SmartLess - "Keri Russell"

Episode Date: October 28, 2024

We chop some pillows with one of our favorite humans: Ms. Keri Russell. M is for Monday, The Mickey Mouse Club, microplastics, and Margo Martindale. Get real much? 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.

Hello, listener. We're in the middle of a songwriting operation here with Sean P. Hayes. Okay, it goes like this. We are three guys talking today. We one of us just might be gay. There's just two that might be straight. Can I just, sorry just might be gay. Hey, hey. There's just two that might be straight. Can I just, sorry, might be gay? Yeah, because nobody knows which one of the three of us is.

You think that nobody knows which one of the three of us. No, one of us is definitely gay. Can you work that? Everybody knows. Five, six, seven, eight. What are you talking about? We are three guys talking today. One of us is definitely gay.

Hey, hey. Welcome to Smartless. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smart. Less.

So, Sean, you're still in New York City. Yeah, I am. Would you ever consider living there full time? So Sean, you're still in New York City. Yeah, I am. Would you ever consider living there full time? It's funny you say that. No, because Scottie and I had a long conversation about it. We have the short version?

Yes. I mean, this is what, this is the rhythm of the question answer dynamic. The walk us through what's is you're sitting in a chair, Scotty brings a couple pop tarts, he puts them in front of you, he says, Sean, I want to talk to you about something. Yes, all right. No, for the first time ever, I've been kind of getting used

to it, like I understand, because I associate the city with work and work only, and because I've had some extra downtime, I was like, oh, I finally get it. I never walked through Central Park. I walk through Central Park all the time now. I was like, God, this place is huge and it's beautiful. By the way, you know what I do when I walk? I started walking in Central Park at dusk.

And what I do is I flex my lats and hold my head up really high because I'm scared somebody's, to make myself appear bigger than I am. So I don't. And you think the lats will do it. Yeah, because I get scared. You think that your lats are scared. Yeah.

It's like a cobra, you know, you flare out the back. That's right, that's exactly right. You make yourself seem bigger. Hey, I'm going to, we got one right here, we got a live one right here. Oh fuck, are you crazy? Look at the lats on this guy. Look at the fuck, like a bat wings.

I'm staying away. Abort, abort. The great Will Speck knows how to flare out the old bat wings. I do though, I get scared. Sean, quick question. The blanket that's draped over the chair behind you, who did it?

I did it. You did that? You fold it and then you drape it. And you did the drape. It's nice, yeah. Do you punch the pillows? You're not a pillow karate chopper, yeah, thanks. Sorry JB, yeah, you're not a karate chopper. Scotty probably a little bit more than me, yeah. I don't care about that as much.

But a little bit more, so you're saying you're both going around chopping pillows. Yeah, that's not a euphemism. Well, listen, but you know, Sean and Scotty have nice things. Look at behind him there. We got sconces, we've got stuff on the bookshelves, other than books. JB, have you been to their apartment in New York?

No, never invited. That's terrific. Oh, that's great. I invited you, I asked you, you had to work, but I said you and Franny come over when Franny was in. Just the once. Have you been in New York recently at all, JB? Yeah. Yeah, you haven't. Since January. Yeah, since been in New York recently at all, JB? Yeah.

Yeah, you haven't. Since January. Yeah, since January, okay. Oh my God, please come over anytime. No, no, no, no, why start now? Will, you've been there a couple times? I have, yeah. After you guys got back from Istanbul,

did you go through there? I keep a few things there, just because I'm there so much. Do you really? No, I don't, you fucking dummy. Hey, wait, Sean, what'd you just pull up in frame there? Is that, oh that's what we're talking about with Scotch, is it apple juice?

It's apple juice. It's so good, right, with a lot of ice. You're drinking apple juice with ice? Yes. You have a real, I'll bet you a half a dozen max of our listeners know someone that drinks a glass of milk or three every day and apple juice on ice.

That's right. I mean, you are absolutely, you are Mr. Americana. Yeah, you gotta. Not just that, it's like 1973 in your house. I have pop tarts too. No, we know, man. And slippers and. And then you have, you guys have a.

I got JB, I got JB a pair of these. Yes, you did. Wait, we've got a guest waiting. You know what, Sean, we do have a guest. I do want to say this, Sean, you were the first person and now I do it. This is years ago when he was wearing slippers and I go, hey man, are you wearing slippers at dinner?

No way. And he wore them out and I kind of went like, I guess it's okay to wear slippers out. I've never done it. Because I'm just going to my house to go sit down and eat and then go back to my house. Right. You know what I mean?

Well, sweatpants is the universal sign for when you've hit fuck it, right? When you're wearing sweatpants outside. But if you wear slippers. Well, JB, we live in an era now, though, where everybody, you know, they've called it athleisure to try to dress it up. So, and it's a huge, obviously,

it's a huge industry athleisure. It's a huge quarter of the year. Stop saying that. Well, I've never heard it before. Yeah, so it's a huge industry, athleisure, it's a huge quarter of the- Stop saying that. Well, I've never heard it before. Yeah, so when you see people out during the day and you're at the fucking Beverly Center and they're wearing stretchy pants and a stretch up

and you're like, are we in a workout class together? And they're like, no, I just walk around the world like this. Right, but it's so comfortable. I know, I know it's comfortable, man, but so are my fucking pajamas, But like, what am I doing? Yeah, we're naked. You're not allowed to walk around naked.

Yeah, we're not at your house, man. Yeah. We're not all. I could never do it, but I get like, I don't like jeans or pants that are super tight, you know, that they're constricting. God, I could go anywhere. Go ahead.

I get wanting to wear athletes. This is a humble brag. He's saying he needs a lot more room in there. I just think that the whole, I think that there's an entire segment of our population that it's hit, fuck it. It's not even fucking that they think that it's appropriate to like, by the way,

I wear shorts out sometimes and a t-shirt, but I'm not like, I don't say it. No. No. No. Jason, how much longer do you have to go on the show? Two weeks. Oh, that's it?

Can you believe it? And then it's all coming on now. Is it beard and hair at the same time? Yeah, over the course of two or three days, yeah, cause we gotta do the state of the flashback. I can't wait to see you clean shaven and clean. I know, I can't. I'm gonna look so weird.

