SmartLess - "Jesse Eisenberg"

Episode Date: January 27, 2025

Now there’s a nice fella; it’s Jesse Eisenberg. We talk ‘businesstry’ and beyond: the secret to slapping, magic, anthropology, social networks, and Jimmy Kimmel’s acting. Clip on your hairpi...ece... it’s an all-new SmartLess. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to new episodes ad-free and a whole week early.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, listeners. We've got something special for you today. What is it? It's a podcast called Smart List. What happens? Don't turn the channel. We've got a real fun chat. Who's on today, Jay?
Starting point is 00:00:20 We've got a special guest. The audience, you know what we're talking about. But two of us do not. We've got a special guest that the audience, you know what we're talking about, but two of us do not. We've got a really great one. Who are the two guys that don't know who the guest is? Stay tuned to find out. Stop, stop teasing the audience here, Jason. Welcome to Smartless.
Starting point is 00:00:36 Welcome to Smartless. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart.
Starting point is 00:00:43 Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. I'm going to unmute our surprise guest feed. Just give us a little clap if you're with us. Jesus, that's a powerful clap. We were talking, Will, before you came on, that Jason, well, first of all, we did this photo shoot yesterday and Jason found one gray hair and pulled it out. Because people think that Jason dyes his hair
Starting point is 00:01:14 and he does not dye his hair. I do sometimes, but you don't either, Will. Yeah, he doesn't dye his hair. I don't, but I have these. It's unbelievable. I have these grays on my temple now. All right, what are you gonna do for those, for the project coming up?
Starting point is 00:01:27 Leave them. Yeah, man. Yeah, just keep it. Exactly. Why would you try to trick someone into thinking that you're different than you are, Sean? Yeah, I'm not gonna use makeup. There's only one Sean Hayes in the world.
Starting point is 00:01:40 Why would you pretend to be anyone else? We love Sean Hayes. And you look, by the way, Jason, to bring it up, you look great. You don't need to do it. What did I tell you yesterday? You have the face of a 13-year-old. Yeah. Yeah, well.
Starting point is 00:01:51 You'll never look old. I know, okay, I was gonna make another joke about some famous pop star. Look at how gorgeous Will Speck is with his gray hair. Look at how gorgeous Richard Ehrlich. Richard Ehrlich, the best realtor in Southern California. What about John Slattery, you know?
Starting point is 00:02:10 The most handsome actor going. Richard Ehrlich. I'll do it. All right, maybe I'll let it go a little bit. Yeah. All right, apologies to the guest. Here we come, tighten up. Gang, now this isn't a great intro,
Starting point is 00:02:24 it just doesn't fit what this guy does. But I was rushing this morning. So today, we've got a fellow that's done, I apologize for the chainsaw outside my house, God damn it. We actually can't hear it. Good. So today we have a fellow that's done more with his 41 years
Starting point is 00:02:41 than we have with our combined 150. He's acted in film, television, been nominated for the most prestigious awards, he's written plays, he's directed films, he's a father and a husband, and he's here to tell us how he does it all. Gang, let's get to it, it's Jesse Eisenberg. Come on, Jesse.
Starting point is 00:02:55 Oh, nice. Jesse, come on, Jesse. Hi, hi, hi. Hi. Thank you so much for the introduction. Oh my gosh, you're very nice to meet you. Sorry I clapped so loud, Thank you so much, yeah. It did not.
Starting point is 00:03:06 Do you have large hands? Let's see your hands. No, I think I was like, I think I didn't understand where I have to be in relation to this microphone. You know what I mean? Oh yeah, I know it's difficult. They just gotta know that their mics are hot.
Starting point is 00:03:16 This is a new mic. I'm working with a new mic. Do you do a lot of microphone work? Do you have a podcast? Everybody knows. No, no, no. Nor do I do a lot of mic work. I mainly use just like my headset headset but today, you know your podcast is worthy of this road NT USB mini
Starting point is 00:03:32 Trying to get free shit. Yes. Yeah, we bought it. You don't have to sell it Look who's even across the pond. I take my road I'm in England. Oh, that's why this yeah get ready to be showered with Mike I'm in England. Oh, that's why that's, yeah. Get ready to be showered with Mike. Yeah, right, exactly. Now, are you, and god damn it, you're in England doing what? Doing something else that is very difficult?
Starting point is 00:03:51 I'm in the dressing room of the Graham Norton show. Oh, the Graham Norton show? Are you really? This is not Chatty Man, right? This is, I'm doing a meta press junket. I'm doing it from the press, yes. Wow. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Starting point is 00:04:03 You're about to go out on a talk show and you're recording a podcast. Yeah. I mean,, wait, wait, wait, wait. You're about to go out on a talk show and you're recording a podcast. Yeah. I mean. But this is good, because I can stay in this kind of like self-indulgent place. I could just talk about myself for the next 48 hours and I'll be okay.
Starting point is 00:04:13 You work so hard, like I can only do one thing a day and the rest needs to be played. Here's an idea, here's an idea. Just go with me. And Jesse, you can throw this out if you'd like and also welcome to Smartless. And Jesse, you can throw this out if you'd like. And also welcome to SmiteList. But I just want to say this. Why don't we, the four of us, come up with a fake story
Starting point is 00:04:31 for you to tell on the Graham Norton show? That we will all be. Oh yeah. Right, because he won't know now until it comes out, which is way later. Oh, go Will. So okay, wait, this is like a prank pulled on me? Or him, or what?
Starting point is 00:04:44 On him or on the world? Well you're going to be in on it. It's just like a prank pulled on me or him or what? On him or on the world? Well, you're gonna be in on it. It's just like a fun little Easter egg that a couple months from now, people go. That's interesting. Do you wanna do a whole story or should we do like a word? Or we can do a word. Or you could do a word or you could do that,
Starting point is 00:04:57 actually both of your legs have been replaced. Let's do the word. This does bring up a good point, Will. Will, unless you've got something in mind here. Yeah, I got it. It does bring up a good point, Will. Unless you've got something in mind here. Yeah, good. It does bring up a good point that maybe Tracy is unaware of. Jesse Tracy is Sean's sister.
Starting point is 00:05:15 Who was in this concert. Hip to all the business tree stuff. The inside, she's on the outside, sure. And so for Tracy, before we do talk shows, the night time set, you do what's called a pre-interview, where you talk to the segment producer and you come up with stories and crap you're gonna say, and kind of work out your answers.
Starting point is 00:05:30 Which I imagine you've done, Jesse, for this show. Yeah. Not for us, but. There's a big pre-interview for this. No, this one's a weird one. The one with this is weird. They're basically like, we're on with Kieran, who's in my movie, and then like, I'm with Daniel Craig. You're on with other people.
