The Kristian Harloff Show - Rober Iler talks Sopranos, living in Vegas sober, podcasting with Jamie- Lynn Sigler | Interview

Episode Date: July 16, 2024

Robert Iler played Aj Soprano, son of Tony Soprano is the legendary HBO series The Sopranos. The show just celebrated its 25 year anniversary. In this conversation with Kristian Harloff, Robert discusses being cast on the show, growing up on set, the best times on the show. He talked about advice Tony Sirocco gave him during shooting the pilot. He opens up about his sobriety and the two times he messed up on the set. Kristian asked if he ever took a romantic shot at his co-star Jamie Lynn Sigler and they discuss their podcast "Not Today Pal." This and more on this episode of The Big Thing. #thesopranos #sopranos #AJsoprano #tv #movies #interview #robertILER 

How's it going, everybody? Welcome back to The Big Thing. It's our Tuesday episode, and as you saw on the thumbnail, you guys, if you've been following me long enough, you know how much of a Sopranos fan I am. I love that show. It's one of my favorite shows of all time, so I was really excited with the opportunity to speak to Robert E.

Iler, of course, played A.J. Soprano on the show. We talk about a lot of things, man. We talk about his time on the show. We talk about his podcast. We talk about he's really open about, his sobriety. He talks about his, if there was ever, was there ever romantic link with his co-host, Jamie Lynn Sigler, talk about some of his clips with Dre DeMateo that was put out there, which is hilarious, talks about some of the guests he's had on his podcast. It's a full-on

conversation. And the guy's great. He's just a regular, normal dude. It was so refreshing to just have, This is the first kind of New York guest I've had in my studio. Since I've set it up, since I've set it up, since I set this studio up all by myself with no help. Pain in the walls myself while I was podcasting. While I did it all by my lonesome. This is the first guest that we've had in studio to sit down and have a conversation. So it's going to be one of those ones I remember, but also remember. because I really enjoyed talking to this dude.

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and you just found us, subscribe to the channel, man. We're trying to get to 200,000 subscribers this year. I think we can do it. But we need you guys to hit that button. All right. So let's get into it, man. Here is my interview with Robert Eiler.

Let's get to it. All right. I'm excited for my next guest, guys, and for so many different reasons. And even when I told you guys, I was doing a heavy push on guests this year, and my next guest was suggesting. He said, well, do you happen to be a sopranos fan?

I said, I literally have a picture of Tonya's Napoleon, the pie of my in the back. Robert Eiler's here. He is going to be doing stuff in New York. York to talking about the 25-year anniversary of the Sopranos. I said, yes, get him here. And he was so kind to come in studio. So we're talking to Robert about, obviously, his time on the Sopranos, but he also has a great podcast, not today, pal, with Jamie Siggler, and we'll talk to him about that. And just other things that I'd love to discuss with him. Please welcome to the show today, my guest, Robert. Hello, Robert.

How are you? Great, man. Thanks for having me. I'm glad that you're here, man, because there was so much that I'd love to talk to you about, obviously, and I think that one of the things I really actually love about you is how honest you are about a lot of different things, your time there. The fact that it's hard for you to watch yourself in general, hard for you to watch the show because of your relationship with Jim Gandalfini and all that. But I just like how kind of open and honest you've been about a lot of different things,

but the first thing I want to get into you is the podcast. Yeah, yeah. Because you weren't doing interviews for a long time. No, you know, I went When I was like 22, we finished Sopranos And I kind of told my manager like, Leave me alone for a long time Yeah, I just want to go

I just want to hang, you know, Because I started acting when I was six I didn't get Sopranos until I was 12 But I started acting when I was six And I And I think I was sick and tired of people telling me Where to go, where to sit, How to cut my hair, what to eat,

how to, you know, everything And I was like, I just want to do my own thing So from like From like 22 to 26 I didn't even speak to like my manager. I was just like, I'm done. I'm out of here. I want to hang and I want to.

And then I went to Vegas for like two weeks. And I ended up staying for almost two years. Wow. That's like 10 years. Right. Exactly. And I was just partying. And I just,

I got all out of my system. Now I've been sober for like 11 years or something. But yeah, I just, I wanted, I feel like it was a great thing that I just got that all out of my system. Yeah. I had a lot of pent up things I wanted to do.

You know, start working at six and you're missing all these things and oh you know everybody oh we're going over to this person's telling us we're having a birthday party and again not to like soprano's is the greatest thing that ever happened to me i would never i wouldn't change it for the world but there's just you have that mental thing as a kid where you're like oh i want to do you know when i was 14 i didn't really want to be you know maybe at a at some kind of function with all these people and people shaking your hands this i wanted to be hanging out with my friends wanted to be a kid yeah yeah I wanted to be a kid.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, that's the thing where as you walked in, I was, we were talking about New York a little bit and just growing up and how you, I had mentioned, because you noticed the poster when you came in, or the painting rather, when you came in. And I were talking about things that you did when you were a kid on the show that you don't even really remember because I don't remember shit that happened to me like two years ago.

And you're like 12 years old when you got. I didn't realize that you were 12 because it took a while for the pilot actually to get picked up, right? Yeah, exactly. So tell me about that. What do you remember about actually getting the role? So I remember, I remember I was in school and they, it was one of those things were like they called you down to the principal's office.

And my mom was on the phone and she was like, you got a TV show. Okay. And we went through all the emotions because at first it was kind of like, you got a TV show but it's on HBO and HBO wasn't really big on TV shows at the time. Right. Yeah, they didn't even have, yeah, Sexton City came after you guys, right? No, I think Sex and City maybe was like, because if, you know, like you said, we filmed the pilot in like, damn, what year was. Had to have been 97, right?

96, 97. Yeah. So I don't know what year Sex and City came out, but even if it came out, it was maybe first seed, but not, you know, it just wasn't a thing where it was like, oh, we're really. But then, you know, over a couple weeks went by and it was like, no, we're, we're, you're on a TV show. You're going to be rich, you know? And then, like, this is it. Right. And then I remember going to set and Tony Serico, who played Poli Walnuts was like, no, we do.

this shit all the time. Like you're not going to be rich. We're never going to see each other again. Like this is one and done just like all the other ones we've done and you know maybe we'll see each other at auditions or whatever so now I have to go back and tell my family like, you know nah, nah this isn't it? So he's telling you at 12 years old he's like

tough shit kid you ain't going to get this one. Oh he had zero filter ever. He talks to a 12 year old the same way he talks to an 80 year like he's just he you know a lot of times people say I wish I got to meet James Cadelfini and I say you know you you would loved him. He was amazing. And people say, I wish I got to meet Tony Serico. I go, you did.

That's Tony Serico. That is exactly Tony Serico. There are things in the script that came from because that's how he is. He's just, he was that guy. Like, he's, he's amazing. It's amazing. So he was telling you, you're not going to get this thing. It happens all the time kid, harsh reality. Here it is. And then you, that's how, that's your mentality. It's a 12, you'll go back to your parents going, I don't think we're going to get this thing. Yeah, I was like, no, we're going to do one episode of this, and then we'll, we'll never hear about it ever again. Yeah.

So that's, that's what we, that's what I thought, what happens. So now I was like, oh, I didn't get to go to summer camp because I was doing this stupid thing that, you know, we'll never hear about it. Right. And which is crazy about it, because I was, as I heard you, and I mentioned to you beforehand that you say, you don't watch a lot of the stuff.

And I probably equally, because when you're that age and what the show is dealing with, I don't know, maybe parents are also like, we don't watch you watch that shit. That's part one. And also I think that David Chase, probably be like, I don't want them to see this because you don't get to see that side of James when he's doing that. Right. You know what I mean? Yeah. I just, I never watched the show for a million reasons, you know, I mean, I was, I was 12, 13, 14. I wasn't, I wanted to, whenever I

wasn't working, I was like, I want to go hang out. I want to be my friends, you know, I wasn't, but I know there's a lot of people who don't watch the stuff therein, because even when I'm older, I don't like to watch the stuff I'm in because you just, you have the memory of it when it happens and if that's a good memory, watching it sometimes makes it changes it. And it makes it bad because you're like, oh, they use, like even my allergies have been killing me since I got to New York. And now, even if I heard this podcast tomorrow, I'd be like, this, how are people listening? You know, like, I just apologize. I'm so sorry that you had to hear. And, you know, it's, and, but I actually did like that people hated AJ. You know what I mean? Like, I liked that people, that AJ annoyed

people so much. Not in the beginning, though. In the beginning, though, it was just like, I still, to this day, who's letting off big ones? to this day. But he's just a normal kid, but it's like you see, and especially I have two, I have two kids. So you see like anxiety

and getting older, trying to live up to your, whether it's your parents, trying to live up to your siblings. Like, there was a lot that AJ was kind of burden with. So like the way that he dealt with it was so different than what Meadow did, right?

