SmartLess - “Matt Damon (and Tracey!) LIVE in Madison”

Episode Date: August 17, 2023

This week Matt-is-on from Madison… Matt Damon, that is (with a quick visit from Tracey) comin’ atcha LIVE from Wisconsin. (Recorded Feb. 09, 2022)Listen to “SmartLess Live” episodes four weeks early and ad-free on Wondery+See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Oh my God. Oh, the house lights. Take your time with the house lights. Oh, wait. Yeah. Oh, wait. Take your time with the house lights. I don't know what you're supposed to do.

I don't, uh, this isn't, can, well somebody, yeah, give it to me. How about you just, you wait, you just had a red ball. I need to be slapped to be woken up. Okay. I'm gonna slap you, the, as far as I want you, I want, I'm gonna slap you, as hard as I want you to slap me.

I'm just, I'm shunned. You just slap me. Okay. I want, I'm gonna slap you as hard as I want you to slap me. I'm shunned. You just slap me. I just slap much. Okay. Harder than that. Okay. I think we're on right now. Oh. We should, yeah.

Okay, shut up. So, no, we gotta do the thing. No flash photography. Don't use your fucking cell phone. Ow! There we go. That was a block. No flash photography.

Don't use your fucking cell phone. Don't record. Have a good time Say hi your neighbor Oh My god Oh my god I'm Addison you nice people Very nice

Yeah He's already this The sweatshirt. Oh, sit down. Sit down, sit down. Sit down, sit down. It's a perchera set. Beautiful, beautiful theater. Yeah.

A beautiful town. We, we, we finally made it to Madison Wisconsin. Good thing. Okay. I got it. I got to say a little bit, you know, as you guys know, you're a big part of the podcast and coming here today kind of feels a little bit like a home game. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right.

You know, like a badger game or like a badger game. I was cheap. That know? We're good. Like a badger game. We're like a badger game. That was cheap. That was a cheap applause line. That was very cheap. Sorry about that. Or like, some people were like, I don't give a shit about the fuck you're bad. Yeah.

Or like a bowling game. I bowl a lot. Maybe I bowl. Anyway. Anyway. So, we want to say thank you to you guys for wanting to see us. We wanted to see you. So this is awesome that this worked out.

And a shout out to the Edgewater Hotel who housed us for four hours today. Yeah. It's right on a frozen lake and us soft little L.A. freaks were like, well, that lakes frozen. I see people walk on it. Should we go walk on it? So we walked on it.

And we walked on it. You can walk on a frozen lake. Yeah. That's amazing. It was very cold right there at the Edgewater. Well, they look as a Canadian, I on it. You can walk on a frozen lake. Yeah. It was very cold, right there at the edgewater. Well, they look as a Canadian, I get it. Okay. Not to pull rank too much, but...

Did you ever play hockey on a frozen lake? Sure. Really? Yeah, of course. How many times? Again, I'm Canadian. No, but I mean, not every Canadian plays hockey or on a frozen lake. Yeah, no, I have done it.

But it's a fair question. And we did get out there. You wanted to go. We were up at the Edgewater Hotel. I don't know. And they were super nice. We were there for like two hours. But we, Jason saw the icing, saw people walking across.

He's like, we got a kid out there. And it shone back. And Sean was like, what are they doing? And neither of them had ever been out on a frozen lake before, with you guys Know is just what you do. Yeah Hey, let's sit down. Yeah, let's sit down. We're gonna get down. Yeah, so Let's see

So we have different I've been sitting in that seat for a couple of days. Yeah, it's nice to be over here I want to see these people too. All right so couple of days. Yeah, it's nice to be over here. I want to see these people too. All right. So I, you know, I like to start out like with a personal story that happens, you know, on the material. No, I don't have material. Dig in everyone, someone's prepared. I do have a cocktail. No, I, you know, on the tour, by the way, we are living together on the tour. We're living in one suite, like, yeah. Turns out he's messy. Yeah, not true.

He's not. You don't sleep well. I don't sleep well. You like the snacks? I mean, I like, I mean, what? Yeah, you like the snacks. I do like the snacks. Oh, it is.

No, I do get a lot of shit from you about, you know, eating sprouts and no gluten. I mean, now that you see, I do get a lot of shit from you about, you know, eating sprouts and no gluten. I mean, now that you see, I eat terribly. You can see. Well, here's what it is, and we don't want to bore you too much, but we're going to do it anyway. We, what we realize is, as you know, Sean, and you guys know, Jason gives me a lot of shit

about eating and what I eat, blah, blah, blah. Have you noticed all the time that he gives me shit and then he ends up eating all the time? Yeah, all the time. Yeah, all the time. But it was classic today, right before we switched a little bit and Jason ordered a burger and will order to salad, which is so rare.

And then the salad came. But the salad came and it was the fried chicken salad. Fried chicken salad. But anyway, so, but wait, what? Still a salad. Low-hanging fruit is still fruit. But wait, and then Jason did offer me at a burger, and he offered me his, you did at one point,

legitimately say, I'll give you the rest of my waffle fries for your salad. Yeah. It is true, I did offer you my gluten bun too. Oh, yeah. Oh, God. All right, so, but on the tour, these guys one day I came back into the room and these guys have had had massages.

And so I was like, oh, it's bummed in. And so Jason was like, oh well, you can still get one willy-nilly trying to get me figured out how to get one. I'm like, you know what, forget it. So yesterday in Chicago, I got a missus. I got a facial because I couldn't get a missus. God, we sound so strong.

So strong. It's a word. Yeah, wow. By the way, we're having hours of record. Wait. You were the record for the record. I did not get him inside. Yes, you did.

No way, didn't. Well, you'll let us out. I'll let you out. I'll let you out. I'll let you out. Yeah, whatever you did. But so I got this little thing today. And this Russian woman is like,

like, misaging my shoulders after she put, I don't know, some fucking stuff on my face. And she's, misad, she goes, I don't know where I can't do a Russian accent, but she's like, oh, you strong muscles, you work out. And I was like, ugh, God, I don't know what this is. It's already making me feel uncomfortable. But I love funny misad stories.

I have two really quick. One, the first time I was... Wait, when you were king yourself up for your own... Absolutely. Absolutely, oh, this one I'm king. Actually. This gets better. It gets better.

Why the night gets better. One is, one time this friend of mine offered, he's like, this guy just sports machizers. I'm like, all right, I'll try that. So I'm lying on the thing. I never had a sports machiner for him. And I have the little thing over me. And I'm totally naked underneath.

And this guy starts pulling one leg over this way, and then one leg over this way, and my penis and balls are over here. Whoa. And my penis and balls over here. And none of it was relaxing or comfortable or anything. And I thought the sheet was supposed to be the invisible barrier between us,

but it was everywhere. But anyway, my philosophy, my philosophy, my philosophy for massages is this. If they say, hey, do you want a male or a female, I always ask for a female. And this is why. If it being gay, or a new slash. So if it's a straight-eye gay massage and something

happens, I don't want them to freak out. If it's a gay guy and something happens, I don't want them to be like, hey, and if it's a woman, I'm good to go. Oh. Go ahead, go ahead, cancel yourself. We're going to do it in Madison, Wisconsin. What a night. What a night. Have you ever had uncomfortable situation on the massage table? No, I don't think so.

