SmartLess - "Mark Ruffalo"

Episode Date: January 22, 2024

Humble beginnings, motorcycle-hair, and a bean and cheese burrito cut in thirds. Welcome to Mark Ruffalo’s office… on an all-new SmartLess.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy ...and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Here's how I make a tuna sandwich. I take the celery sticks, I chop, chop, chop, chop, I put them in the bowl before the tuna goes in, then I put the tuna in. Here's how I make a tuna fish sandwich. I open up the can of tuna, I put it in a bowl, I slice up the celery. It has to have celery, it cannot have celery.
Starting point is 00:00:16 Cannot not have celery. Here's how I make a tuna fish sandwich. I open the can of tuna. Two cans. Here's how I make a tuna fish can of it. Here's how I make a tuna fish sandwich. I open up two cans of sa- Here's how I make a tuna fish sandwich. I opened the can at Tuna. Two cans. Here's how I make a tuna fish can. Here's how I make a tuna fish sandwich. I opened up two cans of sa- Here's how I make a tuna fish sandwich. I opened up two cans
Starting point is 00:00:32 of tuna in water, not oil. It has to be water. Oil's disgusting. And then you put it in the bowl and you, uh, I chop up a celery stick really, really fast. Stup, stup, stup. Super like d- Ah, fuck it, welcome to SmartLives. Smart, less. Smart, less. Smart, less. You heard about Bennett, you know, that he's doing some personal training now. Do you know about this? You're late to the bit.
Starting point is 00:01:06 You know, some of us get on a little bit early and make sure our devices are working. I like that. It's a good bit. It's proven as a good bit. What time is your next session? I've got one in 9.45 if we could start wrapping this one up, please. What are you talking about? For sure.
Starting point is 00:01:21 There he is. Sean, we could have you start stretching, please. And Chaturanga. Surprise guests, give us a little snap if you don't mind. Oh, nice. Sean, can you hear us? Yes, I can. Sean, do you know what Bennett's background is?
Starting point is 00:01:35 Really quick, do you know what that is? It looks like a gym. Okay. Huh. You're reading books, I see. Yeah, you've seen pictures of us. Somebody's seen pictures of stuff. So Will is back from Georgia.
Starting point is 00:01:51 I know, when did you get back, Will? Yesterday. That's cool. And yeah. Are you checking your texts? You wanna get back to us? Yeah, just, is that cool? We can just hold the recorder record?
Starting point is 00:02:00 Somebody's calling me, so I'm trying to think like, why am I do not disturb? Didn't work, but guys, hey, I did have, we flew back yesterday and had some crazy turbulence early into the flight. Wow, I knew love turbulence. And it was the, maybe the worst I've ever had. And it was like, it was scary AF. And the rest of the flight I was just,
Starting point is 00:02:27 the cortisol dump that I had from that was just so intense. It was like one of those side to side and up and down. And being alone is scary too, because I'm sure you were alone. Well, I was flying. Oh, so you were up front. I flew myself, yeah, I was up front. So I was really scared,
Starting point is 00:02:42 because also I don't know how to fly a plane. Yeah. Do you get really, do you get really scared about turbulence? Yeah, do yeah? Yeah, hang on a second you guys talk about all your world travels You know don't remember Flying next to this old old gal. Oh, that's right. Yeah, that's right. I forgot you know that I am and just I love to dig her fingers into your arm next to her She white knuckles it all the way If you don't bring a white Russian in time, you're gonna get some fingernails. Oh
Starting point is 00:03:14 listen, I Was just like at that point anything was on the table. Yeah, but was it like gaspy was it were you? Yeah, it was just me it was me and Eli and her buddy Bob and Liz But was it like Gaspie? Was it, were you? We were like, oh yeah. And it was just me, it was me and Eli and everybody, Bob and Liz. Yeah, that's very. And the plane, and it was. And everybody ends up just closing their eyes
Starting point is 00:03:32 and not talking. Yeah, nobody talked, it got really, you know, it gets weird. Are they as nervous flyers as you are? Or were they more casual? No, but I think that everybody plays a role once somebody is the most nervous then everybody else can be degrees of less. No, but I think that everybody plays a role once somebody is the most nervous, then everybody else can be degrees of less.
Starting point is 00:03:47 Yeah, yeah. And I was definitely the worst. I've been better lately, but that one, yesterday, and the guy had said to us like, look, there's gonna be some pretty, it's gonna be pretty choppy early on. I didn't think that he meant- Did you say choppy?
Starting point is 00:04:02 He said pretty choppy, yeah, because I wanted to get it wet choppy. We got it, good. He's wanted to get it wet chappy. We got it. He's in. Pretty chappy early on. Anyway, it was one of those like, you know, please don't let this be the moment. All that kind of shit.
Starting point is 00:04:13 And yeah. Did you send off any texts to any family members? I couldn't, I couldn't even reach for my, are you kidding? He's doing it now. He was doing it at the beginning of the show. You know, well, the funny thing about it is it's, it's the control too. So it's like looking at the window holding on
Starting point is 00:04:27 is if like my worry or looking at the, or any of it's gonna have any effect on the outcome. Like if I grab the thing with the chair really hard, it'll brace my fall. Have you thought about hypnosis at all? I have, I have. And I know our friend, she did it, right? Yeah, and it works for her.
Starting point is 00:04:44 Does it? Well, Yeah, and it works. Well, that does it. Well, it's gonna be worse. So. What about, but Hypnosis, you guys ever done Hypnosis? You ever been? Yeah, I did guided Hypnosis or something, but I didn't really, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:05:00 Where were you trying to do? Do we go for guesses? Eliminate marshmallows from your diet. And it was half successful. Now he's just doing the mini ones. Drinking hot cocoa so it didn't work. Are you really drinking hot? Are you having hot cocoa right now?
Starting point is 00:05:16 Yeah, right now. Here's the thing. I know it's like every day it's a 11 year old's birthday party. He truly is one of Santa's elves. I think that's who Sean is. Wait, what Sean, what was it? Last night I flew, I went out yesterday
Starting point is 00:05:29 and came back last night to Vegas to see you two at the speeder. Oh wow. Wasn't it, you guys went. Yeah. I didn't go, I didn't, he went. Wasn't that, isn't that the sphere incredible? It's mind blowing.
Starting point is 00:05:40 It's unbelievable, I don't know how they do that. I saw that picture that you guys posted that you did or Scotty did of you guys with, with Jimmy and Deb and, and Edge. Yeah. Yeah. It's just Edge. Yeah. Oh, sorry. Edge, sorry. Mr. Edge.
Starting point is 00:05:53 Fuck man. Come on. V is not his first name. It is not. No. It's mine. Very cool dude. Yeah, no. The, the Jason Babian.
Starting point is 00:06:01 They're all, all so great. But anyway, it was great. It was amazing. I can't believe I lost so much money We landed gambled a saw the show came back home. That's how you do it I can't I can't sleep overnight there. It's so depressing. Your game is guess I think will you might know this but listen a listener You guess what Sean Hayes is a game of choice. I think he's mentioned it on the show before but But it's like roulette. He likes roulette and blackjack. Yeah, I was going to say that.
Starting point is 00:06:27 Yeah. Oh, is that our guess? I hope that's our guess. Well, why don't we come? Why don't we introduce our guest? Our guest is anxious to get it. We've never had it. We've never... It's the first time that is a guest violation.
