on the phone, and I don't even really know why, but we did.

Were you surprised at how short he was? Sorry, go ahead. No, do you know what? I know how long ago it was because it was a, I think it was like the same day that my parents delivered my schnoodle to me. They went and picked him up in Kentucky. They live in L.A. I live in New York, but, you know,

and I was filming in L.A. and they delivered this tiny little animal to me in my hotel room in L.A. And I had just talked to you for, you know, curious reasons. It was a nice conversation. Where did you grow up? I grew up in New York. I grew up in Soho, yeah.

Oh, in the city? In the city. Ergo, the name of your company, yes? Is that the address of the place you grew up in, Crosby? Crosby. Well, actually, okay, yes. I grew up on Crosby Street. My parents were artists, and they moved to Soho, you know, in the late 60s.

And when it became, you know, because there were all these factory buildings that were closing down. And you actually had to legally prove that you were an artist to live there because there was this concerted effort to, you know, transform. And they're trying to retroact. now charge all these finance bros that have gone in there and bought these artist lofts for really yeah um anyway like you you now have to prove that you're an artist to maintain this sweet deal on those places oh i didn't yeah they're trying to get it through i don't think it all wow that's fascinating wait but then they went on to do different things and my dad was a he had been a photographer we still had a dark room in our loft my entire childhood a vestige of

from his time as a photographer, but he was a contractor and had a company called Overall Construction. And now my production company name is Overall Production. Oh, that's great. Yeah, and my mom

ran a toddler school in our loft called Crosby Kids. Wow. So that was weird. Yeah. And then I started acting and got John jobs, which was very surprising.

Yeah, how'd that start? What was the impetus for that? I always knew I wanted to act, and I danced as a kid, and occasionally dance companies would come to my class looking for young talent, and I would get hired, and I started, you know, performing every so often and these black box theaters in the Lower East Side to 12 people, and loved it. and then started taking acting classes, at least Drossburg, which is like down the street from me now, which is very funny. And how old were you? Same. Same. I did the same.

Oh, really? I was 10. But it was like on a Saturday, and most kids were there because there was either that or like tennis class, but I was just so invested in the experience, you know, like such an earnest Nelly about it. Yeah. And then there was a Performing Arts Junior High School called PPS, professional performing art school. It was its first year of its existence, and I went. And then I met

kids there who were professional performing people and, you know, discovered what a headshot was and what an agent was and how to, you know, get them. And actually, that dark room came in handy because the woman who was renting it out kind of swapped rent money for headshots. So she took my headshots. And then I had done some student films when I was a kid. And so, So I had like something to show an agent and, you know, my first job was law and order. You know, like every to New York. Yeah, that's cool. And how soon after that did you get what I'm a huge fan of, and I'm sorry, you get asked all the time about it, my so-called life.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I used to watch all the time. Oh, that's so nice to hear. Yeah, I loved it. I loved it. Yeah, I was 13 when I did the pilot. Wow. And then it did not get picked up.

And I Yeah, I'd gone to public school My whole life But then they made a chunk of change And could afford to send myself to private school So I went to this fancy school called Dalton And then halfway through my freshman year They actually did pick up the show

And I went to make the rest of it in L.A. And stayed there for four years My parents followed me My brother is seven years older So he was already at college at this point So we were kind of available to have this adventure. And so were you working in correspondence with Dalton,

or did you enroll in a different school in LA? Yeah, for that first year. And then eventually I went to the Liseé Francaise in L'A. Oh, yeah, in Culver City? Barely there. Yes. On motor? Yeah.

You bet you. Yeah, I tried to get in there. They wouldn't have me. But yeah, like maybe went five days a year, but I was mostly like tutored from that point on sets. We'll be right back. And now back to the show. I remember my so-co life, it had a, it kind of had that,

it was critically acclaimed, and so it was kind of like sputtered a little bit. It had to, it lived in this weird place where everybody loved it, but the network didn't know what to do. Yeah, I mean, I didn't, nobody really watched it while it was on, and we didn't even complete a full season. We didn't make it to the 22, you know, mark. Yeah. We got canceled.

at 19 episodes. But then it had a pretty, you know, the people who did watch were devoted and passionate, and they made a ruckus. And then it got bought by other, it aired, like it was on MTV. It was on MTV. Yeah, it was on MTV.