Starting point is 00:05:46 And so the pre-interview, exactly. And so the pre-interview with this one was like, Daniel was shooting in Italy. What was it like shooting in New Orleans 15 years ago on a movie? Basically, the link is that we both didn't shoot a movie in New York City. And so, like, I realized the stories they're going for
Starting point is 00:06:02 are just these incredibly tenuous links with the guests who have nothing in common. It's never. Right, right. Yeah. You know what's funny is that both you, ironically you, Kieran and Daniel have all recently, or all recently,
Starting point is 00:06:13 It might have been the last three guests we've had. Yeah, on our show. No. Yeah. Is that true? Well, that's the thing. That's the thing. Kieran, what a pain in the ass he is.
Starting point is 00:06:22 Jesus Christ. He's just an asshole, this guy. I mean, so negative, not cheery at all, no energy at all. No hobbies. No hobbies, nothing. Wait, I can't tell if you're kidding because actually that does describe a version of me that I know very well.
Starting point is 00:06:37 He's like the greatest. We love it. He said very nice things about you as well. We loved having him. Maybe it's something about the fact that everybody, that now, that doing the Graham Norton show, you can't do it until you've done Smartless. I don't know.
Starting point is 00:06:53 Yeah, work on it. No bad ideas, no bad ideas. Right, something like that. Listen, I'll figure that out in the moment. Don't you worry. But literally the order was Daniel, Craig, Karen, and then you on our show. And now that's crazy that you're all on the same panel on that show.
Starting point is 00:07:06 I mean. We just said Sean. No, I know, but that's crazy. Yeah, but we can continue to analyze. Yeah, it's amazing. Was that literally the last, no, no, it wasn't literally the last three. I think it was.
Starting point is 00:07:14 No, it wasn't. Oh, no, there was. There was Tito and Taro in there as well. Yeah, there was, nevermind. You know, Kieran is like the, oh, he's like the biggest fan of your show, and just a very uncomfortable thing happened once is where he told me, we were on a plane and he said,
Starting point is 00:07:26 like he loves your show so much, he said, except one episode and he told me the name of the guest and it actually does escape my memory now. I forgot who he said was like a not a good guest. And then I ran into that person and I was so nervous that I had this information in my head that they were the worst guests on Smartless. And so I said to them,
Starting point is 00:07:40 Kieran said you were the best guest on Smartless. And they were like, oh really? And you don't remember who it is? I don't remember who it is. Alright, wait, let me get to my questions. I've got great questions. I'm an incredible interviewer. By the way, it's so nice to meet you. I've been such a fan for a long time.
Starting point is 00:07:58 Oh my God, me too. Of you, of course. Jesse, we met briefly. We met each other, Will, yeah. Wait, what? Where was it? It was in LA at a studio, but we were doing a promotional video with Jimmy Kimmel for Batman.
Starting point is 00:08:11 Yes, yes! You remember that? That was so weird, yes! It was so weird. With Ben Affleck. That's right, it was like a reverse engineered idea. Cavill. Yeah, that's right, it was like they were meeting
Starting point is 00:08:24 at a party and I was playing the bad guy. And yeah, you came in afterwards and I think Jimmy Kimmel came in afterwards as Batman or something, I can't remember it. He came in, he was saying Batman and Superman and then. And then Lego Batman. And then I came in and said Lego Batman
Starting point is 00:08:40 and then Ben said something like, you're not really supposed to be a real Batman, and I said, well, you might want to check the box office. Oh, God. Yeah. Or something. Yeah. Here's what I was left with,
Starting point is 00:08:54 and tell me if you agree with me on that, Jesse. Sure. I was really impressed with Jimmy Kimmel's acting. I thought he did a great job that day. Really? And I told him that. Yeah, I would hope so, yeah. That's not exactly the thing I walked away with.
Starting point is 00:09:10 I can't remember, was he really good? Wait, like how so? Like he seemed genuine? Well, in that, I guess, look, the bar was low because I thought he would be fucking terrible. Oh, got it, and he was engaged. He was like generally engaged. He was engaged.
Starting point is 00:09:24 He seemed like he was really listening in the moment. Yeah. No, that's true. I guarantee you he's a great actor. You know, you can just tell with some people that they just kind of know the way they come across and therefore they're able to sort of calibrate that and guide that, you know, and incorporate lines into that. Like, I bet he'd be a great actor.
Starting point is 00:09:43 But Jesse, when did you start, we all know you as a very accomplished actor, and I am also like Sean, and Jason, I'm a very big fan of your acting. I think you're really, really good at it. Oh, God, me too, of course. But as a writer, when was that that you, did you always write,
Starting point is 00:10:03 or is that something that came later? No, I've been writing plays in New York for like 20 years. But this is like... And I've had some popular plays or whatever, but nothing to this level. I had two plays that were gonna go to Broadway, were both canceled the week before we put out the press announcement for different weird reasons.
Starting point is 00:10:24 So this is the first thing that I'm really getting like more attention and it's quite surreal because I feel like, well, I've been doing the same thing for 20 years, but people like this one and it makes me wonder where I went wrong 20 years ago. Wait, tell me what it is. Tell me what it is. What is?
Starting point is 00:10:38 You're doing a play right now? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're talking about a movie with, with, yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no know sketch comedy when I was younger. No way really really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, of course Yeah, when I was 17, I put together like a packet for Saturday Night Live actually when I was 16
Starting point is 00:11:10 I wrote a script about Woody Allen and it got sent to him It was about like a fictional version of him now at 16 Which is what I was changing his name to Woody Allen and it got like sent through various channels to his lawyers who then sent Me a cease and desist letter But then you ended up doing three films with him. Did it come up? I did movies with him. It came up once, we were on a press junket.
Starting point is 00:11:31 He's so uninterested in anybody else. You know, so like, I don't mean that as a criticism. He's just like, he's just like, basically I knew what would happen is that somebody during press would bring it up because it's like a cute story that's on the internet and he would go, oh, that's interesting. I never, didn't know that,
Starting point is 00:11:46 and would never think about it again. And I knew, I can go up to him and say, hey, that was weird, right? He would just have no, he just doesn't have any interest in stuff like that. I think he's just been like so famous and celebrated for so many years that he's uninterested in like the public persona.
Starting point is 00:12:00 And so, no, he didn't care about that, and we didn't share a nice laugh or a drink. I love the idea that you're like waiting to get a response to your submission and the response is a cease and desist. Yeah, yeah. But it's also like you bring up like, hey, so you sent me a lawyer letter, what about that? No, I don't know anything about that.
Starting point is 00:12:16 Well, the lawyer is his producer. Like, I got to know the lawyer. But I'm sure there were 10,000 letters, like they were sending that every day to everybody who wanted to make a movie about him. I remember I was, you know, I got home from school one day and my dad said, we have good news and bad news. I was like, what's, he's like, what's, I said, what's the good news?
Starting point is 00:12:31 He's like, we heard from Woody Allen. I was like, what's the bad news? He's like, you might have to get a lawyer. And he sent me the thing and I framed it right away. It was so exciting. You know, wow. That's pretty good. So when you're writing a play versus a film to a ding-dong like me,
Starting point is 00:12:47 it would seem that writing a play is easier because it's just dialogue. And a film, you've got to incorporate what the visual component is going to be as well and sort of imply some of the, you know, the inner thinking of the characters as well and all that. Is that fair to say that writing a screenplay is more difficult? I mean, no, I think it depends on the project. And, you know, you could make the same argument that you have to keep people's attention for two hours on one set. And, you know, there's something incredibly difficult about that.