Starting point is 00:06:38 Yeah, it's the first one. Could you tell, by the way, could you tell just by the voice? Not yet. I couldn't. But we've started, they've started in the penalty box. Starting in a two minute penalty box, just a minor. Well, my intro's about two minutes, that's perfect. I'm so excited about my guests today.
Starting point is 00:06:55 They're obviously excited, because they're already on the show, I mean. No, I seriously, I've been trying to get him for a long time. He's considered romcom royalty, but he's also done it all guys, exceptionally well, I've been trying to get him for a long time. He's considered rom-com royalty, but he's also done it all, guys, exceptionally well, I might add. I'm a huge fan, and the best part is, he may be even nicer than me. When he first moved to Los Angeles, he worked as a bartender for nearly a decade. Over the years, he's become a very effective environmental activist fighting for, amongst other things, climate change and a zillion other things. Ed Begley Jr., The Rom-Com King.
Starting point is 00:07:26 Harry Toms, us is exciting. Ed Begley Jr. Who I love actually by the way. I'm such a fan of this person. I can't wait for you to see who it is. You're gonna love him. One of his characters makes me green with envy. Jim Carrey? Whatever I think of how to spell or say his name,
Starting point is 00:07:42 I always think of the word buffalo. It's my hero, Mark Ruffalo. Oh, Mark. Ta-da. Yeah. Of course I broke the rules. Wait, Ruffalo, are you a romcom king? Is that your-
Starting point is 00:07:55 I was gonna go with Hugh Grant or- I know, there's- No, you've done obviously amazing, dramatic work, but I love your romcoms. Thank you. Yeah. Mark, look, we've got matching Peepers on I Yeah, what else can I use here? Do I have anything else?
Starting point is 00:08:11 Mark did I just see you got nominated yesterday critics choice award? Maybe something like that? Um the national board of review national Who's counting? Yeah, I mean, but I am a New Yorker, so you know, I had a shoe win. Mark Ruffalo, dude, welcome. Will, Mark. Will and I go way back. Do you know that? No, tell me how.
Starting point is 00:08:33 I mean, like mid 90s, early 90s. I bet you can give us the month, Willie. Yeah. Well, yeah, they, how about this? Fall of 96 is when you guys did This Is Our Youth. You're unbelievable. You're unbelievable. How do you know that?
Starting point is 00:08:51 How do you know that? Because, well, because, so Mark did This Is Our Youth with Josh Hamilton and my then girlfriend, Missy Yeager, whom I've talked about. It's a great play. And with that Kenny Larrigan wrote and they did it off-Broadway. What was that theater, Mark?
Starting point is 00:09:10 The first theater you guys did it in. The Intar. The Intar. The Intar. The Intar. And it was like, and Mark and Missy had also done a lot of, I guess it was like Tuesdays at nine that you guys were doing a bunch of scenes that Kenny had written, right?
Starting point is 00:09:26 For a few years leading up to it. Yeah, there was some, they had that playwright, naked angels had that short plays at the festival. Yeah. And then they did this. Are you in a closet, Mark? No, this is my office. My wife has the giant room upstairs at the balcony and I'm in what used to be
Starting point is 00:09:47 a laundry room slash bathroom and where I'm sitting is where the toilet was basically. Wow. It's pretty awesome. Listener it is a wood paneled, it's got beautiful pictures on it but it is narrow. It's New York. It's New York. This is like premium space in New York. I mean people have apartments this it's New York. It's New York. This is like premium space in New York. I mean, people have apartments this size in New York.
Starting point is 00:10:08 I mean. Mark, it's so nice to meet you. I'm so glad you're here. Thank you for doing this. Thank you for bringing me. It's really cool. It's so cool. You're just meeting him and he's your guest.
Starting point is 00:10:17 Will and I both know him. Why are you one of our guests? Yeah, we go back, Jason, and I go back. He's my guest because I'm a big fan. You guys go back? A tiny bit. We don't go back to the intern theater or whatever it was called. I go back. He's my guest because I'm a big fan. You guys go back? A tiny bit. We don't go back to the intern theater or whatever it was called.
Starting point is 00:10:27 In-bar, bro. That's it. Sorry, bro. Come on, bro. But Mark is just, I think I fanned out quite a bit when I met you the first couple of times and I'm kind of fanning out now.
Starting point is 00:10:38 You're just one of my favorites, Mark. Truly. Oh man, thank you. Coming from you, that's a huge compliment. Thank you, any of you. Thank you, Sean. Just, yeah. I huge compliment. Thank you, any of you. Thank you, Sean. Yeah, I'm excited. Whenever I see Kenneth Lonergan, I have a name,
Starting point is 00:10:49 I was like, I think it's Kenny Loggins at first class, but tell me like how, because Will mentioned... Wait, can we back up into that compliment one more time? Like, whenever I see his name, I'm like, Because Lonergan's just fun in his early grave real quick. No, I know, but I'm just... But wait, this is our youth. First of all, it was a huge hit, and like,
Starting point is 00:11:11 every actor in the world does scenes from that now. I mean, isn't that wild? My son is doing scenes from it. No way. He's acting class today. Yeah, yeah, every actor does it. How old is he? He's so crazy. He's 22. 22.
Starting point is 00:11:25 Dude, that is so fucking crazy. So it happens. You guys, you have to understand that when that, when these guys did, this is our youth, when it came out, it was like shot out of a cannon. It took everybody by surprise in this way that you can't believe. People were like, all of them were so,
Starting point is 00:11:42 I mean, Josh and Missy and Mark, but Mark was so good in this part that people were like tripping over themselves to offer him, they couldn't believe what it was. It was so good and the play is so well written, Mark. You can, you know, speak to that. What a beautiful, right? Beautiful character, so perfect, almost, that play.
Starting point is 00:12:01 Yeah. You wanna hear something crazy? We just did a fundraiser here in New York City, me, Missy and Matt Damon who took the play to London a couple of years after we did it. I had a full white beard. We did a reading. It was basically, it was kind of turned into
Starting point is 00:12:23 the stage reading. Like Missy remembered all her lines. I remembered some of mine. Wow. Of course, Missy remembered all hers. Of course she did, yeah. And Damon was just right there. And literally it was the play.
Starting point is 00:12:38 I mean, we had the hat, we had the major Matt Mason. Wow. You know, and it was, it was, you know, it's funny because it just tells you like what you could get away with on stage. People, I think people bought that we were 19, you know? Yeah, right. Even with my big Santa Claus beard.
Starting point is 00:12:56 I'm so jealous I have zero theater history in my, you know, in my history. You would be great in theater, man. I remember reading for a couple in my early 20s in New York and was so nervous to get out on stage and audition for those three silhouettes deep in the house, speaking that you can't see their faces, but I just thought it was thanks.
Starting point is 00:13:22 Thanks, we're good. Yeah, exactly. On the darkness. to see their faces, but I just thought it was. Thanks, we're good. Yeah, exactly. On the darkness. Yeah, I just felt like I just did not belong here. The voice of Satan. And that they're doing me some kind of a favor and get your sitcom ass off the stage.