Will you miss this look? I'll look old probably, right? Do you think I'll look older? Durr, yeah. Sorry, I meant to say durr. Right, because... Um... Because one...

Our guest liked it. Yeah, she seems like she's in a good mood. She's in a very good mood. You know what, let's get to her. She's so much fun, because I want to hear what she has to say about your face and your beard coming off and stuff. And I'm really excited because I love having

a good friend on here, especially like an old friend, somebody who likes to laugh and have a good time. Mix it up. Do we all know her? Do we all know her? Somebody, I don't know how well you two guys know her. She and I have been friends for a number of years and I'll tell you why, because you'll guess once I say why.

But she is, and I don't like it. you know, there's this thing now where people say in the world all the time Oh my god, you're my favorite human. I That expression drives me. Yeah, that's almost it's almost up there with wearing fucking stretch pants There are dogs that outrank you but as far as humans go they people use that you're my favorite human Just say person you one of my favorite people. You don't need to say human. But anyway, she is one of my favorite humans. Human.

And so I'm gonna use it. I'm breaking my own rule because I'm a hypocrite through and through. And she's just such a wonderful person. She's so fun to laugh with and talk to. She's super smart, super cool. But then when you look at, so I want to say that. I love her as a person, and I also love and respect her

as an artist, as a performer. She's so amazing. She's been nominated for UMTEME Awards, and she's won Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards for lots of different stuff. You might remember her from, you know, from the Mickey Mouse Club. You might know her from Honey, I Blew Up the Kid.

She was nominated for a Young Artist Award for that. She's gonna kill me. You might remember her from a lot of different things. You might remember from her two episodes of Roar that she did with Heath Ledger back in the day, but you're definitely gonna remember her from a lot of different things. You might remember from her two episodes of Roar that she did with Heath Ledger back in the day. But you're definitely gonna remember her. Definitely. Hand on buzzer, hand on buzzer.

Yeah, you're definitely gonna remember her from her show, which is going to a second season soon, The Diplomat. You also know her from The Americans. You know her from Felicity. You guys, it's my friend, Kari Russell. It's Margot Martindale. Oh, hey Russell. Oh my God, Sean, did you say Markdale?

Margot Martindale. Margot Martindale. Who is equally as great. There she is! Oh my God. Hello Kerry. Kerry! Oh my God, it's so great to see you. Margot Martindale!

Kerry Russell! Margot Martindale would be my favorite guest. Margot Martindale would be my favorite guest. Margot was busy, so we got Carrie. Understood, understood. I get it. But, and I didn't even want to mention, and I couldn't mention Matthew, because if I say, once I say Matthew,

then the jig is up. So I had to like work backwards, and I know you're gonna kill me. You're not gonna kill me for the Mickey Mouse Club. I love that. You were on the Mickey Mouse Club? Were you on when... With like Britney Spears and all that?

Was Ryan Gosling on that as well? No way. With them, you were on... All of you were on the same thing? Oh yeah. That's crazy. Ask me anything. This is... I mean, that is gold. That is pure gold.

Wait, Carrie. Hi. First of all, hi Carrie. Hi. So nice to see you. It is so nice to see you. So nice to see all of you. And you, are you home? I just got home. I've been filming in London and I just got home

just a few days ago. So I'm home getting kids ready for school. My teenagers helped me set all this stuff up. Oh, they did. Yeah, yeah. Are you good at adjusting time, different time zones? Or are you like still on jet lag? I'm jet lagged, but I really love the early mornings.

So even though I'm still getting up at four, it's like such a quiet time in my house. So I love just like pitter-pattering. Let me tell you something about Carrie. And Jason, you're going to appreciate this. And Sean, it goes to your question, which is, she's so disciplined. It's crazy. She can just like kind of do anything.

She's like, what's the task? Okay, so I'll do this. So's crazy. She can just like kind of do anything. She's like, what's the task? Okay, so I'll do this. So I'll get up early and I'll do the thing. Like she just does stuff. Are you a Capricorn, Carrie? I'm not. What are you?

I'm an Aries. I don't know. We don't know anything. That's the end of me. All I know is about my own sign. Really? And you're, well. Out of the not shocking department.

My wife can come in here and break you down. My wife would ask you, you're rising and you're moon. I don't know any of that, but I'm into it, but I don't know any of that. Wait, Carrie, do you remember that one time, this is like decades ago, and you know what I'm gonna say. We were, you were with an acting coach and you came out and I was going in

and that's when we first met. This is like 25, 30 years ago, like a super long time ago. Which acting coach? I don't remember. But it was her house, it was this acting coach's house and it was like a back, it was like a guest house in the back and you were coming out and I was going in and I was like, oh my God.

Be careful, because a lot of people listen to this. It was that, well, she's like a really intense teacher that she did like Al Pacino and stuff like that, right? Oh, crazy intense. Maybe, I don't know. Like, it was behind in her house, not Venice, but like kind of adjacent Venice, right? Sean, you don't remember her name either?

I don't. Sean, do you wish some of those classes had stuck? Like, do you wish some of the... I fucking wish some of those classes had stuck. That do you wish some of the... I fucking wish some of those classes had stuck. That would have been so fun if some of that had worked. For you, I mean. Sean, I wish some of those classes would have stuck. But yeah.

No, for me, I mean. What type of stuff, like, would you go in there with a specific set of sides for an audition that's coming up and you work on it? Oh, yes. Yeah, for sure. Or I got a monologue. I need a funny monologue and a dramatic monologue. Right.

Yeah. Or something. Carrie, do you remember what you were doing it for? Were you up for auditioning? I have no idea. or I got a monologue, I need a funny monologue and a dramatic monologue. Right. Carrie, do you remember what you were doing it for? Were you auditioning? I have no idea. Maybe a movie or something that, I don't know. I mean, I did it like once or twice. Probably when I met it was- This is right after Felicity.

Oh, so it was probably like just once or twice. Because a friend of mine was going, anyway. So yeah. Now, what about, you know, Will is threatening to move to, I can't keep up, it's either, it's usually England, I think now it's Portugal, but he would like to live in England, I think, as would I, I think. Where did coming back from there leave you?

I mean, would you go back? So I've spent the past three summers filming there, which I know is a little bit of a unique existence. Like you have a nice place to live, you're working, you have a job. So there are a lot of things that are extra nice. It's not like you're... But it is, London in the summer is a delight.