Starting point is 00:13:18 Whereas a movie, you can have music come in and you could have close ups and you could re-edit it within an inch of its life and it could turn into something that's test screened a bunch of times. So like, no, I mean, my plays have been basically like four scenes total, so like a half hour scenes and you know, so like a half hour scenes for a two hour play. And I like that my mind works in that way to like keep scenes going. So my struggle with like movie writing is to just make sure the scenes are not seven minutes long.
Starting point is 00:13:43 Holy shit. JB, he just clowned you, dude. Why? Why? You just got totally clowned because you had a... I'm so clowned I didn't even realize. You didn't even realize? No, I'm kidding.
Starting point is 00:13:53 But I thought there was, I was clowning him, but I thought there was a gentle, I was doing it gently. It's a gentle clown. You were clowning him with a baby wipe. Speaking of clowns, your mother started another silly internet thing, you know, because I do deep research on Wikipedia.
Starting point is 00:14:07 Yeah, yeah, it sounds like you read that first paragraph. Yeah, yeah, it's right up top. Fucking Jesse, I want this income once a week, and just come in, set J.B. straight, and then be like, I gotta go. He read the snippet from the Google search engine, where a million things come up, and he read the snippet. Now, the directing thing,
Starting point is 00:14:30 are you loving the directing thing as my, and I apologize, I bet you've gotten this question a thousand times, are you loving it more or less or the same as writing and acting? Maybe a little less, only because it's such a managerial thing thing as you know. Well, I don't know actually what your experiences have been, but for me, it just felt like I was just aware constantly on set of somebody's plane maybe being delayed.
Starting point is 00:14:54 Like my experience, and when I'm writing, I'm sitting in a library by myself and acting, it's like kind of an emotional private experience that you can have. And then I just remember, like, I spent the day thinking about this person's hair person flying in from England, and if there was rain in England, they were gonna be late, and then I don't think the actor would come to set. And I was like, this was the least creative thought
Starting point is 00:15:13 I've had in my life, let alone on the set of a movie. Yeah, exactly. That's so fucking interesting. That's such a great point. Right, right, right, right. Does that ring true for you? Yes, it can, but then I just make sure I hire correctly, you know, when it comes to line producers and ADs
Starting point is 00:15:31 and stuff that you really, you know, they sort of, their sweet spot is managing. Right, that kind of stuff. Do you ask JB, do you ask them to protect you from information that you? No, I actually want to hear about it all, I just don't want to have to fix any of it. Yeah. Right.
Starting point is 00:15:47 I get that. Wow. I get that. So you don't take on for no apparent reason at all the anxiety of their jobs? I do to the extent that it affects the harmony on the set. That's the part I get really passionate about. Everybody deserves to have a great work experience. Yeah, me too.
Starting point is 00:16:04 Jesse, never having met you before, but I've seen tons of your work. Do you think I should dye my hair? Is that your question? Yeah, I heard about the sides. Sean, you look amazing. You look amazing. Doesn't ache you.
Starting point is 00:16:17 Yes. Sweet little baby boy. Listen, I was sitting there in silence just evaluating all of your temples, and I think you all look great in your different ways. I'm in the, my piece is getting washed so I've got the lid on. Your piece is getting washed.
Starting point is 00:16:30 You know what is that, Dave? Is that a hood or what? Yeah, it's a shitty hood, there we go. Oh, it's a hood. Oh, look at that, oh, it's shorter than I thought. Okay, yes. So I'm gonna make a guess about you and you tell me if I'm way off or not.
Starting point is 00:16:41 Capricorn. Libra. You seem, I've seen interviews, I've seen your work, you seem extremely intelligent, you're very cerebral, and you speak very quickly. Why'd you say seem? Okay, sorry, keep going. Cerebral.
Starting point is 00:16:55 And so am I right in guessing that if, that one of your pet peeves is people that can't keep up with the pace of your intelligence? Oh, God, not at all. No, I feel mortified and pretentious when I open my mouth. No, I- Oh, really? Yes, I'm aware that I probably sound like annoying to many people. No, no, you sound brilliant.
Starting point is 00:17:19 What music? How dare you? It's classical music, turn it up. It's classical music. Yeah. Yeah. That's all I listen to. Okay, because I do, because I have a short fuse if I'm focused on something and somebody can't keep up with me, I have a short fuse. Oh God, no I don't.
Starting point is 00:17:35 Do you suffer fools? Me, no I have. I've got a tough time with that. Deep shame and self-hatred. I assume everybody else in the world is like kind of right. But what about, how about said differently, what about people who don't work as hard as you at a given moment, especially when you're directing
Starting point is 00:17:55 or when you're having to oversee a bunch of stuff and you notice someone's just kind of dogging it. Like does that get at you? I just haven't felt that way ever. I just feel like so indebted to that anybody's coming to the set and waking up at six in the morning, and they probably have a dog that's being left home alone. No, I just don't ever feel that way.
Starting point is 00:18:13 But I think I'm just encumbered with guilt, so like I just wouldn't... I thought I wouldn't allow that thought to come into my mind because I would feel, well, why am I worthy of having that, you know... Oh, okay, got it. And we will be right back. And now back to the show.
Starting point is 00:18:31 Did you grow up in this city? Did you grow up in New York? I grew up in Queens and New Jersey, so never Manhattan. Oh, you did? Yeah. Oh, wow. That's why I have this neutral accent. Do you live in New York now on the East Coast?
Starting point is 00:18:42 Yeah, I live in Chelsea. Careful, Jesse, careful. You do? What do you mean with what? He's getting close to the address. Don't give it to him. No, he said Chelsea. He said Chelsea? Yeah, I live in Chelsea. Careful, careful. You do? What do you mean? He's getting close to the address. Don't give it to him. No, he said Chelsea. He said Chelsea. Yeah, yeah, I can tell you the room.
Starting point is 00:18:50 Don't give him a street. And no, I'm just saying, do you want to have lunch at Cafe Clooney next week? That's all I'm saying in the West Bay. Can we have lunch for a second? Yeah. Why not? Yeah, we could do that.
Starting point is 00:18:59 Yeah, it's a great place. I'm going to be there if you'd like to have lunch. I'm going to get. You're going to get the table. Let me ask you about this. The amount of focus it takes to write, I've done it once and it was a very long time ago and it was very humbling and I've got a massive amount
Starting point is 00:19:12 of respect for folks that can fill a blank page. Once you go through that process and you've really, you know, grinded away at the wordsmith of it all and then an actor starts to play with that dialogue on set and starts to kind of go off a little bit and round the edges and, you know, paraphrase a little here or there. Does that, are you good with that or does it make you crazy? And then I've got to follow up to this and I think you know where I'm going.