So I think you're supposed to be annoyed with him. I think that was what your job was. For sure. But it's funny because David Chase, oh, you know, we had him on our podcast. recently and he's like I don't know why people were annoyed with AJ he's like I he's just yeah because I think

you know because I think David puts himself in a lot of characters you know so I think when he puts him you know a lot of AJ was probably him as a kid and yeah whatever and I think he's like why do people why are people so annoyed with him you know and I'm like because he's fucking ungrateful you know he's so ungrateful you know a lot of people are like imagine you got a car for and he's like yeah whatever you know he's just upset all the time and this but yeah it's uh yeah David's that there's a documentary coming out that we got to see early that HBO did about David. Okay. And it's just it kind of ties in like his personal life with the show and it's it's really good. I can't wait to see it. I'm very excited to see it because I still someone posted the other day. They had, uh, they had Michael

Gandalfini on a on a poster and it said, um, the new series coming from David Chase and it was this bullshit thing. But it was like my friend who bought into it says, look what's coming. I said, I wish it was true. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, because did you get a chance to, did you You watched that? Did you see many, many saints? I forget if I saw the whole thing. I think I did.

I think I did watch it. Yeah, because I was like, oh, this isn't, uh, this isn't going to be a, and he's, he's so good.

I mean, he's done other stuff. He did a, there was something I saw that he did called, uh, cherry, like an apple movie or something, that he was great.

He's, he's very much where I remember watching, like, a lot of stuff that his dad did and how Jim could just kind of change, like a chameleon. Michael's already doing that. Like, which is,

I couldn't because it's not as you know it's not an easy order to try to have the energy of what he brought to Tony Soprano and I believed every second not just because he was his kid I believe for every second that that was young Tony Soprano because of everything that David had brought

to that character throughout all the seasons of the insecurities, the stuff with his mom and understanding and you can tell that Michael did the work. Yeah, did you like the movie? I liked a lot of it. I liked a lot of it. I do wish that there was more that it was more of a young Tony story and I think that that's probably where David's like

well fuck you that's not the story I was making but like right I thought because of what Michael did in that and there was a couple things I thought there were a little retcon from the series itself of what happened with Malthusanti and things that are changed but I got to watch another soprano story so it was like I I geeked that I read my

my wife made me sauce and everything to him and I said I was I had binge the whole series of sopranos again leading into it so yeah I've now seen it I think three more times and you have. Yeah, that's right. It's weird because I'm so, you know, people ask me after I saw it and, you know, what do you

think? And I'm like, I'm so biased because just watching it, since I didn't watch a show, just watching it being put back in that world for the first time in 20 years. I was like the warm and fuzzies and this and, you know, this is a young poly walnut and I'm watching it. And I'm like, oh, my God. And it's reminding you. It was just like, I can't critique this.

This would be like asking if your kid is good at, you know, I don't know, his fingerprints. paintings. You're like, he's the best. He's the best. Well, that's your family. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, exactly. And I was watching and I was just like, this is, it was just, yeah, the real, the warm and fuzzies, you know. Yeah, and going back to that. So when you get the role and you are, and as you said, you didn't think it's going to get picked up, you don't know, you find out that it does. And it takes, because I remember, and I was listening to, um, to Michael Imperialis and Steve, you know, that, by the way, no, it's not that poster, but Dave, I was Steve, Steve, um, I was Steve, Steve,

booked me at the Riviera Comedy Club. Really? I opened for Jimmy Walker. Wow. In Vegas, yeah, and that was a while ago. But so, but anyway, so. How long did you do stand up for? Oh, man, from, I started in college.

It was 96, 97, did some in New York. And then in L.A. I became regular at the comedy store and the improv. And really went until 2012. And then I started doing it again about three, four years ago. Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. So, but yeah, so that was,

but I was listening to that show and listening to how they talked about that the pilot, I think it was almost like a year before you found out again or something like that. I know it was a while before we were like, I don't know how long it was until you found out,

but I know it was a while before we were like going, you know, before things were really moving along. But I couldn't, I'd be making it up if I told you how long it was between like, okay, that's a rap on the pilot and then getting the call of like they picked up a season. Right. I have no idea.

Right, again, because you're 13, 14 years old. And Tony Serigo just told me it's over. Right. You know, I'm like, all right. You know, that's it. Forget about this thing and then just go on with my life. Bill. Hey.

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I want to go home and take a shower and relax. So I love going out in the weekends, but, you know, sometimes my friends, want to visit some really nice places. I mean, I want to, I want to smell nice. My wife and I would go out. I'm like, you just want to go like a mountain lion who's been sleeping garbage. She wants to go, someone's smelling nice. That's where Cremow comes in.

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Because you said you were doing commercials and other things. Were you, did you get a job after that? Do you remember? I don't remember. I know I did, so I did a bunch of like national commercials. I did like AT&T, Pizza Hut, IBM. I did like, I booked like a Saturday Night Live. Just like a lot of, a lot of small stuff.

I was just in like a skit, you know, there was a skit where there was, Rosie O'Donnell was hosting and it was Whitney Houston was the musical guest. Holy shit. Yeah. And they, I guess they were competing over who had the best lawn for Christmas,

you know, so you had to go over and make, oh my God, look at this one. And oh, my God, this one's been, and yes, I did Saturday Night Live.

And then, and then I think right around the time, or right before Sopranos, actually, I booked my first movie. Okay, which was what? Which was called Tick Code. Okay.

So it was with Gregory Hines and Polly Draper. It's cool. Yeah, it was about Tourette's syndrome. It was about a kid who has Tourette's syndrome. And I'm the bully, and I just crush this poor kid. And then I did another movie with that director shortly after that. But yeah, I mean, even in my head, like, I only think about those things because, like, it's on paper.

We're really in my head. I'm like, sopranos is all I've ever, you know. Yeah, I mean, how could you not? I mean, as you mentioned before, you use the word family, you know, and not, and not, not, not, not, not, for the pun, but for the fact that's, that's your family and everything that you kind of, you grew up on it. And that's why so, and if there's, by the way, there's anything that I bring up inside of this, yeah, I've covered, I don't want to talk about it. Please tell me. Because one of the things that I, as I mentioned to you up top where I thought you're really

honest about was the, and you just mentioned it before, how you got, you got sobriety and how you were able to say, okay, I did that. And now it's time for me to get my stuff going, get my life on track. And because there's a lot, I talk about it kind of a lot, often. I I had on, most recently I had Jamie Campbell Bauer on from like Stranger Things and he's very open about it. Same thing. My brother passed away in 2018. Had had some problems with substances and everything. Sorry, yeah. I appreciate it.

But so I do, when people are out there talking about it and open about it, I think it's super important for people to know because it's not, especially where you were at 12, 13, 14th and getting, you're essentially growing up around Tony's RICO. I mean, come on, it's not a normal child. Yeah, for sure. Even growing up in New York City is just not a normal child. It's not. It's so crazy. It's so crazy. So you go through all these, but the reason I bring that up is what point where you just being a kid, does it get to you your head?

Does it, is it ego things? I'm on the biggest fucking show. People are kind of kissing my ass a little bit. Like what happened to where you're just like, no, I'm going to kick back. I don't give two shit. Is it just youth? Yeah, no. So I started smoking and drink when I was 12 because when you grew up in the city, it's like, you know what?

A lot of times what I talk to, because, you know, I have brothers who live upstate. And it's like, there's such a longer period that you have control of your kids when you live upstate because it's like, oh, my brother's going over to his friend's house. All right, who's he going to see? His friend, the mom and the dad, and you're going to pick them up and they don't have a driver's license. They're 13. They're 14. Where are they going to go? Right.

