The Herd with Colin Cowherd - Saturday Special - Kelly AuCoin

Episode Date: March 22, 2019

Colin talks with Actor Kelly AuCoin, who most notably plays Dollar Bill Stearn on the Showtime series 'Billions,' about being a part of such a talented cast and working with Paul Giamatti.  Kelly also discusses getting into the mind of a character that is nothing like him and why on 'Billions" none of the actors improvise a single line. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise,

breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok.

Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smigel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions, about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart women's

sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on, a Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multimillion dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last. Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There are definitely things you have to find within yourself in order to make it real. Like, how would I behave if I were a raging asshole in this moment? His name is Kelly Acorn. You may know him as Dollar Bill Stern on billions, where he's had an increasing

role, Pastor Tim on the Americans, rolls in the House of Cards. And he just happens to be from Oregon, where I spent seven years working at KGW. Kelly Acoyne is joining us on our Saturday morning podcast. Billions premiered last week, season four. It's one of my, I would say, seminal four or five TV shows of my life I've really enjoyed. Kelly, how are you? I'm well. How are you?

Thanks for having me on. You bet. One of the reasons I like, there's so much I like about billions, but I like the complexity of the characters. There's things I love about, you know, Bobby Axelrod and there's things I hate about him. What initially, when you got the script initially in the role, were you, did the writing jump out to you? Did you have a sense of, oh, God, this is going to work and it's going to work big? Yeah, I did. Now, I didn't get the entire script, but I had the scenes I was auditioning for and I auditioned for a few different characters. And I got snippets of, of, of, you know,

the rest of the script and it was you know it was it was it was top notch i knew the guys who were involved i knew that uh that damien lewis and paul giumati were going to star i knew that um brian coppelman and david bovine who did rounders yes it was 13 were involved and i was like this this is this is absolutely something you want to be a part of even though i didn't know at the beginning whether dollar bill what what size of a little dollar bill would be um um It was kind of a cool nickname and the description was cheapest millionaire in America. And I was like there's something they're thinking about. Something's percolating.

Whether or not it comes to fruition, I still want to be at the beginning of this ride and see what happens. You know, Kelly, it's interesting. One of the struggles for many characters is you can get rich working for acts capital, but you'll have to sell your soul. And similarly with an actor, maybe not to that depth, but there are times you've worked on really good projects. But when you're a young struggling actor, you know, was there ever a point where, you know, much like an act's capital employee, you said to yourself, I got to pay rent. I don't love this project. As an actor, do you ever struggle with that? I mean, no one's ever asked me to take my clothes off, but no one wants to see that.

So I haven't had, there have been a couple times when I've had moral questions, particularly with a few commercials I've been offered when I was younger. Issues that were, I was like, you know, I want to be able to sleep at night. Yeah. But in general, if a show is just, if a project is just kind of not good, I'm all for taking it, at least if you need the money at the time, because what else are you going to do? You're going to work at a desk or cater, which I did both of. But I'd like to get out of that for a month or two. then why not use your skills, even if it's not artistically rewarding, it can still be professionally rewarding because you're good at what you do.

You've been honing these skills and your, you know, for your whole life, use them. Yeah, Christopher Walken. Yeah, Christopher Walken once said that. He's like, I'm an actor. I like to act. You offer me roles. Yeah. Yeah, I did industrials.

I did corporate projects as long as it was a corporation that I didn't think was trying to screw over all of us are poison our water. And, you know, I'll do, if I needed the, I can be a little choosier now, which is nice. I'm very unfortunate to be in that position. But, oh, yeah, keep honing your skills. Act whenever you can, especially if you're young. You know, Paul Jamati is, like I would call him, you know, there's a comedian's comedian, Paul Jamati is like an actor's actor. Not to put you in the crosshairs of critiquing actors, but when you watch Paul Jamati, like as an actor, what do you see?

What separates him? Now, by the way, you're also now working with John Malkovich and Damien Lewis. But Jamadi's really the ultimate actor's actor. What jumps off the page to you? Well, everyone you mentioned all three of those guys and Maggie Siff. you know, they're all, you know, it doesn't get any better than that. I've not done a scene with Malcovic. I'd love to.

I wish I could maybe someday. But the thing about, and I do a lot more with Damia, I did one scene with Paul, and it was in season one. And I'll tell you, see, you're right, he's an actor's actor, he's brilliant, literally in everything he does, sideways, his performance. Oh, God, it's an all-time favorite movie. Oh, yeah. It's great. if you remember back in, do you remember Donnie Brasco?

Of course. Okay, the first time I ever saw him before I knew what his name was when he started to become, oh, that guy, you know, like character actors are sometimes referred to. He had a scene where he was one of the cops at, when the FBI agents, asking Donnie Brasco, like, what is this, forget about it thing? We keep hearing you say forget about it. And then Brasco explains, forgot about it. I mean, this, it can be not.

