SmartLess - "Tony Hale"

Episode Date: October 17, 2022

Set your sails, it’s Tony Hale! We’ve got the double-Emmy winner and good friend of the show Busting in this week. Jason gets his hands dirty, Will reminisces about the hardest he’s ever laughed, and Sean still hasn’t seen any Arrested Development (but he trusts it’s good, since his pals won’t shut up about it). Pod voyage!Please support us by supporting our sponsors!Fanduel Disclaimer: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Refund issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY), or visit www.1800gambler.net (WV).See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

I got my COVID booster shot today, I'm feeling a little low from the side effects, but you know what I don't feel low for. I was just in dad hell. It took a deep breath. Yeah, it took a couple deep breaths. Oh my God, I'm all sweaty and my hands are dirty, which is the worst part of it all. Look at the way he holds his hands like a sage. I haven't been able to wash my hands.

Like working on a car. I just got a 150 pound delivery from UPS, which was Maple's new, I'm not a little girl anymore, basketball hoop. Sure. Oh, I have that. Oh God. I just spent the good part of three hours assembling just half of it. I had to, I had to punt and I'm going to have to do the other half tomorrow or after this.

And guys, if you ever had an Ikea injury, you know, where you really haven't screwed in a bolt or anything for like maybe ever in your forearms the next day or just ripped to hell, I'm going to have like, this is not Ikea. This is a real big boy hoop. Why not get, why not get one over the, over the garage, like when you just put it on the garage? Well, I'd have to assemble that too, Sean. Oh, like the Cunninghams had on how to do this.

Yeah. First of all, Ikea, I've always said the Ikea is Swedish for argument because anytime you go into an Ikea store on a weekend, you just see going like, we don't need that. It's so true. Well, we've already got the one in the other room. Oh my God, like doing that. Yeah. We've already got the other thing.

I really feel proud. There's a certain pride that comes with the finishing of the assembly. For sure. And this one. I always feel a pride when I finish. We're talking about the same thing, right? Yeah. So I'm going to feel like, well, I'm not going to extrapolate on your metaphor there, but

I'm going to feel so good when this is done, but it's made me late. My hands are dirty and I'm only half done. Again, I think we're talking about the same thing. And almost more importantly, I have not had the time to do my prep for my guest today. Oh, that's okay. Yeah. So your guest. I think this is today.

This is my guest, I think, right? It is your guest. Yeah, it is. And yeah. And so this is going to be my first raw dog. I've never. Still talking about the same thing. Boy, this is a long subject.

Now we're talking about a different thing. Wait. First of all, I missed, I missed you guys last night. I was supposed to see you for dinner at a friend's house and I don't know if he was there. Well, I don't know why I didn't make it because I kind of partially, partially pulled my back. You did. And so it's all about old man for me today.

That's a thing. But Jason, and then I stopped by Will's house on the way home and I texted you, hey, I'm stopping at Will's if you want to come by. You did. I ignored that text because I was still pissed off at my back. That's all right. And didn't even answer him. No, I don't do that.

Sometimes. You're such a... Well, it didn't assess it. No, here. Guess what? I read you the goddamn text right now. I don't know how this does not trigger a response at all. Missed you tonight, period.

We left because Scotty's tired, period. Stopping off at Will's to say, quick, hello, if you feel like jaunting over, period. Well, I don't. And thanks for the update. Well, we got it now. 24 hours later, he got it. Hey, speaking of good friends. So Sean did come over last night with Scotty.

Well, we're saying good friend, it's not like you just got back from the hospital and everyone's got to stop by. Yeah. No, but Will's, your house is spectacular. Oh, thanks, man. It's just very good for you. Unbelievable. Thank you.

Thank you. It's so beautiful. It's taken a long time. But Jay, I think you're really going to like it. And we're talking about Monday, doing a hang, Chémoire with everybody. Oh, sorry. Listener. Just hold on one second.

Will decided to take your time to make some plans. What is it, Will? A week from today. What are we doing? Looked at his bid take. By the way, we just talked about you putting together a fucking basketball hoop for your daughter. But that's podcast worthy.

I'm not just fucking filling up my file of facts with the next Monday's plans. Just open to fill up your Google news alerts with links about cute dad moment. Jason Bateman put together a fucking basketball. I'm self-effacing right now. I'm talking about how soft I am. I'm texting Amanda right now. I want to get a photo of you putting that together so badly. But all the damage I did to my daughter, I'm trying to do good things for my daughter.

And the damage I did yelling at her while I'm putting this thing together, she's asking to help. Do you think by you asking for help that you're helping? By the way, that's a great impression of you. Inflections on the wrong words. All right. Let's get to it. It is.

I love seeing you frazzled. Our guest has a great daughter that I bet he's nicer to than I am to mine. Or at least assembles more things for. So here I am. Just raw dog in it right now. Our guest, I don't have my Wikipedia in front of me, but I should know enough. He, okay. So it's a man.

That part I researched. Well, you gave it away a while ago, but go ahead. No, no. Did I really? Yeah. He has a daughter? Yeah. That was earlier.

But anyway, keep going, man. What do you mean I keep going? I don't know who it is, but I know that it's a he because you said he. Okay. So it's a he. Oh my God. He's a father. There we go.

He's an actor. Do you know him? Yeah, man. Okay. And he's great. Okay. He's nice. Okay.

You want to just say his name and so we can start? No, not yet. He's funny. What time today did you hit fuck it? You just. I spent all I had putting it up. Half the hoop. How's your back now, by the way?

And you know what? We're going to, we're going to find out a lot about this guest and we're going to give him a chance to tell us, but I'll tell you what I do know. Yeah. I love him. Okay. And will loves him. Yeah.

A lot. And Sean feel about him. Sean, I don't know if you've ever met him, but you may have. We're going to find out in a second. We're going to get on with it. Yeah. Will, it's our long lost brother, Tony Hale. Come on.

Tony. Hello. Hey. What's up? What are you talking about? I live for Tony Hale. Wait. Have you guys met?

Many times. Yeah. Really? With me? No. Not with you? No. No.

Okay. Good. Actually, no, we did meet with you because it was out of, it was a party years ago at your house and I went up to you, Sean. At my house? No. At Jason's house. Okay.

I'm a big fan and you said, I'm a big fan of yours. Come to find out later. You never watched the rest of development. So you were lying. No. Well, I'm not a lie. I'm still, I can still be a fan. He's seen the commercials, Tony.

Really? Okay. Two tone. Oh, baby. I've probably seen Veeb. I love Tony so much. That's another thing I could have put in the intro that I get. I can raw dog.

He's been on Veeb. Well, if you had said Veeb, I just would have known immediately. Exactly. But wait, Tony, hang on. I just got to absorb this. Tony. I'm so happy to be here. Guys, that was really hard not to laugh.

Really, really hard not to laugh. Tony and I knew it. Are we talking about the same thing? That made me laugh out loud in my mouth, in my hand. I've forgotten when you were just, when you hadn't revealed yourself, I've forgotten what a heavy breather you are. And so I just...

