Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist - Don Cheadle on New Series, "Fight Night," and the True Story Behind It

Episode Date: September 8, 2024

Golden Globe-winning actor Don Cheadle talks to Willie Geist about his prolific career including Oscar nominations, the "Ocean's 11" franchise, and the Marvel Universe.They also talk about his new show “Fight Night: Million Dollar Heist” streaming now on Peacock, about the true story of how an epic party after Muhammad Ali’s 1970 comeback fight in Atlanta became the scene of an infamous heist.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Very excited to bring you my conversation today with not only one of the best actors in Hollywood, but the best guys in Hollywood. He is Don Cheatel. I will not begin to attempt to list all of the films and TV shows on his resume because it's exhausting and I know I'll leave out your favorite one. There are just too many. Suffice it to say he's been nominated for an Academy Award for Hotel Rwanda. He has won Golden Globes. He has won a Tony Award. He has won two Grammys, even. The man is unbelievable. You'll hear us in this conversation talk about the year 2004, which I think is a good snapshot of his range, which was Oceans 12,

the second Oceans movie, Hotel Rwanda, the movie that earned him that Academy Award nomination for Best Actor, and Crash, which he starred in and also produced, and, won the Academy Award that year for Best Picture. That was all in one year for Don Cheatel. By the way, in that exchange, I think I'd say Oceans 11 was 2004, was actually Oceans 12, just for the record. But I think you'll enjoy getting to know him if you don't know his story and his background where he comes from. I mean, you can throw in Boogie Knights. I think his big breakthrough we talk about is Devil in a Blue Dress, where he starred with Denzel Washington. He's just an amazing actor who can do everything. And his latest is a new series streaming on Peacock called

fight night, the million dollar heights. He'll explain it to you based on true events, which makes it so cool. A Muhammad Ali fight in Atlanta in 1970. There's a big after party for all these big celebrities that were in town and every gangster from every town, every big city in the country gathered here and there is an armed robbery of these people. It's incredible. It was a subject of a popular podcast and now this new series that he starts in with an amazing cast. So I will step aside and let you enjoy a conversation with Don Cheatel right now on the Sunday Sit Down podcast. Don, thanks for doing this. Glad to be here. Can we talk about the chiefs first, the obvious, the here and now? I think we have to talk about the elephant in the room.

The NFL season starts tonight. Right. Your chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens. How are you feeling about a potential three Pete for your guys? I mean, what's hilarious to me is that they're now like The villains? Like, how do the chiefs become the villains? You know, but look, it's theirs to lose, right? Every year they seem to draft players that are just fit into spots, and they have so, that the scouting is so good, that the pieces just always seem to fit together,

and it always seems to gel at the perfect time. So it's theirs to lose. I mean, the Ravens probably have the best shot of toppling them, or the bills, I think. I don't know about the Giants, sorry. No. Don't mean to bring up a source subject. We're looking at the next year, Don.

Next year. Looking out of the horizon. That's right. Yeah. It's a very aspirational thing that you got working. It's a long way out there. But I see it. Yeah, for sure you see it.

You got to. Yeah, the Chiefs definitely have that Patriots thing that they had, which is you've got the the superstars, but then they keep adding those pieces that actually make the team go. Yeah. Please don't ever say the P-word again to me. I think you should have overcome that now, given your success. I should be past it. I'm harboring.

Let's move forward. Yeah. But let's talk about where our. really here, which is fight night. Yes. Man, is this series fun? I told that I just finished the first three episodes based on actual events. Set the scene a little bit for people who haven't seen it yet when it comes out or

thinking about it, where we are, because this is a real, two real moments, actually, that the whole series centers on. Well, it's set in 1970. Ali was unable to get a fight for years after he refused to go into the draft and he couldn't get a sanctioned fight so in Atlanta the senator there found a loophole and was able to bring the fight to Atlanta so he he famously returned to the ring it was a huge deal and as fights go I don't know if you're a big fight fan or if you go to them you know every gangster from every place in the world really descend to these fights they become

huge huge events And there was party after the fight for these gangsters and other folks. And some other guys had a bright idea to rob the party. And that's where we begin. Bad idea. We'll just leave it at that for people who haven't seen it yet. I don't think that. I don't suggest that as a way for, there's not a lot of good insurance in that situation.