I mean, it is so breathtakingly beautiful. I tend to live north and by the Heath, and I wake up early morning and I walk through the Heath. I have said Heath is such a great area to live in. It is magic. It is so magic. I agree. And I've loved it.

I've really, really loved it. And actually, I don't think, well, I don't know. I don't think I'm telling tales out of school, but my last week there, we had this, so I'm on this show called The Diplomat, and it's about the ambassador in London, who's the, I'm friends with the real one, Ambassador Jane Hartley, who's just amazing

and smart and cool. And the last week, she said, we were like, let's go to dinner before I leave. And so we went to the River Cafe and that great actor, fuck, what's his name? On the Bear, who plays the cousin, Eben. Eben joined us and we just had this, like, it was just such a fun, raucous dinner. And Rufus Sewell, who's on my show too. And it's just full of, everyone who was, everyone was at this restaurant that night. It was like one of those magic, wild moments.

And so I love London. Could you see yourself living there full time, like with your whole family? Well, I don't know because I wonder if it's, you know, I love coming back here too. I get, you know, fall in New York is so good. Are you in New York now? But if you, she's in New York, you live in Brooklyn. She lives in Brooklyn.

Oh, not same. Sean, you live at Zabards. Where are you, Sean? Where are you living in the city right now? He lives like in Zabards. If you take a left at the Plain Bagels, he's... You're uptown. He lives like in Zabards. If you take a left at the Plain Bagels, but if you lived in London, I don't know if you could because first of all, Matthew as a Welshman, I mean, he'd get

in too many fights. Oh my God. Right. Yeah. But no, but he loves London. He's at the pub. I know Matthew, he's at the pub. And then all of a sudden before it's all over, he's in a fight with a bunch of Englishmen, right? Yeah. There's definitely a rivalry, but he loves London too, but I don't know. What about your teenagers, have they done some time there? They have.

Yeah, what'd they think? They like it, but they've kind of, like you guys, they travel wherever we work. So in the summer they can be with you, and would they or would they be like, because I've got a 12 year old and a 17 year old. And they just. Oh, I have exactly the same.

Plus an eight year old. Yeah, lucky you. Wow. But they're like, they've got their lives. And they've got their friends and they've got their places they'd like to go. It's like, well great, I'll see you when you get back, mom. Dad. Oh, definitely.

Right, it's hard to get them away, nor do you really want to disrupt them. Jason, your kid's name's real quick. Oh. Sorry. Great, both the girls. This is a fun game. Both the girls. Fun game, this is a fun game.

But wait, wait, by the way, Jason and Sean, have you guys, have you guys spent any time up in, like near Hampstead Heath, like up in that area? No, I love London, but not. It would blow your mind. It would shift everything you think about living in London. What's it called?

Hampstead, because it's like, it's like a massive, I want to say park, it's kind of doing it a disservice by calling it a park, but in effect it is that. It's super green. And it's got a bunch of little lakes in it, stuff where you can swim. It's wild.

It's wild, it's like a wild park. It's incredible. Carrie, could you live there or not? You're happy. I really love it, I really love it. But I have to say, you know, we shot there, when the strike happened, we had to make up for things, so we shot there over the winter,

and it's different in the winter, you know? Because New York in the winter, even if it's snowing or it's freezing, it can be sunny and it's bracing and you can still ride your bike. Yeah, London's just gray all winter. But it's raining every day. And rain all day is different than. And cold, right? Cold.

That kind of cold that gets into your bone. Even as a Canadian, I'm like, fuck, I'm freezing. Yeah, so I do love it. And it's so lush and it's so green. And the people, there's a real, I don't know, it does have a different culture than we have, but it was just a delight. Where did you start?

Where did you grow up? I moved around a lot. So I was born in California. The law kept catching you. Then I grew up, I spent 13 years in Arizona, and then Colorado, and then my parents moved to Texas. So I moved around a lot. Where was the first place you said?

Arizona. California. California, then Arizona, then Colorado. Sorry, are you getting an email coming in or you just got your what's going on? She said it like a second ago. Wait, so Carrie, so you grew up and so, and I knew that about, I always think of you, I always associate you with Colorado,

because I think you went to high school. That was my high school. High school, yeah. And probably that I dated a hockey player for half a second from Colorado. That's probably what you remember. That's what I remember too. You know I remember all the hockey stuff.

And we will be right back. And now back to the show. How did it happen that you became part of the Mickey Mouse Club? Yeah. So I was a dancer, like with all my little dance friends in Colorado, you know, like pre-teen, teenage years,

and that was my sport and that's all I did, and a bunch of my friends went to like a giant casting call and we stood outside of the Denver Convention Center with thousands of little kids and their moms or something and we just stood in line. Some dude like said, hey, do you want to read a little script of a mermaid brushing her teeth with chocolate or something? And was he part of the audition or was this just the back of a van? Yeah, he just rolled the window down. I was willing to do it. And yeah, no, so, and that's what I did. And they called me back.

Wow, I mean, that is really, first of all, that gives a lot of hope, I think, to people who are like, oh, should I bother going for that thing with thousands of people? Well, you could end up being Carrie Russell. I mean, you can't be Carrie Russell, nobody else can be. But I mean, you've built an incredible life with really impressive credits.

You've done amazing things. Was that audition something you wanted to do or did your parents tell you about it? I wanted to, I mean, I don't think I knew what it really was. I just went with a bunch of my best friends, pals who were going and they're like, let's go do this thing. And by the way, I can't sing. I had never really been an actor.

And so they said, do a little dance, do a skit, and sing a little song. Because I think they wanted kids who weren't so, yeah, they didn't like it. Still waiting to hear, yeah. Still waiting to hear. Still waiting to hear. Her friends years later was like, she didn't even want to go.

I was the one that wanted it. I was the one. And she got it. I want to ask you something, Carol, because it has to do with how Will introduced you, which is like, you do when you just came on, you weren't Margot Martindale. which is like, you do when you just came on, you weren't Margot Martindale. When you came on. By the way, you haven't been Margot Martindale

for a minute. By the way, I, and Will, I mean, there's no one better than Margot Martindale. There's Shawn Umi. Adore, she's the best. I love Margot Martindale with all my heart. Me too, me too. But your energy and your work ethic,

and you're like, you do have so much energy even talking to you now and with the kids and working and traveling and getting up at five in the morning and working 14 hours. Like where do you get that drive? Where do you get the energy? Youth, it's youth. Youth, oh my God.