Maybe they sneak off in the backyard to smoke a joint. Maybe, you know, like that's like even a little extreme. And when I was 12, you know, my friend would hit me up, come downstairs. You go downstairs and you're hanging out. I mean, I remember we were 12, 13 years old, and we had homeless guys who would buy us booze. You know, like you could... We hang out in the park all the time,

and there were these other homeless guys in the park, and eventually you start talking to them this, and you'd be like, yo, we'll buy you, you know, we'll buy you beer if you buy us beer, and they would buy us beer, and then we had a whole fucking, you know... And, uh... Yeah, but a lot of times people say, like,

you know, you think Sopranos made you, and I was already, I was going to be, you know... Wouldn't matter either way. Yeah, it's in, it's in my family. It's just what I, I loved that, you know? And I think a lot of it, you know, when you start to get older, that shit hurts, man. You cannot, you can't retaliate the same way.

Yeah, it's like, this shit hurt, you know. And it's, I think what happened was when I was 12, 13, 4, all the way up until whenever, you know, 20, in my early 20s, it was fun. Yeah. Like, I was like, I'm fucking having a blast. And then I think there were, there was a period where it wasn't fun anymore, but it was all I knew, you know. It was hard for me to change my life because I was like, well, I only go to these bars and these clubs and these places. If I did stop because I don't want to be in this pain anymore, what do I do? Right.

Like I didn't even understand who I didn't know who I would be without my addictions, you know? Well, plus your body was used to it. You know, it probably wasn't easy just saying, like, I'm going to stop now. Your body said, what the fuck? I've been doing this for so long now. For sure, yeah, because I was, so I was addicted to painkillers, Xanax, you know, alcohol. I don't, like, it's a weird thing with alcohol because I know what my addiction was to pills. Yeah.

Then when I think about alcohol, it's like I really, I think I was just a binge drinker and this where, even when I was at my worst with alcohol, I could always stop. And the other thing was I always associated alcohol with fun, with a good time. So it was like, you know, I remember I would be, even at my, the worst, and I was drinking the most, would you'd be at a funeral and somebody would be like, oh, let's go to a bar. I'd be like, are you nuts? Like, what do you mean? Go to a bar?

in between the, you know, like, I'm like, you want to drink our friends. You know, somebody's dead. Like I just never associated, you know, drinking with bad times, which I'm so grateful for because I know a lot of people who struggle with addiction, that's when they go back. You know, it's like things are off the rails. Things are really bad. I'm going to go to that drink. Right.

You associated it more with fun, and that might be even more damage because you start relying it to have fun. Right. And it's also like the thing of, you know, I grew up idolizing these rock stars and everything. And I remember the first time I was like in a nightclub, I was like, this sucks. And then I remember getting wasted being like, oh, this is awesome. You know, I was like so it was kind of like, I mean, now I'm 40 and the fact that I want to be on my couch at 8 p.m. I don't give a fuck, you know, I'll say that right to somebody.

Even when I'm dating people, I'm like, I don't want, I'm not going to bars with you. I'm not going to your girlfriend's birthday at midnight at a ball. Like it's just not happening where when you're, you know, 16, 17, 18, you don't want to be like, oh, I'm uncomfortable at a, at a, at a, or like, you know, because I was lucky that. Yeah. Well, lucky or not, but like at by the age of 1617, I was able to get into all the clubs in New York City. And yeah, of course. It was like, you know, we're hanging out. We're having a good time.

Yeah. Well, that's what I meant, though, too, is yes, you didn't necessarily, as you said, it wasn't because of soprano is the reason why. But it certainly didn't hurt to be able to say like, oh, don't worry about that place I can get us in there. For sure. But it's for me, it's kind of, I look at it as the opposite, which is a lot of people like, do you think it's, because Sopranos of your addiction. And I'm like, I think Sopranos was the reason I was able to stop.

Oh, really? Because, you know, I had a, like, so four of my friends, just who I brought to the last premiere of Sopranos have passed away. Oh, Shandthor. Just the last premiere, yeah, thank you. But so, and, you know,

a lot of those kids, if they were still alive, you know, maybe they're living with their mom, they're miserable. So my point is, with them, it's like the struggle to, to change. their behavior and the addiction,

when they look at what's waiting for them on the other side, is like, well, what, I fucking live with my mom in the same building I grew up in, and it's just all bad. Where for me, I was like, I had the greatest opportunity in life, my life has got, I can go on and do these things, and all these doors are open for me, and I'm gonna, you know, keep, so it was,

I think it was easier for me when I was deciding, you know, to be done with that. To turn it around, yeah, look, and also you probably have a great support system, around you too that you probably definitely wouldn't have had had you not had this show because you seem to have obviously have a great relationship with Jamie yeah um and then when it came to me you said you started drinking at like 12 though did it did it did it affect your work at all on set or did you you didn't know you never took it with you to set never okay yeah no that was so I would you know

a lot of times when I would drink because I was doing coke and everything in the in the my early 20s early 20s doing a lot of coke like 17 18 and so if I if I if I I would go to drink, let's say, on a Friday, I'd still be hurting Monday, you know, because I'd probably party Friday, Saturday, maybe into Sunday, and then you sleep, and then Monday you hurt. So my point is, if I had work on a Monday, I wouldn't even drink on a Thursday. Okay. So you know, so you were balanced on it, to where you, it wasn't totally reckless. It wasn't good for you, but it wasn't totally reckless. You understood, I'm not going to fuck up my opportunities here. I know exactly when to pace this stuff out. I'll work until when I can,

get fucked up and then start working on on on monday tuesday whenever you're for sure and it was like you know jim was the leader and he set an example in a lot of ways of like you know because jim jim's job is 20 times harder than mine you know what i mean it's like it's like you know and again i'm i'm not trying to say oh acting so hard this but it's just time consumed when you're the lead on the show and you have to be there from monday to Friday all the times they're they're working and then as soon as they go okay you can go home now he goes okay I have to go learn eight pages or 12 pages of the next and that's where it's like he didn't there were times he didn't have a second to himself to to to think outside to Tony for you know and it's it's tough

so I knew for me you know there were a lot of times where I'd work two days a week and it was like no no no this like there was so much respect and appreciation on on set for everyone that I knew like I would I would never let you know because you hear you stories of like Lindsey Lohan didn't show up for work. She's on like, you know, her beat a love bug. You know, when you're, you know, on Sopranos, the way we were, it was like, you're not gonna, and especially me, because some of these people have been acting for 30 years, 40 years.

And this was, they finally got their big break. I was a fucking 12 year old kid. Yeah. Who was like, everybody gets on the hit show, like, you know? And it was just like, I always felt that and knew, like, I'm not going to mess this up. It's also the one cast also that you definitely don't want to mess up around. Right. And I remember the only time I messed up, I messed up twice. One time was my 21st birthday. And it was because I came back from Vegas. And I had to work that Tuesday and I came back Monday. And I just had no voice. And I was like throwing up in a garbage can. I was a mess for sure. But I showed up. And they were like, we need to just go home. They were like, we would have to shoot this over. You have no voice.

Who has the conversation with you? Is it David? No, it wasn't even like, because I only had like one or two lines. It wasn't like a big scene. for me so they were like we're like we're gonna shoot the whole scene but then your part will have to do another day because you could barely speed I was like no I can do it like you know my voice was gone and I was I was a oh my god I went to Vegas my 24th birthday I was first time ever in Vegas was out of control as you should right and then right and they all understood like that was the thing where they were like you got back in time you're here you just can't you have no voice and then the other time was we were shooting a I think we were shooting in Long Island and it was like

Johnny Sacks daughter's wedding. Okay. And there's, you know, hundreds of people, because it's so many extras in this, and somebody came to us at the end of the day and they said, hey, we have a bar down the street. It's yours. You guys can take it over tonight if you want. And we're like, okay. So we go party hard.

And because, again, it's like when there's a wedding scene like this, you are just in the background. Like, my job was to sit there. I didn't have a line. But it's like when they pan back, they need to see you sitting there. So you need to just sometimes you're sitting there for 12 hours. And you're like, I'm here, but so what, you know? And yeah, and I remember we got wasted.

And I remember a guy from set, a friend of mine, coming to wake me up. Like, I was like two hours late to set. And they were like, yo, you're lucky. They haven't turned the camera to the side where they need to see you guys. So like Jamie and Jim and Edie are just sitting around, like not doing anything. But they're like, you, you got. And he brought his car to like get me there in like four minutes, you know. And we fly in.