And so it was, and then it found its audience kind of after the fact. Tom Preston picked that. Now, am I right that your mom was your manager during this period? Yeah, kind of, like, by default. I mean, she was, you know, I was a kid and she was with me all the time. And, yeah. When did I ask only because my parents were my manager as well, and it was, it was complicated. Was it, did you, did you disengage from that before it became to?

Yeah, it was, you know, it, that, it made sense for a period of, of time and then they made more sense to just be mom and daughter. Right. Yeah, it wasn't uncommon. Most kids said their parents, yeah, yeah. But then once they start, you know, you're paying them a percentage and then that's kind of weird and, yeah. It changes to your relationship with your parents.

Yeah. I mean, by definition. You're the employer. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's super complicated. Hey, grab me a coffee real quick. Yeah.

But I was very, I mean, we were all just so stunned by this. You know, nobody anticipated this at all. We were just, like, totally naive. And, you know, then they, weirdly, we moved to L.A. The day after those Northridge, that Northridge earthquake. Ninety-nine. Four. 94.

Sorry. And it was a wild way to parachute into our new reality there because everybody was just ashen and traumatized. Yeah, that must have been horrified. Like two days before you're set to leave, your bags are packed, you see on the news, oh, the place we're going just got shaking. Yeah. Yeah. And then it was a week of aftershocks.

So we landed. It was like, you know. Oh, my God. And it was like a very apt metaphor for what we were feeling already, you know. But, but yeah. So, and but then my parents really loved it. My mom went to grad school in her 50s. They came back to their art.

So she went to a school called Otis. Oh, yeah. My dad built like his and her studios in their backyard. and they're, you know, full circle. You just jarred my memory because my father was, my dad was also a photographer and he's...

Cue the tire screech. To take photos of all of us as kids all the time and blow the pictures up and put him up on the wall. And put him up on the wall. What are you going to go to? Zoom lens? What's going on?

And would you put those photos just above the sunshade in the car so he could just look at him when he's going down the highway? You got. Oh Wait, did he process his own photos, Sean? Yeah, so he had a dark room in the basement

And he would develop them there And then, you know, he would put him on the wall of the house And it was really cool but weird for them So did your dad do your photos and your head shots and all that? No, no, he didn't But no, I mean, he didn't really take many photos of people He likes a landscape. Oh, I see, I see, I see, I.

I mean, he does take photos of us, of course, all the time, but that's not, yeah. People don't tend to populate his images. So, with, with, my, was your mom, your mom was a sculptor? Is it? No. My mom does, yeah, she was a textile designer initially, and now she does, she has a lot of etchings. She does do a lot of sculpture, and she paints, it's. But both being artists, where you just sort of, kind of, obviously it's in your blood,

but did you kind of think from a very, very early age that arts, is going to be your path? Because I think your brother's a lawyer. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. So like where, how was it, was it kind of predetermined or no or no?

Well, it was a pretty creative environment. That's for sure. Yeah. I mean, they had a lot of art materials everywhere. It was fun. We had, also, we had, even before the baby school, we had a trapeze and a trampoline and a swing. Wow.

These dirty hippies. Yes, yeah. It was like that. Wow. And all of our furniture was like found off of the street and my dad collected these old signs. So it was funky. And they had fun tools.

They had a light box and, you know, I was at a very, at a very unfair advantage with my like school projects because we had a lot of. And your brother just said, screw it to all of that. I'm going into law. Yeah. I mean, he's creative. He was very athletic. He was, I don't know.

Yeah, it was, but then I did that show. I did that show, Finding Your Roots. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Uh-oh, what'd you find out? Well, many things. But my mom, my dad's mom, Claire, whom I'm named after, she died when he was nine. So there was very, very little information about her. I knew nothing about her.

And people, of course, ask, you know, are there any people in the performing arts in your family? No, a lot of visual artists, a lot of academic. but not, you know, but it turns out she, um, she, uh, went to Northwestern. It must have been in like the 40s. So I'm, and West Western in Chicago? Yeah. Cool it. And got her, like, studied theater and wrote her master's on the role of dance and

Shakespearean drama and, and had directed plays and acted in them. And I had no clue. How about that? So it was in your DNA a little bit? Yeah. I was very moved by that. Did she like her time in Illinois? Yeah, I have no idea.