Methamphetamine. Yeah, exactly. Because you do have to find it. You do have to find it, even though you're tired, you have to find it. Well, I think, well number one, I don't work all the time. Like, I like long breaks, and I spend a ton of time on my own.

I like to be alone a lot. I have amazing friends, I have a group of core friends that I love and we do stuff all the time. But other than that, I work, I spend, I have a ton of downtime. So, for instance, the diplomat. I'm not going off to do tons of movies in between or on a Broadway show or something.

That's my time to just be home and wander and read books. And that's what keeps me sane. But it is a good question because I know, so Carrie and I did this show with the great Mitch Hurwitz years ago called Running Wild, which was... And we had a lot of fun, that's how we got to know each other. And it was crazy, we were trying to make this thing happen and we were shooting just crazy hours out on Long Island.

And Carrie, I remember, we were legitimately, like the first couple weeks, we were shooting like 16 hours a day trying to get these fucking, you know, and get this thing, you know, and get this thing off the ground, which, and I remember Carrie like going either before work or after work to the gym and she had a little kid at home. She had like a three year old at home

and doing all the thing and had all this dialogue and doing all this stuff. And I was like, it was so impressive how hard, how dedicated she was to just... Like I said, she's just a doer in this way. JB, I can see the smile on JB's face. He's just like, yeah. Why? Because you are as well? Is that what you're saying?

Because he's a machine. It sounds like you. It's either going and really trying to accomplish a ton or just total power down, being by yourself, just like staring at the wall, doing something really inane and refilling the tank. Yeah, I just clean out closets, I listen to my little nerdy news podcasts.

Oh, he doesn't do that. No, he doesn't do that either. He's a staff of full staff. He goes, he watches TV and he locks the door and nobody's allowed to bother him. And you're probably not crumpy, but I will say. Amanda serves and he locks the door and nobody's allowed to bother him and you're probably not crumpy But but I will Amanda Amanda serves his food under the yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nobody can talk to him. But me things Yeah, yeah, and he's not interested in anything. But the question is

Carrie so you do so you do that you you do the The Disney stuff and then that leads to what you how long, that's like three years I want to say? That you've been? A teenage years, yeah, teenage years. And then, and this seriously is the truth. Like whenever the girls looked like they were having sex, they were like, get that one out of here.

And the boys stayed till they were like 25. They're like, that one, she's out. Oh wow. Really? Yeah, seriously. She looks like a breeder. Get her out. Yeah, she looks like a breeder, yeah, get her out. Yeah's like, really? Yeah, seriously. She looks like a breeder. Get her out. Yeah, she looks like a breeder.

Yeah, get her out. Yeah, yeah. Exactly. Yeah, and, but it was so fun. I mean, it was so cheesy looking back, but it was so fun. And all those kids. Did it lead to anything tangible?

Like, did it, or was it just a great thing to have on your resume, and you just started to do more sort of traditional auditions. Yeah, I mean from that, because you're under this old school Disney contract, I had to do some movie, like the sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, which was a sequel to Honey, so that was part of your deal.

Ah, interesting. You know, it was like the old school system, like we hired you under this umbrella, so if you record an album, if you make a move, like you are ours, you know? We own you. Interesting. Yeah. It was a little bit like that.

That's interesting. You know, like the kids now, like all those, this new crap. American Idol kids and whatever, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or whatever all those new Disney shows are. Now Felicity was quite some time past that, but that was also on ABC. It was under the same umbrella.

That wasn't part of the same deal, was it? No, that was, it wasn't on ABC. It was under the same umbrella. That wasn't part of the same field, was it? No, that was... It wasn't on ABC. It was on something else. It was WB. Thank you. WB. It was WB.

I remember because it was their big hit show and they were a young network and then all of a sudden they had a hit. Like a legitimate hit. And that's where you met the great, our friend, the great JJ Abrams. That's right. JJ and Matt. And that was JJ's show. And Matt Reeves, yeah.

And you guys created, you guys made that network in a way. Yeah, kind of amazing. You legitimized them, because it was a great show. JJ got heralded, you got heralded. I mean, everybody kind of went like, Kerry Russell, you exploded onto the scene. I remember, you guys remember. I remember too, yeah.

Every magazine. Everybody knew who Kerry Russell was, just guys remember. I remember, yeah. Every magazine. Everybody knew who Keri Russell was. Just like that. That must have been, even though you'd been doing it for a while since you were a teenager, having that kind of thing happen must have been startling. I don't want to put words in your mouth.

And at an age where it's pretty, things are challenging already at that age, right? Kind of like figuring out who you are. How old were you? First of all, the reason the show was so good was that what JJ and Matt reason the show was so good was what JJ and Matt did, it was so sweet. It was like such a sweet little something of a show

and it was their writing that was so good. But yeah, for, luckily, I mean, I can't imagine the kids now with all of the social media. Back then, it was just occasional paparazzi weirdos. But yeah, I am sort of a nervous person anyway around people I don't know. So that only made that worse. And that was hard.

People coming up to you on the street and stuff like that, yeah? Well, I mean, people were generally pretty nice to me, but I just think if you're an anxious person It doesn't help like yeah having more people looking at you all the time. So I think That was something to sort of Navigate a little bit But then it all worked out because after that show ended I took a big break and I didn't

Act anymore. I didn't think that's what I wanted to do anymore. Really? So was that a conscious decision? You were like, hang on a second. I need to Yeah. Yeah. No way. Yeah. And where did you think you were going to go?

Well, I thought I was going to go back to school or go to school because I hadn't gone to school. And because I graduated early from high school because I was in Mickey Mouse Club. You mean college? Yeah, okay, okay. Yeah, because when you're on the Mickey Mouse Club, like if you're a kid, you're tutored on set so you can finish as quickly as you can. Same with Mr. Bateman. Yeah, we know about that.

Sometimes they have buses to do that too. Yeah. And then, but so, God, most kids, me, part of it, like as soon as the, the kid show is done, there's a panic like, okay, what's the next show going to be like? What's my career going to be now that I'm kind of like almost an adult? Yeah. And you're dying to get another job and get back into that television series cocoon, you know, the safety of employment.