Well, asthma. Asthma, thanks for bringing it up. Oh, really? Yeah. I meant that in a good way, by the way. Oh, you didn't? Oh. Okay.

So you had asthma for a long time? I have since I was a kid. Oh, that's right. I knew this. I knew this. Of course, I did not. What do you mean you knew this? We talked about it on your podcast.

Yeah. Oh, wait. Was Tony on Hypocondry Actor? Yeah. Oh, no way. This is a crossover episode. He played Gary Walsh on Veeb. Uh-oh.

We already did the intro, Jay. We already did the intro. He won an Emmy in 2013 and 2015 for Veeb, because I know he didn't win for Arrested. I was sitting next to Tony when he won... Yeah, you were. But then Jason was in front. In front.

And Jason was in front when they called member Jay when he got his first Emmy. How about that? He's not going to remember. I don't remember anything. I know... Okay, listen, Tony... Guess what, guys?

His birthday is September 30th and he's 51. Good. Good. Good. Good. I don't need the Wikipedia to tell me his wife's name is Martell. I love her and I miss her. And Loy is still your daughter?

She's not. Oh. I know. Oh, she retired. That's too bad. We had a hard break up. Didn't work out. Oh, Tony.

She's now... She's 16 now. Wow. She's a junior in high school. She's driving. And... Because Franny's about to start driving. She's driving.

Yeah. She's driving. How did that go for you and Martell? It's been a journey. It's the highways that do freak me out. Sure. A little bit, the LA Highways. So I was driving home just now.

I picked up Archie from school with his pal. And I was driving back and I was coming up cold water. And I see these two teenagers trying to make a left-hand turn in Russian traffic. And so I stopped to let them go because they were trying to take a left in front of me and to go the direction I was going. And everybody else coming down cold water was not having it. And these kids, they pulled out and they went back. And I just stopped and I held and I kept flashing my light.

And I put my hand out the window like, guys, go. And I could see that they were barely 16. And it made me so nervous for them. And then they finally, one other person... They were confused by your kindness, right? Well, yeah, but the people in the other way, and I just thought as they went out, I just, I wanted, of course, as you know at Single Lane, I wanted to pull up to them and teach them a lesson and literally go like,

guys, you need to know something. Just be careful, please. I was so nervous for them as a dad. We're such old men now. I know. Right? Just a few years ago. Yeah. You would have just been honking and saying, get the hell out of the car.

I know. So Tony Hale, so to Tracy, Tony... So fun. This is so fun. This is amazing. Tony and I met first. I just want to say, I know Jason is your guest, but I'm going to hog this. I want to say...

Go, please. I'm unprepared. No, good. Martell, Martell, his wife used to work on SNL. And so our wife... Started the Night Live, Tracy. Started the Night Live, Tracy, which is a longstanding live sketch comedy. Okay. Okay.

And... When do they shoot that? Oh, my God. They, so they knew each other before. So then Tony and I went out to read for Rest of the Development, which is a longer story. And we kind of had a little bit of a... We kind of knew each other a little bit. Like, hey, hey, we had that familiarity.

From the halls of SNL? Because our wives knew each other. And it was nerve... We were both... It was very nerve-racking. We were both staying at what was then the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City. And we walked to our test together. Yeah.

You remember that? For Rest of the Development? For Rest of the Development, Tony and I walked... You both got it. We both got it. And we both got it. Wait, so you walked down... Sean's just now learning that we both got it.

We walked to the back gate. We went in... What's that called? The Galaxy Gate. Yeah, yeah. And we went in the back together. And then we walked over and read with you and with Portia and Jessica and everybody. Yeah.

And then we both got it. And then we walked... And then we were like, I guess we're staying for a little bit. Yeah. Did you... Correct me if I'm wrong. Did we shoot the pilot right after we had that callback? Well, yeah.

Tony, remember the next night? I'm good with stuff like this, Jason will tell you. Okay. The next night we had a read through... What year was this, Will? This is the spring... 2003. This is late February of 2003, Tony knows.

Wait, how do you know the month free? Because... By the way, by the way, in this spring, it's going to be 20 years since we shot the pilot, 20 years ago. Really? And when does it come out? It's going to... Turn your camera off right now, Sean.

Anyway, so that's... Tony and I... It's been shelved for 20 years. And then, and I will say this, and I've told this and I've said it high and wide. Frame it up better. There is nobody on the set, and Jason, you're there, and I'm sorry to say, but there's nobody who cracked me up. And I think you'll attest to this too, the way Tony hailed it.

David Kropp. Oh, Tony, yeah. No, I... I listened to David's podcast you guys did with him. And Will, when you said the best joke that he said, and when he said, I don't know what you said, Jason, like, how are you doing? He goes, good. And he goes, it's going to be good.

Yeah. That was... Remember that? That's the best line ever. That was so funny. But Tony... Tony would do this thing where he'd be getting ready to... Like he and I would both be off-camera, ready to enter a scene.

And Jason, you know that thing where he... He starts getting into buster, yeah. And he'd start getting into buster. So he'd be talking to him about something. He'd go, someone like, I think we're wrapping later. And he'd go, yeah, and then you'd hear the scene go, okay, I got it. And then he'd go like... And you'd bring up the Tyrannosaurus Rex hands.

And you'd bring his hands up like this, and I would... And then I'd have to come in after him, and I'd be in Tyrannosaurus Rex hands. Tony, fuck me, Tony, you're so goddamn funny. He tucks the chin and brings up the Tyrannosaurus Rex hands, and then he's in. I took it really seriously. Well, now, well, tell me about that. Is that... Because I haven't worked with you before or since, unfortunately.

But was your... Are you that disciplined with everything you do or did you think at the time, this is a big deal, a big show? Yeah. I better keep it tight because this feels large. Yeah. I was... I think I was so... I think all that. I was really overwhelmed. I was really intimidated.

And I was like, I gotta do the work. And so I would go back to my hotel room and I would just like practice in the mirror and all that stuff. Because I will say, I went up to Mitch and I asked a very active question. Mitch Orwitz was the boss on the show, Tracy. Mitch Orwitz, yeah. He was a guest. I'm here, too.

Sweet Tracy. And I asked him, I said, what does Buster want in life? And he said, I know, it's a really active question. And he goes, all he wants in life is safety. And so then I just kind of like thought everything that threatened his safety, he would just like panic. And so he was always in a state of defense, like his chin would go back, his hands would go back.

And he was just, just constantly waiting for what's going to come out of him. That's really funny. Sean, you have to know you'd be doing a seat and then you'd be like, and even when you were rolling and if Tony was behind you and you'd be having a conversation, like you'd say Jason, I'd be like, blah, blah, blah. And then you'd just hear, oh. You could always hear what's going on inside. He'd sort of verbalize it.

And I have a really fat chin, which actually helped because it would just like, no, you do not. I have a question about, I heard about, like, I don't know the process on arrest development. It sounds like it was, obviously I've heard so many stories. Oh, it was a good time, Sean. Yeah. Good shows. Good episodes.

And I'm sure you, I like it as much as you like. Save it though. Will and Grace, you know. I'm curious, have you seen, I mean, have you literally seen anything? I saw the first two. I laughed out loud. Oh, you did see the first two. Yeah.