I get in the outfit and I walk into set and nobody knew I wasn't there I mean Jim and Edy and people at the bar from the night before they knew but like you know the director and these people

they had no clue that's that's that again youth youth yeah it was a 10 year run I had two bad days I'm sure there were a lot of other bad days from other people as well yeah yeah but like you know when it came so

when you mentioned with Jim Jamie and Eadie like it just it seemed because for me one of the reasons I responded to it the show not only be in the idea of the the mob stories and that was was always the intriguing they're doing a mob story for HBO but they're going to focus on the family aspect of it that's always what everybody said and he did that times 10 and for me what I responded to was I grew up in Queens

and I I knew people like that it all felt like I remember sitting in in a living room in my living room of my friend's place and just family dynamic that just responded in the same way that you guys did like how long did it take for before you guys to really like click like that you know i think it i think it had a lot to do with jim and i think we clicked right away like it was just yeah it was that vibe it was an edie you know she didn't have children until far into the show and she the motherly instinct she i mean i remember right of her coming up to me licking her fairly you know finger and wiping my cheek and it and it was just you really you felt this family vibe and it's weird because they they did have to go from you know i was maybe jamie too but i was the only relationship where

they had to kind of go okay this is the kid so then when i was 16 17 18 and being around and drinking and hanging out with them and smoking and this and you know everybody's outside smoking a cigarette outside of set and i'm smoking with them so now they kind of have to transition to go okay well now this kid is becoming a man and then and then they're with me when i turned 21 22 and they're like okay well now he's you know I mean I don't know what people want to say but again he's an adult now and we have to respond that way so they really had to like you know I don't I don't even know how to describe it but they it was probably weird for them of course it was I mean they're they're absolutely they're you are their kind of kid you're yeah I mean you are but you're spending

that much time you're spending probably I would assume you correct me if I'm wrong but you're spending at that point of your life more time with them than you probably are you're actual family unless your family's on set a lot of the times too. I would assume in the beginning they were. It would depend. I mean, somebody like Jim, definitely. You know, like he's spending more time at this place than with his family by far. But, you know, for me, luckily, you know, again, sometimes I'd work four days a week,

sometimes too. So it would depend. But yeah, I mean, there's people, when you're the lead on the show, it's like your, that is your friends, family, everything. Like, there's a lot of people who are to lead on the show who have a full bedroom somewhere located on set where that's where they sleep. But this because it's like, yeah, you can go home. And by the time they drive you home and you get home and you get situated.

Or it's like you could just go get three extra hours of sleep if you sleep here tonight, you know? Yeah, yeah. So, I mean, it is, it is like as I mentioned, though, it was so real. And as you've gotten it many times over over your career here, how like people just responded to the relationship, the idea of it. And you mentioned with AJ and how eventually it became like annoying or whatever it was too. But what was the plan? because I'm sure, as you just mentioned, with how you were changing and they see

and how great of a writer David is and how you mentioned before with Tony Serico and how they would write around certain things that he would do, I am assuming that they took a lot of stuff that were like, well, okay, we're looking what Robert's doing here now too and AJ starts to change. So I wonder, was the original idea in David's head always where, you know, AJ went?

Or was there just stuff that he learned as he was kind of spending more time with you? Yeah, I think he was. was flexible and I think there were things like, you know, I would show up in like Pantera shirts and slip-knut shirts and I was skateboarding and then I'd be in a Pantera shirt and skateboarding and this. There definitely were things, but again, like, you know, you don't have to give David anything. Like they're, they were just, I mean, they're so good. And recently, so at the 25-year anniversary, Eadie said it was so easy for me to play Carmela. And Jamie was so blown away by that because

She's like, I watched you and I know that's true, but that's so insane. And it is because the writing and the, how long did it take you to click? I mean, we clicked right away and everything. It was just this weird thing. What, you know, David said when he did our podcast was like, everybody was getting struck by lightning. Like it was this, you know, people want to, what do you think made the show successful? It's when everything happens to show up at the perfect time and it's the writing and it's the actors and it's them getting along offset, getting along on set, the acting. And it's because, you know, technically, I never rehearsed a scene with anybody once on the show.

And I know there's a lot of actors who were like, yeah, we never rehearsed. And there were some people who I think would get together to rehearse some things. But it wasn't really a thing. And even, you know, Edy says, like, you know, her stuff with James, like how they just clicked like that. It was right away. Like there was no need to have to spend all this time together off and get to know each other and this. It was just we had the relationship they. put on the paper we were able to have on screen.

And it's just, again, it's David, all the guy, the writers, Terry, the directors, you know, Timmy Van Patten, these guys were just so good. And so we had Drea DeMateo on our podcast. And what she's, what her and Jamie were talking about was it was like, I want to say exactly what they said. It was like at a young age, you met the love of your life. And then now you're spending the rest of your life trying to find that again. Right.

Because they were saying they can't, you know, I didn't decide to go act after, but they did. And they were like, you can't find it again. And you're always trying. You're always trying to be like, this will be like sopranos. This will be like sopranos. Then you do things. And you go, oh, wait, no, this is, it's not like, you know, Jim had his trailer and we'd all end up in Jim's trail. Like, you know, in L.A., it's like they're fighting over who has the biggest trailer.

It's like nobody cared who had the biggest trailer. You go, we'd go hang out together. And you're led, there was never one fight on set about, you know, I should have this. I should have a bigger this. my assistant this like nobody would bring people to set nobody would fool again it was we were very lucky that everyone was from new york you could tell the attitude for sure and even i remember that as you asked me before if i liked you know the movie and i told you i did the rewatch of the series and the way that i felt about the series when i was watching it was my favorite show and then i remember

watching back in you know what's the late 90s early 2000s when three and four were coming out seasons three and four and it was like this huge break in between i think it was like two two years or something in between one of the seasons. I can't remember which one of us. And I remember the time going, okay, maybe that season's not as good as the other one. But then I sort of think was that because it was, because I haven't seen it in so long, right?

Right. And I remember there was, whether it was contract stuff, and it had nothing to do with problems on the set itself between you guys. But it's like, as you were mentioned, all the shit that Jim is doing, that, yeah, you pay him what he wants to,

what he wants to get paid, 100%. Of course. But I remember it as I did that rewatch, by the way, it's a hundred times different when you're watching it like streaming to where it's like from one huge movie it all plays just brilliantly especially because i was one of those people the end the ending i'm like what the fuck was that right now after reading so many different theories about it and understanding what it is i'm like oh and still do you have any fucking clue what what happens at the end be honest no and again i think

i think david is a genius and i think his whole point was this i think any other show that i've ever you know i'm a big TV guy. I love TV. And I don't know any finale I talk about with my friends because I've never watched a prano. So I watched all these other shows. And there's no shows that after 10 years the shows over and I'm like, man, the finale, blah, I want to sit around and talk about. But soprano's people do. And people have such passionate opinions about it. And I'm like, that's great. But I understand people who loved it. I understand people who didn't. Yeah, I appreciate it a lot when it, when you go back and rewatch it. But you know, you mentioned clicking. You mentioned the relationships you have with your on-screen family you mentioned obviously i mentioned the relationship with jamie right and you're doing your

show with her now you weren't doing and i mentioned up top you weren't doing interviews then you went on you did michael and steve's show and did that spark the hey i like doing this because you're great at it you and jimmy both do your show it's a great show you're very comfortable with each other obviously where did the idea come to say like let's do a show together so i was i was a big podcast guy i love comedy podcasts i just listened to i could listen to eight hours a day what's your shows I mean, I love your mom's house, who we're doing our podcast for it now, was one of my favorites. I love anything with Bobby Lee. I think Bobby Lee's hilarious.

Bobby's the first guy, one of the first guys. Him and Mike Young were the two guys when I got there that I knew from, that I met at the comedy store when I got there. Bobby was on stage right after Mike Young with nobody in the OR. And I saw, fucking, I saw Bobby, I don't know, it was like three years ago. And I walked up to him and Santino was another guy that I started. Well, he started after me, but he's a friend of mine. And I was at the comedy store and I see Bobby Lee, probably three or four years. He goes, big smile on his face.

He goes, hey, I thought you died of COVID. I was like, that's Bobby. So you listen to Bobby, Bobby Lee, Santino, your mom's house. Yeah, I'm listening. At the time, it was Tiger Belly, who was before. And I was just like, I love listening to this. I was the Howard Stern guy back in the day. And I'm like, I love listening to this.