It's fair to say they didn't know who they were robbing at that point. They did not. So this is a real fight and then a real incident. In fact, as I was watching it, there's a podcast, a famous podcast, that sort of inspired this, I think, in some way. I was found myself online reading, like, how much of this actually happened. And maybe not every character is exactly real,

but they certainly, most of them were there, including yours, the detective, who was such a fascinating character in this story. What did you see on the page about him that you loved? Well, I just loved the complexity of who he was and what he had to deal with. You know, he was one of the first black detectives in Atlanta Police Department.

department. And a thankless job in many ways, you know, wasn't able to when he first became a cop to police white people, could only police black people. So he's put in the spot of, you know, trying to move this institutionalized racism that he's dealing with and trying to move the department in a way that's, you know, more just. And in his community, he's seen sort of as a pariah and an outsider. So he's kind of an outsider in both these worlds, but he's headstrong and he's not going to quit and he's not going to step down. So he's just thrust into this really complex and difficult situation. It's great because he exists. He's a real person. And so there's a lot of great source material. You can see interviews with him and read about him. And he's also pretty

prominent in the podcast, too. Yeah, I was going to ask you about how you got inside the character because he is, obviously, he was a real guy. And it must have been, I'm watching him how complicated it was for the reasons you said, which is he's viewed as a sellout in his own community, right? He's looking for the cops, and the white officers and the white committee don't respect them because it's 1970 and he's black in Atlanta. So what were you able to find out about him, about how he grappled with that? Yeah. Well, you know, for us, the script is the Bible.

Obviously, we're going with the words on the page. And it was a very collaborative effort, and I'd bring in things that I learned about him, and we would try to figure out how does that comport with the true story, and can we say this? and what can we go with, what can we not go with? So trying to really make sure that the character was grounded and that it was authentic and find those little pieces, those little nuggets that you're like, oh, we got to make sure that we get this in.

We got to make sure we get his point of view in about this. So I think it just really was a created a rich environment for me to try to create in. And I was really glad that we had the kind of writers and directors that were, like I said, collaborative. And we got to all put our heads together and come up with the best version of this guy, not only this guy, but the whole show.

I mean, talk about a rich environment. First of all, you're in the early 1970s, all the clothes and the cars and the music that comes with that, but also a moment of racial tension, obviously, after the Civil Rights Act passes, Martin Luther King has been assassinated two years before that.

It's sort of a heated moment in the South that has all of that in the series. It's all in there, and also a town that's, you know, changing what it is. And this burgeoning, this developing environment where it's like, oh, there's a lot of black people here. And we're starting to, you know, the first senator ever since reparations, you know, it's all starting to come together. And everyone in the show, all these characters are trying to find their place in this new Atlanta and what's it going to be and who are we going to be and how are we going to show up in this space. So, yeah, a real, all those things I think working really makes the show what it is.

And then, of course, there's the cast, which is just incredible. I mean, you've got Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Sam Jackson, obviously. I could go on and on and on. I have to imagine it's just been with other films you've done. That's a big part of the draw, knowing you're going to be in an ensemble with that caliber of actors. Absolutely. And for me, it was great because I've worked with all of them. Yeah.

You know, so I have a history with everybody there. And to think about us all coming together under one roof to play these. I know that everyone's going to be a professional. I know everybody's going to take it seriously. I know that we're all pulling in the same direction. So that was really encouraging to already know that, to already have that going in and go, okay, well, that part's done. Now let's really figure out how to, you know, how to do this,

how to make this thing the best we can. And except for Kevin Hart, it was great. So that was all a setup for a shot at Kevin Hart. Yeah, and thank you. Nice, nice sawball. Put it right on the team for you. There you go. Now two on the shoulder.

Now to take it. Striped it down the middle. Thank you. I appreciate it. Kevin is a good buddy of yours, of course. I think maybe he's underrated as a dramatic actor because people know how funny he is and they see his stand-up, but he's really good in this.