That was enough. Not for him. You're that person. You're that person. You're that person. There's a problem and it gets resolved. Okay. So, but, um, on Veep, I heard, um, that there's a, there's an actual, I don't know if this

is true. This, I've always wanted to ask you this, that there is a process, actual rehearsal process, like a lengthy one. Can you describe that to me? Because I'm kind of really interested in that where you got to improvise scenes, even though they were written, or did you improvise them first and the writers would write from what you came up with? Uh, I think a little bit of both.

Armando Iannucci, who created it, he would give us, he would give us, Armando Iannucci. No. Armando Iannucci. Isn't it Armando Iannucci? How many years did you guys work together? Yeah. This is probably seven or eight. I think it's Armando.

This is Veep. I think it's Armando Iannucci. You think? So he was a passive producer? We would call him Arm. We would call him Arm. Arm. I don't care about his full name.

Yeah. But I think it's like, I'm pretty sure it's Armando. By the way, by the way, we just found our promo clip. Armando Iannucci. But he would kind of give us a scenario. And the, because Matt Walsh was also in Veep, you know, who's like a master improver and he helped create UCB and all this stuff. And so all of us had to kind of get on the routine.

Like it's not necessarily about coming up with funny bits. It was just kind of, he just wanted to see if it gelled and then out of that funny bits would come. No, we never rehearsed on Arrested. We rarely had any rehearsal on TV. No, right. Yeah. That's why I was asking just because on Veep, so you would rehearse what?

A week before you even started shooting? Yeah. We would shoot, we would fly down because we shot in Baltimore. So we'd fly down a couple of weeks before we'd shoot and just like go to this room. For every episode? A week for every episode? No, no, no, no. No.

It was like, we would do like five scripts or something like that. I just kind of feel those out. Wow. Wait, wait, wait, wait. Sorry. What happens? So there's a script that's written? Yeah.

There's a script that's written? Ish. So yeah, the script is, they have a really good idea of the script and then a lot is written, but then they kind of throw out, they say, ask to kind of throw away the script and just kind of play with the scene. So it's like, we would do some of the lines and not do some of the lines, but it was more of just like, if the story is working, if the relationships are working, if bits do come out, but like...

You guys sound like storytellers. Yeah. So wait, so then they would then see what you guys would improvise in addition to what is written. And then if the improvised dialogue is worthy of being included in this half-written script, it would. Yes? Yeah.

Well, thanks for making it sound less fun, but yeah. And then a week later, you then have a complete script and that's the script that you would then shoot? Yeah, but even in that complete script, if stuff came out, it was a very open environment. Yeah. You should see Jason explain to kids on how to get on a bouncy house. He really... So you go in, the air is pumped up and it keeps...

I want you to unlace your shoes. And then your socks because of... Lay them outside. Your ligaments and the buoyancy. Now, Tony, I saw, I remember seeing a long time ago, didn't you do Drunk History like even more than once? Yeah, several times. Yeah, I love that show.

It was so fucking funny. And I learned a lot too. By the way, dumb, dumb question, because I know nothing about that show other than it's hilarious and you were great. They really make you drink until you can't do it. I wasn't the storyteller. I know, I know, but I mean like the people that are... Yeah.

Yeah, I think they get them really drunk and then they have them kind of retell... Just like they're totally... Tell the story. And the thing is, there's stuff that I learned from that show that I never knew. Just the way they said it. It was just... About puking? Oh, puking.

I learned a lot about how you throw up your meals. Tony was a Sigma Chi for Tony. Okay. He's back in Wikipedia. You went to Samford University, which was started by Red Fox and his son. I was... I actually... I'm in Nashville right now because I'm doing a movie here with my friend Seth Worley and

it's like two hours from Alabama, so I went and visited some friends from college and then Martell's family. So I was just there. Come on. Samford. Oh, that's nice. Did you go back to the Sigma Chi fraternity house? I did not.

Where you got your journalism degree in 1992? I did not. Okay. Well, he didn't get his degree from... He doesn't know how college works, but hey, Tony, so you've always had... Well, I'm here to learn. Both you and Martell are from the South as you just sort of alluded to. Yeah.

And you maintain the Southern Rouge. This is so fun. This is so fun. You have a lot of credits on here. It's just so... Because... I don't know what... They've done a couple of episodes of Samantha Who.

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Tony. So talk to us a little bit. So you're from the south. You grew up in the south and then you go, you moved to New York. We meet in New York. How did that happen? What was the move from college to New York and what was your goal? Okay.

So I moved to New York in 95, didn't know anybody. And then the very first theater show I did in New York was Shakespeare in the Parking Lot where we did Tammy in the Shoe in a Parking Lot. Are you being serious? I'm dead serious. That's hysterical. And then we did that. And then I had every job.

I cater-weighted all that stuff. Actually really liked cater-weighting better than waiting tables. And so I cater-weighted all these jobs. And then I started doing commercials. And my type was the guy who wasn't all there. Oh, bless him. That's what I always described. And now become the Tony Hale type.

It really hasn't much changed. And so then I started doing commercials and enjoying it, but it took me six years to find an agent who would send me out for a TV and film because they saw me just as a commercial actor. Well, Sean, you did commercials for a long time, didn't you? A lot, yeah. Was there a lot of sort of, like there was a thing there, like a little stigma being like a commercial actor and the difference between that and doing film and TV?

Yeah. It was just, they were kind of putting you in compartments and it was just tough to get somebody to send me out for TV, film and theater. And there was this casting director named Marsha de Bonis. Oh yeah. Oh, the great Marsha de Bonis. Yeah. And she actually, I don't know if you, she's the one who I'd found.

Cast, arrested. Yeah. I'd found a manager like a year before or something. So I was kind of being sent out for stuff. And then since she cast a lot of commercials, she thought about me for this role and brought me in. That's right. Marsha did the, she did the handle, the New York casting for arrested development.

Yeah. And, yeah. Yeah. And the whole, and Mitch said when I was, because Buster massaged people a lot and he's, and I was in the audition, I was massaging my knees and Mitch said, since the camera stopped here, he didn't know what I was doing down there and it piqued an interest and they sent me out. So it looked like you were doing something else.

Yeah. Maybe. I was just, I mean, I don't, I don't, do you guys, I don't know, do you guys have much memory of that, that shooting that pilot? Cause I know we shot it at that. It was down south, right? And at the. The Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach.

Yep. It wasn't, was it a Manhattan Beach? Yes. Yes. Cause I, the only memory I have is I ran out, I remember running out of underwear and I had to go to old Navy to get underwear. And. Well, how does one run out of underwear?

Is it because you, do you have too many mistakes in the day? I had five. I shit my pants five times. Don't start with Jason. You have to take care of the business before you leave the house for a second. Who goes shit in the middle of the day? Showering. Do you shower before or after?

Oh my God. Oh my God. You know, Tony, it does say here that your father taught nuclear and atomic physics and served in the military. Yeah. He did. And he went to West Point. He went to West Point.