And he has his wonderful monologue. And then the two guys, including, Jers, he says, forget about it. Umadi just start giggling and trying it on and like forget about it it was like such a small but indelible scene and from that moment on I kept seeing him pop up until he became a star and I was like of course he's a star um the first technical thing I noticed when I had my scene with him was just how many muscles his fate has like all these little tiny twitches and he can be essentially still completely still essentially and yet tiny little things are happening on face and in his eyes and it's just it's never it's never at rest inside that stillness if that

makes any sense to you it was it was it was remarkable and he's a very giving actor everyone on the set plays ball that sort of like my sports metaphor is that it's there are definite stars to the show but everyone works as if it's an ensemble and that's great you know they they throw the attention to you they give you the assist when it's your time to shine and you know that you're working to get the open shots. It's great that they work together. They work with us like that. By the way, it is a well-written show. Do they give you a very well-written show? And again, the characters are very complex. A lot of twists and turns and even, you know, the premiere of season four. It's just, oh, wow, you know, the setup. I can see some things unraveling and other things will be a

complete shock to me. Does it allow you, though, to add lib? You know, legendarily curb your enthusiasm or a Woody Allen film is a lot of ad-libbing. When something's as well-written as billions, are you maybe a bit more reticent to ad-lib you want to stay closer to the script? Or can you ad-lib? We don't ad-lib. It is all, everything you see in here is scripted. Now, they may change things and throw things at you on the day, but I wouldn't presume to ad-lib simply because I couldn't come up with anything better than what they give me. Right. One of the of the great things about the show. One of the best compliments I think I've heard is that people say, it feels, a lot of it feels like a bad lid. Come on, you came up with that moment yourself. And it just

isn't. It's all scripted. But that means that we're doing our job. And great writing combined with casting of actors who know how to do, how to how to how to play with that writing, makes things seem contemporaneous. And that's sort of, to me, that's the height of it. I love it. I love working on it. And these words are such a joy to say. It's just everyone gets so giddy on set with some of the outrageous things and some of the subtle things and sometimes hilarious things we get to do. More with Kelly in just a minute. As any coach or general manager will tell you, the foundation of any great team is great talent. So it's no surprise teams dedicate so much time and effort towards finding the right players. And the same rule applies when it comes to hiring.

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First day. And right now our listeners can try ZipRecruiter for free. at this exclusive web address. ZipRecruiter.com slash Colin. That's C-O-L-I-N. ZipRecruiter.com slash Colin. ZipRecruiter is the smartest way to hire. Kelly, a coin, dollar bill stern on billions,

Pastor Tim on the Americans. He was in the House of Cards. I grew up in a suburb of Hillsborough, Oregon. A trailblazer fan growing up, his dad, less, was a U.S. congressman in Oregon for about 20 years, mid-70s to mid-90s. You moved to D.C. your younger years.

what, you know, dads in this sort of, I would say just a conservative business, politics, American politics. It's a staple of fabric in America, every city, every region, every jurisdiction. The father is the congressman. And then his son goes, hey, I want to act. When you suggested that to your successful father in this, he probably wanted you go into politics. My dad wanted me to be a doctor like my dad.

What was the reaction from your family? Well, he tells me now that his heart sank and simultaneously went into his mouth, but he didn't say anything. He was very supportive. I didn't tell him I wanted to be an actor until very late in high school. I knew it, but I didn't tell anybody, which was probably smart so I could sort of quietly decide if it was really true. And at that point, he was seeing my plays, and I remember him telling me again, after I first told him, maybe the three plays he saw.

And every time he was like sort of assessing quietly, do I really think, can I forget this is Kelly? Can I actually see the character? And he said every time he was able to, which helped him keep his mouth shut. Well, it helped him keep his criticisms

and his fears at least muted. He never wanted me to be in politics. No, I don't think so. He wouldn't have dissuaded me, but he was not, It's such a sort of in some ways, thankless business. I don't think he necessarily wanted me to go through that.

I can't, I don't know if I can swear on here, but that crap. Yeah, that's fine. It's a podcast. You can do anything you want. Oh, fantastic. That's fucking rocks.

Yeah. But my family was very political. I come from an activist family from even, you know, my grandfather on my mom's side was president of the Farm Bureau in Oregon. And my mom was a page at the Oregon State Capitol before my dad and she even started dating. So we come from, and my sister was actually the one who was probably, my sister, Stacey, she was probably going to go into politics. And she briefly went to the Monterey Institute for International Affairs before getting into social work.

So we all sort of have a, and I, and most people, a lot of people tell me I taught politics too much on Twitter. So I'm still active, I suppose. Right. But no, I was lucky to have very supportive family. My mom was a singer, so that my dad was in the public eye, so that probably made me comfortable in crowds or in front of crowds. Yeah. I might have led to it a little bit.