It seems like they're having so much fun. So this is 2019. I'm living in Vegas for a second time, but I'm sober. And I'm like, I hate this. Why did I do this? But I thought, I was like, oh, I would like living in Vegas sober because I play a lot of poker. So I'm like, I would love that.

It was awful. So it was all right. I got to get out of here. So I reached out to Jamie and another friend I had this kid, Kassum G, who's a comedian. Yeah, yeah. And I said, if I moved to L.A., I thought they would be great together, the three of us? And I said, if I moved to L.A., would you guys start a podcast with me? And they said, yes.

So I moved to L.A. We started the podcast, and we did that for like three years. And then somewhere in there, Tom Seguer and Christina P. said, hey, come, we want to have you on podcast. We did their podcast and then they said, hey, if you want to come to a podcast for our studio, we'd love it. Unfortunately, Kassam lives in L.A. Jamie was in Austin. I moved to Austin. They're in Austin. And yeah, we've been, but yeah, we know, we

had our podcast before before the Talking Sopranos started. Yeah, but we never had any interest in talking about Sopranos. You know, we were always like, no, we want to be, I feel like if you pigeonhole yourself into talking about one thing on a podcast, whether it's 50 episodes in 100, 150, you eventually show up one day and you go, I don't want to talk about this.

I'm sure, absolutely. So a lot of the times, I went from doing just stand-up stuff to doing just movie stuff, movies and TV. That was what I did for a very long time. But I want to be able to do more stuff like this. I want to do more things like that. And I don't want to just talk about movies.

I don't want to just talk about TV. I got a strong interest in fucking what's flying around in this guy with you, and stuff too. Right. And I talk about that. Yeah. I got all these different things I like talking about. But um, so I understand that for sure. And I think that that's what's great about, you know, the conversational style. And you mentioned, Drea, I had her, she was the first Sopranos cast member. I had, virtual had her on. She was, because she was promoted a movie and had her on. She was great. She's a lot of fun. But dude, you killed me with the, on, I was dying with the clip with the, with the armpits. Yeah.

on the hairy armpits because she who didn't she's just those the hottest thing on television. Oh my God. Yeah. And I'm sure. And like because you, they mentioned I was going to ask you this too. And you kind of answered me when I was watching that, that episode was that you would assume because Jamie Lynn is a beautiful woman. Yeah. Yeah.

And so when you're, you would assume as a kid, you're trying, even though your brother on the show, you're probably out of let's say, you know this guy took a shot. But you never took a shot at it. Never. Okay. There was never even one day, you know, we've talked about this before where, like, there's photos of me and Jamie when we would go to like the Emmy Awards and this, we'd be like back in my hotel or her hotel. We'd be laying on the bed together.

And it was always just like, no, this is like my best friend. Like she's like my sister. And again, I've talked about this too, but it's like I have two sisters in real life. And maybe there's 50 people in the world who know that that's my sister. Sure. You know? And they go, how's your sister? How's your sister?

And with Jamie Lynn and Sopranos, there are tens of thousands. There are tens of thousands of people, hundreds of thousands, millions of people, and maybe tens of thousands who come up to me and go, how's your sister? Where's your sister? How's your sister? Your sister? And always on, you know, on the show. It's like the sister, the sister. And I think that's how it feels. Like in my head, it's like she feels like my sister. I've been told in my brain tens of thousands of times that Jamie's my sister. And they're just, you know, we never, we would go out to clubs together until 4 a.m. New York City drinking this. And there was never one night where it was like, oh, well, we kissed.

It was always like, and it was also that thing of like, you know, she was the kid girl on the show and all the guys were so protective of her that I felt the same way. You know, it was always like, no, you got to watch out for Jamie. You know, you got to look out for Jamie. I never thought of, like, her in a sexual way. Makes a lot of sense also because, God forbid something did happen. And then it's like, and then that messes it up. And then that dynamic changes dramatically.

Oh, yeah. And I was a drunk, so I would have messed it up right away. Yeah, it would have been good for four days. That's it. She would have been like, oh, Rob. Yeah, exactly. So it was good. But yeah, Drea, I mean, you know, Dreia would just walk onto set and you're like, Jesus.

Smoke show. She was so hot. It was crazy. And she would wear, like, things where it was like barely there, clothing and this. And, you know, she was always like a rock rocker chick and this. And she just never thought of herself in that way of, like, being hot, being sexy. So it was like this weird thing of like, she's so hot and doesn't even like, you know, she smokes cigarettes and spitting and you're like, damn, like, it's crazy.

But it's funny that you mention that because I'm like, I'm a big, Julia Roberts was my growing up still. Like an opportunity meter once barely is. I could talk to anybody. But the, da, da, da, you know, but that particular thing that I always stands out to me was when she was on the carpet the one time and she had the pits. and you nailed it when you're just like it's like there's something about it just like you gotta shave the pits yeah it just reminds me of like

it goes from like this is she's so hot to like bro like you know I'm like I don't know you can spit on the floor you can do whatever you would just shave the pits yeah it's just like I don't know there's something about there's something about it where I'm like it just completely turns me off and anybody who doesn't know

so Drea de Mateo didn't use to shave her armpits back in the day right right right it's so fresh with the clip itself but um and we would talk about it all the time. You know? So how old were you when you first, like,

because you, were you, how, she's only probably like six, seven years older? Than me? She might be, I don't know. Even so. Yeah, yeah, enough. Did you ever have the, like, before the, you see the pitch, did you ever have the courage to say?

No. No. No, she always had, like, boyfriend. And they were always like, they looked like, like big rob zombies. I'm like, I'm not, this is not my thing, you know. No. She was just she was always awesome. She's always great and she's always so sweet.

I spoke to her today. She's just, she was awesome. It was a pleasure to talk to her to, which I wish she was in studio. At the time I was in L.A., I can't remember. She may have been here or she might have been on set. I can't remember where she was. Are you happy to be back to New York?

I'm very happy to be back to New York because I had a good time in L.A., man. It was good. I spent 25 years there and it was a good time. And I met a lot of good friends. I mean, the majority of the stuff that I did stand-up-wise was in L.A. I met my wife because of stand-up comedy. I met some of my best friends because I stand up and I've created my business out there.

Couldn't do this right now what I'm doing here. Had it not been for L.A. But for where we are right now, you and I sitting here like this part of town, this area, better for my kids growing up. Yeah, yeah. And I got to tell you about AG1. You guys know AG1.

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Are you still in Austin now? Yeah, I'm in Austin now. So are you here just to promote the 25 years? No, so yeah, we flew in, HBO flew us in to do the, there was a 25 year anniversary thing at the Tribeca Film Festival. Oh, sweet. And then they were going to show us two episodes of Sopranos. And it's funny how like stuff works with the Sopranos where it's like, it's almost like, you know, not that things in the script or anything, but whenever something would come up in Sopranos where you're, you're like, that, ah, that's going to happen.

Okay. Then by the day it was coming, it was like, no, that's not happening anymore. Like, somehow they just always know. And my point is, they were like, at this, you know, 25th anniversary, we're going to show you two random episodes of Sopranos. And that's what they were going to do in a theater. And I was like, okay, like, I don't really want to sit through two episodes of Sopranos. And like, nobody really, like, you know, from the show, like, really does.

It's like, okay, whatever. Like, you know, most people have seen it already and whatever. And then, like, a few days before, they're like, no, HBO gave us permission to show the David Chase documentary instead. And it was so good and it was so different and it brought. So what people don't know, I'll share this little, you know, I don't know what they call it a, not an Eastery, but like a little tidbit about it.

I don't know what I'm supposed to say, but guess what? I don't work for HBO anymore. I love HBO, but I don't. And so they show in the documentary, they show auditions. Oh, do they really? It's so good. Who do they show?

It's so, I know they. I know they show, they show like Tony Serico reading for Tony Soprano. They show Stevie Van Zan, I think reading for Tony Soprano. I think they show like Artie Buka. It's been over a month ago since I saw it. So I don't want to say who they show if I'm wrong. But it was just watching that, to me, it's so much better than watching like clips of the show or whatever. You just see this.