Well, you know what prompted me to tell the story. I have a story. You would remember. A nice clean know would have done it. No, I had a masseuse one time get up on the table and she got up on me a little bit. Yeah, and it was, you know. Were you in the country?

In this country? Yeah. What, do you consider Latvia part of this country? No. So she, her technique was to get up on you? She got up, yes. She got up on my back, which I think is, yeah, irregular, now that I think about it.

She did, did she have a saddle with her? No. Uh, I, it was, when she took her clothes off, that's, that was a signal. That's, no. But that was it. that's the only time you had an uncomfortable massage. I don't think so.

I mean, no. There was, there was, um, a friend? No, no. Things, things change a little bit, but they don't go, things didn't get to where they get to. Your honor, permission to treat the witnesses hostile. Wait a minute.

What about that story you told me today, but that actually did happen to a friend of yours, which is all my friend. Yeah, my friend of mine's wife goes to this pretty reputable massage place in Los Angeles. And we can't tell this story yet. No, but they don't want to hear about this kind of stuff. That's like, that's... She...

Well, tell shit stories on the podcast. No, I'll tell a cleaner massage story that I was actually in. I actually said, oh, you're going to get both now. No, so she was in this nice massage place and she's enjoying a nice massage and she's face down and she's got herself a a male Russian massage therapist. Why are they always Russian? Because they're strong, man. And she receives a thumb.

Wow. Wow. Everything stops. He stops because he's wondering if he's going to receive a solid green instead of the flashing green. She stops because she's wondering if it's a mistake. Then she turns her, what's going on?

He stops the thumb and then finishes him, says she's so freaked out, she goes to pay at the end. She tips him. She, because she's so freaked out, she goes to pay at the end, she tips him. She, because she's not sure what she should be. He already tipped her. Hell. She goes, she goes home, she tells her husband, right? Because she's freaked out, right?

So he's freaked out. He picks up the phone. He calls the massage place and he explains the situation. He says, you know, my wife is in there. She's got a massage from a massage therapist there and she was dumb. And and and the person says, you know, I'm sorry, so that's impossible. Who is a massage therapist? And he says, I don't, honey, who is a massage therapist? And he says, I don't, honey, who is a massage? It was Yuri. And the guy says it was Yuri. And the person of the desk says, well, that's on because Yuri's our most requested massage therapist. And they both paused.

And the person of the massage was like, oh, got it. We will speak to Yuri. So that was that story. So, and let me get digits after the show of where that place is. So, you know, we're here because one of the main reasons we're here is because my sister lives in Wisconsin. And, yeah, yeah. And, as you know, Tracy.

And, you know, just one quick, Tracy story, she came to pick me up at college after my fourth year, and she picked me up in some pickup truck or something, and we got high before we got into the truck, and we got stoned. What? Drugs.

That's a good one. And so we got stoned. We smoked pop before we got it. And we loaded the trucking with just like, really nearly, like just a clothes and like my dress, my dress or whatever. And so we've driving, driving, and driving. And we're driving up 55 from ISU, Illinois State University. And I'm driving up, and we're both like listening to Madonna.

And we're both like in our own world. Like we're actually Madonna. I'm like, just like prayer. That voice would take us there. And like we're in the video or something. In our own world, we're not really talking. Obviously, I don't open my eyes and in the rearview mirror, I just see some pants.

And then a shirt. And then she's like driving. And she's like, holy shit. Some more pants and some socks, and like a suit, and then like part, and then we're like, maybe we should pull over. We pulled over, and I'm talking like two miles of clothes behind us, right?

And we just, what do we do? Should we go back and get in? No, we didn't give it, we just drove the fuck home. You were so, yeah. Because you did not zip your bags, uh, adequately. I was 18, or I'm sorry, I was 20, I don't know what. Are you, are you high now? Yeah, I love it.

But you know, why finish any of these stories? When I, when I can have Tracy tell them herself, she read. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Oh my Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my God. Tracy. Oh, my God.

All right. Madison's own Tracy. OK. She doesn't look like she needs anything explain to her. All right, so I have these questions that I literally wrote about an hour ago. Don't let her peak. What was one of the best memories you have of me?

What they look alike, I think, cute. I think, or of our family or anything. Well, growing up, we had just us five kids. Yeah, chaos. Just us five kids. That's why you need to explain things to me. Yeah. Oh, do you see? do you help the explanations on the podcast? You think they help you? Yes, we say Tracy. Can you explain? Yes? I do yes. Yeah, do you guys have any questions for my sister?

How about this how about used to be a police officer? I'm obsessed with crazy police stories. You have a crazy one We used to be a police officer. Yeah, hang on a second. We didn't know that. So what I worked for is in the audience. Oh, yeah, Phil. Hi, Phil. Yeah, so I was a cop. We lived in Glen Island, and all that were the worst thing that would happen, and something was like.

But you always say that. You weren't there. No, like, OK. I was a cop for 15 years, and in Glen Island, where we grew up. And you, did you ever have a case? was cafer of 15 years and in Glen Island where we grew up. Did you ever have a case? Did you ever work on a case of a weed-smoking couple who lost a bunch of clothes on the highway?

Did you guys ever solve that case? What was the most dangerous thing you're ever involved with as a cop? I mean, there was know burglaries and domestic, quite domestic. Did you see any dead bodies? Yeah, I don't. You did? No way. I think you told me one.

And that became normal to you? Yeah, that doesn't matter. Okay, great. Really? Really? What was the oldest dead, like how long had it been dead? Oh. Not the oldest person.

No, there was an old elderly lady that the male kept piling up, and then you go in to a neighbor called. So it was like a week? A maggots. Oh, no. What about, did you ever see anybody get dead? Oh, like a...

Is that the way you say it? I'm not dying. I even died, he made longer. You can't. No, Gavin Fondre. Did you ever see anybody like die in front of you? No, no. God, that must be scary.

And what is your last name? I'm kidding. Yeah. So, were you a motorcycle cop And what is your last name? I'm kidding. Yeah. So. Were you a motorcycle cop or did you drive a car? I drove a car, and then I became a detective. And then, yeah. Well, she did.

She could have been a motorcycle cop. Don't look at me. We didn't have motorcycle cops. We don't have motorcycle cops? No. Oh, because of weather, right? What? We got motorcycle cops, all the LAs lousy with motorcycle cops.

Now you can see in person what we're dealing with is it's absurd. But no, I think that that's a pretty good question. If you are in a place that has a lot of winter, you can't have a motorcycle cop because you got snow and ice. Good for you, dude. I figured. You see the way I have a process that I figure stuff out. What is it like?

Do people bug you because you're referenced on the podcast? Do people stop you? They don't know who you are. What is it like? I get kind of some emails like that. I don't really figure out it's you? I don't know. Really? Yeah, I don't know because I have a different last name.