Starting point is 00:13:36 We need to cast some real actors here. By the way, I've been thinking of this, this is Abrabo of Nothing. I'm sorry to hijack it here, but I've been thinking about this character. I was watching TV the other day in the trailer and I saw been thinking of this, this is upper bow of nothing. I'm sorry to hijack it here, but I've been thinking about this character. I was watching TV the other day in the trailer and I saw like one of those judge shows. They have like so many different judge shows, you know,
Starting point is 00:13:51 judge this and whatever midday shows. And I thought, I want to do one called Judge Camp. And he's like a super campy judge. And he's like, you're wearing no shoes into my court? Guilty, get out of here. Sean, Sean crush, Sean love Peter's health. How good would Judge Camp be? You're wearing no shoes into my court guilty get out of here Sean Would judge can't be With that blazer out with that tone. I'm ruling for your mother
Starting point is 00:14:15 You owe her $300 Judge camp that is thanks for good. Thanks for good How many things have you done with Kenneth Lonergren? That's what my mom calls him. Lagerne. Lonergren. Lonergren? Lonergren? Yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:35 What did I say? Lonergren? Yeah, but everyone does it. It's amazing. What is it again? Sorry, Lon? Lon Ergen. Lon Ergen.
Starting point is 00:14:43 Lon Ergen. How many, you've done two films, at least one. I've done two films with him. Two films and how many plays? I've only done one play with him. Oh yeah? I directed a version of this as our youth. I directed a version of You Can Count on Me. God damn it, I love that movie. A one a version of You Can Count on Me.
Starting point is 00:15:06 God damn it, I love that. A one act version of You Can Count on Me. Really? And I acted in a one act version of You Can Count on Me. We were like on stage? Yeah, yeah. It was part of that one act festival that Missy and I did with Rob Marrow playing my character
Starting point is 00:15:23 in You Can Count on Me. For my sister, tell my sister who Missy is. with Rob Morrow playing my character in Yukina. For my sister, tell my sister who Missy is. Oh, Missy Yeager is just the most brilliant actor. She's a writer now. Daughter of Steve Yeager and granddaughter of Chuck Yeager. Not true. But really good. Thank you.
Starting point is 00:15:43 That covers the Yeagers, I know. Good calling, Peter. Yeah, associated with other Yeagers you've heard of. It's really from the Yeager Meister dynasty that Missy comes from. Talk to us about how exhausting it was trying to prop up that talentless actress, Laura Linney, and you can count on me. Oh, such a good movie. She asked one of these days,
Starting point is 00:16:08 she's gonna find some talent. Yeah, it's just, it'll wear you out, you know? Oh, just love her so much. Love her so much, the most brilliant, sweetest, most humble genius. And you could tell because you two are so high quality and just being people that that was like this extra special rocket fuel in that movie,
Starting point is 00:16:31 in a movie that the chemistry and the brother-sister connection had to be sort of palpable, tangible, like, I imagine it wasn't luck that they put you two together in that you're both so kind and such a match that you could just kind of feel it through the screen, that extra little bit that gave that movie its punch. Yeah, thank you.
Starting point is 00:16:54 I was not supposed to be in that movie at all. I had to literally beg Kenny Lonergan to give me an audition for it. Really? No way. Yes. We were actually, we had lunch, we had the great success of, this is our youth. We were having lunch one day at Cafe Lou,
Starting point is 00:17:14 about 13th, and we were walking out and Ethan Hawke was sitting at the bar. And Kenny's like, hey, hey Ethan, did you mean that script? And Ethan was like, oh no man, I did, it's just not for me. I just did this other thing that's basically the same character, so it's good bro, but it's not for me right now. And we started to walk out and I was like, what script?
Starting point is 00:17:50 Yeah. Yeah. And he was like, you never run it? And I was like, no. I'm a director movie. And I was like, can I read it? He says, just don't get your fucking manager on me. I love that.
Starting point is 00:18:15 And finally he acquiesced and it was basically like, fine. We're gonna fucking, I'm casting Timothy Olyphant this weekend. You don't look anything like Laura or Linney. But I'm gonna give you, I'll let you audition just because you're such a pain in the ass. And, and he, he let, he brought me in on a Sunday in the casting direct, into the casting office
Starting point is 00:18:43 with him holding a camera in one hand and reading the script in the casting direct into the casting office with him holding a camera in one hand and Reading the script in the other. Oh my god, and That was my audition after the first scene. He's like It was really good Damn it might be good in this part All right, let's read the next one And you read the next one. And you read the next one. No way. That's crazy.
Starting point is 00:19:07 It was like, you're really fucking goodness. That's great. Great. Just great. That's hysterical. And we will be right back. We get support from Car Shield. Traveling by car is practically a way of life, but the last thing you want to do is get stuck on the side of the road.
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Starting point is 00:23:40 Com promo code SMARTLESS. That's Neutrophal.com, promo code smartless. And now back to the show. Mark, there's two things I'm obsessed with, theater stories, if you got one, and medical stories. And so, but you don't have to do either one and you can set, you can not answer any question you don't want to.
Starting point is 00:24:03 But the, what happened to you during You Can Count on Me is fascinating to me, medically. Actually, that was after, after all that. Okay. And I was, you know, I was on my way, you know, I was like all that big agents and everything. And, yeah, I had a brain tumor after like the success of You Can Count on Me.
Starting point is 00:24:32 And you had a dream about it or something? Yeah. Wow. It was crazy. Yeah, it's the craziest thing. I was actually shooting the last castle with Gandolfini and Robert Redford and I had about a week left on that. My my son sunrise was like nine and a half months pregnant and the baby was eminently
Starting point is 00:24:57 coming and I had you know I had one of those like 4 AM calls and I woke up probably around three and I just had this crazy dream and it wasn't like any other dream I'd ever had. It was just like you have a brain tumor. It wasn't even a voice, it was just pure knowledge. You have a brain tumor. That's insane. And you have to deal with it immediately.
Starting point is 00:25:23 That's crazy, Jesus. Wait. I mean, were there any symptoms deal with it immediately. That's crazy. Jesus. Wait. I mean, were there any symptoms? No, no, it's funny. I had like an ear infection that night and so I was feeling, you know, that was hurting me and so I went to the cast doctor the next day who was literally sat on the board of, you know,
Starting point is 00:25:44 the Nashville Presbyterian Hospital. And I said, listen, this is gonna sound crazy. I ended this dream last night, brain tumor. Fucking actors. She said, that is crazy. But there's no reason that you should, you know, have to worry about it. I'll order you a CAT scan
Starting point is 00:26:10 and we'll go right after work today. And we'll show how crazy you are. And I was like, oh, great, I am crazy. Just do it anyway. And I went and then we went up to the neurologist's office who's gonna read the scan and the nurse calls the doctor out. I could hear them talking in the other room.
Starting point is 00:26:34 She comes in, she's just kind of like a zombie. And she says, you have a mask behind your left ear the size of a golf ball. says you have a mass behind your left ear the size of a golf ball. I agree. And yeah, we don't know what it is. We can't tell until it's biopsied. Same ear as the earache, the ear infection.
Starting point is 00:26:57 Yeah, same ear as the earache. And I said, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, wow. It's been such an anxiety. How old were you? Yeah, I was 33. 33, and thank God I was benign.
Starting point is 00:27:15 About to have a baby. About to have a baby. And you just finished, you can count on me. And you've worked super hard and you've just done all this stuff. And now you're making a movie with Robert Redford and Gandalfini. it's all coming together. And in this moment you're like, uh-huh.
Starting point is 00:27:28 Uh-huh. And they're like, it's on. So then I didn't tell Sonny, because she had the birth plan, she did the yoga, she had the doula, we had the hot tub ordered, we had like. For the party after. This is like her wedding, you know man? Like like, for the party after. This is like, yeah. This is like her wedding, you know, man.