Yeah, he really brought it, and that was one of the things that we, you know, when they called me, when Will and he called me, he really wanted to stress that he wanted to, you know, push himself and he really wanted to try and expand. his acting and this is a role where he could still be funny and there's levity in it for sure and there's times when he can and he's doing his Kevin thing but there's other times when he really had to like dig deep and find another

gear and he was really hungry to do that so that was another encouraging thing for me because I was like I don't want to this this subject matter this story what we're taking on shouldn't just be like set up joke set up joke I don't want to do a bunch of yuck fest let's really find the truth in this thing and he was very dedicated to that so it was it was exciting to see him stretch himself yeah he's really good on a more superficial note as an actor how fun is it to play

in the 1970s the hair the clothes the cars you're driving yeah well it was great because it's something that you know once you have all of those elements that you can just really focus on what you're trying to do with the character and the story you're not worried about like this prop doesn't belong here and like why are we trying to fake this for this, but we had great costumes. We had, you know, like you said, fantastic hair and makeup and props and set design and the art

decoration. Everything really came together to support everything else that we were trying to do with the story. And that's, you know, it's like make-believe with the best toys. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good way to put it. Yeah.

So you have done so much good work and such varied work. When you pick something like this, is it the script? Is it the cast? Is it all of those things? Because obviously you have choices. What do you look for to commit this much of your time to something? Well, you know, you said the word, time. It's like, what do you want to look back on and go,

that was a good use of my time? Because it's the one thing we can't buy back, no matter how much money they give you, no matter what the prestige is. It's like you got to, any opportunity you eat is going to eat you. So you have to really look at all the elements and say, is this going to be something that I can bring my best to and that, you know, I can hopefully do something that I haven't done before.

I'm always trying to expand myself to and try to push myself to do new things and take on new challenges. And I knew that we were all in a similar mindset. And, you know, Will puts together, he's a great producer and makes sure that everybody has what they need to do what they need to do. So looking at all the elements, Will Packer. For people watching. Will Packer.

this with heartbeat with Kevin, that they were really dedicated to doing it right, you know, and taking care of people and making sure that we had everything we needed to try to tell this story. And, yeah, it was a long time. We were there for, you know, five months, but it's, again, you want to be doing something that you look back and go, I know why I committed that much time. I know why I spent that much time away from my family, away from my friends. And I really, you know, relished the opportunity to dig into this character.

in this story particularly. I think I would say it's just fun. I mean, it hits on a lot of heavy stuff and race relations at that time and that place and all that, but it's also fun. Yeah. I mean, it's like, it's a heist movie, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

It gets to do both, and it's going to get, you know, as the episodes go on, it's going to get heavier as well. But again, it's great to do something that's based on a real story and something that you hope that, you know, and its best, in its best, you know, iteration that people want to investigate it. People get interested in who these people are.

They get interested in the city at that time. And, you know, it's a high bar. It's a high hope for a TV show to be able to do that. But if it does that, you're like, okay, then we checked every box. And we've given people an insight to the story they'd never heard before. And it does that. Sometimes I have to pause while I'm reading about, oh, yeah, that guy was real. Yeah, and you come back into it, you know.

Exactly. Maybe do that at the end so you can enjoy it. Yeah. Or however you have to do it. Whatever. ADHD. You're not going to hate you for that. Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sitdown podcast.

Stick around to hear more from Don Cheadle right after the break. Welcome back now more, my conversation with Don Cheadle. We were talking a minute ago before we started about teachers and people in our lives who impacted us. And I'm always curious about the origin story of someone who's reached the place you've reached in Hollywood, which is Kansas City, Nebraska, Denver. But at what point in your life, Don, did you start to discover the power of performing, whether it was music with the saxophone or whether it was being on a stage? Well, for the acting, it was pretty early, actually.

I did a play in fifth grade, Charlotte's Web. You may have heard of it. Templeton, the Rat, if I remember. Famously. So you have heard of it. Yeah, of course. You've seen the clip. Yeah.

It was all the videotape, like the cameras were this big. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But, so I had a teacher in fifth grade, sixth grade, Barbara Althouse. And she, you know, again, you have these teachers that are inspired and excited for you and really happy and joyful about you exploring these things. And it was, I just had an amazing experience and I realized very early like, oh, I'm taking this very seriously, you know. And I was doing music at the same time as playing sax. So performance, you know, it was a lot about performance. And then I went to junior high school and kind of just was a musician, didn't really do any theater at that time.

But then when I got to high school, that kind of kicked back into high gear. And I had a great teacher in high school, Kathy Davis, who I still stay in touch with and see. I was just in Chicago and was in touch with her. She lives in Chicago. And she really gave us a lot, you know, a lot of insight into the studying of the craft and method acting. And we wrote our own plays with her, and we did a lot of improv, and just really got to, you know, get completely enveloped in what the craft was and how to express yourself and find your voice. and didn't even realize until much later how much she had really given me. And then I went to Cal Arts and studied there and had great teachers there.