And my dad had no job security, so maybe that was another thing I was, the reason I was okay with it. You know, when I grew up, you would never see Jack Nicholson on television, except if he was on Johnny Carson. And he very rarely did that. There was this, you know, delineation between TV star, movie star. The world shifted between Amazon Prime, Netflix, Showtime, HBO. I think a lot of the best stuff, in my opinion, the best stuff is not movies. The best stuff is now on television. It's subscription-based. But I rarely go to the movies anymore. And I used to love the movie experience. That's not to say I didn't see Bohemian Rhapsody or Star is born or vice. I see, you know, my handful of movies. But as an actor, there's been a cultural and a business shift, a paradigm shift

in your business. And it happened about six, seven years ago, it feels like to me, where TV work was often, it feels like more compelling and more rewarding than theater work. How is that going to the theater? How has that landed for you? I agree. This golden age of TV, as we keep hearing, not to be cliche, but I think it's true, the ongoing golden age of TV, which I'd think kind of started really broke through at least with the soprano. Yes. But you're right. In terms of it usurping movies as a go-to artistically is something within the last

dozen years or so. In terms of it, for me it hasn't usurped theater because I think the theater experience is inherently different. Oh, no question. Yeah. Because it's the live, and I'm also speaking as an actor who theater is still my first love. I'm going to be doing a play here in New York over the spring and summer after we wrap. There's nothing like being in a room sharing the same air with these people and having that arc of an hour and a half to three hours, however long your play is,

where you just jump and then you're just free falling for the next chunk of time as opposed to being able to do retakes. There's nothing like that. but one of the things TV has done for me, I used to struggle with the lack of rehearsal when I was doing screen work. And one of the things that being, like on the Americans, I was able to be a recurring character

and pop up quite a lot over four seasons and with billions I pop up quite a lot. The thing that replaces those weeks and weeks of rehearsal that you get in theater is the years of backstory that you've created on TV so that you are able to be able to. to actually jump into a scene with less rehearsed because you know who this person is, he's more ingrained

and doing it so much. So you actually know more about the character often than directors do who come in, who maybe haven't done an episode yet. So to me, I think you're right. I go to TV more than I go to movies now, even though I still love the movie experience. But I can't place

it above theater just yet. I know what you're talking about, though. Yeah, I mean, listen, and also you have the elevation of the home theater, which I have a home theater. So it does feel a little bit like a movie theater. My home movie, my home TV experience now, I mean, sports is amazing on it. But, but when I watch billions, it feels like a movie because I got eight chairs in a room in my basement. So I think it's all, Kelly, it's all blurred for me. Like movies and the budgets, I mean, the budgets for television used to be tiny and the budgets for a movie were a hundred million. Well, the budgets

now for, you know, Netflix, Showtime, HBO, Game of Thrones, I can't imagine what it is. You know, the budgets have, you know, they're closer now. The gap has been shrinking. So I just think the quality, the quality of TV, a lot of times I'll watch billions and I feel like it's 90% movie. I really do. It's a consumer. I feel like I'm getting quality acting. The great actors come down. My home experience. The budgets may not be quite a movie, but I also think, I think artist as a rule, you know, the big budget movie comes with such big budget pressure and you have to sell a little of your soul for the, you know, the CEO comes in, the president, the budget guys, I want this, this, this. I find more creativity now. Really, it's not superhero stuff. I find

television's more clever and more creative. Yeah. Yeah, I think you're right. And speaking of budget, one of my favorite shows in this ever on TV, actually, was Deadwood. And I know that part of the reason it was canceled was because it was just too expensive. It's almost as if it came about six years too early. Because I don't think that would be as much of a consideration now. I think it was very popular. It was just, you know, they didn't want to spend as much money. And I don't think people worry about that quite as much anymore. I could be run. wrong. I'm not on the production side.

More with Kelly in just a minute. Robin Hood is an investing app that lets you buy and sell stocks, ETFs, options, and cryptos all commission-free. While other brokerages charge up to $10 for every trade, Robin Hood doesn't charge any commission fees so you can trade stocks and keep all your profits. Plus, there's no account minimum deposit needed to get started, so you can start investing at any level. The simple, intuitive design of Robin Hood makes investing easy for newcomers,

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You can only play two ways. Your real personality or some component of it and your dads. I was reading an article once on Brando and said, you're either playing kind of something close to your true self or a version of your father. Meaning, you know, if Robert De Niro probably is a tough guy, in real life because he plays the tough guy really, really well. So when I watch you, I see a guy who's quick and he was smart and who's got, he's looking for an edge. How much of that is Kelly?