Starting point is 00:19:37 But go ahead. Oh, yeah. So no, as a, like, again, my background is playwriting and no one changes the words ever because when you do a play, I mean, as a, like again, my background is playwriting and no one changes the words ever because when you do a play, I mean as you all know. Well, yeah, that but also like most playwrights are dead so you're just not, theater actors are not in the habit of changing dialogue, you know. And then so this is my second movie and yeah,
Starting point is 00:19:58 I just, yeah, it doesn't, it brings weird to my ear so I don't like it but you know, occasionally somebody's so brilliant like Kieran, as you met, he's so clever and quick and spontaneous. So he would sometimes change a word here and there and it was always really good. You wouldn't come in after a take and go, huh, okay, all right.
Starting point is 00:20:16 It's just a script here. Like just gonna double check. Yeah, sorry, I'm just gonna leave it right in front of you just because we don't have a coaster. You must have gotten an old. You must have gotten an old. You must have gotten an old. You read it from a different... Exactly, yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:29 So then, it wasn't onerous to you to work on social network with Aaron Sorkin's stuff, who is somewhat famously, an um versus uh is sometimes a problem. You have to really stay strict to that. Is that true, was that your experience on that film? And if so, was it a hassle? That wasn't my experience,
Starting point is 00:20:58 but I don't also think I tried to change anything. It wasn't like I had a clever idea that was like funnier than Aaron Sorkin's joke. You know what I mean? No, but just in an effort to make it sound sort of just naturalistic and my character that's really interesting My character didn't talk in a naturalistic way He was kind of like this like almost robotic presence And so actually for me it felt like this is perfect In fact the gamesmanship of like adhering to this exact thing was part of the character
Starting point is 00:21:22 I just saw it by the way like, like last year for the first time. Oh, really? It was so good. And you got an Academy Award nomination for that, yeah? That's right, yeah. I mean, it's just incredible. So good, right? Shawn's at the official review, so I'm just going to log it.
Starting point is 00:21:38 Hey, um... Well, because I was like... Shawn's hot takes. Oh, hang on, there's more. Go ahead, Shawn. So it's a so good ellipsis. Well, because I was like I think I wanted because oh hang on this work go ahead Sean So it's a so good ellipsis I avoided it because I knew there was gonna be a lot of talking in it and then but yeah I watched it and I was like, oh I wasn't this is so fucking I mean, this is yeah
Starting point is 00:21:57 Jesse's interview, but I'm having a tough time escaping from I avoid it because I knew there'd be a lot of talking in it a tough time escaping from, I avoided it because I knew there'd be a lot of talking in it. Yeah. Fucking... Go down that? I mean, if ever there were an example of why we're living in idiocracy, this is it right now. It's a fucking blight on the entire civilization. People like you have fucking encouraged us to know we're in this fucking hole we can't
Starting point is 00:22:21 get out of because you want to drool in front of the fucking television. Hey, Jesse. Anyway. Having seen, having been in the social network, what did it, what impact did it have on you in your regard to social media, to Instagram specifically, social media in general, back then, a few years later, and now?
Starting point is 00:22:47 I mean, I never did it and don't do it, but I don't know, I feel weird like putting more stuff about myself online. Like it's already kind of embarrassing. You know, like it's weird to be a public person in general, so I didn't want to go online, but that's mostly has to do with my just complete discomfort with myself and so like I didn't want to like talk about, you know, I guess things. But, you know, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:23:08 I'm suspicious of it for so many other reasons too. And, you know, the movie depicts like this person creating it who does not have like what I would consider like kind of healthy social relationships. And so like if this product is the extension of this person's social behavior, then this is not great. Well, yeah, that's a really good way to put it. In effect, that this person's behavior, this person's outlook on human relationships
Starting point is 00:23:36 is now being projected. Exactly. As a mode of living and as a mode of people interacting. And now... But think about it this way too, like, we used to interact like in kind of ways that are kind of mushy, you know, you would make a weird joke and the person wouldn't react the way, so you wouldn't make that joke again, or you would find that somebody has the same sense of humor. And like, what relationships get reduced to like on line, and forgive me because I'm not on these things,
Starting point is 00:24:03 but this is my kind of cynical attitude towards it is like we like the same band and so it hooks us up and everything. And that's essentially like the character I was playing could interact with people like that on this very much like we both like this band, let's stand here and talk about it. And like that's the way the thing works too.
Starting point is 00:24:22 It recommends this person to you or if you're dating, it recommends this person to you. And it just takes out the squishy humanness that we have in our lives outside of the internet. Yeah, for sure. However, I mean, you speak, you've spoken before, you've spoken already in this episode about your, you know, not to belittle it, to be honest,
Starting point is 00:24:44 it's charming, your self-effacing, sort of that you're comfortable with yourself, and I get it, we all are, but I feel like these social media things are meant to be a tool to actually help folks that don't. That's true, and probably it does. Yeah, that wouldn't get out to a bar and start. So I'm wondering if, you know.
Starting point is 00:25:08 I'm sure you're right. I truly know nothing about this because I'm not on it. I haven't had the experience of being on it. No, no, no. Jason, I think that there is, that's what it's sold as. And I think that in its best version, were people actually looking to do that and it wasn't used as a way to enrich people,
Starting point is 00:25:30 then that's what it would do. Unfortunately, what has become is it's designed to keep you engaged to sell ads. Now, what it's done is it's designed to keep you opening the app. Here he comes. So that your eyeballs will be exposed to advertisers. We all need advertisers.
Starting point is 00:25:52 I'm not, but it keeps us all employed. Of course. That is its design. And it's not to keep people engaged. And I think that there was a time that maybe that was the idea. And maybe that's what the social, when it was called The Facebook was about, but unfortunately what it has become is become this thing that's become incredibly divisive
Starting point is 00:26:12 and all it's done is reinforced, instead of celebrating the similarities, it's reinforced the differences between people. It's had the opposite effect. It's stunning. All these kinds of things. We're talking, you know, we talk about inclusion, so all these things that all they've done
Starting point is 00:26:30 is help create these many barriers between us all and said, I'm this and I'm this and I'm this and you're that. And we've created more division, I think. I don't know. Yeah, that's my perspective. But my perspective is really as an outsider because I haven't been on it.
Starting point is 00:26:50 But yeah, like that, it creates isolation, sectarianism, all this stuff. Wait, are you on social media? No, no, no. I'm kidding. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I'm actually live tweeting this whole thing. Like, going great.
Starting point is 00:27:05 Sean said social network is so good. Um. Um. Um. Thumbs up. Yeah. Now, studying anthropology and social psychology in college, yes?
Starting point is 00:27:16 Yeah, yes. Now, why did you study that when you knew you wanted to do what you're doing now? Or did you do it at the same time? Yeah, no, I was like, I went to college for 18 years before I got my degree, because I would like go to a semester and then take off and work, you know, and then go back.