Right. And I live in Monaco. Ha, ha, ha. Right. I got to change that now. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know how they figured out, but sometimes some people do.

It's fine. I don't know. Oh, fucking weird is it. It is weird. Right. And all these people know who you are because we talk about you all the time, good shot.

Right, it's weird. Yeah, so you know, here's the thing. I am a single mom, and I'm at home, and I literally, it makes my Monday. I think it makes everybody's Monday morning. So look forward to that. I am not kidding. Yeah, so I really appreciate you guys.

That's what I'm hoping. That's a wonderful place to end. No, I want one question. I have one question I have here. Wait, she's not going anywhere. We gotta go. We gotta go. I just want to hear.

I know, but hang on, hang on. I just want to ask you this. Your brother, Sean. That's me. Yeah, just zip it for one second. Is our good friend. We love him very, very much. And he's an incredibly talented guy.

How, yeah, how? Very nice. When Sean moved to California and then he had all this incredible success, did you say yes, I knew it, and did you feel an incredible sense of pride for all the amazing things that your brother's done well or or? Was it wait till they figure out the mistake they've made

I know I think he's he's a great brother. I mean he's a very We're very close. We've always been the closest I think that nice We were the two youngest and so we kind of stuck together Oh, I have a I made him do We were the two youngest, and so we kind of stuck together. Oh, hi. How about this? I made him do like, the ton lessons cheerleading. Yeah, he's good.

I mean, it was bad. She did. You want to do a cheer together again? No, I do not. I do not want to. Go please to a cheer. No, please. No. Oh my gosh.

It is second. No, no, no, no, no. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Wait a second. What, I didn't hear you guys said you used to be on cheer squad together? Well, no, she's just taking cheer. I would would be like a cheerleader and I make him do the practice

with me in the time for it. Right now, right now. I know what I'll do. I'll do it. Right now. But really quick. OK, I'm going to do it. Here we go.

Get up there. I'm not doing it. I am not doing it. OK, ready? This is what she taught me. Ready? 5, 6, 7, 8. We've got power wild cat power

P. O W. E. R. We've got we've got power Thank you for coming out. Thank you, Tracy. Here we go. Thank you. That was awesome. That was awesome. We'll be right back. Smart List is sponsored by ADT.

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Let's move on, shall we? Where are we going? We're going to go in and all trapped Jason. OK, here we go. You guys are in for a special treat. This is exciting. You know how you want, I had to write it down. Me and Jason write our intros down.

You know how you wonder sometimes how certain people in our business become successful. And then they sustain that success, right? Sure you need talent and brains and ability to capture an audience. But I found the secret ingredient to becoming a superstar is being a nice person. Huh, right?

This person is one of those people. He's one of the nicest kind of people I've ever had the pleasure of being friends with. He is the first person to introduce me to a segue, the scooter, not how to connect thoughts. He's played an attorney, a pickpocket, a talking shrimp, and a spy for the FBI. He also happened to appear with me

on one of the funniest episodes of Will & Grace. Unlike how he's treated by Jimmy Kimmel, we have plenty of time for him tonight. It's Matt Damon! What? Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

Whoa! Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah's what I know. That's why I said. I know you're probably wondering who canceled and thank you for replacing at the last minute. You're very welcome.

Yeah. So, we used to... You know what's so funny? We used to remember this. I bring this up every time I see you. We used to play softball about 75 years ago with the Olsen twins. Yes.

Yeah. Yeah, it was me. And when they were little kids, that's right. Yeah. And what was the league? What was the league? No, it was me. And when they were little kids, that's right. And what was the league? What was the league? No, it was like, meet at this fucking at a park in Santa Monica. Just meet at this park. The Olsen twins will be there.

You can play softball with them? Yeah. Is that like a flyer on a telephone pole? No, our friend Steve Shenbaum organized these softball things. And I remember like remember like playing with you and we were hanging out and you go, because it was right at the peak of William Grayson, you go, how can you go out anywhere?

I'm like, how can you go out anywhere? And you're like, yeah, but you're Sean Hayes. I'm like, you're fucking mad, Damon. It was crazy. You can cruise around with a fair amount of anonymity, yes? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But you live in New York, yeah? Yeah, most of the time.

And now, are you like, you can just go to the store and do whatever, right? So, yeah. We were talking about this yet. You go to the store a lot? I do, actually. Well, in New York, yeah. And when I lived in LA, I probably never went to the store,

but in New York, kind of, nobody cares. Nobody gives a shit, right? Nobody cares, nobody cares. Nobody cares. But there are some people, we're talking about this the other day. There are some people, would you not agree? There's some people who sort of carry themselves like a celebrity, and then other people do not,

I don't know what it is, whether what they wear or how they act or what, I don't know, but you've always been to me a really famous actor as opposed to some, you know, big flashy celebrity, but you have all the fame of a celebrity, but you're people think of you as a... Right, you're not a TikToker, right? You know, like... Well, I'm trying.

Are you trying? Are you trying? Are you working on it? I mean, if you want my kids to... I'm not. No, are you out of your mind? No. Shunny is, I am. Yeah, I do things like that stupid thing.

Right, do you like it, Chair? No, then I have to get on TikTok and follow you. But my kids won't let me get on TikTok, you're right. Because they're like, Dad, you're lame. You can't get on TikTok, really. Yeah, yeah. We were going through that about the dad lame thing, and Jason was worried I accused him of looking like cool dad tonight.

Yeah, I got a terrible outfit on today. I don't know. You look great. No, what'd you call me? Rock and roll dad. Rock and roll. With this ridiculous hair, I need to get kind of like Chrissy Hine. I have that going too, because I have to go. This thing I have to do in LA tomorrow for the next movie, it's like one of the hair and makeup tests.

You have an excuse. They tell you not to cut your hair as shave for a month. Right, you don't have to wear this ridiculous denim outfit. I don't. I'm at the end of the tour, I'm down to all loose ends, you know? Short ends. I want to go, because I like that topic about you being an actor, not just like a personality, because it's true. And you went to Harvard, but you only I want to go, because I like that topic about you being an actor, not just like a personality,

because it's true. And you went to Harvard, but you only went for one year and you go for four years? Or what? I went for five years. But I got credit for three of them. No, what would happen would, I'd get to, like, wherever I was in a semester, if I got a job, I'd take the acting job and then you know and then go away and then come back and take a leave of absence and go away and come back and

there was one semester I mean I was three weeks away and I said can I just finish I'm just about done I just have to take my finals and they said you can do it if you take your finals at the exact moment they're offered in Cambridge and I'm like, I can't shut a movie down for three hours, four different times. I'm number nine on the call sheet. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah, I wasn't, I just like, right, I'm just. Was it hard?

Like, it. What? This is the school? Just chumarum. So, but I just, from what I've been told, was Harvard hard. But this is why I ask because I have heard that people say you'd be surprised,

college in general is not as difficult as a high level high school program. Like if you take AAP classes or what, I don't have a high school diploma. Just bear with me. That, like the general ed in college is not as difficult as it can be in high school because it's voluntary school and they're not really grinding you.