I don't know anything beyond that. But, yeah. Anyway, I also had my ninth great-grandmother was hanged in Salem for being a witch. Wow. What is the big reveal. Is that true? Yes.

What, your great-grandmother? You found this on the show. Yes. Well, how did they find them? that out. What are you doing? Through, like, legal documents. Through other witches. Through other witches. Yeah. Do it crystal ball, you idiot. Wow. Wow. Hanged. Hanged. Hanged. I know. I learned that word. I didn't know it

before this. So wait. So did she practice witchcraft and all that? I mean, is that? No. No. Actually, she was, she was the oldest woman to be hanged. She was 72. She was a widow. and I think she was just, like, low-hanging fruit. Like, she was just an easy scapego. Yeah, how about that one, crossing the road? Yeah, yeah, I think maybe. I mean, who knows? But, yeah, like, there are reports

because she was, went to court and everything. But people accused her of, what was it? Of, like, cursing their cows. And then put it, like, and then the cows would rear on their hind legs, and she would penetrate people's dreams. Like, yeah, she didn't do that, I can tell you. What is it, what year is this, I wonder? A long time ago.

I don't, I don't know. Like, would it be the 1,500, 1600s, 1st, maybe 1700s, 18. No, it's late 18, 18, probably early 18. 1,800s in Salem. Yeah. North Carolina. No. No, Salem, Massachusetts.

There's a few different Salem's. Okay. All right. Yeah, I'm sure. But certainly. Between 1692 and May, 1692 and May, Oh, you got a Google machine? Yep.

Is that right? I have access to Google. That's what it says. Wow. Okay, well, I was say off. More than 200 people were accused, it claims. That's it? Wow.

The Salem Witch trials. 30 people were found guilty, 30 were found guilty, 19 of whom were executed by hanging. Yeah. And your ancestor was one of them. Yeah. For cursing cows. Yeah, yeah. And dream penetration.

She had it coming. Guys, let's go around the corner. Everybody, your dream penetration. Go ahead. That sounds so gross. Accent on the second word, yeah. So marching through the canon of your career here, let's hit, let's go to 96. Let's go to Romeo and Juliet.

Oh, my gosh. The working with Baz Luhrman was like, what was that set like? It was, I remember when that film came. I was like, oh my God, like the production design and like this big swing on this classic and really like, was it nerve-wracking or exciting to be on something that was taking such a big swing

and it was such a big project? Yeah, all of the above. It was a total dream. I loved it. It was intense. We filmed in Mexico City. And I haven't been since. I loved it.

But it's like an unruly, you know, vibrating brilliant place. And, yeah, it was, the whole thing felt very charged and alive and scary and fun. And Baz was wonderful. And he was very clear about making this accessible and exciting for everybody the way Shakespeare, you know, also intended his work to be every once upon a time. Had you done some Shakespeare prior to that and have you done after? Um, no. I haven't. And I hadn't. There was like a month where I read everything in Iambic pentameter, you know, like the cereal boxes. But, but yeah, it was, no, it was, it was amazing.

So you said, so then I hear you, you're saying you did some research there for at least a month. I think I read a book on iambic pentamer. Right. Well, there's, there's my question. How diligent are you? What kind of actor are you? Are you the one that does a massive amount of research and you've got tons of notes in your script? I'm a little nerdy about it. But not every role asked that of you. I mean, I don't do it for the sake of it.

I do it if I actually need to learn something. Like right now I'm about to play a pediatric neurosurgeon. And so I'm like reading some books on. Yeah, you should know. Neurosurgery. I sat in on a brain surgery. No way. I want to know all about it.

I wouldn't be able to do that. It was wild. Did you pass out? No, but the... I asked that because I heard about somebody recently who sat in on one of those... I think it happens a lot. Yeah. I think it happens a lot.

And the surgeon's assistant did say, like, you may think you're a badass, but if you have the thought, oh, I might faint, you're fainting, and we can't have that happen. So please let me know. Wow. The second you feel it. Yeah. And I don't know. There was like a half an hour where I was doing something.

some conscious breathing. Wait a minute. So you're standing there while the brain is open and they're working on the brain. Yeah, what was the moment that started to get you a little bit I might be starting to pass out here?