Good Lord. And then he taught nuclear physics after, after he was done. At West Point. No. Yeah. He taught there after. And then he was in the military for 20 years and we moved around, we lived in Germany and everything.

Will, do you feel as bad as I do that you don't know this about Tony after all the years we've worked together? I feel, what if Will's like, not really. I really don't know. I mean, I will. What if Will said, yeah. And his mom taught such and such and both like that you knew everything about Tony and I don't know.

I didn't know that. I got to say, I am a little embarrassed to say that I didn't know that terrible. I love that kind of stuff. Did you ever get into that with your dad? Like, did you ever talk like, did any of that interest you? Because it interests me. I don't have it. Being in the military.

No, that. That. Nuclear physics. Like you must have, but that's like a double whammy for a military guy and a nuclear physicist to say, to hear his son say, I want to be an actor. You know, when my grandfather was an opera singer, so my dad had a real appreciation for the arts. So he always, always supported where I wanted to go, which I have memory.

Did you have memories of that of your grandfather being an opera singer? He passed away when my dad was six. Oh, okay. Nice call. Well, he hit too high. No, it's not like Tony's. These guys are real jerks, Tony. Sorry about this.

But like he, he never, he always, they always supported me, which is not always the case. So I'm really thankful for that. Your mom was the one that really was against the, the acting stuff. Go ahead. No. What? She loved it too. She did.

I'm looking for controversy. He wants a real gotcha episode here with Tony. Wait, let me, let me just go through a couple. You guys talked to him for a second. I find out what mom was doing during all this. So, wait, wait, wait. You know, it says here, let me tell you, let me tell you what else it says here. Six nominations for Veep alone there on the Emmys, SAG awards, three nominations, another

six for Veep. Tony, how many Emmy wins for Veep? Two? Two. Yeah. Two. For him. For him.

I think, oh, for me too, but for the show, I think it was two, I'm not sure. Yeah. That's so great. Such a funny show. It was a really, really funny show. I watched some of those outtakes between you and Julia and I'm die laughing. They're so funny. There's one scene where she has to, she has to, she asked me to break up with her boyfriend

for her in the first, in like the first season and she's so close proximity to me and it's almost, I mean, I remember all these moments when I'm arrested, it's so impossible to not laugh. You were great about not laughing though. It's just shaking. I wasn't in Veep. Julia said to me once, you know, you're not watching the show, you're in the show, Tony. Because I was laughing so hard, I couldn't keep it together.

Was she fantastic at not breaking? She would always dig her nails into her hands to stop laughing. I do that. I pinch my thigh skin, but I brought blood. Are you doing a couple of psychotic things to not laugh? Well, I used to not be able to look at Jeffrey Tambor straight in the eyes when he would do scenes with me and he'd yell at me for like, they'd be staring at like, you know, the side of his cheek or the tip of his nose.

He was so dry. My thing is though, I don't know about you guys, but there were times that we just trusted Mitch's, the grid he had in his head because there were so many levels to what was going on. I had many times no idea what was going on and I just had to trust his guidance. At the time, especially the last couple of years, just so complex. Very complex. There was a joke.

There was a joke. Well, somebody asked me once, what was your one of your favorite bits? And aside from Tobias being in the blue man group, which always made me laugh hard. The one joke when Ian Lesser, the doctor, Besser, Ian Roberts, yes, Ian Roberts came out and he would and Jessica would say, is he is he okay? And he'd go, yes, he's okay. And then he says, but his hand has been, it's been severed and they would get all mad. I just thought that was so hilarious the way he delivered it.

Well, then I was on a, I was on a podcast like at the San Francisco sketch fest years ago in front of an audience. And I was saying though, it was my favorite joke. Somebody raised their hand and said, no, no, no, that's not what he said. He says, no, he's all right, meaning he has an all right hand and not a left hand. So 15 years after the joke is when I finally get it. That's America. And you were in the scene.

And I was in the scene. I mean, just so many things I missed. I love how they would just so proudly lean into cheap jokes, you know, like the, the C word was the name of the yacht, right? S E A W A R D C word. And then she and then we'd call her the C word, right? We call mom or she thought we were calling her the C word. I remember, you know, you call it the great Matt Walsh who was, he was with you on VP

who's a hilarious guy and one of the founding members of upright citizen brigade and Ian Roberts as well. And I just, those doctor moments were so dry and so funny and Ian is so good in those moments. Yes. I can't imagine anybody else doing it. And he would do the, you know, the whole like, yes, they're, well, we lost them and everybody starts crying.

They just literally meant that they lost them and those, those moments stick with me too. Those like guys like that coming in who are just absolute assassins, hilarious, God damn it. And Mitch, and Mitch just would just go, he would think of stuff that I would never even consider. I mean, obviously they'd have sealed it off my hand, but one is that when Jessica was on house arrest and she couldn't smoke and she needed me to inhale the smoke out of her mouth and then blow it out on the balcony to run out on the balcony and then come back

like a baby bird and just, you know, suck it out of her mouth, just the most disturbing image. But Sean, you know what? Just keep watching. Just the two episodes. Don't worry about it. Okay. Yeah.

Sean, how did you get, when you couldn't stop laughing, did you just go for it or did you keep yourself? Either one in grace. Yeah. Program. Wait, were you on that? Yeah. Oh, I've got to see that.

No, I would, I had, I'm the easiest, I can't, I'm not, I'm the opposite of a rock on stage. I laugh at anything. It's so good. Tony, you know, one of the, one of my memories of you, one of my vivid memories in it and still alive today is, is what a kind person you are and how kind you are to people in your life and people around you. And it's one of the, it's one of the great things about you that makes you such a lovable and amazing person and I remember being, when we were shooting the show, so many great moments

where you were so sweet and kind, but I remember when we had first had Liza on the show, Manelli, and Liza came in and out over the years and was very open about being, going through moments in her life and whatever and was just, and you and Martell took, you know, you knew that she was in her hotel by herself and I remember you guys describing, you guys went and picked her up for dinner one night. What? Yeah. And she was in the back seat with no seatbelt on.

She had like a kid, remember like we used to do back in the 70s, she kind of leaned forward. I remember you describing between the seats, so smoking in Martell and Tony's car as they're driving to dinner. Talking to them. She insisted that she wanted us in the back seat and rolled the windows on, just immediately started chain smoking and I was like, please, please don't stop, like you can smoke as much as you want. And she...

Where'd you guys go? I went to the hamburger hamlet and she was, she got in the back seat and she was talking about her music and talking about this concert. She did it, Radio City Music Hall and I was like, by the way, I'm still absorbing that Liza Minogue, my girlfriend. The whole thing is just incredibly surreal. We both kissed her on the unrested. And we both kissed her and she's talking about this concert and she says, oh, I sang and

I said, what'd you sing? And she said, I sang the song Liza with a Z and I was like, oh, and I didn't know that song stupidly and I said, and so she broke out in the song in the back seat of our car and she sang it and just started singing it and she had done it so many times that she could hear the orchestration in her head and she'd go, Liza with a Z, ba-da-ba-ba-ba-bam! Just smoking and I was like, well, we can die, it's time to die, guys. She's just in the back hammering darts and I was just like, I don't know what's happening, but I'm just going to keep driving.