You're trying to discipline yourself. You're disciplining yourself. No, no, no. It's so fun watching his brain work and how he thinks about stuff. It's amazing. What was it difficult? I mean, it depends.

For me, it was always if I liked the class, it wasn't difficult. Because it's like kind of like, you know, if you have the job you love, you never really are working. People go, well, you work so it's such long hours. And you go, no, I mean, I'm. But aren't those first two years you

have to take general ed? You have to take the there's a second two years where you get to say well now I want to be uh you know uh this person they had they had core requirements right so you had to no matter what you were studying they wanted to make sure you took a lot of different classes across the syllabus so you guys you'll be able to see for yourself I mean obviously it was hard I I didn't finish, so. Did not finish. Did not graduate?

Did not graduate? No, no, no. If I were to ever, I'm still on a leap of absence, guys. It's saying over yet. OK, don't count me out. I would be a senior if I went back. You're so close. You want to go back?

No, I'll go with you. All right, let's see. We can go back and do this and kind of like teach or something, and then they just give us diplomas. Yeah, we get a degree in hosting. I got a, you know, if you ever done a commencement speech, I did the commencement speech at MIT. Yeah, they don't ask for that stuff.

You could, and they're supposed to give you, you know, Ben, I know he did one at Brown, and Ben got a diploma from Brown. Trace, that's Ben Affleck. Yup. But the great thing about that was that John Krasinski went to Brown and is very proud of that and studied and worked really hard for four years and got a diploma and Ben called him and said, I was in Rhode Island for 45 minutes and I got...

I love that. And when I gave the commencement thing at MIT, they don't give you even a really like an honorary diploma. They're like, it's MIT, like you know. You get one. So if you're not even better than that, that's cool. No school in this city gives me a diploma,

so it's fine. Hang on, what bear with me for a moment, if you give a commencement speech, you get a diploma from that year. An honorary doctorate. Doctorate. I got one of those two. Do you have to have a high school diploma before you?

No. Ask, by the way, by the way, asking for a friend. Ask him for a friend. I'm just asking for a friend. Yeah. No, no, no, they, if you've got something they want to hear so badly, that you're considered an expert,

and you get an honorary... For God's sake, all right, so listen, what you mentioned, Ben, I don't think I know the sensor. When did you meet Ben Affleck? When and how? I was... Because we always associate you, too. I was 10 and he was 8.

Really? Ah! And we lived two blocks from each other and I didn't know that. Yeah, we grew up together and that's why it's so weird because we didn't have anybody in our families and show business. We didn't have any, Boston isn't a show business town. It's not. Not really. You know. And we just had this weird obsession and we were probably grew up 200 yards away from each other and met each other. And just I think straight like plan.

Yeah, we used to play little league together. We used to play. You know, he was a little younger than me. But when he got to high school, I was a junior and he was a freshman and that's when we really started hanging. And then we got agents, he had an agent, he had been on an after-school special, he had been on a, he was like the big star of a school. And was he like a big shot when he had the after-school special?

When he arrived at the high school, it was like, and I had to set him straight, because I was the lord of that theater department. And he likes to tell this story. Apparently I went up to him like first day and like pulled him up and was like, hey, you know, it's different here in the theater. Yeah. That was straight dude, right away.

You're not gonna get by in your looks. That's hilarious. We were both like five, too. That's what. What were some of the theater things? Do you still love theater? Do you want to do theater? Do you do theater?

I actually did a ton of theater in high school in college. And we had an extraordinary, amazing, amazing, amazing teacher. And it was, I mean, just from that school, me and Ben, and Casey, his brother. And I mean, there's just a ton of people who came out of that program. Sean Hader, who's just got nominated for an Oscar for Coda.

She's the director of Coda. She went through that program. Like, there are a lot of really, because we just had this unbelievable teacher. And but I was going to say, because when I went to see you, don't keep it there. Don't keep talking. Keep talking.

When I went to see you on Broadway, and I had done a play in London 20 years ago, and with KCF like actually and I went to, you know, 10 years later or whatever, which is probably 10 years ago when was it when? Yeah, 2010. 2010. Was this promises promises? It was promises promises. And so we were a pause pad. It was, and obviously he was amazing. And great. It was, it was awesome. And we, we see it, and we were totally into it.

It was deep into the run now. And we went backstage and I have never seen a more, it made me never want to do theater again. I looked at you and you were just, we're like, I'm, you were, you were, I was like, hey, it's going on high. He was, Scott, he just had his hand around. He was just holding you up.

You were like, it shows a week. Who would do this? Yeah. You were so tired. It was awful. And you still have like a month and a half to go. Yeah, it was an end of the finish line. But you were so nice to come A and B to see the show.

And the B to you wore those, I sent you a long time ago, as a birthday gift, shirts, t-shirts with my picture on it. Oh, that's right. And you wore it through the show. That's right. Oh my God. Oh my God. I forgot that.

I totally forgot about that. Yeah. I didn't have that shirt in that. It had holes in it. Because I did it, because you know those shirts that you wash so many times, they're better than it. So that was my Sean Hay shirt. Yeah.

That was like, didn't it say something what did you write there was some great it was really funny I can't believe I can't remember I probably sure more or 600 times but no no you were so sweet and I too get better as more the more you wash me I get would you what about you ever done musicals no yes yes really of course what do you think I'm a guy in this Have you ever done musicals? No, yes. Really? Of course. Hang on.

Oh my god, in high school. Pippin? I was Pippin. No, fuck yeah. Yeah, I totally have. Everybody has it's time. Show me a reason. Show you a rhyme.

Oh my god. I literally, I sing that to my daughter to drive her. I do, I do, with the choreography we did, it was like, it was literally like, it was like, I think it's that. It was like, it was like, rivers belong where they can ramble. Eagles belong.

That was literally the choreography. So that's my kryptonite, I can't sing in the shower even. I mean, I would kill either. I can't sing either. I think that's my kryptonite. I can't sing in the shower even. I mean, I would kill him. I can't sing either. Yes, I can't sing it pretty good. That's a really good Jason just admitted today that he hasn't danced since when? What happened?

I have a, yeah, I had a fourth grade dance. And I made my sister teach me a dance step all night to like midnight. And it was just, it was this one. And I just so I got to the dance with with my girlfriend Amy Keating and I did that for about four or five songs and then she stopped in the middle of the sixth song and said is that the only step you know and she left she left the floor. And I've never danced since. Now, the follow up to that is, I ran into a friend of mine who,

10 years later, 15 years later, we were in the class together with Amy. And we were talking about her, and he said, he said, you know, I heard she got a brain tumor. And I said, oh my God, is she okay? He says, I don't know. But I hear she may have not made it. And I was tumor and I said, oh my God. Is she okay? He says I don't know But I hear she may have not made it and I was like, oh God no, no cut to She I get an email from Amy Keating about five years later saying hey, just wanted to reach out. I hear you think I'm dead

And she said she said so I've made a documentary that says Jason Bateman thinks I'm dead. And I'd like to interview you for the end of the documentary. Would you come meet me at the auditorium where I left the stage at our elementary school so I can interview you. And I was like, yeah, and I sat down for an interview and I think it's on YouTube. This documentary. Wait, what? Oh my god. Jason, baby, things I'm dead by you, baby kitty. It's a true story.