Starting point is 00:27:33 And so I got my degree during the pandemic finally. Oh, you're serious? It took you 18 years to get it? Yeah, exactly, it took me 18 years, yeah, exactly. No way. Way, yeah, like the second 18 years of my life, yeah, from 18 to 36. And I chose anthropology,
Starting point is 00:27:46 because that was my wife's degree. She graduated like many, many years before. So that was her degree, and I just wanted to have something to talk about with her. That's cool. Yeah, because I knew I wanted, because I- Because otherwise it's silence. I wanted to be in the arts.
Starting point is 00:28:00 Yeah, otherwise she would not talk to me. Would you define anthropology for me? Yeah, anthropology is like the study of, and I'm using quotes, the other, it's the study of other cultures, the study of other people. What you learn from it is that your culture is not superior to another culture,
Starting point is 00:28:14 even if that culture is like, let's say, more poor or something. You learn to kind of view cultures as their own value to the effect that they have on each other. So an anthropologist would go to study, famously go to Samoan village, Margaret Mead is a famous anthropologist, go to a Samoan village and live with them
Starting point is 00:28:37 and study their ways and everything. I literally asked somebody last night who has a master in anthropology, I asked her to define it. Same question last night. She said something very similar, and I said, well, what is the difference between that and sociology? And she said that sociology is much more data-driven.
Starting point is 00:28:52 Is that fair? Yeah, yeah, my dad's PhD is social psychology, and so he was studying basically human behavior irrespective of culture. It was about people interacting with each other. Anthropology really focuses on cultures. Right, right, right. Wow, so, and you got your bachelor's or master's?
Starting point is 00:29:12 I got my bachelor's degree. Yeah. That's amazing. Bachelor's degree and then your dad's got a PhD. Yeah. This is an accomplished family. Jay, what'd you learn on the set of Ned and Stacey? I remember you did it on that episode. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:29:22 I learned how to scoop a bagel, you know? That's where I started really cutting the carbs. So Jesse, but first of all, by the time you're 65, you get your master's. But second, you, that's really funny. In your studies, what is the one kind of culture that you found the most fascinating or actually interacted with or whatever?
Starting point is 00:29:45 Best and least, and least, to be fair. The least fascinating culture. Okay, the most boring culture, you guys, is I'm doing top 10 worst cultures. I would love if you got on Instagram just so you could start posting things like the worst cultures. Yeah, and this one is boring but also stupid.
Starting point is 00:30:05 So, okay, this one, no, I mean, well, I kind of like, I did my like ethnography, which is like, you know, your big thesis. I did it on this like, this restaurant in Chelsea that was like the last remaining authentic Latin American restaurant because everything else had been, you know, gentrified away. And this place was, but it was so, it was kind of a cheat because it was like down the block. And I got to eat there while I was doing my field research, you know
Starting point is 00:30:27 But it was it was really interesting to see how this place was trying to survive against, you know Yeah, you do restaurants. I thought it was like cultures across the world. Like you're like it is this was cultural Oh, okay, my wife my wife went to Nicaragua restaurant review dude No, and actually what restaurant was it we can always cut it out. I was called Restaurant review, dude? Yeah, no. It's not a restaurant. Yeah, no. And actually we published... Wait, what restaurant was it? We can always cut it out. It was called La Taza de Oro.
Starting point is 00:30:51 It's not there anymore. Yeah. We published the thesis actually to Yelp, so it was interesting to get to publish. Oh, wow. No, no, no, I'm kidding. Not every student gets their work published, but for me, it went, you know, it was in the bottom. When I got my PhD from food porn on Instagram.
Starting point is 00:31:12 Fucking. All right. Now, what about, let's talk about, what about, was, was Squid and the Whale the thing that, that sort of launched you a bit? No, I was in a movie before that when I was like 18. Roger Dodger? Yeah, Roger Dodger, right out of high school, yeah. And it was like the difference
Starting point is 00:31:34 between having an acting career or not. It was literally a difference, because I was supposed to go to college that year, and my dad, I pled with him. I was like, please just read the script, it's so good. And my dad read it and said, okay, you could take off a semester and do this movie. And the movie was like not a hit,
Starting point is 00:31:49 but it was like popular amongst people who like movies. And then that meant, again, God bless Wikipedia, that meant no NYU for you, but the new school when you were done with it, yes? Yes, oh my God. Which paragraph are you up to? I've been up for at least an hour and a half. Are you into, is that early career in school or are you on personal info?
Starting point is 00:32:08 I think it's either controversies. Because sometimes they mix it up, you know what I mean? Like sometimes they... I think it's under cancellation. All right, so then, so you do Roger Dodger and you feel... Wait, can I just say this? Sorry to get it. Can I just say, it is a real, I may have mentioned this before, but it is a real testament to who you are in this world
Starting point is 00:32:29 when your filmography has its own page on Wikipedia. Have you ever noticed that? Oh yeah. What does that mean? That is something else. Well, he's going to somebody's and they have filmography and then goes, and there's a link. Oh, it transfers you?
Starting point is 00:32:40 It transfers, there's a link. I have seen that before, yeah. Because it has its own page. Oh, is that what's happening here? That is the highest of thought. That is the goal, that is the goal. Yeah, you know you've made it when you have to transfer. So there's a feeling that is very tangible,
Starting point is 00:32:56 that it's like, oh, I think I might be able to make a career out of this, based on this sort of new found access and inclusion, yes? Exactly, exactly. And like right after that movie, I got like offered another movie and it was to pay scale. It was like a movie, I don't think it ever got made.
Starting point is 00:33:12 It was probably like a $50,000 budget. But I remember going to my dad and like, I could get jobs, like I could literally just get jobs. Cause before that, you know, I was auditioning for commercials and anything that I could possibly get an audition for and you know, understudies and plays and stuff like that so it felt like oh I can literally make a career and a possible living from this.
Starting point is 00:33:30 Right and then what was the next big job? Was it Squid and the Whale? Yeah actually no right before that I did this movie Cursed with it was dimension and it was dimension so it was run by Bob Weinstein and and this guy would, it was crazy, this guy, basically it was a Wes Craven directed movie, and Bob Weinstein would just constantly scrap everything we'd done to the point where we shot, it was supposed to be a 55 day shoot, we shot 125 days,
Starting point is 00:33:55 because this guy, Bob Weinstein, who's not like, you know, a writer, you know, would just decide that he wanted to change everything in the script, and it was crazy, it was crazy, and fascinating to work with that man. I wonder what he's up to right now. I think we know what his brother's doing, but wonder what father's doing.
Starting point is 00:34:09 Probably his neck in lawsuits. No, I'm kidding. No, I'm kidding. What he's up to. I wanted to turn down the movie and he called me in for a meeting and he's threatened my career. And then he said, at the end, as I was leaving,
Starting point is 00:34:22 he said, I know where you live. I said, what? Jesus Christ. And I was like are you kidding? And he was like no no no she told me. His casting director. He goes no no no she told me where you live. Oh these guys.