I remember you coming back after that weekend being like, well, we had a crazy weekend. But then she told it, then she would like go and just talked about her mom and she loved her mom and talk about being, she grew up on the MGM lot. That was pretty much her childhood. I mean, but her stories never came from a place of ego. They always came from a place of like, listen to my life, like this was my life, you know? You guys had some other big guest stars on there too, right? Marty Short was on there.

Marty Short, great. Just shoot me. Yeah. He had lost use of his legs from a tragic weightlifting accident, right? He was clean and jerking and he got it up high and then too much and both legs went out from underneath them, snapped in half. And so he hired a bodybuilder to carry him around the rest of his life. Yeah, I remember it.

A bodybuilder. Yeah. And he would try to get the nuts. He would like shoot for the nuts. And the guy would shoot him down so that he could get enough. What was the name of the bodybuilder? That's a great name. We had Carl Weathers.

We had, we had Super Dave Osborn. We had our buddy, Ed Begley was so hilarious. Yeah. Yeah. Obviously Henry Winkler, who's just... Obviously Henry. Yeah. Scott Beyo, Bob LaBlanc.

Yeah. We really... Look at it. We got to watch them all again. And we'll do it with Sean. It'll be new to you, Sean. It was a real embarrassment of riches, wasn't it? It really was.

It was. Hey, so... Well, go ahead, Sean. Yeah. I was going to say, when you're... You're always, like Will was saying, always so funny, always working, by the way. And when you're not working, what are you doing? Because I like to know what rounds the person out.

I actually got into making rope bowls. Hang on. Can I get into that? Can I show you? I'll show you a picture of them. A rope bowl. So a friend of mine... A friend of mine.

A friend of mine. What leader are you currently smoking these things? Yeah. Are you selling it or just smoking it now? Just a personal user. I started doing them over the pandemic because this... My friend, Shawna, on the show, I do mysterious benefit anxiety on Disney Plus. Shout out.

She gave me one of these as a wrap gift and I was like, oh, this is the coolest thing. So I started doing these over the pandemic. Oh, yeah. So look, these are... Do you see them? Yes. What? Now, rope, it looked like pottery.

It looked like a bowl. No, they're made out of rope. Really? And I really... It's incredibly therapeutic. Are they malleable? Like, can you move them? Yeah.

Yeah. And you paint them and it's just like the best... What is it? Like, what would you put in a rope? His weed. A lot of his weed. Not food. It's not a lot of weed.

A lot of my weed. But it's like a decorative bowl. And it's like crochet? No, it's like you do like a disc and then you kind of mold the rope as you're sewing it and it becomes a bowl and then you get a leather... So I got a leather press to do... Wow, you're all in. To do these things.

And then you put a tag on there and I like to give them as gifts. What do you sell maybe on Etsy? Do you have a little site? I don't have an Etsy shop. How about any farmer's markets that you go to? No, for $5. Slice off a piece of soap and sell that with it. Hunk of soap with your bowl, ma'am.

Tony Hale, I love you so much. By the way. Now, does Martell help with this or does she mock you? No, she mocks me. But she likes to do these kind of number, these painting things. Well, paint by numbers, yeah. And so we had a table and then I would do that and she would do that over the pandemic.

And then Loy is doing what? While she's watching her parents go off the end. Just shaking her head, yeah. I kind of get it. I kind of want to take up crochet or something like that. You know, or like I get like the mindset of like... It's really... I put on these headphones, I listen to music

and it's just super meditative. And it's also, I'm not a painter, but I get to paint the rope. So that's kind of fun. And it's just very like soothing. Yeah. Sean, you should do that. Or tie like a stone to your leg and then go to the marina. Yeah, and see how many times you can get back up to the surface.

Okay. You guys, can somebody give me a lift? Hey, wait. So Tony, so you're doing that, but if you're not pressing the leather, what else are you doing? Are you reading these days? Are you doing like... Are you watching Telly?

I watch a lot of YouTube. Arts and crafts station? No. Okay. This is... You were so controversial. Tony, you were so controversial. I'm not a big T.

I have to... I do like TV, but sometimes it's too heavy. You know, it's like... Do you watch comedy? I do some, but Martell watches really like she loves Ozark. She loves like handmates. She likes heavy stuff. Really?

I have... It really, it affects me. It's like horror movies when people are like, oh, wasn't that great? I'm like, no, someone's after me now. You know, it's like I can't detach. What about heavy reality shows? Like these guys are tired of me talking about alone. Like these survivalist shows.

I love it. I never got into it. It's too heavy, isn't it? That's a little... But here's the thing also is sometimes when these stories are so heavy and people are like, oh, well, Tony, it's just... And Martell's like, you're an actor. Like why can't you detach?

Because in my mind I'm thinking, yeah, that might not be heavy, but someone's had that same experience somewhere. And I'm watching a visualization of that. And it's too much. You're paralyzing empathy. So I'll watch... Paralyzing sometimes. I'll feel everybody's feelings for them.

Yeah. But it's like I... There was on YouTube, sometimes I'll watch compilation videos of like X-Factor auditions or... I watch this. Really? The voice... And I only want to see when they win.

I only want to see like when they turn the chair and they come... I don't want to see any of the rejections. Yeah, I get it. Well, now talk to me about this thing, because I battle with this sometimes about exposing myself to news. Yeah, yeah. You know, like... Nudes?

Exposing yourself to nudes? To nudes. Because if somebody doesn't have a great physical... Body. News, like if I can take certain news, but other news about people that are going through just... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Object hunger.

Yeah. Or, you know, kids that are sick or something like... How do you... Do you try to keep yourself... Yeah. Not the head in the sand or anything, but like... No. I just... It just kills me.

It's too much. For me... Now, keep in mind, that's me. I think other people can really absorb it and can detach from it. You guys... Oh, I thought you were speaking for everybody. Yeah, I'm speaking for everybody. I represent the human race.

Sorry. But you had Bill Maron recently, and I listened to... Sure. The amount of absorbing, I think he can have that kind of detachment probably. I just can't shake it. So, like, I'll do something called... It's like the skim. It gives, like, a sense like an email.

It'll give, like, the highlights of the day. Yeah. Right. Or no review of the news. Yeah, it's like an... Yeah, exactly. And so... Yeah, I watch David Muir every night.

Oh, yeah. On ABC. But any deep dive and kind of... I just can't... Like, it's hard for me to let it go. I feel like, well, what else can I do? I mean, I'll donate or I can be charitable or whatnot. But if you get into all of the real micro detail of the suffering, it's hard.

See, but that's... But see, Jason got me into a loan, so I started watching some Arctic something. Yeah. So, I started watching, like, five, six episodes. And a lot of times we would watch it while we were eating dinner, right? If we would put on a loan the next episode. Yeah. While they're skinning a squirrel.

That's exactly right. The guy, like, hadn't eaten, like, one of the guys hadn't eaten, like, seven days. And he finally kills this, like, I don't know what a marsupial badger... I don't know what the hell it was. And he cooks it, chars it. He's like, oh, and he eats the whole thing. And it's just really... And he cooks the head and he eats the head.