How have we never heard about this? I've not told that story? No. The fuck are you talking about? That's crazy. I've got many stories. All right, ready? Here we go.

Oh, god. I want to start at the beginning. No, uh, I want to, I know you had probably had, first of all, I have to state the obvious, which is you're one of the biggest fucking stars in the planet, right? Right. It's true. I don't know that's not important to you.

And I know, I know the art and the craft of it is more important than any of that, but it's just to you. And I know the art and the craft of it is more important than any of that. But it's just so cool. It's just so cool, right? And we're all such fans. I love you, and I've been such a fan as well. And I mean, how hard did we laugh? He did this episode of Will and Grace, where he played.

He played this guy. That was the funniest. I mean, by the way, I have a quick start. You don't know this thing. He played this guy who was actually pretended to be gay so we could sing in the gay man's chorus. Because they were going to Europe, and he wanted the free trip to Europe.

Right. It was such a stupid thing. It was so funny, though. Did you sing on the show? Yeah, he did. We all in the chorus. We all sang. But the whole idea was that Sean, he figures it out.

Yeah, I'm like, you're straight. And so he tries to in me. Right. Instead, yeah, out. Right. But the show was like 10 years deep. And I had never done a sitcom. And I couldn't believe, like, so fun.

Because they were so locked in. And the writers were so locked in, and the writers were so locked. I'm amazed. Like that table, like you'd sit around. The first draft comes in, we read it. It's hysterical. And then there's like 10 of you, and you guys just start going. And you make it better and better and better.

And it was just so fun. And I couldn't believe how, by that point, because you put all the work in for 10 years, how little you guys worked. I was like, oh, shit. It's amazing. It's incredible. Well, James Burrow is one of the greatest directors of all time.

He directed every episode of Cheers, every episode of Will & Grace. He directed Friends, Taxi, Big Bang Theory, Two and a half men, all these things. But anyway, he's got me like this, right? So now, and I got spoiled at such a young age, so now when I'm on a set, I'm like, what's taken so long, you know? But you're so sweet because I remember you don't know this, I think, or maybe you do. But during that episode, you were so kind and worried,

like nobody was attending to your hair or something, and you had a baseball hat on all day. So you took it off, and I think you were afraid to ask for help. So in the episode, you can see the line where it's had is By the way, there it is today. I have the same line If I'm left to my own devices, I'm just completely Like fine to build on that real quick the the the kindness that you have is so authentic and sincere and organic and

We are in such a permissive business for bad behavior. And then if you're super famous, they let you get away with even worse stuff. What is it that keeps you from behaving badly? Beyond just your own naturalistic, was your mom or your dad real good at like saying things just starting to really take off for your son, keep your shit together together or did you have like a bend that would like beat the crap out of you like you did with him and Matt let me just say before you answer Jason wants to know why aren't you giving into your desire to be shitty to people because he finds it really hard to bury it how do you bury it right is it similar to how

he buries it go ahead yeah I Yeah, man, I don't know. I never had an impulse to do that. I don't know why. I think I just was lucky. I think I had a great parents, a great big brother, and a great foundation. And I honestly, you guys all know. You lost it at some point.

I think the experience of getting famous is weird. And I always reflected back on that after I kind of got through that first two years. Like, whoa, that was crazy. And you're working with people and you're seeing people that are more famous than you coming up, the way they're acting, which for the most part is not great.

And how did you think like, you know, well, I guess I gotta be a dickhead. I've been really, really lucky. Oh good. I have not witnessed a lot of bad behavior. I really, I started out, I guess I gotta be a dickhead. I've been really, really lucky. Oh, good. I have not witnessed a lot of bad behavior. Really? I started out. I was working with, I had like, Denzel and Robin Williams

and Tom Hanks and these people who were like, so, and nobody was bigger than them, right? And they were so classy and professional and kind and good and like, it's good and like important first examples Yeah, I mean, it just really set the tone I always say if you can't find the asshole on the set It's probably you the asshole. Yeah So You mentioned your big brother. How many how many siblings you have just one?

Just one how much older is he the three years older? You guys still really tight. Oh, yeah What sort of without getting specific what line of work is he he's an artist? No way. Yeah, well like painter painter in a scope there. Yeah, can I buy some of his stuff? Which is certainly good. Yes, really? I would love to talk afterwards How funny I don't know this either so your parents in the arts or no no no my mom's the professor of early childhood education Yeah, and No, no, my mom's the professor of early childhood education. Wow. Yeah. And my dad was, when I was a kid, he was a stock broker.

He taught school. He did all kinds of jobs until he finally built a company and became really successful and retired early. But it was interesting because my mom did what she loved and didn't get paid anything. And my dad only did what he did just to make sure that we were provided for and he never enjoyed his work. And so it was a great lesson, I think, for my brother and me to go, because both of them were saying

from two different sides of the coin, like follow what you love to do. And it's awesome. And so it's probably great to have a brother who's an artist, even though he's not an actor or director or writer or whatever. to do and yeah that's awesome and so it's probably great to have a brother who's an artist even though he's not an actor or director or writer or whatever but because he's an artist he can you guys can talk a similar language and relate as creative people yeah I love I mean I really trust his judgment and his opinions and I mean you guys know like when you're working

I mean it's like you you have a little core group of people that you show your stuff to and you're like am I crazy or is this like, am I crazy? Or is this working? Or am I crazy? Is Lucy straight with you? Was she tell you when you suck? She. Yes. Lucy. And she's been actually, for me, really the best bell weather. Tracy.

Lucy is. Tell Tracy who Lucy is. Is Tracy. Lucy is my wife. By the way, speed of trade. Like, I didn't know. I was standing next to Tracy and the wings trying to hide. I didn't know it was Tracy.

Oh, really? And then I'm sitting there, I'm like, what'd they say? You know? And I'm just, I just, because there's, you know, 10 people back there and I figured they're all working on the show. Right. And suddenly you announce that she goes blasting out, I'm like, oh shit, that was Tracy. Well, I was solely star-struck, but I better. Yeah.

That's a thing. Okay, so wait, I want to talk about, you know, I know you're so sick of talking. You have typed questions. You know what? Sean is a bit curious, by the way. Sean, for sure. That is harder than you worked on that episode of Willing

Scott. Without a doubt. It's so true. And I made so much money. Sean is so organized. One of the things we're finding on this tour. Oh my god. Sean is insane.

So the other night we got back to New York, we got back after the show, and we all had dinner in our room, and it's us and a bunch of people and our friends. And so everybody's got food. They're like eight or ten of us. The food arrives, we start eating. Sean's finished in, I don't know,

legitimately 90 seconds, maybe two minutes. And everybody else is just starting their food and he stands up and he starts, he clears his plate and then he starts clearing all the loose ends and then he starts clearing plate, like, you're like, no, no, I'm not done yet. What? Right?