Was it lifting of the scalp? When the residents were prepping the head for the actual surgeon to come and do his work. But yeah, so they cut the scalp and they peel it back and they bore four holes into the skull. Yeah, and then there's like,

I think it's called the derm. There's a thin layer of skin that they have to suture. They suture the corners and then they hoik it up like a tent, and then you have the brain ready. Wow. But wait, what about the part where they take like a bone saw and they cut the piece of the scalp out? That's right.

So they do the four holes and then they cut with a saw and then they lift it up. And the brain's exposed? Yes. Oh, my God. Yes. It was, I actually, I really, really understood in a different way that we are vehicles. Yes.

We are cars. Yeah. And we are not our bodies. Like we experience ourselves and the world through our bodies. Just something carries your brain around. That was like a, that was a profound thing. Yeah. That, you know, to really know that on a different level.

So did the person that you watched was a success and all that? Yeah. She had a brain tumor and then she didn't. But it was a lot of tumor. It took a long time to. It would suction that out. But isn't it wild, like the kind of access we have? It was very embarrassing because they have something called a timeout

where everybody in the room has to announce themselves and say why they're there. What? Really, just to make sure if he's cognizant. I'm Claire, I'll be playing. Yeah, I'll be playing you in a month. Wait a second. In the operating room, there's a let's go around and introduce ourselves.

Just so everybody's accountable. They don't already know each other this team? They do. I think it's just a ritualistic thing just to kind of get everybody focused. And then they announce what the procedure is going to be and so everybody knows they're in the right world. Yeah, it's fast.

You've heard all those stories. It's not a big deal. It's just to, you know. You've heard all those stories about like they took out the wrong kidney or they took out the something wrong. It's because that's why they announce everything. So this is why we're here. This is what we're doing.

This is who I am. This is what we're, yeah. Yeah. I mean, the people that do this, that surgeon. I know. And I have to say, like, our sets are so much more protected than, you know, look, I was vetted. You know, I had a badge and everything, but I wasn't anybody, but it felt relatively porous. Like, you know, on a set, the feeling is so, can be so serious, like we are actually saving.

It was much more serious than it was in the over. Claire, I went to an event recently, and it was a very sort of Hollywood event, and they had dogs and looking into the cars and stuff. And I'm like, motherfucker, nobody's coming for our stars. Right, right, it's so true Everybody's over it, yeah I was very humbled by it But yeah So in those kind of cases

I will do Yeah, like for Homeland I had to figure out How to be a spy And got to go to Langley and meet those guys And also had to figure out What it was to be bipolar

That was fascinating When I played Temple I had to learn about autism You know, so yes In some cases You have to do some homework But a nice little sitcom for you You know?

Yes. I get a multi-cam and, you know, it's just... This is J.B.,'s dream, by the way. Sorry, Claire. He's just walking through his dream. J.B., what time do you roll into your parking spot on the sitcom? 10 a.m., right?

Don't you... I mean, you have played, taken on voluntarily, a lot of very heavy parts, and you do them incredibly well. Does it ever get exhausting to be, believably, in a space of weight? 80ness 12 hours a day for years on end? It's hard when you're first figuring it out.

Right. You know, and once you are sort of oriented within the character and you've kind of made sense of her, it gets a little easier. It was very cool on Homeland to play somebody for so very long. Yeah. You know, like, you had kind of played your backstory. You lived your backstory. Right.

And you know the act. that you're working with so very well, you know, like it was just, that was amazing to have that fluency and that, and that juice, you know? Yeah, finding the momentum is always the toughest part. And, but I have to say, like, if the writing is good, it holds you, it carries you. Like, doing a kind of technically easy scene, but with bad writing. is so much harder than doing an exacting scene that is really well constructed.

And with a team that can actually support you. You guys were together for how long on that show, eight years? It felt like, I think it was like, we did eight seasons, but it was about a decade in total. And you and the great Damien Lewis, too, right? I love that guy. Yeah. I don't know.