You were the opposite. You were like, not only do I not want to work, I don't even know if I want to do this occupation anymore. Yeah, I, uh, so doing that show that was back in the old days when we would do 22 episodes. Now, you know, the nature of television is tends to be like eight or 13 episodes. But we were still doing network, 22 episodes. And especially back then, we were working, because Matt Reeves was one of our first directors and set up the show, we were shooting it like film. We were shooting on film in the beginning.

Really? Yeah. Shooting on film? Yeah. We were working 18 hour days, five days a week. So my Friday as a 21 year old would end about five in the morning, and then I would start again at five on Monday.

And I loved that job and it was great, and I'm so thankful I'm still really close with a few of those people. But in many ways it was life arresting. Like I wanted to be with girlfriends, and whatever, kiss boys, or do simple, stupid things that I knew I was sort of missing. So when it ended, I had no time to spend any money

or do any of that, so I took the money I had saved and rented this amazing apartment, one bedroom apartment in the village, which was really great still back then. And I had no furniture. I moved to New York with two giant boxes of books. I got mattresses, I put them on the floor, and I did all those things I wanted to do.

I had two really great girlfriends there, and we would go out dancing and get drunk and like walk home drunk in the snow, and we would watch The Bachelor, get drunk and walk home drunk in the snow and we would watch The Bachelor Ed and eat shitty food. And it was everything I wanted it to be. And I got to just fucking be a kid. And I think that's what I wanted. Did you end up going to school?

I didn't, so I thought that's what I was going to do and that's probably what I should have done. I still think about it. But I think I just sort of did it myself. I just read what I wanted to read about and took all that time off. I took, I think, a couple of years and then just slowly started inching my way back in. I took a job where I wasn't the lead. I was like a part of a family.

And actually we shot in London with Mike Binder and I was just a part of these sisters. And Joan Allen was the lead. And I was like... Was that the upside of anger? Yeah. And I was like, you know, she's cool and smart and classy. And if I can watch her, if she's managing her life okay, you know, maybe it's managing her life okay,

maybe it's possible, and she was. So then I slowly dipped back in. She stuck with it. What was the other industry that you were thinking about maybe going into? Oh God, I don't know. I think I just wanted to learn. I think I wanted to just go to school.

I'm interested in every, I feel like I could do lots of things. Right. I'm interested in every, I feel like I could do lots of things, you know. I'm curious, you know, but I'm generally agreeable. I'm curious about a lot. But you didn't like start like one particular career that you were thinking maybe I want to kind of go in, and then like that was kind of like,

eh, it's not that great, and then you went back to acting? Like did you ever? No, I didn't. Yes, you didn't really start at anything, okay. No, I didn't. You didn't get into like microplastics or anything. That's a big industry apparently. It's a growth industry.

It's everywhere. Yeah, it's a growth industry. Wait, this is kind of to carry NJB because I'm always interested, curious about people who start performing when they're younger and are able to sustain it. When you were doing Mickey Mouse Club or J.B. you were on various shows when you were a kid.

Were you cognizant of, and did people talk amongst you and your peers and your friends and your families like, hey, how can we make the jump to adult actors? Yeah, how conscious were you? How conscious were you that there's a sort of a bar there, that there's a separation between being a kid actor and then making it a life and a career? Were you aware of that?

I wasn't, were you? Yeah, I was scared shitless of that transition. Yeah, I thought no one's gonna, you know, you're a kid actor, so why would anybody want to see you do adult acting when you're an adult? Like you gotta start over. There's not gonna be an easy transition. And it wasn't, there was, all through my 20s, it was just a barren waste field.

And that's why you shaved your pubes till you were 22, right? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I did for different reasons.

Yeah. Feels nice. Guys, I can still play Young. Hey, it's me, JB. Check it out. I don't even have a pute. Check it out. Oh my God. That is really funny. Wait, so Gary, so you go, you do upside down.

Wait, Jason, wait. Have you read, because I actually, speaking of the creepy kid actors, which by the way, all kid actors, the whole thing is so creepy. But there's this amazing book that someone gave me, which I loved. By the way, all kid actors, the whole thing is so creepy. There's this amazing book that someone gave me, which I loved. Are you familiar with Sarah Pauley at all? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

Now she's a director, but you know, kid actor. She wrote this book called Run Towards the Danger, which is a collection of stories and it's sort of unraveling her time and the kind of understanding what that was all like. And I thought it was great. Of being a kid actor, yeah. And a lot of other things, but I do think it affects you and speaks probably to a little bit of what Will is saying,

like what he's seeing as like work ethic, but I just think when you're a kid actor, you know, you have to show up. You're not allowed to have the flu. You're not allowed to, you fucking show up and you do it and you don't complain. You don't go. You have all this adult responsibility.

Yeah. You're adultified, so you are. JB taught me a lot of, I will, this is truly, and I've mentioned this a couple of times, early on we were doing Arrested Development in the first season. At one point I was like, I got to the point, it didn't take long where I was like,

hey, what time are you rapping today? Like, you know, when I got in early in the day, I'm thinking like, what time am I out of here? And Jason turns to me and goes, we got you for the whole day, right? And it really, as funny as that was, and as funny as that was, the timing of it was perfect. His delivery was amazingly shitty,

and it was perfect and hilarious, and it broke me. But also the truth of it was, yeah man, you're here to do a thing, and you've got this, like- Yeah, you're doing the thing you wanted to do. And it really, honestly, you're here to do a thing and you've got this like yeah You're doing the thing you wanted to do and it really honestly I never forgot it and it I carried it with me for the rest of my And to this day my working career Which is like I'm there to do the thing that I got to do not to get fucking get out and I feel

Equally pissed off when I feel like yeah I feel equally pissed off with people when they're like trying to get out and I'm like yeah, yeah you dude Yeah, yeah. It's what you signed up for. Yeah. We'll be right back. All right, back to the show. So, Carrie, about the anxiety thing,

because I have a little bit of that too. I'm much better at it. But how do you, do you have two? bit of that too. I'm much better at it, but how do you, do you have two? Do you have two? Okay. I mean sometimes, these guys know, it comes out quite often.