And it just kind of continued. And then when I graduated, the first thing I did professionally was right across the street at the public theater with my great friend Jesse Barago and Joanne Acolytis directed production. So we just had a great, it was just a great experience for me and it just kind of rolled on and on and on. I just never look back. I love that you mentioned the teachers by name every chance you get because it is true. I see it with my own kids too. Sometimes it's just one teacher, giving one word of encouragement that totally changes the trajectory that's right.

...your life, somebody believing in you. Yeah, seeing something and saying, why don't you lean into that, you know, why don't you polish that, why don't you work on that? I see you could have a future doing that. And it opens up so many other doors, you know, once you learn how to learn, you learn how to learn about a lot of different things. And that's one of the great, you know, experiences, I think, of being an actor is that we study so many different things from all these different characters that we play.

There's so much research that we do about, I'm playing a doctor, I'm playing an ER doctor. Well, I'm going to get into that for while I'm playing that. Oh, I'm playing a cop. I'm going to study that. I'm going to do ride arounds with these guys, you know. So it's a lot of, I didn't understand, obviously, before I went into it, how much it was was going to open up the world for me, but I'm really glad that, you know, it's the road I chose. And it sounds like you were lucky to have parents who encourage that. Some parents don't see that.

I don't know if that's a career. Have fun with it now, but that's not a real job. You know, I've heard that from other people I've interviewed. But it sounds like your parents gave you the space and the support to do that. And I think, you know, I think my mom was a frustrated performer. So she kind of got to live vicariously through me. And she, and yes, I was just really lucky. I had really loving, really supportive parents and I've talked to others like you said talk to other peers who said oh no that my parents were like that's stupid yeah get a real job yeah and you know I remember being in one of the valleys of the career when you're like not getting anything and it's a bunch of nose that you're

hearing in auditions and calling my mom and saying like I don't know I don't know if this is the thing she was like this is what you've talked about for a long long time before you even think about quitting, you better double down and really give it everything because you don't want to look back and have regrets that you didn't go for it. And, you know, my dad was the same. He's like, whatever you do, just take it seriously, like really go after it, you know, really be serious about what it is that you're doing and give it your all. And then you can figure out if it's what you want to do or not. But a lot of people, like, you know, have been discouraged from chasing that. And then you look back and go, wow, what if? And, and then you look back and go, wow, what if?

They just never wanted that for me, and I'm so glad that they were those kinds of parents. Another one of those pivot points. Your mom in that moment said, you're right. Let's send you back to law school or whatever. She had in mind for you, but she supported you. That's so cool. So those valleys you talk about, are you talking early days in Hollywood after you moved out there and you're auditioning and trying to find jobs?

Is that the early frustration? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I was really, really fortunate to get into the business the way I did, and people have asked me, how do you start as an actor? and I'm like, I'm a terrible example because my friend came to school for half a semester and we went to an open call for fame and he got the job. And out of 3,000 people, they cast two people and he was one of them. And then he had to get an agent.

So I drove him down because he didn't have a car to meet his agent. And his agent said, oh, I want to work with you. And then I became her pocket client. And then she started sending me out. And I'm like, I don't think that's, those aren't the regular steps to become an actor in the business. So I've always been really blessed. and kind of really protected in how it happened. But yeah, there's going to be peaks and valleys.

And it took a minute before it, you know, I got on the front foot with that. But once the momentum started, I was really lucky that it just, it's continued. Do you feel like a devil in a blue dress was the moment where it really started for you, just in terms of people knowing who you were and appreciating your performance? In that film, did that open more doors for you?