Starting point is 00:27:46 Like this is like her christening, her kinsignero. Yeah. And I just was like, I can't, you know, she's already like, oh God, him again. I mean, is everything gotta be about him? Yeah. Yeah. And so I just couldn't.
Starting point is 00:28:07 And like a few days, like a week after the baby, I had to go in and meet the neurologist and decide what I was gonna do. And had you told Sonny yet? I hadn't told her. Wow. What a thing to sit on. Until the night before.
Starting point is 00:28:20 Dude, I mean, yeah, like Jason says, like you're sitting there with all this stuff going on. What a thing to sit on. What a thing to sit on. What a thing to have literally in your head and also swimming around in your head in both ways. I mean, and that time between you know and telling her must have been just absolute torture. It was like shave your head and cut into your scalp
Starting point is 00:28:39 and take the thing out. Oh yeah. I mean, it was a full, I have a big scar, you know that quarter horseshoe thing What did they say that the prognosis was like were you super concerned or were they like listen? This is something we do a lot It's it's early blah blah blah. I was super concerned because I didn't you know, I hadn't really gotten that I hadn't met with a Neurologist, you know, they're I What I was told by the doctors was like, it's a brain tumor, but from the dream, the dream was so intense,
Starting point is 00:29:12 and it was literally like, you have a brain tumor, you have to deal with it immediately. Right. And it just had the sense of doom. And I'm like, it's a fucking brain tumor. You're like, no, that's just a tumor talking You know how my my tumor ran away with me But I love that it was close enough to your ear to actually speak to you and say hey
Starting point is 00:29:48 That's crazy that you had a dream about it. Oh, dude. So they take you in there, they shave a spot, they cut open your scalp, they cut it out, and then like, is there an extensive rehab process or are you out and about that afternoon? No, man. Well, first of all, I just gotta say, when I told Sunny about it, first she thought I was joking. And then she just burst into tears and said,
Starting point is 00:30:05 I always knew you were gonna die young. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. That's horrible.
Starting point is 00:30:14 That's horrible. But so good. That's really good. If you wrote it in the script, it would be too much. Uh-huh. That's so good. Let's just play that instead of saying it. Here we go, everybody.
Starting point is 00:30:27 Exactly. It's so good. Oh my God. Well. Wow. I think I might have left. So they took it out. It was benign, but it left you a little deaf in your ear.
Starting point is 00:30:38 Not a little, just totally. Really? Completely deaf in one ear? Completely deaf in one ear. When I woke up, the left side of my face was totally paralyzed. No. Like, I couldn't even close my eye and was talking on the side of my mouth like this, you know?
Starting point is 00:30:54 Did they say to expect this or was that a shock to you? They said to me, I had like a 20% chance of nicking my nerve on the left side of my face and killing it. And then I had 70% chance of losing my hearing, which went and at that point, like you and the airplane, you're like, yeah, you're crazy. I don't really believe in you,
Starting point is 00:31:23 but take my hearing, but let me keep the face and just let me be the father. Yeah, Foxhole prayers, right? I mean, like that, yeah. Reverse for me, they took my face, but I can hear great. You're beautiful. And you have incredible hearing, by the way. Thank you, thank you so much. You're welcome incredible hearing, by the way. Thank you, guys.
Starting point is 00:31:45 Thank you so much. You're welcome. Mark, can we start at the beginning? And I wanna know more about you. You grew up in Wisconsin. When did you move to LA? What made you move? Did the whole family move to LA?
Starting point is 00:31:56 Yeah. And why? We moved, no, no, the whole family didn't move to LA. We started in Wisconsin. You know, the family business sort move to LA. We started in Wisconsin. The family business sort of blew up. My family business was they had a construction painting business. Construction painting?
Starting point is 00:32:14 Yeah, like huge jobs, like the Libby factory and our GM motors, American motors, but sandblasting and- Paint the whole factory. Huge, huge jobs. Okay. And that went under and my dad was, you know, trying to start a new life.
Starting point is 00:32:34 And so that took us to San Diego. And he had the original soda butler, which was you can make your own soda at home for fractions of the cost. You carbonate your own soda. Yeah, I remember that. That was his baby. And he was ready to take off, like we see it today.
Starting point is 00:32:58 And Coca-Cola and Pepsi and all those brands stopped selling, wouldn't sell him the syrup because it was a home delivery kind of system and There's an anti-trust law against that they have to sell those syrups to the public really and he was and they he's like this is against the law and they're like fuck you take us to court and Basically once those those high-end brands weren't available to people, they just sort of lost its popularity
Starting point is 00:33:28 and that crapped up. But so we were living in San Diego. With nothing to do. Yeah. And we moved there the day after I graduated from high school. Wow. And I had no support group there.
Starting point is 00:33:43 And I was at the base. I mean, I'd been surfing since I started living support group there. And I was just based, I mean, I'd been surfing since I started living in Virginia Beach. So all I was doing was really surfing and smoking weed. You know, we all know that. Sure. And wrestling, by the way, you were a wrestler. Yeah, I was a wrestler during high school.
Starting point is 00:33:59 It's crazy. It's gonna get us to Foxcatcher at some point in this review. If you ever shut up. I love that movie. I love that movie. And someone said, go to Los Angeles. You want to be an actor, go to Los Angeles, go to the Stella Adler Conservatory,
Starting point is 00:34:16 you'll meet people there, I'll take care of you. Where did the acting interest come from? In Wisconsin, was it born? Yeah, man. My family's Catholic, my grandmother was a born-again Christian and my father was a Baha'i. So I had like the whole Middle East, a good part of the Middle East living in my home.
Starting point is 00:34:40 Yeah. And they still couldn't get along. home, you know, and they still couldn't get along. First of all, I'd go to church and I was like, wow, that guy is, wow, he's captivating. He's captivating as the priest could be. Then I was saved by Jimmy Swagger at the First Assembly of God and I was like, whoa, he's got a band. He's sweating, he's like Elvis.
Starting point is 00:35:10 So I, you know, I started, I got an idea what it was like to perform and it was weird, my grandmother one night, I was probably like eight, she, everything that happened to me, that's like core experiences were my grandmother, whether it was my first enema or it was... And my last, by the way.
Starting point is 00:35:31 I was just gonna say not your last, yeah. And being saved by Jimmy Swagger, but also letting me stay up at night and watch the movie of the week. And that one was Streetcar Named Desire. Oh wow. And I saw Brando like at eight years old and I was like, I didn't know it was Brando.
Starting point is 00:35:50 I don't even know, you know, I was like, grandma, who is that? She said, it tells me. I was like, what is he doing? She says, he's acting. I was like, I want to do that. She's like, let's get finished with this anime first. And then we'll.
Starting point is 00:36:10 Let's clean you out first. I have just the thing for you. We're going to cure you of that. Wow. Wow. So then that kind of goes on pause through moving. Yeah. And then you're out.
Starting point is 00:36:25 Then you move up from San Diego to LA to pursue that? Yeah, so I'm like, dad, I kind of want to go to the school. And he said, I was like, but it's in LA. And I've never really been away from home. I was 18 and he's like, well, you know, why not? I was like, I don't know. I'm afraid.
Starting point is 00:36:43 And he's like, well, what's the worst that can happen? What are you afraid? I was like, I don't know. I'm afraid. And he's like, well, what's the worst that can happen? What are you afraid? I was like, what if I die? And he's like, well, if you die, who gives a shit? You know, he won't even know. Yeah. I mean, I'll be sad, but I mean, you're not gonna know. I like your dad.