Starting point is 00:34:31 Wow. What a duo. I know. Unbelievable. When all this stuff came out with the brother I was just like oh yeah I've been telling this story forever and people sometimes can't believe it. It sounds so shocking and then of course my story was like nothing compared to. Right, yeah, cute. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:34:46 Yeah, it's so cute. All right, so now. Yeah, you're like, who knew? It's just like a fun banter for a podcast. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, not like... So now we're to Squid and the Whale
Starting point is 00:34:58 with the great Laura Linney, the incredible Noah Baumbach. Did you, and Jeff Daniels, did you learn a great deal from Mr. Baumbach there with the writing and the directing? Did that plant an early seed for you? Well, it's just like he was writing just stuff that amused him, and so that was the trick. It's like, oh yeah, you can write the things that you like
Starting point is 00:35:24 and it'll translate, hopefully. And the other main thing I learned was the trick. It's like, oh yeah, you can write the things that you like and it'll translate, you know, hopefully. And the other main thing I learned was from Lauren. I don't know if she ever did this to you, probably. But she had a slap me in the movie. Has she slapped you? Probably. Probably, yeah. Okay, so this is what she told me.
Starting point is 00:35:38 Right before she slapped me, she said, do you know what the trick is to slap somebody in a movie? And I was like, no, please tell me. Thank you, tell me. She just whacked you, surprise. Yeah, she goes, you look the person in the eye and then you hit them with your hand. And I was like, oh, that's not a trick at all.
Starting point is 00:35:51 And so she just spent the night slapping me. And that was the trick. And then in this movie I made with Kieran, I said, you know, I have to slap him at the end of the movie and it's this big thing at the end of the movie. And I told him, do you know the trick? I learned this from the great Laura Linney and I was like, you just, I slap you really hard.
Starting point is 00:36:07 And that was- You just gotta make sure you have eye contact. Yeah, exactly, make eye contact. Yeah. Which doesn't mitigate the feeling at all. No, it doesn't. It makes it more personal. If anything, it makes it worse.
Starting point is 00:36:16 Exactly. Yes, that's true. I've had to do some slaps and I've found that you just have to change the timing of it on every single take so that you get that genuine surprise. You know? Oh, that's interesting. Which is not really fair to the person receiving the slap,
Starting point is 00:36:31 but it's great for the audience. On Will and Grace, if we were to slap somebody, Jimmy Burrows would clap off screen. Wait, what? Time it to our face. Really? Oh, but you were not actually near them? Like not hitting them?
Starting point is 00:36:45 You would fake the slap. You would go just in front of their face, but he would time it and he would just clap. Oh, that's interesting. So that the audience would hear that it wasn't a miss. Yes, that's right. The great Jimmy Burroughs. By the way, and that's the sound
Starting point is 00:36:59 that they would keep in the show. Oh, wow. JB, do you remember season one of Arrested Development? I was in a wheelchair and I was wearing a hospital gown and you were leaning down in front of me. It was the end of an episode and you were leaning down in front of me and as you leaned down I slapped you in the face. It was not in the script.
Starting point is 00:37:14 It was apropos of nothing. I slapped you and you looked at me and my bare leg was showing because I was wearing a hospital gown and as you got up you slapped the inside of my legs so much As hard as I could hard as I walk and in the show I go Oh, just cuz it really it really happened you fucking killed me right and it was safe to do that because you're in a wheelchair You can't possibly get up and run after my character couldn't get up and run after him so he knew the character. Yeah Was it it was not it was happened on one take In the show and that's the one they use.
Starting point is 00:37:47 And I learned on the tour, the smartless tour, that Jason will just, I've never had somebody do this in my entire life, he would just walk up to me and slap me on my face. Yeah. Just sort of like a... Just make eye contact? Hey buddy. I love the way you act like you're just as surprised as everybody, Jason.
Starting point is 00:38:05 You just went, yeah, I know, I learned that. Isn't that crazy? Yeah, like I just do that. Like I do it all the time. It's a love tap, y'all. Well, it's pretty hard. We'll be right back. And now back to the show.
Starting point is 00:38:24 Now, speaking of magic, the magic of movies, let's get to Now You See Me. So there was a lot of magic in that, or illusions, sorry Will, illusions. No worries, yeah, sure. I would imagine you did a little bit of training for that. Have you retained any magical talents? Like, do you have a go-to card trick?
Starting point is 00:38:43 I do, I do, and it's weird weird because I have like muscle memory from it. We just finished doing the third movie like a month ago and I just do the same one trick I know. And for audiences who are paying attention, they'll realize that the greatest magician in the world knows one trick. Yeah? Yeah. I just repurposed the one thing I learned.
Starting point is 00:38:59 Yeah. In a different outfit. Someone was doing a magic thing at something I was at last week and I just thought that, like, and he did a series of magical tricks, as they do, before they're done with their set. And by the time you get to like the third trick, you know your mind's gonna be blown. You know you're gonna be like,
Starting point is 00:39:18 oh my God, how do you do that? And you just sort of like click into a gear of like, all right, let's see it. Here comes another sort of mind-bending wow. And what I thought was, what would really be impressive at this point is to now tell us how you did it. Because I know I'm going to be shocked.
Starting point is 00:39:35 What would be really impressive is to see how you're doing this stuff, how you trained yourself and taught yourself to hide all these things that I didn't see. So when is magic gonna change into that, perhaps? God, when are you gonna enjoy life? When? When will you enjoy anything?
Starting point is 00:39:53 That's the magic. That's the magic. My heart is breaking from you. I just had therapy, but when we're done, I'm gonna call him and I'm gonna bring you in, JB. Jump on with Terry. Fuck, man. Oh, God, my heart.
Starting point is 00:40:04 I wanna- Please just see a Terry. I wanna hug you. You wonder if you see the same Terry I used to? I really wanna hug you right now. and JB jump on with Terry, fuck man, oh God, my heart. I want to drive a Terry. I want to hug you. I wonder if you see the same Terry I used to. I really want to hug you right now. I feel just, there's just zero inner. You can't experience wonder. I'll take it, I'll take a hug anytime or slab.
Starting point is 00:40:16 But Jason, there is this show on TV, it was called like Breaking the Magician's Code or something like that. It's like Magic's Biggest Secrets or something like that. And's like magic's biggest secrets or something like that. And they did that. They revealed all those big tricks. Oh, they did. How they did it, I thought was fascinating.
Starting point is 00:40:30 I wanna see that. I'll look at that. And then what are you left with? Then I'll just start reading ingredients on food packaging, just knowing what's on the inside. There's tons of stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Read credits on movies.
Starting point is 00:40:41 You're gonna peek behind every curtain. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, when you hear about these, like when you hear how these magicians have done the trick though, sometimes it's far more impressive than the trick because the kind of work that went into making something look seamless is like, you know, shocking.
Starting point is 00:40:55 Right, right, right, right. All right, talk to me about your move into directing, why that happened and when it happened, was it simply a result of you arriving at a place in your career where you could say, hey, I want to now direct, and you had the sort of industry capital in order to say that, or did it happen more organically than that?
Starting point is 00:41:24 No, I basically- In other words, had you wanted to do it for a long, long time and then? No, I basically- In other words, had you wanted to do it for a long, long time and then- No, I've always just wanted to write plays and then my last play, which was like 2019, just like wasn't received well and I was like kind of really, yeah, like kind of heartbroken or whatever.