It's just so disgusting. And then, of course, he gets a stomach ache, dysentery. So, you skipped seasons. You didn't start... I know where that is. There's no way that you got there. He started with the free stuff on Netflix. I started season six.

Oh, man. Yeah. He started... I did the same thing. That's what got me hooked. And then I went and I bought them all over on... What is it? History or something?

They're on Discovery Plus, man. I love Discovery Plus. So, do you watch it or do you constantly imagine what would I do in that situation? Like, how would I react to that situation? Oh, I would encourage the helicopter pilot to not even touch down. Are you kidding? It's Jason's dream. Jason's dream.

He's by himself and he doesn't have to eat. It's like the most amazing... No, no. I completely fall apart. I'm so soft. Well, you know, I can't even put together a basketball hoop. Yeah, because the contestants for Tracy, the contestants get dropped off in a helicopter, in the middle of nowhere in the helicopter.

And they have a camera. Some's not with them with a camera. They've got their... They film themselves, yeah. And that's part of the battle. They talk about it a lot as they go deeper into the day count. Sometimes it's obviously the hunger, but also it's the solitude gets them and they start feeling... They do lose a lot of great water weight.

I mean... You know, I'm too emotional about the animals in there. So that's why it's hard to watch that. Not the humans, just the animals. You mean that you couldn't kill the animals to eat them? Correct. What do you think's happening when you're going over to Chin Chin, man? Yeah, I know.

Well, I don't want to see it. Like Jason's saying, I don't want to see it, but I'll eat it. So, head in the sand. That's terrible. How long are they out there for? Well, the longer you're out there, the closer you get to the big prize. I think the longest has been a hundred days. I may be wrong.

But average is probably like right around 70, 80 days, something like that. And these guys lose like... They lose like 60 pounds in three months. That sounds interesting. How did they charge their phone? Okay, well, that's a great question. They're not having... You can see that's the whole point.

To film themselves, idiot. To film. Like to film their stuff. Oh, now I'm an idiot. Okay. They have a pack. They have like a pack. They have like a whole pack thing.

Well, you know what I noticed? Like they keep their food. They were like, oh, the guy's like, oh, the mice got into my food. I'm like, you have that airtight pelican box that keeps the camera equipment in. Put your fucking food in there. So they have enough battery for that whole mountain. I don't know what their battery count is, man. Okay. I don't know what's going on.

It's a hand crank battery that they've got to save enough energy for. Dear discovery. Upon watching your show, I must admit that I was concerned about the battery. And we will be right back. Thanks to Hunter Douglas for supporting Smartless. I never used to think too much about the blinds in my home. I mean, I'd sometimes, you know, adjust them in the morning, close them at night, or just kind of forget about them entirely.

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Now a word from our sponsor, better help. Hey guys, I know I talk a lot about therapy, mental health. I think it's really, really important. I think it's important to address it even if you're scared to address it. And also, you know, I've been going through like a pretty rough time lately and therapy has really, really helped me get through it. It can be tough to train your brain to stay in problem solving mode when faced with a challenge in life. But when you learn how to find your own solutions, there's no better feeling. Trust me.

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What is one of like, other than Veep and Arrested, of course, those two stand out. What's one of the best experiences you've had like on a set or with another actor and who was that? And like what are, like if somebody said pinpoint the highlight other than Arrested and Veep, because we all know how great and special those were. Is there like a moment or a person that really kind of, wow, that totally inspired you or blew it away? Unless it's an Arrested story involving me, good. I really side note, I mean, it was, Arrested was so crazy, fun and wild and overwhelming and all that stuff. But, Anne Veep, but aside from that, I would say I did this movie called Nine Days with this director, Ed Sonoda.

And it's, it was such a beautiful movie and he was so good at what he did and so calm and the movie is so beautiful. And that's one of those that really, I think about a lot. And I just did Being in the Riccardo's with Nicole, Kim and Javier Bardin and watching them really boldly take over those iconic roles. That was really cool to be on the sidelines and watch that, really cool. And tell me, what are you doing right now? You said you're doing a show over on Discovery Plus. That's Disney Plus. It's a mysterious Benedict society.

It's based on a children's series. And that's, here I'm doing a movie with my friend Seth Worley called Sketch, but I did that and that's, it's based on this series by a guy named Trent Stewart who wrote the books. And it's just a beautiful, beautiful story. And I get to play twins. Do you really? You do? Yeah, I get to play twins on the show. An evil one and a good one?

He's complicated, but he's like, yeah, the good one and like a one that's had a lot of trauma. Like a soap opera. Tell me about that because there are certain characters that you would not play. Am I right? I don't know if I think, if I'm honest, I think I probably would have said that in the past, like I would have drawn a line, but until I hear the story, I don't know if I can draw a line of like what I wouldn't play, you know, because it's, would it be based on whether it's gratuitous or unredemptive or, you know, like, could you play a serial murder? Yeah, I could. You answered that really fast.

But he's gonna hurt a gold. He's gonna hurt a gold. No, I could, but it's like, and even if it's not redemptive, I mean, it's an, I mean, you look at Veep, for instance, she wasn't a serial killer, but you see that equation of this is what happens when you live a life of narcissism and never giving away. You end in isolation and you end up, you know, bitter. Right. And so that's, that wouldn't be considered redemptive, but it's what a, what a great story to show that, yeah, show that equation. Yeah. Right, right, right.

What are the, what are the, I mean, you have done, you're so known and obviously celebrated and you've won awards for your comedy. Oh, that's very nice. Well, it's true. And, and you, you've, you've done these sort of, you know, great icon, play these great iconic characters, comedic characters. Do you, is there part of you that's like, okay, I really want to do, because we asked this, we talked about this when we have people on the show all the time. Like, do you have this thing in your sights of like, I want to do a great this, like a great dramatic role that really shows this. Is that something that kind of burns inside you? Uh, if I'm honest, I think when I was younger, I was kind of, I would say that, but I think I had different motivations of wanting to, I don't know,

get attention or I don't know what it was. But now I think it's, I don't know if you guys feel this way, but the older you get things just get a little simpler. And it's like, and so it's not necessarily about those big markers. It's about, I would, I would obviously love, I love working, but I like it's so much more about relationships and so much more about connecting and who you are and set. But I mean, obviously good stories and you want to, I want to be careful as I really believe. The quality of the work experience. Yeah. But that's, that's really the stuff that is, has longevity to it.

I mean, the work obviously is good, but it's like, how you impact people on set and all that stuff. I don't know. That's kind of, as I get older, that's where you see the power in that. I feel, I feel you on that. And like you guys, I think it's like so, I mean, your podcast is so fun and just how you guys are with each other and the laughing and just like, and even like you touring. I mean, that's like, there's so much, so much beautiful, like life giving power to that. Tony, I gotta tell you, it's so, it's so crazy. I mean, you know us, it's so weird.