I think absolutely that film started that, as far as people's attention. I had been working up to that point pretty consistently, but that was definitely a moment in time where I think things got turned up. And people started, yeah, I did five movies that year, I think. Wow. You know, I did volcano, and I did Rosewood,

and I did, I don't remember the other movies I did. But, yeah, that was a big year. And so that was, you'd been working a long time. That's basically what, like 10 years after you got in the Hollywood almost, something in that range. I think that was like 90. 95? Yeah, so I graduated in 84, yeah. Yeah, so something like that. And so those doors start to start to open for you. What does that feel like? Like what is, you know, as contrasted to what you were doing scrambling for auditions, does it just mean they're throwing scripts at

you or what does it look like? I mean, you still feel like, I think most actors always, most actors often feel like after they do their last job, that that's going to be the last job they ever get. And it takes a while to believe that, oh, maybe this is going to be something that continues, because the business is continually changing. And sometimes you're in favor, and sometimes you're not, and sometimes the kinds of things that you want to do, there's a plethora of them, and sometimes there's a dearth of them. So it's just kind of staying on the grind. and I've always been very picky

and really particular about the kinds of things that I want to get involved with. So it's not saying yes to everything. And it's just been a real journey. And there's still times when I go, is that it? Is it a rap? Is it time to start making pizzas or something? But isn't there something good about that?

I find that a little bit. Just a hint of fatalism. Like, if I don't stay sharp, this all goes away. It keeps you hungry. It keeps you hungry. Absolutely. There's not a lot of resting on the last thing and thinking that that's going to be it, especially now. Because there's so much.

There's so many places people can go for their entertainment, their news, everything. You pick it, and it's all a la carte. So to find things that not only are interesting and feed you and things that you want to jump into and things that you're excited about spending time with to somehow work on the other side so that people are like, okay, well, I'll hire you again. You know, it's a lot to juggle. And again, I've been very fortunate and very blessed to have been able to kind of navigate this for this long. Stick around for more of my conversation with Don Cheadle right after a quick break.

Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Don Cheadle. Speaking of prolific years you've had, I was looking back, and it's been, 20 years now since a year in 2004 when you did Oceans 11 crash and Hotel Rwanda. Wow. Those all came out in the same year. Wow. Which if you wanted to take a snapshot of Don Chiello, there it is, right? The guy can do everything.

You got the Oscar nomination, of course, for Hotel Rwanda, Crash, won the Best Picture Academy Award in Ocean's 11. It was one of the biggest movies of all time. When you look back 20 years on that year. what does that sound like to you that that all happened at once and again such such varied films and i had i had not thought about it until you just encapsulated it like that i wouldn't have been able i didn't remember that um yeah that was that was a big that was a big year yeah and i think it it it was um really fun for me because i came into this business wanting to do a lot of different things, wanting to play a lot of different characters. And in some ways, that's really not the best

way to go about it as far as, you know, career security. Because people kind of want to know who you are and what you are and, like, they know what they're going to get when they see you. But that was never that interesting to me. You know, I always wanted to do a lot of different things and have the opportunity to slip inside of a lot of different, you know, people's psyches and skins. So, yeah, that was a big year. And I think, again, I definitely know when Crash won the Oscar, I was across the street next to the public where Matt Damon had an apartment and he wasn't there and I was staying there because I was working on something out here and that's when I found out that crash won the Oscar that morning. Yeah. Wow. That was a crazy year.

Yeah. I mean, in so many different ways. Yeah. Did that Ocean's 11 and the, and the and all the other, the ones that came after that, on the fame front, did that change things for you? In other words, always a respected and known actor, but now all of a sudden the whole world, knows who you are. Yeah, that definitely did change things. Huge franchise and biggest actors in the world, you know.

And to see, and it was also great to get to see, like, what it was for them and to go like, well, I don't think I want that exactly because in many ways that's kind of a prison for them. You know what I mean? The way they had to live and having to have security all the time and having to, you know, be sort of protected and and buffered from people that would want to do things to them. I mean, it was seeing that that level of fame was in some ways a cautionary tale. And, you know, I wanted to draft it. You know, I didn't mind.

Like being on the side and seeing it happen, but I didn't think I wanted to be dead center in the middle of that. You still want to go get your cup of coffee in the morning and not have it be an event. Exactly. And knowing that, because when we did the second, we were in Italy, you know, and paparazzi is an Italian word. True. Yeah. And we were so sequestered because we just had to kind of always be in one area. But there would be times when we would leave and do things solo.

And whenever people would like rush us. Like Matt and I traveled around with our families a lot. And we went and did like touristy stuff. And we'd kind of put hats on in disguise and try to run around. But if anybody would come up to us, we'd be like, there's Brad. Brad's right over there. And they'd all go that way. And we would run into the shadows, jump into a car and take off.