Starting point is 00:36:57 And so I did. I did too. And I went up there and I was taking the train. I used to, we didn't have any money at that point. We were just poor as church mice. So I'd bus tables at night and then the next day, I went to school every other day. So I'd work one day and make just enough money
Starting point is 00:37:16 to pay for a round trip train ticket and buy a burrito that I cut in the thirds. A cheese burrito right off of Hollywood Boulevard at Dos Burritos. Yeah, that's and um and yeah Wow, and that was it and I and I just had my mind blown and I'm like this is what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life And then and then from that acting school was there like a showcase in there where agents came by and you got an agent And then you started getting some auditions and got a couple jobs and just sort of a natural progression. I was there for seven years. Without representation.
Starting point is 00:37:50 Pony my craft. And bartending at the Chateau Marmont, right? But didn't you drive a motor, you rode a motorcycle everywhere, which is my first thing was when I read you, you had a motorcycle and you drove to auditions. I was like, what about your hair? Like, it was amazing.
Starting point is 00:38:04 Cause there was no helmets back then, which is also deadly. Oh, my hair was awesome. It was all wind blown. You know, it looked like it crossed between Salminio and, yeah, and Bozo. Bozo. Yeah, no, I wild that you drove a motorcycle everywhere.
Starting point is 00:38:25 Like I can't imagine. I couldn't afford a car. It was like I had a $250, 1974 Honda XR250 that I could personally work on when it broke down. And that was the only way I could get around LA. I just couldn't afford, I was living in a closet for 200 bucks. My whole nut was about 300 bucks a month.
Starting point is 00:38:49 So was there a big job that kinda launched you, or was it sort of like a little bit here, a little bit there, and just sort of a slow progression? It was a very slow progression. I mean, there's really no reason that I should have tried as long as I did because that was from 18 to 28. I mean, that is such a long time to like stick with, you wanna talk about stick with it.
Starting point is 00:39:13 There's so much opportunity in there for you to say fuck it and throw it in and go do anything else. Yeah. I did. I tried. No, but I mean, yeah. I'm just saying the similarities between your story and Sean's story. Yeah, I love that. No, I am. No, but I'm thinking about like, I think if I'm remembering correctly, you came to LA and you smoked a lot of weed and wrestled and you'd never nut for less than $300. If I'm putting all the pieces, if I'm thinking back, if I'm thinking of the right...
Starting point is 00:39:50 300 bucks for a nut? That's why Will was silent for less than two minutes. He's been constructing that show. He was just shaping that joke. We love it. It was so well executed too, Will. It was beautiful. I was like, wait, that's not my story.
Starting point is 00:40:03 I moved to LA and got a sitcom pretty cute. It was beautiful. I was like, wait, that's not my story. I moved to LA and got a sitcom right away. God bless you. I love you for that. But Mark, let me ask you this, so because my recollection is, so you're 28, but you, when you came to New York and started doing stuff with Naked Angels,
Starting point is 00:40:21 with those guys with Missy and Kenny, is when I first met you when you guys were doing the short plays, Before This Is Our Youth, you guys were doing, and you had done, oh no, right before This Is Our Youth, you had done a movie and you had an, I feel like you had an agent at that point, like right before This Is Our Youth,
Starting point is 00:40:40 am I right about that? Yeah, I did, yeah. I'd done a few soft core horror films. No, that's not true. Yeah, it is. For real? Mirror, Mirror 2 and Mirror, Mirror 3. The Raven Dance and The Voyeur.
Starting point is 00:40:57 Yeah, wow. I will be looking for that. No, there was something, what was the other movie you did? Most did like a teen movie or like you did like a like a ski movie. Am I remembering this right? No, there was I had a I had a one-day role and there goes my baby. I don't know if you remember that I don't like that sounds like a made-up name of a movie. Yeah, I know and then I you know And I actually did have a couple pilot Yeah, I know and then I you know what I actually did have a couple pilot
Starting point is 00:41:29 shots that never went. Oh with Ken with Kenny Marino, Ken Marino. Yeah, no shit. Yeah, that was like that was like my first job It was it was the play like the little nair do well, you know, you guys great brothers Would you guys play brothers? Yeah, did you really? Yeah, we were brothers me him and Shawn Aston No, Oh wow Yeah, killer cast love Sean love Ken marino. Yeah, all-time great dude. Yeah, yeah, we should have got that We should have you know, they they blew it someday someone will show that pilot Hey, you know I had an idea you guys could probably actualize this. Why doesn't someone start a movie state a to actualize this, why doesn't someone start a movie, a streaming station with all of the fucking
Starting point is 00:42:08 failed pilots and television shows that we all did? I've asked that for a long time, and you'd think that the networks would, just like during the summers, show all the pilots that they didn't pick up, just to sort of cross monetize what they did, and the reason they don't do it is because they don't want one of those pilots to be well received and then they look like
Starting point is 00:42:28 Schmuck for not ordering it. That's the only reason they don't do it. It's the same reason that they don't want to say that they hate putting movies and turnaround and letting other studios make the movie on the off chance that another turnaround is for Tracy is that if a studio is developing a movie and then they decide they're not gonna make it,
Starting point is 00:42:47 they have the potential in another studio to come in and say like, hey, we'll pay you for whatever it costs you to develop that script and we wanna make that movie. They don't like to do it because- They'd rather eat the fee on that. Well, yeah, because if it goes to another studio and it does really well, then the guy who decided not to make it gets fired, right?
Starting point is 00:43:02 Right, yeah. And it happens all the fucking time. But you're right, Mark, that's a great idea. There's so many great pilots out there. There are people who do show them sometimes because what's that great one that Owen Wilson Jack did, Black, about the talking motorcycle and Owen Wilson's the voice of the,
Starting point is 00:43:22 have you ever seen this? No, I don't. No, I want to. What were they on? It's hilarious. There's so many. That's how I met Andy and Akiva and Yorm, those guys, Lonely Island. They did a pilot, a Lonely Island pilot that Phil Lord and Chris Miller produced. That was all sketches before they got SNL. And somebody showed it to me. I was like, these guys are fucking hilarious.
Starting point is 00:43:45 And then network, you know, they didn't pick it up. And then imagine if you showed that, whoever that person is, they'd be banned from showbiz forever. Well, they're probably gone already. Yeah, that's true. I mean, they really like burned through all those executives. Yeah, it turned over fast there.
Starting point is 00:44:01 So Mark, with those humble beginnings and an extended period of... Incredible. Was there... What about when you... It sucked. Let me just... Let's not romanticize. But was it difficult at all when you just hit the massive amount of success that you're in now, was that also a slow progression as well?
Starting point is 00:44:30 Or was there a moment where you got a big fat check or a big fat job and the transition was uncomfortable or difficult for you because of such humble, extended beginnings? All I know is my big break was a play with Holly Hunter and Carol Kane and Bill Pullman. And it was the hot thing in Los Angeles at the time. Hot LA play, you don't hear that often.
Starting point is 00:44:57 No, but it was those people. And Holly'd already won the Academy Award and Carol was huge and Bill was huge. Where was the play, Amundsen? No, it was at the Met Theater. They had, they started their own theater. And yeah, it was in the early 90s. And that was gonna be my big break.
Starting point is 00:45:22 And I, of course, was fired four days before we opened. And, you know, a stagehand fired me because Beth Henley was the director, but she just couldn't bring herself to fire me. So they basically had a stagehand who told me he was the producer, fire me. What was your problem? Why did you get fired?