But how do you deal with it? Like do you have tools that you, your go-to tools? I wake up in the morning and I do something immediately. Like you know, I do hopefully like something outside, you know, I do, hopefully, like something outside, even if it's cold, some kind of physical activity really helps me. Even if I'm, you know, sometimes it just overtakes and you're like, fuck it, here I am.

You know what really helped me? One of the first times, this is absolutely true, right in the beginning of Felicity Times, before I had ever had to do any of that stuff, I had to go on a talk show. My first talk show was, Rosie O'Donnell had a talk show back then. I think it was like a daytime talk show.

I had never done anything like that. I kind of am a nervous person in that situation anyway. That's horror for me. And it's like, it's a lot of energy coming toward you and the stage and all the people and blah, blah, blah yeah and I got back there and the stage manager is like come over here come over here and I was like uh-oh uh-oh it's it's overtaking me here it comes and the stage manager must have told Rosie O'Donnell who was so lovely like she's nervous so she came back and was like hey are you nervous and I was like oh no no and so I went out, this is really absolutely true,

I went out, she was being completely nice, but as I was answering questions going, yes, I'm from Colorado, a tear. No way. And I watched the interview, I'm smiling and I just gently wipe it away, and I'm from Colorado, I'm having a full panic. I go back to the hotel, which was, they flew you to New York and did the whole thing.

And I locked myself in the bathroom and I was just mortified that I had done such a bad job and was so embarrassed and beating up on myself. And my awesome friend, Canadian friend, Will Arnett would love, we had gone out for drinks after, or like maybe the next day, and I remember Alana said,

I said, oh my God, I did such a bad job on this thing, and you know, I was so bad, and she said, you know who I just saw on David Letterman? Kim Basinger was on David Letterman, and she was so nervous, and I remember I liked her so much because I thought I would be nervous on that thing too. It made me stop hating the nervousness about myself so much

and I went, I'm nervous, what are you going to fucking do? And people who are like so, no offense to everyone who's so funny and good, but you know, because you guys are all so good at it. You guys are so good, but not everyone is so so good And the dirty little secret is that even even the the the flashy sort of funny sort of I I don't seem very nervous person is Petrified yeah underneath they just have this flashy coping skill right it is basically Acting they're just able to act twice right just have this flashy coping skill that is basically acting.

They're just able to act twice. Right? Right. You don't even know what I'm thinking. Will, you are very easy though in front of people. You are very- He is, but he's so, he's a fucking mess inside. He is a mess.

He is a mess, obviously. You would admit it right now, just like I am a fucking disaster inside, and so is Sean. We're all fucking nut jobs. We're all crazy. You just figure out different ways to fake it. And then you get comfortable with that and it kind of becomes a part of your personality too.

Like, oh this little suit that I put on to kind of deal with it is also just kind of me too. Well, I'll get real with you. So my version, through a lot of kind of work and exploration over the last few months, this is totally honest, is I first went away to boarding school when I was 12. You did? I didn't know that.

Wait, where did you go? I went to All Boys, up in Canada, and I went to All Boys boarding school. I'm not going to give them the benefit of telling you. Okay, but like what area, sorry, where in? North of Toronto. Like up by Muskoka? Yeah, a little east of Muskoka.

Okay, okay. North of Peterborough, Ontario. Okay. That's them to come pick you up again, right? Yeah, but south of Fenland Falls. All right. So you could just to narrow it down, eh? Like right near Stony Lake, but I'm not going to say where, eh?

So there you are. So there I am, age 12. And I think that one of the things... I didn't know that. Yeah, yeah. And one of the things about that is when you're that young, I can't imagine my sending... Can you imagine? No, I can't.

Or seven when they go? Seven? Well, my roommate, first year, when I was seventh grade and I was 12, my first roommate, he had just come from England and he had been at boarding school since he was seven. Wow. So he'd been there for five years. I mean, I know it's a way of life, but can you imagine sending your kid to a story, a continuing story? Yeah. way of life, but can you imagine sending your kids? It's a continuous story. And he was very, and by the way, he was a very sort of troubled kid and I felt badly for him. But my point was at that age, and I don't know if it's dissimilar from being out on

your own and working at that time, I learned how to cope with not having my mom and dad around and how to manage, certainly in a situation with other, basically other boys my age. There's a lot going on. It's kind of very Lord of the Flies-y in a lot of ways. Not, it wasn't that bad, but you know what I mean. I do, yeah. And so I think that that skill or whatever that thing that I put up,

I carried over into my life. I think that's what it is. I do, I've sort of been spending a lot of time breaking that down this summer, which has been interesting. Well, whatever it is, I like it. I like it too. I like my way, I love it. I stayed vague enough that I didn't start crying.

So. That's after the show. So, Carrie, so you do all that, and you think you're gonna quit, and you think you're gonna do it, and then you go, because you have, not only do you carry over from, excuse the pun, from being a child actor to then having success in your 20s, but then you decide that you're gonna maybe shift gears or not do it anymore or whatever,

or go to school or try something else, and then you end up having a third act, which you're in right now really successfully, which is you start doing a bunch of films and you have two really successful television shows. It's really unusual to be able to sort of carry that on in all these ways. And I would say that you two, I pointed to Jason and Kerry, you guys are very unique in that way,

that you managed to carry that on. Yeah. Kind of remarkable, actually. What was the thing where you went like, OK, are very unique in that way, that you managed to carry that on. Yeah, kind of remarkable actually. What was the thing where you went like, okay, now I'm in gear, I wanna start doing more and kind of, was there a job, was there a particular thing that kind of fired you up? Well, The Americans was just, the writing was so, I have to say, even in the beginning, it was a slow burn.

It was, I really think the show became good about episode five in the first season. And then it started becoming this other thing, which was really this dark kind of unravel of a marriage. And I always thought the spy stuff was just a way to push and pull the marriage, like sleeping with other people. So when you went into it, then you were thinking you were going, hey, we're going over here,

and you ended up kind of going over here? Is that what... Yeah, I didn't know. I was like, first of all, why do you want me to play this tough Russian spy? What, don't you want like Rocky's wife, that lady with the short blonde hair? Bridgette Nelson. I was like, me? What the fuck?

I was like, oh, God. That's hysterical. But she's not available? Her name was, yeah, I'm like, me? What the fuck? I was like, oh God. That's hysterical. But she's not available? I was like, so bad. I'm getting drunk with my friends walking in the snow. Why do you want me? I don't want fucking this shit.