Starting point is 00:41:35 Like the play wasn't received well. And I mean, the actors were amazing in it, but the play wasn't received well. And like, so I just was like, I have to try something else. I just made me feel bad. And there was like scrutiny in a way that felt like mean-spirited in a way just was like, I have to try something else. It just made me feel bad. And there was scrutiny in a way that felt mean-spirited in a way that was like, oh, this is industry can be. I mean, movies can also be quite cool.
Starting point is 00:41:52 But just something about theater because it's such a small community. I don't know, it just, anyway. So I just thought, let me try to, I'll do a movie next. Yeah, no, but I love writing plays more than anything. But I just thought maybe I should do a movie. Because yeah, and the thing you said about Clout, that like, I did, I guess, feel not so much Clout,
Starting point is 00:42:10 but more like, oh, I feel like I've been around it enough to kind of have an understanding of what to do. I know that sounds so lame, like I didn't go to film school, but I just felt like I've been on sets that have been great and I've been on sets that didn't work and I've been on sets that were terrible sets but made great movies and vice versa. I felt like, oh no, I think I know what to do
Starting point is 00:42:26 if I can write something that is like tailored to my limited skill set. There's nothing wrong, yeah, you obviously, you're around it, you pick up on it, and it makes sense that you would want to sort of take agency and kind of do it yourself. And Sean last week, watching his chef open tuna cans, and finally he was like,
Starting point is 00:42:46 I'm gonna open a tuna can. It's not dissimilar, you know what I mean? I can pinch the top on it and make the water come out. Or at least let me try it. I can eat the Hershey's syrup out of the bottle. You know what I mean? Watch me squirt it. Of course.
Starting point is 00:43:00 And I think in Sean's case it is cloud. I think you feel you've worked up to this. And I think the industry recognizes that you can open up stuff. I didn't want to embarrass anybody. Yeah. No, and it's good that you're finally in a place where you feel like, yes, I can do that,
Starting point is 00:43:13 and yes, I'm not going to get. It's really good. Thank you. Yeah, thank you, Mr. Einstein. So wait, so you were feeling a little in your fee-fees about getting the bad reviews basically on the play, and then you thought you'd go for something with even higher exposure directing a film
Starting point is 00:43:30 where you would, opening yourself up to even more spread audience. Yeah, I was very brave of you. You went the other way. Oh, thanks. I mean, I don't know. Yeah, but I guess I'm used to scrutiny. I mean, I'm used to scrutiny and I care about it so much,
Starting point is 00:43:46 I guess while it's happening, and then literally not the next day. I just, you know, I don't want to be governed. Laura Linney said the greatest thing, that I actually didn't hear her say, but my dad heard her on Charlie Rose talk about this 20 years ago, but they asked, or he asked her, do you read reviews?
Starting point is 00:43:59 And she says, no, because I don't want somebody else to tell me how to do my job. And my dad was telling me this, because I'm such a, I was like a self-conscious person. He said, your colleague who you were in that movie with, this is how she views it. And it did really change my perspective. That's interesting.
Starting point is 00:44:14 Yeah. It is a really odd concept. I totally understand the aggregate of them all, right? So Rotten Tomatoes, where they put them all, and then there's sort of like a consensus. Does this work for the general public, I suppose, since you're making a public effort with your art? But specific reviewers, their specific take
Starting point is 00:44:37 on how it affected them as an individual, well, we're not making things for one individual, we're making things for a whole public, and so it's not going to work for some people and that doesn't mean that it's broken. But I also saw, like, well, I think you're right about the aggregate thing, but at the same time, have there been films or pieces or music that have gotten bad reviews that you really like?
Starting point is 00:44:58 Oh my God, yeah, of course. Can you think of one? Think of a film that's... Yeah, the New World, a Terrence Malick film, The New World, got not great reviews. Interstellar, Chris Nolan's film, not great reviews. Sean, what about you? I love those two films.
Starting point is 00:45:11 Yeah, Interstellar's. I mean, I can't think of them, but I know that, or I'll look on Rotten Tomatoes and conversely. The latest Batman film, I thought, was incredible. Jesse, can you think of a film? I mostly have it with theater. I mostly have it with theater where I am enthralled by a piece and then I look online,
Starting point is 00:45:29 I'm like, how is this torn apart? This is the greatest thing I've ever seen. Because there's something about, and I don't know, maybe that even has to do with different performances off for different things. I don't know. Yeah. But I do think that all the time.
Starting point is 00:45:39 But I'll go the other way too. I feel the same way season three of Ned and Stacey. Sorry, go ahead Sean. I'll look at Rotten Tomatoes and something will get like 90% or 95%. And I'll watch it and I'm like, oh good, they did the work for me. It's gonna be great, right?
Starting point is 00:45:54 Right, right. And it's terrible. I loved Tenet. Nobody, a lot of Tenet, the Crystal Lomovie got ruined. I've seen it three times. Right during COVID, it got lost, right? I loved it.
Starting point is 00:46:04 Sean, you didn't love it. I loved it. I didn't get it. Yeah, I didn three times. But during COVID, it got lost, right? I loved it. Sean, you didn't love it. I loved it. I didn't get it. Yeah, I didn't understand. You didn't love it. One more thing about the directing thing. Have you ever gotten a really crazy direction from a director?
Starting point is 00:46:19 That's A. Yeah. B, how has getting weird direction from directors affected the way in which you interface with actors? Also, being an actor yourself. And you've worked some incredible directors and I'm sure you've been able to cherry pick from the best of them and decided what not to do
Starting point is 00:46:39 from the bad ones. But was there one in particular moment where you're like, I will never ever do that to a poor actor or a crew member? Only my friend, like, Ruben Fleischer, who I think you guys know, like, you know, he just, oh, he did like the Zombieland movies and then we just did, Now You See Me Together. I've worked with him a lot.
Starting point is 00:46:56 And I just remember on like the first Zombieland, we were shooting in like what was supposed to be like a mansion. And so he was like several rooms away on the monitor. And I just heard this muffled scream, now smile! And I was like, I could understand that he was kind of talking to me.
Starting point is 00:47:10 But also, I'm not like a smiler, you know, but also like, it can't come, that's not the way you act. Like, oh, my face will smile, you know. So that was just something I was like, oh yeah, I'll never do that. But I love Ruben and now he's great. But you guys have worked with Greg Metola, I think too.
Starting point is 00:47:29 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And he's just like my favorite. Like the way he handled the crew and the cast. And I had like, which happened to me maybe two or three times in my life, I had like kind of a panic attack during a scene and I just shut down and I just couldn't act. I don't know what happened, I just couldn't act.