Starting point is 00:45:44 I sucked no Why else do you get fire I bet their taste was up their ass no no, you know it honestly I was probably what what they what I was told was I I was in a different play which you know could possibly That's a director's fault. Yeah, you know director's got to get everybody in the same project. Yeah. Thank you, Jason. That's what I was trying to tell them. It's true.
Starting point is 00:46:10 You know? We'll be right back. SmartLess is supported by Hydro. Hmm. Do I want to look better? Do I want to feel better? Do I want to be better? Do I want to feel better? Do I want to be overall healthier?
Starting point is 00:46:28 Yeah, of course I do. We all do. We want to do whatever we can to be our best selves. But do I have the time to do it? You mean do you have 20 minutes? Yeah, you got 20 minutes to make your life better, to look better? I think you're good. Guess what? Hydro is the best. It's a state of the art at home rowing machine designed by rowers that delivers the ultimate fullbody workout. How ultimate? It works 86% of your muscles. I'm talking arms, legs, core, and it only takes 20 minutes. Rowing with hydro is low impact, so low risk of injury.
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Starting point is 00:48:34 Just move along. Just get one. You know what I mean? I just love, I find you incredible in the normal heart. And I thought this one is you. You want a minute to think about it? No, I don't need a minute. But this much is true.
Starting point is 00:48:42 I mean, it was mind-blowing. You played those two, I mean, how did you do that? What was your approach to this much is true where you played identical twins, right? Yeah. Yeah. It's just incredible. I mean, I look at that and I was like, God, the work, like how did you even start?
Starting point is 00:48:57 Where do you start? Well, Derek and I, you know, I- Derek C. and France? Yeah, Derek C. and France. Director. Our director and the writer. He adapted it from the book. Genius, genius man.
Starting point is 00:49:13 Yeah, he's a genius. I had gotten the book rights and I immediately wanted him. And, you know, he was, he'd only done his own stuff that he'd ever, and so he was taking a meeting out of courtesy because we love each other and we keep talking about working each other but we never were finding anything inside. I mean that kind.
Starting point is 00:49:37 He's like, yeah man, let's meet and we'll go for a walk and we'll talk about it. And he started with, nah, this isn't for me. I don't wanna do the CGI kind of thing with this. I don't know how to do that. And we walked for like three hours. And I just kind of pitched him what I was thinking and seeing and how it related to his work.
Starting point is 00:50:00 And at the end of it, he's like, okay, man, let's do this. And that was like a year or two before, we started working on it together a year or two before we ever shot it. Was it always gonna be HBO? Was HBO, wasn't it? No, we took it out, we shot it and everyone's, HBO kind of was interested sniffing around but everyone else Was like no way. This is no
Starting point is 00:50:30 No one wants to see someone cut off their arm in the first ten minutes of a show, you know and and and and Francis was like Francesco was like Who was running or say yeah for chance of course he was like, Francesco was like, who was running the television. But yeah, Francesco was like, wait, no one else wants it? I'm like, no, she's like, okay, we'll do it. Yeah, she's a badass. That's so cool.
Starting point is 00:50:56 Yeah, that's so cool. And we did it. But Derek had the genius idea. It was really, he really approached it as two different films really. And he said, I want you to go out and gain the weight and we're gonna take eight weeks and you're gonna, yeah, I was like, no gym, weight gain.
Starting point is 00:51:18 Sign me up. Yeah, exactly. And that was really like having the space between that. And you know, usually you do a twin movie and literally you run off, you put a mustache on, you run back in the same day and you shoot it. But I got- Well, that's how you did Lego Masters this year, right?
Starting point is 00:51:36 That's exactly how I did everything. Glue it on, my spirit on, let's tamp it down. Well, I just, and I just used clippings from my wig. Yeah. And you're so damn good. And I hate use clippings for my wig. Yeah. And you're so damn good. And I hate you for that because I have to take eight weeks to get my shit together and grow on what's that. So beautiful. Wow.
Starting point is 00:51:56 I know. Your performance deserved the nomination. Thank you. Just incredible. And of course, because you're sitting here and I'm a huge fan of the Marvel stuff and how did you get the Hulk? When I see what you guys do in the Marvel movies, I'm just like, you know, not having done a ton of movies myself, but enough to know that the schedules are like 15, 16 hours a day. But those I imagine where you shoot like,
Starting point is 00:52:21 well, let's shoot like three lines of dialogue today. That's what it feels like from the outside. Like there's so much time and money. It just must be so cushy. Meanwhile, you spent three hours in the makeup chair before you even do that. Downey says he won't do more than three words a day, I heard. Well, he's on a per-world rate. That's when he's busting his ass.
Starting point is 00:52:41 Yeah, that's when he's working his hardest. Why would I do more than three? Oh yeah. Actually, Downey could probably do 10 pages of dialogue in a day. Oh yeah. I mean, he speaks quickly. And the guy, I mean, it's just,
Starting point is 00:52:57 I don't understand how he does it. He's a genius. It's just amazing. He's a genius. It takes me like a month to learn a line. Truly. And so, oh God, it takes me forever. It's such a drag.
Starting point is 00:53:10 Really? Do you have like a trick? Like some people write their lines down. That makes them remember it. Others like kind of say it into a mirror. Do you have a way? I have this app called Scene Study. Really?
Starting point is 00:53:24 And I record each line, and then I could pull out my character's line and it just runs in repetition over and over and over again. And then I just, I'll learn it that way. And what I have to do, it's weird. I have to be walking to learn lines, to really learn them. That's not weird. And I just repeat them over and over and over
Starting point is 00:53:49 a thousand times to learn it like a song kind of, you know? No shit. The way lines go into my head is that I don't decide exactly how I'm going to be saying a line, but I fully sort of understand kind of what I'm saying and why I'm saying it. So there's a little bit of performance that's kind of in there.
Starting point is 00:54:09 Like I can't just learn word, word, word, word, word, period. You know, like it, there needs to be in context or something. So do you marry in a certain amount of performance when you're learning your lines? And if so, are you able to be flexible once you get on the set? And now the other actor is doing it differently
Starting point is 00:54:26 or the director is asking for a different tone and you're unable to pivot your performance because the learning of the line is married to the performance. Does that make sense? Yep, I learned early on, this was a technique that was taught to me from my acting teacher who had learned it
Starting point is 00:54:43 from someone who learned it from Paul Muni. So this technique goes like way back. And the whole thing was is that you just spit it out and you start really slowly at first. So let's say, you know, I, to be or not to be or whatever. So you do it to be or not to be or whatever. So you do it to be or not to be very slowly and you work it up faster and faster and faster to be or not to be, to be or not to be,
Starting point is 00:55:14 to be or not to be, to be or not to be. And it's really just to teach your muscles to know it without having to think about it. So then when you are working, you're super free. And you haven't really, you've learned it in a way that is like, doesn't have any inflection on it, just very flat. So that you can be more open to what's coming at you and you don't get stuck in a particular way of saying it, although I do anyway.
Starting point is 00:55:41 Isn't it amazing that you make different ways here? The way that you learn it can, if you do it that way, can sometimes affect the cadence. Like, quite literally just to get to the mechanics, the actual cadence of how you say it. I was talking about this yesterday with an actor whom we all know, and he was saying, we were talking about this, and I said about this weird sort of quasi-improved thing
Starting point is 00:56:01 that we were talking about, and I said, I remember there were people that we worked with. I could count on that person delivering a line. They always delivered it the same way every time. And I knew that they were gonna deliver it that way, which freed me up or us up to do whatever the fuck we wanted because they were just like a spine. They would always do it the same way.