It's just cleaning. It's just cleaning. Now this is a hotel room. There are people who are gonna come and clean it anyway, but no, he's cleaning it. But that's my wife does this exact same thing. It drives me crazy. It's bonkers, man.

I'm like, why are you busing the table? I'm eating my food. I'm like, he likes order, he doesn't like chaos, he likes things done tight in the proper way. We're being driven here in a tinny tour bus. Yeah. And he's got ways open to make sure the driver is on the right route.

And so we keep going every three times we go, how much longer, Sean, he's like, at three minutes. And he's like, I'm starting a new app. It's not called ways. It's called gaze. It's much faster. It's much faster. It's much faster.

Yeah, it's much faster. It's much faster. It's much faster. Yeah, it's much faster. Oh, the more handsome font. Yeah. We'll be right back. Hey, smartless listener. We get support from a viator. Experiences are what people love the most about travel. They create long-lasting memories

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You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app. And now back to the show. All right, so now I know you're sick of talking about good, well-hunting and just just bear with me here because I, you know, because I have every single one of your movies, like it's crazy. But talk about, you know, what I love about this story me here because I have every single one of your movies. It's crazy.

But talk about what I love about this story, about how it happened, because so many people ask, how do I start? Where do I, like, what did you do? How did you get your start? And you just fucking did it. You're like, well, I want to work. I want to work. So maybe I should just write my own thing, right?

And then want an Oscar for that script. Yeah, I mean, it worked out. Yeah, yeah. The only reason I love for you to just talk, yeah, exactly. For you to tell it is because there are my first step at. I worked out. There are so many people who want, and you know, so many young people starting out that love this story.

That need to hear the same. I mean, I think we were, A, desperate, we were unemployed, struggling actors and it just became clear that we were going to have to wait forever until we got a shot. And I remember it was that movie Primal Fear. I don't know if you- I was just waiting out on our next report. Right.

Ed Norton and Richard Geer. Yeah. Edward, you know, brilliant actor, you know, my age, Edward got the part and what, and was great. I think he got nominated for an Oscar's in the movie. So that script came along and Ben and I looked at it and we were like, that's the best role. I was like, why isn't a movie star taking this role? This is an unbelievable role. Like why isn't like at the time it was like Ethan Hawke or Robert Sean Letter, all the

guys from Deadpool, it's like, why aren't those guys jumping all over this? This thing is amazing. And I bought ice-paid for a dialect coach because remember he switches these two for- I would feel money. I'm the take-in to get a dialect coach. But this was like, with money I didn't have because I was like, this is it. You know what I mean? You prepare for the audition.

To prepare for the audition. And he switches from southern to normal or normal to Southern. Yeah, exactly, exactly. It's like a jackal and hide thing. I don't know what I'm talking about. Do you say Southern to normal? No. Oh, God.

Oh, God. Oh, God. Standard, maybe, standard. That plays, OK, that plays well in Wisconsin, OK? Yeah. What's not Southern? Yeah. What's that? Wisconsin. I said it plays well because you, okay? But what's not Southern? What's that? Wisconsin.

I said it plays well because you just called them normal. No, no, they're, they're, they're all really nervous for you right now. Yeah. I think I got canceled a minute five. I just poured cement over it and yeah. Everybody's nervous at every moment. That's the best. You guys are so rough.

I'm terrified for you, buddy. I had to be honest. Hi. That was... But he does... He does... Does he go into the country? The country just got cut in half.

Yeah. You can't. You can only go to half the country now. So easy. Where do you guys shoot, Ozark? Oh, oh. Oh, oh. Southern.

Atlanta. So he has a Southern accent. No, so you have a switch between Ozark and Norma. Yeah. Yeah. So. Oh. So yeah. Oh, God bless.

But the idea was that there are two distinctive voices that come from this guy. Yes. Both perfectly good voices. Yes. Yes. Two excellent distinctive voices because he's playing and having a mental health problem. He's saying he's schizophrenic and then there's a whole, but it's an actor's dream because he's really showcasing part of this, whoever got it.

And Edward won the part, but Ben and I realized then we were like, what are the odds of another movie coming down, and then it gets kicked down and there's 10,000 of us, like rabbit hyenas are going for it And like what are the chances of a another one's gonna come in the next five years and be that even if it does Will be the ones to get it. We'll get called back. We'll get close remember. Oh, you don't remember audition Yes, I do I do You were a fucking star when you were like eight and I was watching you like that guy I could do that when you were like eight. No.

And I was watching you like, that guy could do that. I could do that. But, uh, but yeah, we, we, so that kind of started us thinking about writing, about going like, well, let's write our own part. Why don't you go to do yourself? Yeah. You were dying to be an actor, not a writer.

Right. Right. We were writing just literally to give us. Because you went on to stop for writing. That's amazing. I know. I'm scared. I've us. You went on to stop for writing. That's a man's song. I know. I've never gotten any award of any kind for acting. Now, what about...

What about... Wait, it's actually... There was a... I got the Empire Magazine gave me an award in like 2007. And I went and picked up the award. Yeah. I was like, guys, like in high school we had the Massachusetts High School Drama Festival, and picked up the awards. Yeah. I was like, guys, like in high school, we had the Massachusetts High School Drama Festival,

and they would give awards. I was in every one of those plays, killing it, never got an award. I was like, oh, man. Is it true that you have not received an award for acting? Yeah. Are you kidding me? You've been nominated a shit ton of times, I bet, yeah?

Yeah. Good Lord. Yeah. I mean, I got a God Lord. I got a God Lord. You got a globe? You got a God Lord. Well, that's something. Yeah, that's something. Good Lord. I mean, I got a God Lord. I got a Golden Globe. You got a Golden Globe? Well, that's something. Yeah, that's something. Come on.

Well, for the Martian, right? For the Martian. Yeah. Because they gave it to me. Oh, for a part. But by the way, thank you. They gave it to me in the category of musical or comedy. No way.

No way. 100%. By the way, it's one of my favorite movies of all time. It was great. I love the guys. it's one of my favorite movies of all time. It really is great. I love the guys. It's so good. Wait, are you still good real hunting now?

I want to talk to Matt about a couple movies. Can I do this one thing and then I'll hand it off to you? Okay. Tell me your name again. I'm gonna listen. So George Clooney was on a podcast. Okay. And he just was describing this amazing moment when you took Oceans 12 to the Cannes Film

Festival. Do you know the story? Oh, yeah. And so you guys rode on this yacht for the press and Brad Pitt says he wants to climb to the top and take a shirt off and jump off the top. And George was like, oh my god, Brad Pitt takes his shirt off, and it's like something Michelangelo carved. His body was just perfect. And then he says, he looks over at Matt and Matt goes,

and you take off your shirt, and it's something like the Pillsbury, Doe Boy car. Right. Right. Wow. Well, you're probably bulking up for a part. I clearly, clearly, I was preparing for something.