I'm just talking a fan. And what about the travel on that? Did that, was that nice to visit those corners of the world? way that I'm imagining you were traveled and looked after? It was. It was nice, but I was also I'd like just gotten married when we started

the show. I had Cyrus in my second season and then I had Rowan, I guess a few seasons late. I guess I had Rowan in our penultimate season. So like making a family while globe trotting in that way

was challenging. And Cyrus, you know, grew up and all over the place. Like, he was a toddler in Cape Town. He went to kindergarten in Berlin. He went to school in Casablanca and can't eat cuss-cus to this day because he had it every day, you know, at lunch.

You know, like when he was a little guy in a playground here in the city, you know, come up to people, his little other kids and say, you know, my name is Cyrus. I speak English. English. It was just not a given that they did. I had a mom who was a flight attendant for Pan Am and so we did a bunch of traveling. And as a consequence, I don't like to travel

because I did it at an age where it was just inconvenient because I was so small and I missed my friends. What is his relationship with travel nowadays? Well, now, well, then Homeland ended and it was very like careful what you wish for because of course I was desperate to just be anchored at home and then I never got to leave the home like immediately we wrapped and then we were you know in the COVID era. That was a trip. And now and now we're working really hard to figure out how to remain employed and local. Yeah. It used to be like script, director, actor and now it's location, location, location. That's how you decide what you do. Kind of. I mean, I'm sort of making a joke, but basically for the next 10 years, we just have to, you know, find jobs

in the neighborhood. What about going back to some of your theater stuff doing that? I mean, I know it doesn't pay the bills as well, but imagine you guys are all right. Yeah, I mean, I would definitely be open to that. But, yeah, lately it's been limited series in Westchester. I'm a little two-hander with the Tony Award-winning Sean Hange. Yeah, I love this. I love this casting.

Jason, keep going. What is it? It's a two-hander, you and Sean Hayes. Okay. This is a new take on the odd couple. I love it so much. We're going to switch roles every four weeks. We'll be right back.

And now, back to the show. But you know what, Jason's right. You would be good at comp. I saw you in Portlandia, because I was a huge fan of that show. You were so, you played like... Oh, that's right, I forgot I did that. Yeah, you played like an acting coach or acting teacher or something. I did. I played a terrible acting coach.

Yeah, I remember that. A wildly pretentious acting coach. That was really funny. Oh, that's so sweet. Thank you. Fred Armisen. He's great. This guy, this guy, this guy's royalty.

And I hear he's just put out an album I hear of sound effects. Amazing. That's it. Sounds about right. Yes, check and check. Yeah. That's funny. I love, I love Freddie.

We're leaving Baz Luhrmann and we're moving on to Francis Ford Coppola with The Rainmaker. Wow. Let's talk about, did we? Well, can I just say something about Romeo and Julia before we get off of it? So you do that, and it has such a huge impact. And by the way, lasting impact. That film, it must have been a bit of a life changer. I mean, you'd already sort of made a lot of waves with my so-called life in that area.

And then you do this. And Romeo and Juliet just must have changed everything. You're much more visible. You must have felt that, like your life. Yeah, I did feel it. And I have to say, I didn't quite know what to do with all of that. I was a little thrown by it. Were you?

Yeah, yeah. What was the big jarring thing? Was it the press? Was it people stopping on the street? Yeah, it was kind of the attention. It was a different kind of attention. Yeah. And I just, you know, didn't know how to focus.

like what how to how to work with it or where to direct it or I was a tiny human still right and then it's like oh look who's getting coffee at coffee bean and tea leaf type stuff right like yeah I just thought oh god like I don't know I I it it made me anxious you're sharing yourself with with a whole world yeah yeah and I thought I was supposed to know how to be like a movie star and really didn't and and and And now I realized, oh, don't worry about it. It's not really a thing. What did you do about that? I think I read that you're a friend of therapy like all of us. Sure. Was that helpful? Yes.

Yes. I've been in therapy since I was six. I'm a New Yorker. Right, right. And it's a great resource. If you have a great therapist, it can be very... Have you been with the same therapist the whole time? Dangerous, if it's not.

Since I was about 18, yeah. No way. Oh, wow, that's great. I'm going right after this, actually. go in and out. Like, I take very substantial breaks. But I'm back in now, and I'm glad of it. Have you ever lied to this therapist?