Starting point is 00:56:24 So then you could just fuck with that. It was so freeing knowing that they were always gonna be right on it So it didn't matter so I was I've always felt so free to just fuck around no curveballs No, no curveballs. What's really beautiful in your work though, too. It's like, you know That freedom is with is that is that one of the things that you like about theater, the fact that there is dialogue there that you once you learn it, you don't have to learn anything yet. Like there's no new scene tomorrow
Starting point is 00:56:56 and another scene the next day. Yeah, but I would say like Mark, not to get, I know we spent a lot of time on this as our youth, but I mean, you know, and I maybe short of Kenny, I don't know if anybody saw it, especially that first one, more than me. I fucking, that play has so much dialogue, and you specifically have so much dialogue in that play
Starting point is 00:57:15 that it's mind blowing. And you guys, it's so crazy. And from previews all the way through the end of the run, your performance changed a lot. It did, it evolved and you were giving like, I mean, you remember, how much dialogue did you have in that fucking play? Oh, so much dialogue.
Starting point is 00:57:35 We both, I mean, there's two people literally at stage. Either me and one other person, or me and another person for two hours. But you all the time. And me just all the time. And big monologues and lots of overlapping. So you had to learn the overlapping. And his writing is so crazy.
Starting point is 00:57:56 It's like, yeah, you know what I mean? It's like, I don't know, you know, like. Mm-hmm, like that, yeah. It has so many stops and starts and idiosyncratic, you know, dialogue. And for Tracy out there in theater, you cannot change the dialogue at all, or you get written up by the stage manager, right? And then equity will find you. You can't change anything.
Starting point is 00:58:23 They're like, why were you changing your, why did you change where you moved on that line? Right. That was set, you know, that was set with a director or. I would sink with that. I'm way too loose with the dialogue. The first act, it was two minutes too long. Yeah, I know.
Starting point is 00:58:41 So can we just tighten that up again? Yeah. And you're just like, what are you talking? I don't care. And if you really want to get out of there, it's five minutes too short. Exactly. We just talk faster.
Starting point is 00:58:52 No, they never complain about it being too short. Yeah. First of all, have you ever, I read that all your activism and you're using your voice on such a massive platform to use your voice and you're not afraid to use your voice. And I love that about you, your opinions. You just spew them out. This is what I believe.
Starting point is 00:59:11 This is what's right from wrong. And I love it. Well, let's just spew them out. I mean, that means it's... No, but I mean, it's like, intelligently... Let's try different rooms that way. No, no, no, no.
Starting point is 00:59:18 No, it is, yeah, Sean's right. It's remarkable, dude. How much do you have? It is incredible and I love it. And I wish I had the balls you have. But tell me what the solutions project is. But wait, before I talk about the solutions project, have you ever spoken in front of Congress?
Starting point is 00:59:35 I've spoken on the Hill with the Senate. I've testified. So this is what I want to ask you. What is that like when you're sitting there? Because at home, when I'm watching somebody do that, they all look like bored. And you're like, Scottie, who turned on CNBC? Is it effective?
Starting point is 00:59:55 Did you feel like being there was effective? You know, so I did that movie, Dark Waters, which is about forever chemicals for Tracy. They're the chemicals that come from like Teflon that stay in your blood and are linked to seven different cancers and they're in everybody and all over the world and the mother passes it from themselves to the baby through their breast milk and it gets in your body, it accumulates and it never leaves. And it's pervasive. So we did a movie called Dark Waters to tell the story of the lawyer who exposes this.
Starting point is 01:00:32 It's a true story and brings all the lawsuits and wins the biggest tort lawsuit in the history of the United States to actually study this stuff. So I was asked to go and testify to the environmental committee. When you go there, it's half Republicans, half Democrats, the seats are like,
Starting point is 01:00:57 it's a gallery kind of thing and they're all there. These are house people. I didn't go to the Senate. there. These are house people. I didn't go to the Senate. And you're testifying and they're asking you questions and you're getting peppered a little bit. But on one side, the Democrat side, there was literally, every seat was taken, it was like 40 people. On the Republican side, there's three guys. And when they're done with their questions, they get the hell out of there. Oh, he literally, he wasn't even a question, is like, I know why you're here.
Starting point is 01:01:30 You hate industry. This is all just a ploy for you to make a bunch of money and attack big corporations and the economic good of people. And that's all I got to say. And threw them like down and walked out. I yield. I yield. Yeah. And I'm like, you wanna get a chance to answer that?
Starting point is 01:01:51 I'm like, believe me, I know how to make a movie that makes a lot of money and this is not one of them. Right. Yeah. And there's nothing in here that's erroneous at all. Everything's completely vetted and backed back. I'm sure you've been asked this before so I apologize We're not knowing the answer, but have you ever given any thought to public office? No No, and because of the of the the pain in the ass of it all because of Folks that have different ideas about why they're there?
Starting point is 01:02:26 Yeah, you know, I'd, you know, I was there, I was there lobbying against fracking like back in the day. And when it was all just kind of happening and I was in Harry Reid's office. And basically he didn't come to the meeting, but his chief of staff was there and he said, listen, close the door.
Starting point is 01:02:48 I said, listen, here's the deal. This city is overrun with fossil fuel money. We have to spend three quarters of our time on the phone raising money. You're in the wrong place. You need to do this on the regional level, on the phone raising money. You're in the wrong place. You need to do this on the regional level, on the state level. That's really where this kind of thing
Starting point is 01:03:11 is the only place that this could get done. And I was just like, are you kidding? Just heartening. Are you joking me? And the reason they need the money, or any politician needs money, is to buy 30 second ads, right? To get reelected and reelected,
Starting point is 01:03:27 which only just puts them in a position of power. It's not like it's some extremely lucrative position to be a senator or a representative. It's, you know, some of them are there for ideological reasons, right? I would imagine, but- Yeah, initially mostly. Yeah, not to be overly cynical,
Starting point is 01:03:44 but it seems like, or sounds sounds like a lot of them are there just because they enjoy the position of access and influence and power and getting their ring kissed at parties and stuff like that. It's just so heartbreaking. It's pretty like, you know, likely see it's just, you know, it's not really about policy that's gonna help people.
Starting point is 01:04:03 It just gets broken down along sort of these lines. And a lot of them are just ideological. And it's like, I need to get this money from this person so there's a little bit of back and forth. I'm gonna have to give them a little bit of something. And that's really, I mean, I think that's more true than any of us really wanna believe. Yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 01:04:30 But if you ran, you could start a change. If a bunch of people like you ran, I guess what I sense from you is that you can really affect. No, but is that you can affect change outside, like that there is no change on the inside and that if you want to make noise or whatever, you have to keep banging the drum from outside. And you can, and you do.
Starting point is 01:04:53 I mean, we banned fracking here in New York state. And PFAS is finally, you never, you don't really, I mean, we know, but there's such power in storytelling. And you can really change things with storytelling, especially if you're not like nailing it, hitting it on the head, just sort of, just telling that story, that human story that we all relate to, you know?