I'm still hung up on that image of you and your friends drunkenly walking down Seventh Avenue. It was, you guys, it saved my life, it really did. So that was just lucky, total luck just getting to do that show and then meeting Matthew and all of that. That was just good writing, so fun to be a part of something that was well received. And then I took another long break. I feel like that's what keeps me in it is I go in and out. I take

little pockets where then I'm just home doing laundry and you know seeing my friends and after the Americans you do after the Americans and it's on the Americans that you met Matthew and the great Matthew Reese who we've had on the program who's just an absolute love that guy. Yeah, Matthew. I just I always just I just love seeing his. Yeah, love that kind. He is. I love Matthew. So cool. I just, I always just, I just love seeing his face. I love hanging out with him. I had a nice lunch with him about a year ago.

Oh, you did? With Chris Tickeye. With our mutual friend Chris Tickeye. With Ray? Yes. Yeah. Who's equally as great. Oh my God.

Who's equally as delightful. Oh my God. Delightful. Yeah. And that was a lot of fun. And so you meet Matthew and you guys are on the show together and then of course it makes sense. You guys make sense to me by the way.

Yeah, he's great. He is really, really great. You guys had never met before the show? We had met, which he reminded me about, which I don't know if he told you guys on the show, but he... I think I remember this. Yeah, we had gone to fight training or something in the first week. Well, we screen tested everything, blah, blah, blah,

did the fight training. And so I'd known him just like that, you know? And then we were having lunch after doing some kind of crazy fight training. And he said, we've met before. And I said, no. Yeah, I remember this. We have. And he said, we were at that kickball party in Rustic Canyon.

We were the last people at the barbecue or whatever and I was trying to get you to stay. And so I was trying to open a beer without a beer. He tried to do it with his thumb. And I knew exactly. I said, oh my God, of course, I remember, you left a drunk message on my machine, and I was moving to New York that day, and so it had been 10 years had passed. Wow, wow. And then, yeah, and then game was on.

Isn't that so crazy? Well, so Sean, don't feel so bad that she didn't remember seeing you in the garden of the acting teacher. That's fine. She didn't remember meeting her husband. She didn't remember her husband, yeah, okay. I get it, I get it, I get it.

I get it, I have one of those faces. But I love a good love story, so to the extent you feel comfortable, what changed from the, you know, when you try to open the beer for you. You had the kickball party. And you didn't clap. Did you do a lot of other hipster stuff at parties,

like playing kickball that are like ironic games? No, but like what changed for you 10 years later that didn't spark for you the first time? Who knows, Sean? Who knows, okay. Okay, I'm trying to think, I'm trying to think. No, you don't have to answer. Number one.

It's probably a haircut. Matthew had his haircut better the second time. Number one, you know, I don't ever want to go back to my 20s. I'm not saying, I don't ever want to go back to my 20s. I'm not saying, there are certain things about our bodies now as they're aging, but I like who I am so much more now.

I look at my girlfriends, I think they are so beautiful now. I don't ever want to go back to 20s. I love our age now, and I think in our 30s, or when I met him again, which would have been in my mid 30s or about then, I just was a different person. You know what I mean? I was, and I wanted something different. I also think that, Carrie, and this is a compliment to you, Carrie, which is that like you probably don't remember because you're such an authentic person. And I don't think that,

I think you'd remember somebody if you actually had a real conversation you really connected in that way. Yeah, and not through a beer pub. Yeah, you're not distracted by shiny moving objects at all. No, no. You're really a real person. Go ahead, Sean.

No, I'm distracted by shiny objects. Anything with frosting on it. Yeah, I get're really a real person. Go ahead, Sean. No, I'm distracted by Shiny. I'm anything with frosting on it. Yes, I like it. Oh my God. Shiny and pretty things are nice too. Right, but Mission Impossible, Incredible, I'm a big popcorn movie guy. Sorry, did any of those-

Awesome death. Did the Mission end up being possible because they didn't do it, right? So I think that's a little bit of a- Well, you never knew what the rabbit's foot was. You never knew what the rabbit's foot was. You never knew what the rabbit's foot was. No, but I kind of want to like, I want to be like, well, turned out it was possible.

It's kind of like never ending story. Did the movie end? It sure did. It sure did. Don't hold your arms. Yeah. So, I mean, class action lawsuit much? I mean...

But I loved that. And then when it was revealed that it was you in Star Wars, I mean, I was blown away. Like that was the coolest thing. Oh, fuck. Here we go. Sorry, Carrie. No, I love it.

Go. I mean, I was watching it and even Scott and I were like, who is this? I recognize your voice, but I couldn't because we didn't see your face. I was like, did you ever reveal yourself? I don't think you did. Well, JJ never wanted me to reveal my face. I never wanted to reveal the face. And then at a certain point,

I think it was the studio or someone said, you have to show her face. And JJ was like, no, it's my whole idea. It's like, it was like that girl, there was some cartoon with a girl on a motorcycle from when he was a kid who always had a helmet on. And then he was like, well, what if we just show her eyes? And so that was

but I think they wanted me to take the helmet off but yeah you know it was like yeah we got Carrie Russell we're not gonna not reveal yeah yeah but was such a kick-ass amazing it was a bit short and just knowing Sean that she was from Endalore I mean that must have been for you right knowing that how many moons and it was away it was incredible from tattooing you must have been for you, right? Knowing how many moons it was away. It was incredible. From Tatooine, you must have been like just freaking out. I mean, as an adult, paying attention to a kid's story

must have been so cool for you. I loved it, I loved it. And then I haven't seen Cocaine Bear and I really, really want to see it, but I heard it's great and it's been out for a while. It's so stupid and crazy and nuts and Margot Martindale is... I mean, you guys, what she does... She's the greatest.

It's ridiculous and wild and it's such... It was just an antidote to COVID and everyone being stuck in their houses and it's... And the great Liz Banks. And our friend Liz Banks. We love Banks. Banks. You guys were in Ireland, I want to say? Yeah, she just called me, she was pitching me

this completely other, legit, serious, really good idea for this limited series, and we're just on with these writers and having these serious conversations, and then text me the next day and just says, hey, do you know, I'm talking about this crazy movie just says, hey, do you know? I'm talking about this crazy movie called Cocaine Bear. Do you want to read it? I was like, yeah, sure.