But it's like, I think it's so fun and just like, you can see that it gives you life. You know, like that's like, as you get older, like that's the shit that matters. And it did come from that pure place that you're talking about where we had, we had no idea, dream or goal about the end result. It was all about, well, how can the three of us stay better in touch during COVID? You know, and so we just kind of got a little bit more official, you know. Yeah. And but the element that you have of the surprise, because like there's two of you that are coming in with an energy of like what's coming. Right.

And it's like, that provides that, ooh, what gift are we going to get today? And not as like to build up arrested. But that's how I did feel like also unarrested, like we never, ever knew. The whole show was just one big surprise. We never knew what Mitch was going to throw at us. And it gives you this like, it doesn't fit any formula. It's always the surprise. I remember Tony after, between those seasons one and two, and we were all in, we're at a hotel in Century City.

And we just found out that we won those that we got nominated for. Do you remember that we were doing like the press that morning early? All of us. And I don't. Okay. You and I were staying at that hotel right there in Century City. I remember this. And then Jason, you came over the night before.

And then early that morning we went and did a bunch of press. And that's when we found out that we had won. Not won, but we got all these nominations for the show. And I remember, so we're downstairs. We're really, really happy. And then Tony, we were talking to Mitch and stuff. And then we're going to walk back. And you go, what's going to go, well, Mitch just told me that I'm going to lose my hand to a seal.

And I remember, and I was like, for the whole, he's like, yeah, I guess for the whole season. Yeah, I was actually pretty, I was pretty upset about it. Now, since you were talking about it, I remember now a picture of us down there. Yeah. We were down there and it was, I remember that from a picture. But yeah, I remember when he told me that. So you just said to Mitch, he said, so bitch, so we're going to do another season. No, I had an idea.

I think I had an idea, a really bad idea. I think I might have even said, hey, what if like, what if like Buster's on like dancing with the stars or something like that? Or something just really out there. And he's like, yeah, I'm thinking about having a seal bite off your hand. And I was like, and I just, I didn't even know how to compute it. What is the, have you, did you ever have like a massive injury on that or VP or anything that's like, anything go absolutely chaotic and hurt yourself? Oh, for real. He means for real.

Oh, for real. Oh, for real. You got to keep your knees bent with Sean. His, his questions. This guy is a, is a real man. Oh yeah. Yeah. I love them.

Well, it's a surprise. These are award nominated question, question here. Sean. Did I, I don't think so. I don't think so. And then start thinking about your favorite theater story. Yeah. Crazy ever happened on stage, but, but let's hear about anything ever, you ever hurt yourself, Tony?

No, but I do remember. He's the best. Go ahead, Tony. Hey, Tony, any, any, any terrible memories you want to read? I'm trying to talk about anything other than arrest and develop. I know. I'm sorry, Sean. This is, this is.

But you know, it's not a terrible question. Tony, have you ever broken a bone? Honestly. No, that's a real question. I have. How'd you do that? I stubbed my toe. Oh, bless it.

Walk us through that. Was it going for it? Were you going for peepees in the middle of the night? No, I was stepping over my dog door. Oh, are you okay? Say it again. I was stepping over. I was stepping over my dog door.

You can't step over a dog door. You'd go into the. Well, no, because it was locked to keep the dogs in. And then I stepped over and intripped and, and so on. Well, dog gate. Well, dog gate. Well, dog gate. Yeah.

Yes. I'm sorry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay.

All right. That's understandable. Any theater stories? Any, any horrible. Any horrible theater stories? Yeah. Yeah. Well, you did that.

Yeah. You did that play with Molly, didn't you, Sean? Molly Shannon. Yeah. Yeah. But I did two years ago. I did a one man play in San Francisco at ACT and a call Wakey Wakey by Willie.

No. And I was so petrified that I was going to forget a line. And I remember every night. Yeah. One man show. You got no help. Yeah. Just feeling like I was going to forget everything.

And then by the grace of God, I just, I, I always had thankfully someone was offset in case I did. But I, but I started memorizing like six months before because I was so panicked. I was going to forget a line. But that makes me think, Jason, I'll never forget being on set because I, with lines, I have to, I have to kind of take some time with them to absorb.

I remember you reading the script the morning of and then getting them. Is that correct? Like you would just skim the page. Yeah. He's like a crazy, he has a crazy. My brain works for one thing and it's that Willie's really, well, Will's got the Mary Lou Henner dates stuff down and also

he can remember a lot. He can remember lines. So he's got two uses first brain. I only have the one. I mean, I was, that show really taught me was pretty foundational for me. I'm just kind of a lot of lessons from that show for me, which is great.

I'm with you. Me too. Yeah. I think, and I think for our listener, you have to understand for us and Sean, you're saying, and you're sort of saying, let's not talk about the rest of two months. Oh, no, no. I'm, but first it was such a seminal moment and if you hear us

making it about ourselves or whatever, we're just sharing love because we're so happy and giddy to see Tony and it, and it brings up so many memories that are really important, big memories from our lives. And we had this shared experience in our life that was a really big thing. And we used to spend more time together than our own families. And we just haven't been able to do that.

I know. I love hearing about it. I really do. Yeah. It's also like, it's also, I'm sure you can relate to this shot. It's also, you think back to that time. I mean, almost, you know, almost 20 years ago. And it's hard not to be embarrassed of kind of how, you know, I

would react to certain things or because I was in this very overwhelmed state. Thankfully, I was playing a very overwhelmed character. So that kind of worked. But just like, I knew, I had never been on a studio a lot. I had never, I didn't know, I just didn't know anything. I didn't ever have that much free food offered to me during the day.

And I was just like, what's everything, nothing was computing, you know, and I would just walk around and your own parking space. Yeah. And yeah, my own parking space, just to kind of, and that thing of like, you give something so much weight growing up of like, that sitcom, that weight. And then when you get it, you're like, why am I still anxious?

Why am I, I thought I was going to feel differently. I was, and it's just from that. Well, why, why, why did you feel still feel anxious just because you felt then now that I have it. Now there's pressure to, now to deliver. Is that what you mean? Well, I think there's, it's a few things and, you know, thank God for therapy, but it's like, I really don't think

I was very present for most of my life. I don't think I'd never really, I would always be looking ahead of like, well, that's coming. That sitcom's coming. That big thing's coming. Yeah. And then I got it and I had to go, oh crap. I, because the thing is, if you're present and if you're

in that time, then when you get something, it's just kind of, you know, it just kind of unfolds rather than carry this, all this weight. And I've said this several times and I apologize if anybody has heard me babble about it, but it's that whole thing of like, if you're not practicing contentment where you are, you're not going to be content when you get what you want. And I think that really hit me on arrested, you know.

Yeah. I think that there's a very similar, I was talking about this with somebody the other day. You can't be, I try really hard and not perfectly. I don't do it. I don't execute it perfectly, but I really think about this idea that I can't be at the effective circumstances and, and meaning that my happiness can't be pegged to something

outside because then it's, you're in for a shit, right? Cause it's going to go up and down and nothing's in a straight line and you can't, if I'm at the effect of other things, I have to, it's not like I'll see it, you know, I'll believe it when I'll see it, you know, it's almost like I got to believe it and then I'll see it. My happiness has to come from here and, and it doesn't matter if I actually, whatever happens outside of me is going to

happen. Well, how do you, how do you guys avoid falling into complacency or being more comfortable than is healthy with normalcy or mediocrity? Like in other words, how do you, how do you balance contentment and also staying ambitious and driven and, and have goals and prepare for future and balance. I think, which is, you know, the easy, how do you, how do you

know, how do you know what it is until you have the, the, the clarity of retrospection, right? Yeah. And I think, I think that's a great question because I'm glad you really glad you asked, cause it's not that I'm not, it's not that ambition or dreaming is wrong at all. In our business, I feel like there's a subliminal messaging of like, you will have value when this happens.