Starting point is 01:05:16 We all relate to other people's stories. And you know, there's been movies that I, the kids are all right, right in the middle of the dialogue on same-sex marriage. I mean, that movie opened people up to be like, oh, gay people have it just as bad as we do. Yeah, exactly. You know, and then hope. Oh, look at Sean's show, Will and Grace,
Starting point is 01:05:38 is one of the first shows that like, Exactly, profound. Oh my God, I'm in love with these characters that are not heterosexual, so I guess people aren't so bad Yes, and it's making me laugh that shift which was the biggest shift societal shift on a on an issue Sean that you guys that was the biggest societal shift on an issue With the largest spread of polling than than any other. Yeah, well, thank you for saying that. And to your point, it's just telling a story. We were just, we weren't batting people over the head
Starting point is 01:06:08 about it, just like presenting the people and the facts. And this is how normal everybody is, you know? And we just, we just, we just frack a little differently. Yeah. Yeah. Fuckin' asshole, that's so good. See, this guy, damn it. This is a big money. How long so good. See, this is great. God damn it. This is a big money.
Starting point is 01:06:25 How long that one, I don't know. Just laid in so beautifully. So really quick, before we let you go, Mark. Shatoma Ramon, I can't believe you were the bartender at that hotel for 10 years. You were the bartender. No, no, no. I was doing pickup work there.
Starting point is 01:06:43 I was at another bar called, I was at two bars. I was at the Olive, which was a hot little bar. And I was at, yes, I was there. Yes, during that time. And I was at Smalls, which is kind of like this punk rock, rock and roll bar on the, you know, right where Melrose and Gower met. Wow.
Starting point is 01:07:01 And I was doing pickup work at the Chateau, which didn't have a bar yet. So we'd go in and set up a bar for all the events there. Wow, wow, wow. Isn't that wild to be back? Would you ever go back and be like, wow. Yeah, man, I'm there. And the young guy comes in at the food room service
Starting point is 01:07:18 and he's kind of looking at me and I go to give him his tip and he's like, wow, that's a huge tip. Man, he's like, hey man, you made it. And then do you say I started right where you are? They know, he's like used to work here, didn't you? Oh, that's cool. And I was like, yeah, he's like, you made it, man.
Starting point is 01:07:41 That's cool. That's so cool. I love that. Jason and I had lunch there over 20 years ago. He does not remember it. Is that true? Mark, thank you for it, man. That's cool. That's so cool. I love that. Jason and I had lunch there over 20 years ago. He does not remember it. Is that true? Mark, thank you for being here today. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Starting point is 01:07:50 I wanted to, before you go. Will. I truly don't. I'm looking at you right now. What the fuck are you talking about? How long have you and Sonny been married now? It's been forever. I don't mean it that way.
Starting point is 01:08:03 I mean, it's awesome. It's a lot. We've been together for 27 years. Oh, that's great. That's amazing. Yeah. It's amazing. How many kids? We have three kids. It's incredible. 22, 18 and 16. Can you believe your life? No, man. I'm really cool. You know, my biggest concern was when I have a house, what I'd be, what I have a place to live. I mean, you know, that was like, that was like, I just want a place to live.
Starting point is 01:08:25 I just don't want to be in the streets. Like, if I can attain that, that would be great. Yeah, yeah. And now look at this. And now it's like, and now look at my office. Yeah. Slashback. I'm not working on motorcycles anymore.
Starting point is 01:08:40 I tell you what, man, you haven't, honestly, you haven't changed a bit. You're still the nicest, most talented dude and you couldn't happen to him. I'm so happy for your life. You're such a, always been such a great dude. You've always had such a great vibe. And it just makes me happy every time I see you.
Starting point is 01:08:55 It's truly one of my favorites. Thank you, all the time. All you guys, I love you. Thank you. So much for doing this show. Me too, thank you for having me. Mark, thank you for being here. We appreciate it.
Starting point is 01:09:05 And you were on my list for a long time for a reason and it's so nice to finally meet you and Gush because I just think you're great. No, it was great and you guys are great. And this is such a, it was such a nice time. And Will, I know, just, I know. We came so, we came such a long way. And Jason, you've always been so kind to me and Sean now
Starting point is 01:09:26 Like now we know each other and we'll be able to hug when we see each other together and frack, you know Yeah, let's see. Let's take things slow Dude, I can't wait to see poor things. I'm gonna Hear it's fan Let's get that link, let's get that link. Yeah, okay, let's get it. I'm gonna pay for it, full price, evening price. Yeah, evening price.
Starting point is 01:09:51 But soon it'll be just on the, you know, the site. Yeah, but I hear it's one you can go ahead and enjoy a big screen. Let's go see it in the theater this week. Let's go. Let's go boys. Smart Battlefield trip. All right.
Starting point is 01:10:04 Mark, you're the king. Mark, love. Thanks for. Thanks for doing this. Have a great rest of the day. Bye, buddy. Man, that guy hits me right in the center of my like target. Like there's just such a good vibe about him. Those guys always seem like so confident. Which, what do you mean those guys? Which one? You know what? I put him in, I feel like him, Crude Up and Rockwell
Starting point is 01:10:35 are like, you came out of the same keep on. And you go, that's why they work because they're ultra talented, obviously, but they also work a lot because you wanna hang out like they're just going. It's saltily yours dudes. Totally and he's very, he's just very,
Starting point is 01:10:53 I don't know, he's like, he's so authentic. He doesn't have to try and there's no pretense. He's really that seed. I love that he gets toned a lot. We're dead. Makes sense, it relaxes people. Yeah. Well, that's a segue into,
Starting point is 01:11:05 are you pushing a new product? Yeah, do you have a new pen or something? You got a gummy? You want to sell? What's going on? A new pen. No one's calling them vape pens anymore. It really relaxes people.
Starting point is 01:11:17 Which reminds me. Take a deep, deep breath. This is my favorite though. And thanks, we're good. No, he's, you know, it's pretty awesome about what he does for my taste is that he's this incredible actor that you never see him acting. He's never taking these, you know,
Starting point is 01:11:40 I don't know, these obnoxious character swings that some actors absolutely can pull off for sure, I don't know, these obnoxious character swings that some actors absolutely can pull off for sure, but I never get the sense that he feels like he needs to. Like just kind of just- Well, he's in the, for me, he's in the John Goodman. I've mentioned this all the time, the category of actors and it's growing now
Starting point is 01:11:56 because we've had a few on him. He's one of those. He's, it doesn't matter what he's in, he is always great, eh? Right? So you start thinking like, you think about like, oh, he mentions kids are all right. And you're like, oh, he's in, he is always great, eh? So you start thinking, you think about, oh, his kids are all right, and you're like, oh, he's great in that, and you said Fox catcher,
Starting point is 01:12:10 you're like, oh, he's great in that, and they're like, you forget about spotlight. Oh, he's incredible in that. Really talented filmmakers are attracted to him, yeah. Well, because he's always great. It's his story about Kenny saying to him, like, you're not gonna do it, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then you're gonna go, oh, you're really good in this. Like he's his story about Kenny saying to him like, you're not gonna do it, but we're gonna go, oh, you're really good in this.
Starting point is 01:12:27 Like he's just really undeniable. That imitation is so funny. It's so, so funny. I like spending these days with you guys. I haven't seen you in a long time. This feels so lazy already. It's been a real quiet while since we all been together. You should be banned from doing these for me.
Starting point is 01:12:47 We know, and it's, you know, I wish we could spend more time as the days go. Bye. Bye. Officially banned going forward, bye. Smart. Last. Smart. Lass. Smart. Lass. Smart. Lass.
Starting point is 01:13:06 SmartLass is 100% organic and artisanly handcrafted by Bennett Barbicot, Michael Grant Terry, and Rob Omjalf. Smart. Lass. SmartLess.

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