And I told my girlfriends, I have these few girlfriends in New York here, and I was up in the mountains with them, and I told them, I pitched them the idea for the story, and they said, if you don't do that movie, we're not going to be friends with you anymore. Wow. Ah, really, really. And they said, if you don't do that movie, we're not going to be friends with you anymore. Wow. Wow, really?

And it was so fun. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Margot Martindale, and I traipsing around Ireland out of control. We were out of control, having the time of our lives. Why did you guys shoot in Ireland? I forget. Because the COVID numbers were down. Right.

And because it's an island, I guess. And because it's a good match for that forest we were looking for. Margot's one of those people. She's so, um, years ago, she wanted, Krasinski was doing a movie and he wanted her for this before like the, the, the don't talk movies or whatever, or quiet, quiet place, quiet time, quiet place. No, I think it's look who's talking. I like don't talk.

Look who's talking in the time out. Look who's talking in the, in place. Quiet time, quiet place. No, I think it's look who's talking. I don't talk. Look who's talking in the time out. Look who's talking to. In place. And he said, and so I said to Margo, I said, hey, John Krasinski wants to get in touch with you, is that okay? And so she talked to me, and then she called me, she goes, I'm gonna do this fucking guy,

I'm gonna do his, before she, it better work out, because you better not have fucking put me on with this fucking guy. And it's going to be a pain. She literally like, kind of like pseudo threatened me. And like, I was like, I just put you in touch with him. It's not my fault. You didn't have to do it.

I'm doing it because of you. When I read Cocaine Bear, that next day, she texted me, just as Margot, and she says, are you fucking doing this movie? I was like, are you fucking doing this movie? One of the hardest one of the hardest laughs I've ever had in my life was doing that series the Miller is with Margot And we did this episode. It was this thing where Beau Bridges was Doing this saying this thing and Margot and I started laughing and she got me laughing. I couldn't, it's the first time in my life I was like, I don't think I'm going to recover

from this. I don't think we're going to get it. I don't think I can do this. I think it's a wrap. I have to go. And I couldn't look at her. She had me laughing so hard. I know.

She's a delight. She's a delight. Kara, what are you excited about that's coming up other than the diplomat? What are you going to do the rest of the day? So I'm going to be honest, I stayed up too late last night, so I woke up in the morning, I had leftover Indian food, it was fucking delicious, I'm having a beer with it.

Oh, I love that. God, you're so cool. I'm going to, we made our first, it's kind of chilly here in New York this morning, right? So we made our first fire fire and it was just nice. And... You don't even have a fireplace. No, sorry.

That's great. That's fun. What a fun day. So the rest of the day is going to be kind of cozy. My kids start school for the first day tomorrow, so I'm getting everyone. I'm going to make a nice dinner, family dinner, early dinner for everyone, early to bed. What are you going to make. What are you gonna make? I'm gonna make skirt steak and a bunch of vegetables

and rice and... Yeah, I love that. By the way, I've never been to Brooklyn. I wanna go check it out. What? We could have you. We could have you. I might have to walk around there.

Carrie, I'm coming to New York in a couple weeks, for real. Will, remember when I ran into you? Which time? On the streets. With your car? No, you were shooting something. Oh yeah, we were shooting in Brooklyn, and you were coming home and you were drunk.

And I was wandering home drunk with my eyes, I was like, Will, what's this? Oh boy. Dude, dude. I was shooting and there was a whole, like the crew were doing, and she- What were you shooting? One of those Ninja Turtle movies. She just blew right by the lockup, huh?

Yeah, and she came out. Now I know him. We were shooting right on the river overlooking the city and here comes Carrie, and of course nobody stops her, nobody in the crew stops her, because they're like, oh, it's Carrie Russell. And she just walks through, basically walks through our set. It's like, what's going on?

Hammered. Hammered, just walking through, basically walks through our set. It's like, what's going on? What's that? Like, hammered, just walking home. Walking home. I know. But I was going to say, I'm coming in a couple weeks. Let's have dinner and or lunch. You, me and Matthew. Can we do it?

I would love it. I would love, love, love, love it. That's fucking done. Oh, God, Carrie. I wish we could just hang out forever. We will. I would love to see you. We have chance encounters from mutual people, satellite people, but I would love to see

you. Okay. Well, Carrie, you just brightened up our day. It's so great seeing you. It's always a delight. Always a delight. Let's all see each other. Let's do it.

Say hi to Matthew for us, please. Please say hi to Matthew and I'm going to reach out. I'm going to reach out to you in the next couple weeks. Please, please, please don't. Please do. I won't hesitate. I would love, love, love it. Okay.

Bye guys. Thank you. Bye. Thanks, Carrie. Bye. Bye. Just a delight. Just a sunny delight.

How cool is she? She's just a Sunday afternoon. She's just drinking a beer. Drinking a beer and eating some leftover Indian food because she's a little hungover. She seems like one of those people that everybody wants to be friends with. She's so fun. When we did Running Wild together, and she would be, we had so much fun.

She's the kind of person doing her off camera would be throwing shit at me. Like a super easy fun hang. Really, really fun, really prepared, really in it, really just disciplined and professional, but cool and hang. Really, really fun, really prepared, really in it, really just disciplined and professional, but cool and real. You could laugh with her and then you can tell her, she and I both, there were times where we were both

going through stuff in our personal lives and she was such a good friend to me and we would talk about stuff and it really, just awesome. I love it. And by the way, she drives her entire career, like she makes the decisions. Speaking of. And by the way, she drives her entire career. Like she makes the decisions. Speaking of driving, by the way, I sent you guys a video when we were in New York

of an Uber driver. Do you remember that? Oh, I do remember this. Remember that? And he was really kind and he was from China. And his real, this is a true story. His real name is called BAIYI. And I got in the car and I asked him how you pronounce it

and I sent it to you. Wait, wait, spell it again. BAIYI. Yeah, and how would you pronounce that? And how did he say that he pronounced it? Sean, Sean, I'm glad you brought this up. How did he say that he pronounced it? By-ee!

By-ee! There it was. By-ee. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smart.

Less. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smart.

Less. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smart. Less.