I literally was like, that was my question. We've all seen Ripley, we've all seen, you know how to get it down. I can, I can get it down if I have to. But I mean, that shot's fired by Clooney. I mean, Listen, Clooney was so scared of getting his picture taken next to Brad with his shirt off,

that he didn't even jump off the boat. And later, and he told me later, he's like, I knew you were gonna get hit by it because the paparazzi took pictures. And it's like, you know, it's Brad and the whale. Oh, God, I can't. Stopping off. And we were in the middle of the Mediterranean.

I just couldn't see if those lenses are so ridiculous. And I didn't even know how they knew we were on that boat. And but George somehow knew. He's got like a spider sense or something, and he's just like, no. I wasn't gonna risk it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But so you do, and you do know how to get it down

and get in shape because the fucking born movies. Yeah, and that's crazy. Yeah. I think the first time I met you was years ago was at Krasinski's house, and I came in the door, and I don't know if you remember this, I came in the door, and you picked me up. You grabbed me around the way, some picked me up.

You'd had a few. But then... At John? At John. At John. Yeah, at John. JK, you guys. I mean, that's John Kruzinski.

So, bravo. And I think I geeked on you at that time. The born movies to me, I have seen all, well, the four that you've done. I can't even count how many times. Born, ultimatum is the second one? The third one. Third one.

Born, supremacy is the second one? The third one. Third one. Born supremacy. It was a tragedy to supremacy. To premacy. Yeah. Born supremacy to me is the most... One of the most perfect films. It's got everything. It's got drama.

It's got action. You're so fucking good. And, you know, people say, well, you know, you're doing an action movie. Doing what you do, you have... It's intensity from the moment you start. It's just like super intense, and you're in it,

and you're just like kicking dudes asses, and strangling them and shit, and... All the while acting, like, I'm not sure how I know how to do this. Yeah, that's... You're a weapon, and you don't even know it. Right. What? Yeah.

Exactly. What was that experience like, because that to me is it. And would you ever go through that training process again? Yeah, though, on the last one, I remember I was 45 on the last one and it hurt. Yeah, and people would go like, come by age or come and go, hey man, how did you get and I go not worth it? Right, yeah.

What about Liam Neeson is doing? Every single film he's doing is more intense than the next and he's not forty five no no he's he's great i mean i don't know i mean some some people but but it's a great when you're younger even when you're in your thirties you're doing supremacy and you're doing all this crazy shit and supremacy was directed by uh... greengrass all greengrass is an incredible director that's why they all work it's always the director what was what was that yeah and but but you but you're giving him a lot of credit, but you deserve so much.

What was that process like for you? Will you beat up every day? No, I mean, they make it. Look, the Tom Cruises of the World who do their stunts literally hang off a plane and do that. Yeah, I remember I had dinner with him once and it was after he did the one where he ran around the building. Oh yeah, not without him.

Yeah, not without him. And Dubai. Yeah, yeah. I mean, he's 1,500 feet up on a cable running around the building. Yeah, that's crazy. And I go, can you tell me how that happened? And he goes, yeah. He's a really intense guy.

And he's like, yeah, I'll tell you how it happened. He's like, so far. I go, all right, all right. And I'm in. I'm like, OK. And he goes, so I go to the seat, he goes, I didn't think about this shot for 15 years. And I go, wow, really? And he goes, yeah, I knew it, and he goes,

and I go to the safety guy, I go, here's what I'm gonna do. And I lay it all out, safety guy goes, we can't do that. It's too dangerous, you can't do that. So I get a new safety guy. That's the beginning, you can't do that. So I get a new safety guy. That's the beginning, the beginning of his story. And I just go stop. That's where we're different.

When the safety guy says, no, I'm like, oh, safety guy says. It's not a good idea. Do you have any long lasting injuries from all of that? No, no, no. Are you serious? No, no, no. I mean, little nicks and cuts and stuff from those fight scenes, but nothing,

they're pulling their punches. In fact, on the first movie, the born identity, I fight this guy in an apartment. Nikki node was his name, and Nikki was a... In Paris. In Paris. Yeah, no, I know. LAUGHTER

Why are you telling me stuff I know, Matt? Sorry, sorry. Nikki was a professional, had been a professional kickboxer and he was an actor and a stuntman. And so I went to him before we shot and I said, look, I'm really sorry. I'm, I'm, you know, I've been boxing and doing all the stuff to get ready, but I go, I'm gonna accidentally

hit you. I mean, I just know I am and I'm really sorry in advance. And for every time I hit you, I'll give you a bottle of champagne. And Nikki goes, this is good, yes. So by the end of the day, I owed the dude a case of champagne. But he had been used to fighting professionally.

He was like, he did not hurt at all. He was like, he was so embarrassed. He was like, you did not hurt at all. Right. He was like, he was so embarrassed. He was leaning into it. He was like, great. He was like, any time you want to do a fight scene, I mean, I want to know another favorite movie that I love, that you're in, is The Departed.

And which I love, yes. It's crazy how many movies you've been in at your age and none of them suck. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, and the quality that you've maintained is just stunning. You really deserve to really have Friday. I appreciate it. Thank you. It's true. It's true. I want to ask about the departed, because I did a movie

with Jack Nicholson as well called The Bucket List. Sure. And the first, not as much a plus. But the first day of The Bucket List we were in this like Bentley or something. And they took the windshield out to put the camera in. And I didn't know, I was the first day, and Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson are sitting in the back, and I'm sitting in the passenger seat in the front. And in your mind, you know, you're like, should I break the ice with a joke?

Should I not? I don't know these guys yet. I'm not, you know, it's only the first day of shooting. So idiot goes, all right, I'm going to go for it. Maybe someday when you make it big, you can sit in the front. Oh. Oh. Silence.

Silence. Oh. Nothing. Cricket. Nothing, cricket. They're literally looking at their lines, and they just go. Silence. Nothing. Crickets. Nothing. Crickets. They literally look in other lines, and they just go, no. Oh, shit.

And then the last one was, we would now were like a month or two in the thing, and I'm like, well, now they're my pals, right? And so I'm sitting in, you know, a little video village. Tracey video village is a thing where you can watch playback and it's like off of the set. How fun is it that he can look at Tracey well he does it? So I'm sitting there and I thought, oh gosh, now it would be the perfect time to play

a game, right? Because we're waiting while they're lighting the scene, it's going to take like a half hour or whatever. So I say to Morgan and Jack and Rob Reiner, who's directing it, and some crew guys who are sitting around, I go, hey guys, I got a great idea. Let's play a game.

Let's go around the room and name the movie, your embarrassed to say you've never seen. Embarrass to say you've never seen. I go, I'll go first. I've never seen the Godfather. That was the end of the game. That was the end of the game. Because next half hour, everyone's like, hey, she's just guys never seen the Godfather. That was the end of the game. That was the end of the game. Because next half hour everyone's like,

hey, this guy's never, you've never seen the fuck of what? And I'm like, is somebody else gonna go? Like nobody else. So, I know where you're going with this. The parted, but the parted is, is certainly one of those movies that you don't really, you're not allowed to say you're a fan of movies if you've not seen that movie. You're not really. You're're a fan of movies if you've not seen that movie.