And then I think it was, I don't know if it's Jim. I think it was Tony Serrico when he's auditioning. He's auditioning and all of a sudden he's like, He's like, that sucked. You know, and he's like, let me do it over. If you want me to do it over, I'll do it over. You know, he's just, and you're just watching this, and you're like, God, it's so good to see these people being them

and not the characters. And it was, it's a really good documentary. I can't wait to see it, man. I'm excited to hear about it in general. Because, yeah, that show just meant a lot to me. I'm just watching it with my dad and friends in general. I was talking, it was the other day. My friend, Mark, who's a massive, massive sopranos fan.

He was, he was talking about Yellowstone. And we were talking with Kevin Koster, had his new movie come out. We were talking about the stuff that was going on and set with Kevin Costner. But he told me, because I haven't seen all the else, I don't know if you have, but he said to me, he's like, Yellowstone is the closest

that they've gotten to Sopranos with that family dynamic of that kind of alpha male doing this thing. And I can't say whether he's, if I agree or I disagree. Right. But it is that show that is consistently referenced. It's the Sopranos meets this.

It's the Sopranos meets that. Right. It always, it's, if, what if Tony, Prana was for this. It's like that type of thing. So it's like it's a special thing to be a part of me. And it really, really is.

Well, I forget, I think Dre is the one who she was like, people don't realize why people, you know, still care about us or when they see us, they give us a hug instead of just pointing at us or whatever. And it's because they watch us in their beds.

You know, we were in their home with them. We're somebody like George Clooney. It's like you go to a movie theater. You're eating popcorn sitting with hundreds of other people watching him and it feels like this bigger than life thing where other people like you know Tony Soprano you were sitting in your living room he was in your living room with you every Sunday sometimes that was good sometimes I scared the shit out of you yeah yeah right yeah look being on set

you know be an a j in scenes with Tony same thing sometimes you're giving him a big hug and and other times you're like fuck this is which reminds me sorry it cut you off but you said and I'm glad that you brought that up because you brought up that scene with david chase on your podcast, you thought the best acting that you did was outside the police station. Well, I thought the only good scene I ever did in Sopranos. That's what I said. I don't want to be like the best acting I ever did. I only liked once after doing all the scenes in Sopranos, there was only one where after we did it, I felt good. And I was like, I think that was good. And it was the scene outside of the police station. It was a phenomenal scene. And after I watched that interview again, I went back and

watched the scene again. And it was, it was so good. And you watch it because, as I mentioned, with having kids and looking at these moments and how you had said that that, at the end there, where he just kind of, it wasn't supposed to go that particular way. And now Jim just kind of went on his instincts. And I think that's also because he's a dad and he's able to, like, that scene. Like, what, what was it about that in general to where, I guess it's probably the comfortability of being with Jim also? Yeah, but there were other, there were so many scenes with Jim. And there was just something about that scene where like, you know, it was, it was nighttime. It was just, and there was something also about, you know, sometimes when you do a scene, you feel like the

camera's in your face and it'll be a lot, you're conscious of like, okay, don't look into the camera and don't see that. And some, I don't know if it was because it was night and I know what. It felt like it was just me and Jim there. And we were doing this thing. And it was just, yeah, I don't know. I have no idea what it was about that scene. But there was some reason. I remember, like, calling my manager after doing that scene and being like, I think I just, like, acted for the first time like i think that was i was like that was i think that was good you know and i was so i'm so grateful that it was with jim and you know it was great i think you're i it was a great but i also think you're tough on yourself because i think that another one that is tough to watch

but it's but it is the pool scene yeah yeah that when a j tries to kill himself like and i'm sure you've been asked this a million times over and apologize to ask him but i just i got you in studio i got to know um you think that like was he really trying to do it or is he just calling out for help i don't i don't i don't i haven't been asked that a lot oh okay uh yeah i don't know did he want to just be seen that he want to be you know i i don't know it's tough um how did you play it when you played it did you were like he was going for it yeah yeah i did it like we're gonna yeah like he's gonna kill you know because there are there are maybe ways that it wouldn't because I you know and a lot again it's like when we did that scene in the in the

parking lot of the police station it's like it's just me and Jim in a parking lot there's no way to kind of set the how do you feel in this and when we did the suicide scene I remember like the director was playing this like sad music on set and I remember like you're you're it's it's December in Jersey and it's whatever it was 20 degrees and you're about to jump into this pool for the 20th time and you put a brick on your foot and you put a bag on your head and you tie it around this so it's like it's way easier to get into that you know because it's like this is fucking crazy like this is and then you would jump in and you'd have to get you lay on the cement and it's freezing and then they have to dry you and you're doing it again 15 minutes later as soon as

you're dry so it was that was fucking brutal and you're like so when it's like man you look so sad there I'm like yeah it sucked you know like it was it was a whack situation where like you know something like a you know it's just two people sitting in the parking lot it's like now you got to cry and this and that it's way, you know. Well, I, I hear what you're saying, but I also think, even though you're putting in that situation, it takes, it takes the right person to be able to, to be able to pull even the motions, such in the mood, 100%. But you've got to be able to really get there. And that scene, man, is like so, it's so powerful, even when, when the pain in Jim's

voice and what's wrong with you but then he calls you baby and he's and he's hugging you and it's like and because of the power that he's bringing in there too i can only imagine that to you you break down and it's like this whole thing and it's like so i think that that that scene alone is was phenomenal was phenomenal thanks yeah and i also think it's like you know these characters so well by that point i mean that we'd been doing it for nine years or something like that by that point and like you know how much people love these characters and you know the relationship between a j and tony and this that when you're doing it, you feel the sadness. Right.

You know, you can feel the sadness for AJ. You feel the sadness for Tony. You feel the sadness for all them. You feel the sadness for now. Tony has to go tell everybody. My son just tried to kill himself. This whole thing, like, it's, you feel it. You know, you feel, you know, like, part of me is like, yeah, I have to act in the scene.

And another part, I do realize, like, man, AJ just tried to kill himself. Right. You know? Yeah, it's great. For people, by the way, if you haven't, well, if you haven't seen the Sopranos. They're probably gone by now. probably gone by now. But if you haven't, you should really check it out.

Or if you haven't rewatched it, go back and rewatch it. But I do. I'm bouncing back and forth. I want to get back to the podcast because the chemistry that you guys have, the interviews that you guys are doing, what's the overall goal for it? You know, you want to just keep doing it just so you can keep hanging out with Jamie, keep doing your thing. And because you're officially retired from acting.

Any chance you come back? I actually, so I actually just did my first acting thing in a long time because So Tom Segura, who we do our podcast for, I don't know how much I could talk about, but he wanted to do something. And he's like, hey, could you do me a favor and act in this thing? And I did that for him. And now it got picked the show, got picked up and whatever. So I don't know. I might do two or three episodes of that.

But that was just, you know, it's just something that's fun and whatever. Did you catch a bug again? No, no. I hate it. Yeah. You know what I really hate is memorizing lines. Yeah. I don't blame.

I really, because it's like, for me to do it, I have to lock myself. in like a bathroom and just sit and read and read and read and then to write it and read it and just trying to get that in my head because you know as i think as you should i put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure you know every word you're not fucking up and you have sometimes you have a hundred people standing around and when you don't know you know when you're messing up a line and these people want to go home and or the lunch or whatever so i put a lot of pressure on myself for that and then yeah i don't know i just don't i get something like podcasting where i know the feeling of how much I enjoy it.

Yeah. So then when I go do acting, and I'm like, I just don't enjoy this. I feel the same. It's why I love to stand up so much because I rely to myself and I can do it when I'm working on

doing my, like you say, you're not letting anyone down when you do this. You fuck up a joke. Exactly. You wrote it yourself, you're doing the thing.

You're kind of navigating the energy and you're doing that. You mentioned Tom, obviously working with Tom, I went to college with Bert. Oh, wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Florida? Florida State. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. He tells, he tells a story about me, often on his shows and sometimes he'll fuck up my name still after 20

20 years but we were at a show at pop house it was his first show ever and and I was had been doing stand-up for I don't know a month two months yeah and I'm already a fucking pro and he and he was drinking and I said to him I go I go look I'm gonna be drinking after the show too but I recommend you shouldn't

you probably don't want to drink now and he goes why and I say because you're going to you take one drink, you can rely on it every time you do a set. And it's so funny, he tells that story all the time on his, on his podcast too, because it's one of those, because I bring that up because of all the story of what you just said, you know, was your entire story about how you got to focus in on it, make the work count. And in general, it's just relying on you, relying on your ability to say, okay, I'm going to either,

I'm going to put forward what I want to do. And I think that's why stand up is to me that I rely. But that was my addiction for a very long time. Oh, wow. Yeah, the stand-up, because it was like, it was, like, it's like that kind of Glenn Close relationship I had with her. You know, it's like, the fights were fucking horrible, but the sex was amazing. Right.