First of all, I'd never heard that delineation. And who am I to challenge? Marlon Brando. Pretty damn good act. Have you ever done a character, Kelly, that was so off your personality? I guess that's my question. I, well, okay, I think Dollar Bill is, I think I'm diametrically opposed to, or diametrically opposite, you know what I'm saying.

I think I'm completely opposite of this guy. I, I'm, I'm, I'm, I, I, I, there are definitely things you have to find within yourself in order to make it real, like, like, how would I behave if I were a raging asshole in this moment. And how would I behave if I actually knew anything about finance in this moment, I suppose. But, you know, my wife keeps telling me, if you ever, ever, ever bring one inch of that guy into our house, you are out, mister. I don't, I don't know how to answer that because I think, I think this would be close to what you're asking, this character. I don't think I'm anything like this guy. But I can figure out, but I can figure out.

I can figure out how to tap into him. Like, what do you think about when he's a complete jerk? And you're not. So what are you thinking that? Like, where are you going as an actor? Well, I don't think of it as being like, how do I get, how do I, I don't name it, I suppose. I don't say, how do I access the jerk in me? I think about the fact that he's really angry.

he's really, and what is it? You know, the scenes that built up to the fight with Ari Spiro's last year that led to the car incident. Right. Like, I have this, I have, Bobby always lets me do it this shady way. All I have to do is wink. All I have to do is say,

I am not uncertain. And then he lets me do it. And Bobby's out of the office right now. I can't get a hold of him, so I have to go to this new fucking compliance guy. Like, all right, fine, I'll kiss the ring a little bit. And then he doesn't let me do it. And it's like, what the fuck is that?

you know like this is what I want to do so you sort of tap into like I don't like you you you you access the fact that you don't like this guy and this little peon is now telling you you can't do something that the boss would absolutely let me do and the boss doesn't like you anyway so fuck you why are you telling you know you can find a way into it like that um and then just don't let yourself judge the vitriol and I would never scream at somebody in an office place like that. But let it come out and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, and, have you ever, have you ever, Kelly struggled not to take a roll home?

I mean, I mean, I, you hear these stories about, like, uh, forget, the guy that played Lincoln. Um, oh, God, I care. Yeah. Uh, uh, brilliant actor. Daniel Day Lewis. Daniel Day Lewis, like, he became Lincoln. He couldn't just shut it off, go home and have, uh, scallop mashed potatoes to New York

strip steak. I mean, this guy. he literally became, he had to get so ingrained in the role. Have you ever had one where you come home and it's like, man, this is hard to shut off? I don't think to the extent of what I've heard his roles are. He apparently struggles to let go of his characters, in some famous interviews I've read, pretty much any performance of his. And I guess I've heard some actors have had a hard time with that on set even.

But not to that extent, no. I know that if there's a, I mean, I generally shoot maybe two times a week. If I'm shooting the whole week, then maybe there's a specific physical energy that is hard to, not hard, but it maybe lingers for a while. When I'm doing plays, especially intense plays, that's when sometimes the energy kind of invades my, Oh, of course. My spiky. I was doing this play called Blood and Gifts a few years ago.

It was by J.T. Rogers. It's about the American involvement in Afghanistan from 85 to 95. And I was played in this FBI, this CIA character. And I was on stage of the whole time. It was very intense. Everything kept going wrong. Everything was always by, it was a spy thriller, it was an emotional roller coaster.

And I was so tense the whole time that it took me. My wife came and we drove in. to my parents for a week afterwards. And everyone was like, are you okay? Are you all right? No, I'm fine. But it took about a week to let it go, to shake that off.

Yeah, the volume of work you were doing on stage. You know, with Dollar Bill, you worked twice a week. But if you were, you know, maybe perhaps if you were, you know, Damien Lewis and you have that volume and that much script, you almost have to get ingrained. Like you have to, there is, you know, I just, I find it interesting because, so much of acting is reshaping who you are

and then it's versions of yourself. Folks, by the way, I'm talking to Dollar Bill Stern on billions. He was up to a... You're much more of a regular now. You're much more crucial as the series goes on. It has not Jump the Shark. Don't listen to the Internet because everybody thinks it's so cool to be the first person to point to a great show and go,

you know, episode seven, year three, at Jump the Shark, It has not jumped the shark. It's still incredibly clever. Kelly, I appreciate you taking time. Season four billions premiered last Sunday. It is in my Sopranos, Narcos kind of world of all-time great television products. Kelly, I just appreciate you stopping by. Oh, yeah, it's great. Thank you for those kind words, by the way. And yeah, this was really a pleasure. I'm a big fan of your show. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened.

That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headline. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slic Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends.

Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to Humor Me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness from professional athletes, coaches and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports.

Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hard Way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you're not to be played with, and you're not to be played with. just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.