Just use them as bait. Yeah. George. Look, that's George. Yeah. Yeah. So it was great. And Hotel Rwanda had to be so meaningful.

The reception it received, the awards and all that, because that's an issue that's so meaningful to you, obviously. You've worked on Darfur and genocide and everything around that. How gratifying was it to have that movie be so well received? It was unexpected. It was one of those that I thought it's great to do, and it's important to do, and I really want to, to, to be a part of telling the story.

But it's not on paper something you look at and go, oh, this is going to be a huge, this is going to have a huge impact. This is going to be a big story. So when it got the attention it did, I was very happy. It was incredibly happy for Sophie. And incredibly happy for Paul,

recessive beginner, who I play and his family and Tatiana and bringing that story to light. And then I was kind of pulled into this, you know, stream of activism that had already been happening before I was anything to be a part of it, and was invited on a congressional delegation and went to Sudan and went to Darfur and got to see firsthand what was happening. And then, as I say, was just sort of pulled into this current that had already been happening a lot before me. And then I saw really the power of celebrity. And I saw the power of taking the

attention and refocusing it and, you know, talking about people who deserve the spotlight and people have been working on this for a long time and trying to get traction. And I think I knew we were really making the right amount of noise when I was told by, you know, people at the State Department to shut up. I was like, oh, it's working. Yeah. Yeah. Keep agitating. Keep doing it, because no one is speaking for these people. And again, you know, in the news, we're seeing what's happening in Sudan right now, it's kind of devolved and gone back into the place that it was, you know, probably even worse than it was in 2004, 2005. So another moment to try to, you know, get this ratcheted up, get this attention ratchets up, and it's completely crowded, you know,

and noisy news cycle where everything is disposable and goes away really quickly. It's something that again, we need to keep banging the drum and keep, you know, showing up and bringing attention to that area because it's unfathomable what's happening right now. Yeah, it is such a persistent plague that you think it's, you've done good work and you think you've done something to make it better, and then, boy, it just comes right back, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah. You were talking about sort of maintaining your normalcy in that Ocean's 11 group, and the book on you is, true or not, that you're just a good guy, that you're a normal guy.

Not true at all. See, I teach you up again. Completely fabricated. I'm actually... Uh-oh, the monster is here. What do you do to maintain normalcy in your life? I mean, obviously, you've got a great long relationship, you've got children you love. Pretty good with a golf club in your hand, I'm told.

What do you do away from this movie world, this celebrity world that just keeps you grounded? Yeah, kind of everything you said. You know, I have friends that have had. for a long time that aren't a part of the business and you know that's great and friends that are a part of the business that I've just had longstanding relationships with people in my life and my new friends that I have are are really great and similarly not gassed up about this you know we understand what it is we understand that it's fleeting it's great to have the opportunity to do these things and it's great to you know to be in in things where that's

shines a bright light on it, but it's greater to, like, be with your family, you know, it's greater to, on the birthday, just kind of kick it with your kids and your wife, you know? So I, I toggle between both, but I know that I'm, you know, I'm much happier just, like, sitting on the couch and playing on my base than doing a lot of the stuff that comes with this gig. Isn't that so important, though, that perspective, because I see people, even in my business who don't have it, And I want to say, all this stuff's going away someday. Absolutely. The stuff at home is what's going to be there for you.

Absolutely. Invest in that. Yeah, yeah. And I'm really lucky to have that because some people want that and don't have it. Right. And, yeah, it keeps you grounded when people don't care that you're on that thing. They're like, yeah, who are you here? That's what matters.

Yeah, exactly. Well, despite what Kevin Hart told me, you are a great guy. Oh, thank you. And people keep saying that name, who is this guy? I mean, I've been acting like I know who he is. I kind of know who he is. What's he been in? If you go back and watch the show that you're in right now,

he pops up from time to time. You might recognize it. Funny guy. Comedian. Little dude, right? Well, that's for you to say. I'm going to say it. You're a little dude.

Thanks, time. Thank you. Thank you. My big thanks again to Don for a great conversation. He really is one of the all-time great guys. you can check out his new series Fight Night, the million dollar heist,

streaming now on Peacock. And my big thanks to all of you, as always, for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of my conversations with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode.

And don't forget to tune in to Sunday today every weekend on NBC where you can see the interviews with your own two eyes in Technicolor. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you right back here next week on Sunday Sit Down Podcast. Music