It's like, that's, that was stand-up comedy for me for a very long time. And you met your wife doing that, how? She was, she was Glenn Close. No, she was, she was in the audience of one of my shows, and she knew one of my friends is a comedian, some girl he was dating. brought her. And she was in the audience and we just kind of started talking, but it took a, it's a much longer story. But it wound up like just, that was the initial meeting. And then she came to another show and then we wound up just kind of going out. But the fucking stupid story is,

and I, we've told this, I was in Vegas and I hadn't talked to her in a month. I had her in my phone. And I was at, I was hammered. And I'm on my phone and I see this girl dancing And I go, oh, I think it's that girl. And I go, you in Vegas, question mark. No response. Right? I'm like, forget it. Hammered on the plane on the way back the next morning, look, and I see a text.

And it goes, and I go, who's Sadie? Wow. Different, totally different girl I was trying. And she goes, and she's like, I'm not in Vegas. I'm still in L.A. What do you want? And I'm like, I'm like, want to go out next month? And she's like, or next week, and she's like, yeah.

So I wound up going out with her. And then we, that was that. I started dating her. And then, you know, here we are 17 years later. Wow. So it was like, so it was pretty, pretty as a Vegas story for it. That's crazy. Yeah, yeah.

So that's how that happened. But anyway, back, back to you. Yeah. Like to what you said, like I have no goals for the pod. I do, like, you know, we talk about nonsense. We have fun. And that's, it's like, you know, the first thing. So a few different people came to us.

we were first starting in 2019 to do a podcast for them. And Jamie had been doing another podcast at the time where she was contractually obligated not to do a podcast for anyone else. So we were like, you know, we'll do it on our own for three years. Oh, sorry, we'll do it on our own for a year until your contract expires. Then when that expired, we were like, we love doing this on our own. Because it's like, if Jamie can't show up one day, if Kassum can't show up, if I can't show up, it's all good.

We'll figure it up. We have to do it over Zoom. It's all good. It's for, who are we, like you said, who am I letting down? Right. You know, nobody's whatever. And our fans are. the listeners were super supportive.

Like, you know, they were great. And then we've been doing the one for Tom and Christina now. I think it's just coming up on a year. And when they said, like, we want you to do a podcast for us. I remember the first thing I said was like, I just want to have fun. And they were like, we can do that. That's great.

And they have. They put all their producers behind us. Their social media team, they're, like, incredible. They're so great. And, like, you know, Tom and Christina have never said to us, have this person on, don't have them on. And, you know, there's like, when ads come along, if we say, like, we don't want to read that, they go, okay. Like, you know, there's nothing that they've given us any sort of pushback pressure and said, hey, no, do this.

They just, it's just so great working for comedians where it's like they want to have fun and they want you to have fun and everyone's kind of having fun. And you know what it is too? I think, Robert, more than just the comedian side of it, too, is that because I've worked for people, and I'm sure you work for people too, that just don't understand how when you're working with people, if they're happy, It just flourishes things more. It's when I mean, I'm more uncomfortable saying. And I worked for Joel Silver for a while. And that company was not like there were some people who were, but Joel necessarily was not.

Like I remember there was a thing that we did for, I can't remember which premiere it was. But I couldn't remember. Like people were working really fucking hard. And it was like, okay, people got premier tickets, but they didn't, but none of the employees got the party tickets. And it was like the one thing. And it's like, why?

It was like you wanted to give it to celebrity friends or wanted to give it to someone else too. And these are people who were working on the movie. And the company, I didn't really care. I was an assistant at the time. I was like, okay, I don't get in and I don't get in. But I was working really hard. And it was just like couldn't give it a shit about the people who were underneath.

And it's like if you care about people in general who you're working with, whether they're this level, this level, this level, together, the way you just talk about Tom. And the way you just talk about it's like, this is someone who you want to work with because they want you to have fun, you want to have fun. and that helps your business. I see your clips all of the time because of his social team,

the way he's working, and that makes you want to do it because you can go in there and you just have a good time. You're talking, and you don't feel like, this guy's fucking pressureing me to do this. So I think it's very important.

Yeah, and it's the same way, you know, James Gannelfini was the top for us. It's like you watch Tom, Christina, Bert and these people and what they're doing and they're having fun and this, and you're like, I want to have fun. You know, you want to be part of the gang, the party.

It's fun. You're hanging out, you know, and it's just so, yeah, I love it. You know, I stand up something you'd want to do? No. No?

Never. Never even try it? No. You got timing. Thank you. I've seen the clips. Thank you. Yeah.

No, I'm just not, you know, I'm not into it. I don't like, you know, I think like, there's this weird thing of when people say, like, you know, why do you think at 22 you were able to walk away from acting where, like, other child actors get depressed when they don't get work or whatever? And I was like, well, when I was six years old, a guy came up to me on the street and said to my dad, hey, he should be an actor. So it wasn't me telling my mom and dad. I wasn't doing fucking song and dance in the living room and saying,

I want to be an actor. I want to do this. I want to be. So I never wanted to be on stage. You know, I never, like, when we just did the 25th anniversary, we all came out on stage, everybody's clapping for it. And I'm like, oh, I feel so. I feel gross.

You know, I don't, I don't like that. I don't, I love looking to my left and my right and seeing Jamie and my friends and everybody from the soprano. So it's like, okay, I accept that because it came with this and that's incredible. but I don't yeah I never wanted I don't like people telling me you know you did a great job or I don't like the clapping

I don't like people it makes me it makes me all uncomfortable you know but but it's different when it comes to podcasting it wasn't it like because if someone I love your podcast like let's because you're having a conversation you seem to like really like having I mean even just talking to you now for the last hour

so like you just like to talk to people yeah I love it and I love hanging and I love when people you know and it's You know, because sometimes you do do podcasts or interviews where it does feel like a real, it doesn't feel like a real conversation and that you go, why am I here? Because, you know, it does. It shifts you out of that thing where like with me and Jamie and we're just hanging out. I don't, sometimes they're like, all right, you got to wrap the podcast.

I'm like, oh yeah, we're doing a fucking podcast. You got to be careful there sometimes too. Right. Oh, yeah, for sure. But it's just like, yeah, it's like you're sitting, you're having fun. You're having a conversation. You're laughing with your friends. And I, you know, for the people who do appreciate my podcast, I know what it's like to appreciate a podcast.

You know, I know what it's like to listen to Tom and Christina every week for years and Bobby Lee and laugh with them and know how much it means to you. You know, so I just, yeah, at all, I don't, I never feel any, I never feel any pressure from a podcast because it's just me talking, being honest, and it's very easy to go, if people don't like who am, that's cool. Like, I get it. You know, I don't, I think that's the other thing, too. It's like when you're doing acting or when you're doing stand-up, it's like, you want people to like this. You know, you're like, I want people that were for me. It's like, I'm sitting and talking to Jamie exactly how I would talk to Jamie at her kitchen island when we're at her house and we're laughing. And we wanted to be like, let's put this out and see if people enjoy this.