Maybe by omission. I don't think I've ever explicitly lied. Oh, I just forgot to mention that. But, yeah, there's sometimes... Claire, I asked Sean once. Sean, remember I asked you if I ever came up in your therapy. Yeah, everybody does. Everybody in your whole life does.

How do I do, Sean? Yeah, well, it's private. It's confidential. Private, dude. Yeah, what are you doing? I'll call your therapist. You're in touch with his therapist. I owe him a call.

Hi, Nikki, Jason. Did I guess right? Is it a man or a woman? Me? It's a woman. All right. Yeah, yeah. Nikki Glazer.

Nicky Glazer. Unbelievable. Yeah, we got it all sorted out. I think she'd be an amazing thing. She would be. All right, let's do Francis Ford Coppola. Then I want to get to Stephen Daldry. Okay.

You know, I do like these directors. I mean, you've been in some great, great movies. You've worked with so many great actors and directors. I mean, golly, what do you think is the most impactful thing you've absorbed, learned from any of these actors? You don't even need to say which one it is. What do you think has been... Yeah, what changed your life and how it applies either to you in life or professionally?

Okay, okay, here's the story. So my first audition ever, I was 12. It was, again, in some theater, not, like, Lowery Side kind of situation. And I don't know what's happening. And there's a guy, like, having his audition, I can only hear him. But he's like, it sounds like an exorcism is happening. It's like he's thrashing about, you know. And he comes in and he's like stripping with sweat and he's just like vibrating this manic energy.

And it was Philip Seymour Hoffman. Wow. But I was like, holy shit, what's supposed to happen in there? What am I supposed to be? What am I following? Like, what am I walking into? What do they expect of me? I loved the meeting for the kid that same day.

Yeah. Yeah. But, yeah, so I don't know. I mean, I didn't know how, I mean, I sort of knew how extraordinary. these people were when I first started, but not like I do now. I don't know how wildly rare and absurd it is to get to collaborate with people of that genius.

Have you noticed that, you know, like from, let's say, Merrill Street to Leonardo DiCaprio, like, is there, there are so many different ways to go about doing what it is that, we do some as we were talking about earlier some are very very specific and and surgical about it and very prep oriented and others just sort of just kind of wing it and keep it all natural and and the performances are equally great is that has that been a bit of a of an eye opener for you okay so the thing i remember about francis is that he you know he kind of asked a lot of you but it was all in a

playful spirit so he he gave everybody the homework assignment of writing, you know, six pages of backstory for their care, you know, okay. And, and I remember there was a scene where I was meant to be very distressed and crying and the big, and I sat on the chair and it was actually like a block of ice. That was, you know, and that, he thought might help elicit some, you know, some feeling. He had a teamster scream at me. Oh, jeez. And I kind of was like, okay, I didn't need it.

How old were you? I was 17, I guess. But actually I was very touched that he just cared that much, like that he was invested, that he felt present with me, that he was committed to creating something special with me. Like that was the thing that actually got to the feeling was that I don't know, and I remember on that set it was something

kind of magical that happened and ineffable like suddenly you landed on that set and you were held by it like you knew you were oriented you felt grounded in whatever reality you meant to be in in the place and that was his doing

but I don't know how he did it exactly and the same is true of Baz a totally different approach he did not have teamsters yell at me and actually it was almost surgical the way in which he directed. I mean, he knew exactly. It was very prescriptive, but...

Was it result-oriented? No. Like, he just was very... It's so, so detail-oriented. You know, and he builds the world, and it's really ornate, and it's hyper-considered and stylized. But he wants a free-feeling performance from his actors,

And that's why it's often exciting the word because it's that contrast. Right. So it creates a sort of a, yeah. But yeah, I mean, and I have to say there are a lot of directors, too, not these guys. These guys are brilliant. But I think I'm always surprised by the number of directors that are actually really terrified of conflict and visceral feeling. They would rather you not. You know, and they don't even know that they're guiding you a way, like,

they want you to make choices that's going to take you further from actual expressive feeling, you know? Oh, interesting. Too real. And, you know, and you're like, but why are you doing this? And I'm, well, because you want to be at a move from it. Like, you want to, you know, so those directors, too. It's too good. Too real.