You will have value if this big thing comes into your life. And the truth is my value before any of this happens, the exact same as my value now, your value when all, it's your value doesn't change. And so I think with ambition, many times what I did is associated my value to getting that. Yeah. Your outward value as opposed to your internal value.

No, I connected it like my, without knowing it, my internal value, I can go back to that reunion and be like, Hey, look what you make, you know, whatever. But it's like, my internal value would be better if I got that stuff. When in actuality, that internal value is the exact same. Yeah, of course. But that's not the message you hear.

I think in the business. Does that make sense? Yeah, for sure. No, certainly because you get what, and it's easy to fall into, it's a trap. You can fall into it very easily. And it's very easy to again, sort of peg your, your, your value, if you will, that let's say,

I'll say happiness to, to outside things. Yeah. And you're also in this business, you're also, you're constantly being asked like, what's next? You know, what's next for you? Which is a great question. Which is a great question. But you kind of don't go up to a dentist and say, what's next?

You know, true, but this is a unique, this business is unique in that, at least for actors and also directors and I guess anybody, it's very all a cart. Like you don't have one job that lasts 30, 40 years like a dentist would, it is sort of you, you're constantly getting hired and fired because the jobs come to an end. So it is a natural question, but it is an annoying one to have to manage.

But then sometimes when you do a show, when you do a show, it becomes much more sort of a pre-feaks, you know? Yeah. And I wouldn't even say it. I wouldn't say it. I wouldn't say annoying because I, I didn't, I didn't mean that it's not annoying, but it's, it's a challenge for me to not always be looking to next.

You know, it's like that's easy to fall into that when, yeah, it is piecemeal together. Absolutely. Is Loi at all interested in going into this business? Um, she is, uh, not if, no, she's at, but she did just get cast in a steel magnolias at her school and she's going to be, yeah, she's going to, she's excited to do that. And so, uh, but she wants to, I mean, this could change,

but she really is interested in education. Oh, cool. Yeah. Would you, would you encourage her in this business if she did go that direction? I, I would be lying if I didn't have, uh, probably an anxiety attached to it and have to do a couple more therapy lessons. But, um, I, you know, it's that whole thing of like,

you never want to dictate your child's, you know, wrath. So I would have to just, I would, I would be curious. That's the thing. Like there's one thing that we're with parenting is, is rather than being reactive, be curious and just, you know, be like, Oh, well, cause what I want to do is react and be like, well, let me teach you these lessons. Right.

And I just need to kind of shut up and just listen. Yeah. Yeah. I haven't seen her since she was, I know six maybe or something like that. You guys though made me laugh so hard. Like it is, uh, there's a, I don't know if you guys watch Sean, don't feel bad cause I don't watch the episodes myself much,

but I do every now and then we'll watch the blooper reels that they gave us because that's this, that's the stuff that I remember. I'll watch those. And there's a, there's one blooper of Will and I coming in and Liza's in the room and we have our robes on and we couldn't even get any two words out and just busted, but it was such a organic breakdown that it just gives me so much joy to see

all the time. There was a ton of laughter on that show. I really, really loved it. Isn't that why we do what we do? I mean, yeah, those moments. I told you, I've said, I said this to David before and I want to say it's you just so you can hear, we've talked about it, but that the hardest I've ever laughed actually laughed in my

life anywhere, this not just on set, just anywhere at any time was that scene where it was supposed to be an intervention for Lucille and we all end up getting drunk and you're on the piano with your hook and David went and got his, his jeans shorts and he put them and he's dancing next to you and I'm on the table and Jason's got the wig on. He's got Franklin's wig on and it was just like nobody said anything.

It was just mayhem. They just sort of went like go mayhem and it was late on a Friday night and I had tears and you were just, and Tony was going, he's hammering on the piano like Buster's all happy and David's dancing next to him with no shirt on the thing. And I was crying. I remembered driving home and like an hour later, Mitch called me and I was in the car and I picked up, but I was still

actually laughing by myself. That's so good. Tony, I mean, you guys were there for the hardest laugh I've ever had. Oh man. That was so, so fun. Anyway, hi, Sean. Hi.

So the show's best development. It's on Fox, what, Thursday? Sundays at 8, 9.30. Catch you on Roku. Tony, this is way too much time. It's already 5.45. It's given us bonus. It's so crazy.

We went over. We apologize. And again, to our listener, I'm so sorry that we just, you had to hear us just farm all over Tony and talk about the old days, but I don't know. I loved it. We just love you so much. We just love them.

You guys are the best. Tony, you're one of the, you're such an incredible, incredible talent and, you know, but, but even above and beyond that, you're such a wonderful, sweet, sweet, just great person. Big huge heart. Love you so much. Love you so much, man. Same.

Please say hi to Marshall. I will. I will. I love you too, Tony. Thank you guys. Thank you, Sean. I love you too. I'd love to see you soon.

Let's do it. All right. Let's do it. Hey guys. We'll do a reunion. Let's do it a reunion special, right? Arrested special. I don't want to say that.

I think we just say that on the, would you guys do it? By the way, I'm just, I'd do anything for arrested. Why wouldn't you do that? Always. Would you do it, Tony? Yeah.

I go back to work tomorrow on that show. Yeah, me too. Yeah. Sean, come on. Come join us. Hi Mitch. Hope you're, hope you're listening. Tony, love you.

Love you, Tony. Love you guys. Thank you very much. Talk to you soon. Thank you for doing this. Thank you for having me on. Bye, buddy. Bye, bud.

Guys, sorry. Who was that? Who was that? Who was that? Jay, that was such a great call having Tony. Yeah. That was great. I love that man.

Again, I apologize if it was to our own little clubhouse, but. I know. It's really, really fun to be flying the wall. I could hear a story. I wasn't even there. And I could hear stories like that all day long, just about like who was on, what would happen. There's also anything that he says I can listen to,

because he truly is. He's so genuine. I think we say this a lot on this show, but I think you'd be hard pressed to really find truly a nicer person. Yeah. That we've interviewed. We've interviewed a lot of nice people, but Tony is just made of all good stuff.

I've interviewed him a few times, unlike when I guest toasted like Ellen, or I think Kimmel once or something. But yeah, I've hung out with him a few times. So he's just so genuine and sweet and nice. And he was, he was so funny. He would make us laugh. And he was a great laugher and you could really get him.

I had a really good theater story to share, but maybe I'll do it next time. Let's hear it. Is it about the time that you got an audition for Bye Bye Birdie? Bye Bye Birdie. That's good. Bye Birdie. Bye guys.

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