Yeah, the way, so for a little while, I was like, I don't know if you're familiar with the Mandalorian and Battlestar Galactica. But like, so I produced Katie Sackoff's show for a while. And, and we were one of the main things I wanted to make sure that she did, because she had on like Bryce Dallas Howard and she had on Michael Rosenbaum. And one of the things that we wanted to do was make it seem like the audience was just sitting in a coffee shop, just listening to them to talk and not to be aware that their microphones in front of them. And you know, just kind of go back and forth. It's where like, you know, you mentioned as far as with acting, you're preparing for this or stand up,

you're preparing for this. for me, what I'd even like today, I wanted to make sure, like, because fan of the show, fan of you for a long time, and I was like, okay, I want to make sure that if there's anything that I'm missing, that I don't know about this guy, I want to be able to talk to him about it, certain things. I'd like to do the research on it, but that's also because that gives me more

of stuff like, oh, that'd be fun to talk about too. Of course, yeah, yeah. That's a conversation where, and you can see, though, too, like, even watching your podcast, I'm like, oh, I can, I know, because I've been doing this long enough. I'm like, this is going to be an easy conversation. This guy likes to talk. Yeah, same with me. I just can bullshit and we could we could do this for a bit

Right exactly yeah and you forget you're like oh yeah there's like there should be some kind of structure here I guess you know you're like oh yeah there has to be but it is because sometimes we have people on the podcast who we don't know and there you're like oh how is this going to go where it's like I love having our friends on because then it's like you don't have to worry at all like Like I don't have to do the research if I want if I did you know it's just like you're you know You just get to vibe and riff and I love those shows too but I will say there's something fun about the idea of going into the I know like today I mean I can guess I can guess that I think that we're gonna have a good conversation I was right right but I but I but I can also I like the idea like I don't know

this person yeah yeah want to know this person I want to learn so you now you know I'm in Austin I see hey Rob what the conversation we had is how you doing how's everything going how's a podcast going we have shit to talk about course yeah that to me is why I like doing this because it's one of the things I respond to I couldn't I for Fandango I used to have to go to these junkets and they'd be like, oh, you get three minutes with the person. Like, what the fuck am I going to talk to somebody? Three minutes. I'm like, three minutes to get one question or if I got six minutes, one of the reasons

they couldn't do it anymore because they'd be like, right, here are the questions you ask. I'm like, oh, because a lot of times these people sit in the room and they go, yeah, oh, interesting, definitely. And they're not listening. They're just thinking about the next question that's on the card. And it's like, that's why long form is, it's the shit. Yeah.

And it's like, and it's also like, you know, the questions that they ask in those things are never the interesting stuff. It's the stuff that comes after those questions, you know? So it's like, how do you prepare for the role? It's like, who gives this shit? Like, of course, you have people care, but like, really what the interesting question will be when you have an hour to talk is the fourth question after that. Right. You know, when somebody tells you about how they prepared for the role, oh, why did you do that?

Oh, this. Oh, it's because your mom and your dad were, oh, well, tell us about your mom and your dad and growing up. And then you're really fucking talking, you know? Yeah. And that's to me, that's what's interesting. But before I let you go here, too, I wanted to ask, as you mentioned, you're big TV and kind of movies guy, right? So that's the basis of what we do on this channel. What's your genre?

What are you some of your favorites? What are you watching right now on TV? Let's start with that. What am I watching right now? I mean, you know, scripted? Yeah. I watched season three of the bear. So I love the bear, but I'm about four episodes into season three.

Okay, I loved season one and two. Season three is, I didn't love it as much, but the highs were very high. A little more artsy? Is that what it is this season? It was a little artsy. Like, you know, the first episode was very artsy, and I just wasn't really into it but there are other things later like you know there's one episode that i didn't like but then there's one episode where like it totally i was like wow that was fucking great i don't want to ruin anything

but the um yeah the script but i you know i this is a little different but i i watched this documentary uh like last week on netflix uh tell them you love me do you see that no which one's that i mean this is the kind of show i'm sure you do too as a podcast where it's like where you watch something and then you could talk about that forever like you're just you do like a two hours on it Oh, easily. And every person who you switch in that chair is going to have a different opinion. Right. And basically what it is is there's a guy who I'm sorry if I got this wrong.

I don't know if it's Down syndrome or cerebral palsy or what he has. And there's this thing called assisted or facilitated communication or assisted communication where these people who are nonverbal, somebody can help them and guide them on a keyboard. And then they could speak, you know, like Stephen Hawkins-esque. Yeah, sure. and so there's a professor so his his the person

the person with whatever he has him sorry down syndrome his brother is like a really smart guy in college I think it was Newark or whatever and his one of his professors starts talking about this she's a woman and again I might be getting some of these details wrong but I'm just trying to tell the story

quick and she so he she does a kind of bit on the facilitated communication and he goes oh my gosh My brother has that. I would love to see if you could maybe help him or whatever. And she could try it.

And she starts working with the brother. And all this, the brother, who never said a word in his life. I don't know, he's 20, 21, 22. He is fully communicating now through this woman to the family. And they're having this.

I mean, it's just crazy. And you're like, oh my God, this is so nuts. And then they're doing this for years. And they build this relationship. And the family's like,

it's amazing this. And then, one day she sits down with the family and she goes, we need to tell you something, but we've taken our relationship to the next step. And we're together.

And this woman is, I don't know how old, she's a professor in a college, she's married with children. Sorry, so wait, so how many parts of how many parts is one? Just one thing? It's two hours long. And this guy, I mean, you know, again, you don't want to be rude

and I don't want to make fun of somebody, but he's in bad shape. Right. You know, like they, they walked him into the court, because they got this, went to court after and everything. Oh, shit.

And they walk him into the courtroom. And instantly, people are like, gasping because they're like, oh my God, this woman, like, because some people believe that this woman raped. Right. This kid.

And then other people go, no, he was, they were communicating through this thing and he's in love with her. And he has this beautiful mind. It's, it's something that, there hasn't been something in this long where like, every dinner I have now,

I'm like, have you seen? I know it's fascinating. It's so interesting. What do they determine? Well, what happens is there's this professor who comes along and goes, when someone's doing facilitated communication with somebody, you show them both a picture of a cat and the person types out cat.

But if you show the person who has the cerebral palsy or whatever, a picture of a cat, and then you show the facilitator a picture of a dog, it types out dog. So they're saying that they think this, there are professors who think this whole facilitated communication thing is bullshit. Wow. But then there's questions that there's things that this the professor, the

woman who was sleeping with this guy eventually that she knew about him that there's no way to know if she wasn't doing the communication. Like she said to him what do you want us to call you? Like your family named you whatever, Dimitri and she goes what do you want us to call you? And he goes

D-man. And then his mom goes, oh my God, that's what his favorite counselor in camp called him D-man. So that was like he knew he wanted that nickname and he did book reports of books that she didn't read but he read and you're like wait I don't like at the end you're just like

I don't understand it's I love I get so worked up with that. I'm sure I know it's great. It's just you watch it and like I don't know because you're like if this woman is actually doing this and because the other thing is again I don't want to go against the family and what they decided but then you go because the family

once she said we're having sexual relations, they went on the board of this whole thing is bullshit. Yeah. So it's like, well, then why were you letting him go for years to this woman and do this communication if you thought it was bullshit? But again, and the other thing is with this woman,

she seems like an emotionally intelligent person. She's a professor, so obviously they had to do a lot of background research on her and they know she has a clean, and when she has a clean history, and when she's talking, she seems like a very normal person. Yeah, but that's always,

that can be deceiving, though, too. Oh, completely. And that's why you're sitting here and you're like, I don't, are these, like, you kind of land on like 90% you feel horrible. You feel horrible for this family either way, but like 90% that this family was very much so, you know, taking advantage of and this is a horrible thing. But then there's 10% where it's like, maybe this woman is just so kind and she fell in love with this guy's heart and this is really all inside of this guy. And we don't, and they should be together and they, you know, because here's the thing. And again, who fucking knows. If I had a brother who had cerebral palsy or whatever it is, and he was in this condition, and a woman came along and was like, I want to move in with him.

I love him and we're lovers and this. I'm like, it seems kind of great for him. Right. Like, I'd be like, this guy's killing it. Like, it's unreal. Like, I don't know. So you're just sitting there and you're going, I don't know what to, it's a phenomenal documentary. He probably got, if he took a shot, maybe he would have had, Andrea, if he had the thing.

But either way, dude, listen, it was an absolute. pleasure to have you on the show. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah. So it's the, obviously 25th year, which is insane to say 25 year anniversary. It's in 27 since we filmed the pilot. 27 years since we filmed the pilot. Yeah. Wow. All right. So again, it's really crazy. And then the podcast, not today, pal. Yeah, not today, pal. And you can find that where? Everywhere. Wherever you get podcasts and then we do the video version on YouTube. And it's on, it's you can just look up not today, pal, but also it's part of the your mom's house. network. So it's under their whole umbrella of stuff. And yeah. Well, there you go. So I told you.

We had Robert Eiler and I was excited to have him on the show. And make sure, not only do you check out Robert's show, hit the subscribe button here. We're on YouTube or on Spotify, around all that. Put your comments in there. Everything. So thanks for joining us here once again. For Robert Eiler and me, you're you. We'll see you later. Bye.