Sean, you used to pay a guy to yell at you, right? Yeah. You put an ad in Craigslist or something. I still do, yeah. I still do. You sit yourself on a block of ice, too. Yeah, yeah. But I think even, you know, the privilege of working with people like Merrill and Leah, like, is, yeah, they're insanely gifted and they're, you know, and capable.

But they're also, you know, figuring it out, you know, like, nobody gets to just like, you never get to a point where you're actually confident. I mean, so, but you're never phoning it in. Like, ever. Yeah, I know that you're producing a lot of the stuff that you do as well now. And what about, did you ever get behind the camera on Homeland? No. Any desire? No.

None really. I mean, I kind of, if I had the time, I would like to shadow a director just so that I could learn more about the parts of the process that we don't have access to because I'm curious. But not with the intent of really doing it myself. I am enjoying producing. I like, you know, being part of the conversation, like those consequential conversations about what it's going to be in its entirety.

Right. But, yeah, I don't, directing seems really hard. Yeah. You're going to put it. Yeah, yeah, it does. So, Claire, you know, aside from, I love what you said now, it used to be script director, blah,

and now it's location, location, location. I love that. That's so interesting and true, and I get it. But how does that, so that factors in with your days consist of momming and parenting and being home with the kids, yeah, and making sure everything's taking care of with your husband? When you're not working, right? When you're not working? When you're not working?

Yeah, you try to just bank the hours. Yeah, so did you get any time during the day when you're not working to do something for you? Yes, for sure. Shides of any petty? Yeah. I like the yoga. Yeah? I like a little hot yoga.

Uh-huh. Yeah, I have, like, lunch with my friends. Good, good, good, good. Sure. Book club. Oh, really? Yeah. Wait, so you go to yoga and then you read a book.

I mean, God damn. I wish I was like that. It sounds like, doesn't Giamani? Didn't Paul say that that's how his day is kind of like that? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Do you live with Paul Giumani? Yes.

Hot yoga. It just sounds so masochistic. No, you can't do it. Well, it's, first of all, yoga itself, you just, you're sweating. because you're stretching is just sort of like being trapped in a hot car in a tortuous

but then to actually we're going to go ahead and we're going to preheat the car it just seems like what fuck you Jason it's your nightmare it's sweaty and the smell of the unwashed

and then getting sweatier and then guess what and then you've got to walk across the floor when you're done to get to your shoes outside

and you're splashing through the fucking puddles of these. So you sound like you really know it. Oh, dude. You've done this. I knew it. And I was like, I'm good. That'll do it. It was just one class for you?

It was maybe one and a half, something like that. Yeah, I just, if I'm going to sweat, I want to be active. I don't want to be holding a pose and feeling my pores open while I'm still. Wow. It really hit hard. I want to get to, one. This trailer for The Beast and Me rocked my world. I watched it three times in a row.

I cannot wait to see the show, which is out now. November 13th, it launched. I'm assuming it's doing very, very well. But this looks like you got that pain in the ass, Matthew Reese. But besides that, it seems like. Such a pain. Oh, my God. It seems like.

The shame of whales. and just and talent free I don't get it I know never got it with Reese he's a little wooden but you know I'm gonna text him

you know he has a charisma that you know it looks so so good I can't wait to see you two go at it is it as good as it seems it's got to be yeah I think it's good I think it's fun

it's a yeah I had a blast making it where was that shot that looks like isn't a tasting New Jersey New Jersey Who do you play in it? Because it's about like a guy who's a murder or something or, right?

She's a writer. I'm a writer. Yes, a pretty successful writer. And I, you know, one, the Pulitzer was kind of cresting in my, you know, success. And my wife and I and our small boy moved to a pretty affluent suburb been on Long Island. And then tragedy strikes, I'm driving the car with our six-year-old son in the back and we get hit by a drunk driver and my world is ended.