You're not really. You're not such a great movie. That's a good movie. God. Yeah. What was that experience like? How did you come about that part? I was, we were making oceans to help.

Yeah, that's the truth. And Brad Pitt, you know, is a pretty prolific producer. And I don't know if you could guys know, but he produced that movie. And he just came up to it's the weirdest thing, because every actor's dream is to work with Marty Scorsese, right? And we were sitting there. Do you see that's a guy directed the movie?

Among others. And we were literally, this is the worst, this is like how many names am I going to drop that I have to pick? You're allowed here. We were at George Clooney's house in Italy. We figured you knew him. And Lucian and I was before we were married. So this is 2004, I think, because we got married in 2005, and we were sitting there at the pool.

And Brad Pitt walked over. Sounds like a very nice weekend now. Look, we were working, okay. It was hard. It was really hard. And Brad kind of put his towel down and sat down on the chair. And next to us, and goes, hey, Maddie, you want to do a movie with Martin Scorsese?

No way. I swear to God, that's what he said. And I was like, yeah. And he was like, no, I'm actually serious. Wow. I'm like, what are you actually talking about? Drop the script on your towel, right then. Yeah.

And he goes, and then the script went, Woo! Yeah. All right, all right. All right. Yeah. Page one. Yeah.

Yeah. Did you, did you at any point say, well, hang on a second, Brad, why are you playing this part? He felt like he had aged out of it. Really? Because the guy goes through the police academy and he just, he's just unbelievably generous and he goes, no, I think it'd be better if you did it.

Because Leo's gonna play this one role. How old is Brad Pitt? Brad is, I don't know. I'm 51 and I think. I think he's like 56 or something. 50, 70, 80. Yeah, something like that. He looks incredible, first of all. I love him. Guys it's like 58. Yeah, something like that. He looks incredible, first of all.

I love it. Guys, he looks awful. Yeah, I look terrible. I love me some Brad Pitt. I saw, I know, I really do. So do I. So nice guy. Oh, he's such a nice guy.

And he's so handsome. And I know. And it's hard to not look at him. It's so hard not to look at him. So we were, like, right before the pandemic, we were in Los Angeles, we're at Bunny Verre concert. And I like Wisconsin, so I know those guys. Justin Vernon and Sean Carrey and all those guys.

And so anyway, we were hanging out before the show and just chatting and Brad came in to sit down. And he said, sound like, go, we're talking for a second. I said, you know, Brad, I was thinking, you know what, movie has aged really well. And he said, what, I said, Benjamin Button. That's a great laugh. It's a great joke, right?

It's a great laugh. He's a great joke, right? It's a great laugh. He's a great joke. And he paused for a second, and then he started laughing. And I was like, I'm not ripping on the movie. I mean, it's a perfectly destructive joke. And he was great about it. Yeah, movie is so fun.

Yeah, he's somebody who, because we started working together 20 years ago on Oceans. And it was just mystifying like how, because he's been the most famous guy, and even Jerry Wine Trabber producers at it. I was with Elvis, every generation has one guy, Brad's the guy. And it's true just the effect that he has on people,

but I've never seen an effect like that, but with so, like, he doesn't do anything to court it, he doesn't do anything to, he's the most regular guy's from Missouri, he just couldn't be, he couldn't be more normal, Jason. Yeah, he's really normal. Really normal.

He fights, he pushes down the instinct to be shitty to people. He actually said that. He got, he elicited for me at that same thing after the show. He said, hey man, I just want to say, we've done this little show in Netflix called Flake, and he goes, hey man, I need a little, it's a little, but he goes, he goes,

man, I just want to say, I just, I loved your show so much, man, I watched the whole thing. I was so shocked and I was like, really? He goes, oh, I just loved it and he gave me a big hug. And I said, thanks man, and then we go to the door to go out. I said, well, I'll see you guys later and I was like, really? Because, oh, I just loved it and he gave me a big hug and I said, thanks, man. And then we go to the door to go out. I said, well, I'll see you guys later. I walk outside and I slid down the wall. I went, oh, my God.

Oh, my God. Yeah, yeah. Who do you think he thought of? He brought up my girlfriend and she's like, this is great. Who do you think he thought you were? Are you mistaken for her? Yeah. He was passing it out. you were. Are you mistaken for...

I want to introduce everybody to the real Jason. He finally showed up. Well speaking of normal Matthew Damon you're one of the most normal people I've ever known and thank you for being here. That's it. Oh my God. That's you. That was fast. I know. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You're putting here. Thanks, guys. Wow. Wow. You guys.

That's great. That's great. You guys. You guys. That's great. You guys. That's great. You guys. That's great. You guys Amazing you guys came for us and that's what's important

You guys came for us and Matt was so nice to be here. Thank you guys so much for coming We but no you know I was gonna say I we said everything I've said everything there I would repeat it a thousand times. I love that man Yeah, like all talking about kindness and everything and I've said everything there, I would repeat it a thousand times. I love that man. He's the kind, like, all talking about kindness and everything. And it is kind of a, by the way, I could have asked him a thousand questions about the Martian because I love the Martian. But I just love him and he's so talented.

He's so talented and so normal and so kind and generous and always just warm the people and yeah I do think it's interesting though you know when he did the talent of mr. Ripley which is about I get what's that for me here it comes no no this we're not doing a buy no no not yet he did when he's usually usually this is where Sean starts wrapping up in his brain breaks trying to work his way to a buy and And you can feel it. No, I'm just telling it right now. Talented Mr. Ripley.

I was gonna say, in the town that Mr. Ripley plays a gay con man, and that's about the time you start hanging out with me. But I was sitting here, I was trying to think of a biocene but he's so nice, he like, you put your hand in the cage that he's in, he'd never take a bite out of it. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,ey. What about it? What about it? Listen, if you want to pick on anybody after the show, these three said they want us to get rid of it. What I'm pitching, but what about if we just change it to, I'm pitching these guys,

and we change it to a C, right? And then we can find a C into, but we can't get it anymore by. Wait, wait, wait. He keeps pitching the C. Well, like it's a tell, you know. I know, but let's vote on it right now. So, bye.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE And... Or... Or see ya. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE I didn't pitch it very well. What's your one-know-which-one? Bye!

Bye! Thank you, guys know it's one one. Bye! Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Smart. Smart. Smart.

Smart. SmartLess is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Bennett Barbaco, Michael Grant Terry, and Rob Umbjurf. SmartLess. Hey listeners, you need to know that Wondery's shocking true crime podcast over my dead body is back for a fourth season, Gone Hunting. This newest season covers the story of Mike Williams. It was Mike's sixth wedding anniversary when he set off on a hunting trip into the gator

infested swamps of North Florida. He figured he'd be back in time to take his wife Denise out to celebrate, but he never came back. Friends and loved ones feared he met his fate through bad luck and a group of hungry alligators leaving his young family behind. Except that's not what happened at all. And after 17 years, a kidnapping and the uncovering of a secret love triangle, the truth would finally be revealed. Enjoy over my dead body, gone hunting on the Wonder App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can finally be revealed.