Starting point is 00:47:44 And so it was on this movie, Adventureland, I took him aside and I said, I'm so sorry, I don't know what happened, I think I had a panic attack. And I thought he was going to say, well, you know, I thought he was going to respond annoyed. And he said, I don't understand how you're not having a panic attack every scene. Like, you're exposing yourself, you're bringing your emotions,
Starting point is 00:48:01 you're trying to not think about your own vanity. And I just remember thinking, that's the way I want not think about your own vanity. He is such a sweet man. And I just remember thinking, that's the way I want to think about actors forever, which is that they're already doing this difficult thing. They're trying to avoid thinking about their face being blown up on screen. They're avoiding thinking about the scrutiny
Starting point is 00:48:16 that they're gonna get. They're trying to live in the moment despite 100 stranger standing around them. And so that was a key for me. He's just the best, isn't he? Right, which is why I don't understand, for the most part, we actors are pretty crazy. And I'm talking about myself.
Starting point is 00:48:30 I'm fucking nuts. And I'm filled with neuroses and insecurities. It is a helpful tool to pull, it's a helpful tool to call on when you're playing vulnerable characters. The central thing that we are doing, which is being up there in front of the camera, sort of is at odds with the inherent insecurities a lot of us have. So speak about that because again, getting back to you're so self-effacing and honest about your own neuroses. How were you possibly drawn to this incredibly, you know, exposing profession?
Starting point is 00:49:10 Because to me, to have like a prescribed way of behaving because of a character and lines, I feel so comfortable. Like the thing that makes me nervous is like you go into a party and what do I say to this person? Don't remember this person. What did this person tell me? Why do I have to be funny in this thing? I just want to go home.
Starting point is 00:49:26 Like, to have like a prescribed way. Like, you're playing this character, they wear these pants that we put you in, and you have to now go talk to that other person in this voice. Like, oh yeah, this is the greatest thing in the world. It's much more calming, yeah. So calming.
Starting point is 00:49:36 Now what about, I had the same feeling, and then I started doing talk shows when I was a kid, and it freaked me out because you have to be you. And there is no script. And it's like- And there is no you. Right, exactly. We talk about panic attacks, I'm prone to panic as well.
Starting point is 00:49:54 And talk shows for a long time were just like my kryptonite. It's the only thing that still freaks me out in our industry. Like literally nothing else but going on these talk shows at night freak me out because I don't, I can't be funny telling a story for like the second time. You know? I don't know.
Starting point is 00:50:12 I've seen you on talk shows, Jesse. You're always, you kill it every time. Yeah, you're awesome. I agree, I've seen you too. Because I try to not tell the story on the show that I told to the person before the day. Because I know if I did that, it would just be weird and phony.
Starting point is 00:50:26 You'd be trying to remember what made them laugh on the phone. Kind of like a performance. But if you get a great host like Kimmel or Conan or those guys, they'll go with you, right? You can kind of freestyle and they can just get into a conversation and you forget you're even in front of people.
Starting point is 00:50:41 But you're doing this now, then you're doing Graham Norton. Do you ever get burnt out by all of the chatter that you have to come up with? I don't, I don't. I feel like an adrenaline rush when I'm meeting people like you who are really funny, and him, I'm sure he's very funny.
Starting point is 00:50:56 You get the adrenaline rush of doing a thing that's fun. Right, and when you're promoting something that you love, like this great movie, A Real Pain, I'm sure it's just like you could talk all day about it. Yeah, I guess, yeah, because I've done junkets that we all have for things that have not gone well. And yeah, that can be really uncomfortable and you're kind of just parsing the evil.
Starting point is 00:51:17 Before we let you go, I just wanted to find you on social media, if I wanted to find you on social media, what you're holding. Yeah, exactly, it's at the real. At the real. at the real. Yeah. At the real. Jesse, you're awesome. You're funny as shit.
Starting point is 00:51:28 You're talented as hell. Nice as ever. Thanks. Oh thanks. I love your show. Thank you so much for having me on it. Thank you buddy. Say hi to Karen and Daniel and Graham.
Starting point is 00:51:36 Enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you very, very much for doing this buddy. Thank you so much guys. It's such a fucking pleasure having you dude. Oh yeah. Thank you. Such an honor too. Okay well hi.
Starting point is 00:51:44 Hi. Hi. Hi. Enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you very, very much for doing this, buddy. You're very busy right now. It's such a fucking pleasure having you, dude. Oh yeah, thank you, such an honor too. Okay, well have a great morning. Look forward to meeting you one day in person. Yeah, me too. All right, buddy, all right, enjoy. Bye bye.
Starting point is 00:51:58 Now there's a nice fella. Love that guy. Yeah, he's really funny. Love that guy. I have no idea what to expect. Did you know him before this? Me neither, no. Now I want to. I have no idea what to expect. Did you know him before this? Me neither.
Starting point is 00:52:05 No, now I wanna do a lot of in person with him. I wanna find him at a party and corner him. Yeah. I know, I'm going to Cafe Clooney to have lunch with him next week. Hey, you don't, nice pipes, Will. Well, what part, Will just removed his sleeves. I know. Jesus.
Starting point is 00:52:20 I just rolled them up. Well, what part of your brain, what part of your brain came up with Ned and Stacey? I don't know. Well, that's the place where Will and I first met. That's where Jason and I first met on the set of Ned and Stacey. What are you talking about? That was the Debra Messing show.
Starting point is 00:52:32 He was buddies. Yeah, correct. I was doing a guest shot on it, and Will was friends with Nadia. Dejani. Dejani. And we all went out for drinks after the show, as one does. And there I was with Will at the bar,
Starting point is 00:52:47 apparently getting hammered because- We were getting hammered, and Jason had a very weak bladder because he kept going to the bathroom. Yeah. And- And it was years later that I said to Will after I had put down the bottle.
Starting point is 00:53:02 Like seven years later. Yeah, I said to Will, and Will hadn't been drinking either for a long time, I said, boy, fuck, I wish you and I had really gotten together when we were drinking, you know, and we would have had so much fun. And he just looked at me and goes, oh, we did. And I had no recollection of partying with him that night.
Starting point is 00:53:21 That's so funny. I love that Jesse. I mean, that Jesse Eisenberg, he's really left me in a great, great mood. High quality guy, high talent guy, high intelligence guy. The guy, he's a writer, he's an actor. I guess you could call him bi-talented. No?
Starting point is 00:53:46 Sorry, I'm trying not to go, I'm trying not to do the fucking Sean-y. Bi- like what? You do it, you do it, let's hear it. Okay. Bi-talented. Yeah, why is that, why do you go into that? It feels good, it feels really good in my throat.
Starting point is 00:53:59 Can we harmonize the bi-talented? Okay, ready, ready, go. One, two, three. Bi- No, someone's gotta go high, someone's gotta go Okay, ready, ready, go. One, two, three. By. No, someone's gotta go high, someone's gotta go low, someone's gotta go middle. I'll go middle. I'll go middle, you go high,
Starting point is 00:54:11 and Will will go low. Ready? Sean, you start. Okay, no, you gotta start at the base. By. By. By. Talented.
Starting point is 00:54:24 Smart. Smart. SmartLess is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Michael Grant Terry, Rob Armjav, and Bennett Barbico. Smart. Less.

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