The marriage dissolves, falls apart, and I am kind of creatively paralyzed. I can't produce any work and am rattling around in this, you know, gorgeous, but, neglected home needs a lot of work and suddenly I can't afford to pay for it. And suddenly this man moves in next door, who's a pretty controversial figure, like a real estate sion and, you know, very famous, very moneyed and, you know, and a little problematic maybe. And he has a wife who had committed suicide and there's a lot of talk about his involvement with that. And he wants to create a jogging path in our little suburb and I'm, you know, the cantankerous writer, I'm the only one who objects and it's dumb but he can't let it go and he insists. And he

insists on taking me out to lunge to persuade me to, you know, agree to this thing. And we get to, And then suddenly we were sort of repelled by each other, or I certainly am of him, but weirdly, like, kind of excited by each other also. A little dangerous. And I tell this story about my son and the guy who's responsible was just under the limit when he finally had, you know, the breathalyzer done and, you know, and was never held accountable and still lives in town. And he can see, I've kind of avoided feeling the difficult feelings

and just fixated all of my grief on this man and that man has committed suicide. And I don't know what to think of that. And I decide to write a book about him and really as a way to figure out if he did in fact kill this guy on my behalf. But also because he just wakes me up creatively. It's dark. This is dark and troubling.

I think the most troubling thing about it is produced by Conan O'Brien. That to me, that he got his grubby little. fingers in here because you're a massive talent. You want to talk about a talent free. Talk about a job. Big red comes in. This son of a bitch. But it's kind of like a cat and mouse story and it's

a little hitchcockian and it's fun. Yeah, it looks great. What a great scene partner you got there with all those scenes of Matthew. It's just so great. It's like the snake and the mongoose. Did you guys know each other beforehand? You and Matthew? No. No. But just a

dream boat. Right? I mean, it's the loveliest team. Charming, kind, and talented. So smart and so very good at what he does. Very good. With the acting business. Easy. No, I like it.

Nice guy. He's a great guy. Yeah. You're taking well. Okay. Back on. And you're back with Howard Gordon there, yeah? Yeah.

Yeah, that was fun. Very, very cool. Who's Howard Gordon? He was one of the creators of Homeland. Oh, that's great. Yeah. And he did 24 and X-Files. Well, listen, we owe you three minutes and 40 seconds.

We're over. You know, it's like I could violate the time even further. You're fantastic. Thank you for doing this. Oh, my pleasure. This is so fun. Thank you guys. You know.

Yeah. Everybody watch The Beast and Me. It's on Netflix. The great Claire Daines. Claire, we love you. Thank you. I love you. I love you, too.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. by, I don't know how to do this. Slam it.

The thing, right? Slam it! Claire Daines. Lovely, lovely woman. Been a part of our world for a very long time. That's 30 plus years. I know.

My so-called life when it was on MTV was such a huge show for, you know, our age. I mean, it was like a game change. It was like our Dawson's Creek. You know what I mean? Anybody? Ready?

Seventh Heaven, Dawson's Creek. I got to say, I missed it. Oh, I loved it. Which is not too surprising. It came out. Here he comes. Wasn't Jared Leto in that too? Yeah, that was a two of them, wasn't it?

Yeah. That's right. Yeah. Isn't that crazy? What a couple. Yeah. No, she's been, I just, you know, this is a hard business. It's even harder for women for some stupid, unfair reason.

And the fact that she's stayed so relevant. at such a high level, doing such great work. Yes, since she was a kid. And stuff that ain't easy. It's really, really admirable. She's had an incredible career thus far and seems not anywhere near done. She's a big deal. She's one of the great.

She's just got a big life in general. She's got three kids and she's doing so much. We didn't even get into her charity work that she and her mom do for the women of Afghanistan too, which is pretty cool. But what a delight. What a delight. You know, I mean, you know, guys, it's not that hard.

If you guys just concentrate a little bit more, you could be charismatic. You could be warm. You could be, you know, people that people want to talk to and are charmed by after you're done speaking to them. There's no way. No, I think you could do it. Of course you could never do it.

Yes, she could. I want you to listen to this interview back and just focus on her. And just focus on just her magnetism, okay? She's just engaging and she listens. How am I ever going to do it? How am I ever going to do it? I'm just trying to think of a bye

I'm just trying to stall for you Sean I'm reading my bye No Sean go to the last You know what I'm doing I'm just I'm hanging I'm hanging

I'm hanging Bye By About what Coming up with a bye Come up with a bye Come in with a bye I'll love it

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