The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Actor Max Greenfield, Plus Life Advice

Episode Date: January 13, 2021

Russillo talks about Kyrie Irving missing some games for the Nets (9:00) before he is joined by actor Max Greenfield to discuss his career, including ‘The Big Short,' ‘New Girl,' and ‘The Neighborhood.' Ryen also asks some questions about working in Hollywood (15:00). Finally, Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (1:04:00). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

it's ryan rosillo podcast my name is ryan i'm the host uh excited about today because we have a different kind of guest and it's max greenfield actor uh you may know him from new girl also he was in the big short played one of the mortgage brokers who I loved his character in it. He's also in the neighborhood. So a lot of fun on this one. So we're looking forward to doing that little life advice. And we'll talk about hoops sort of at the top. Hey, life advice, Max Greenfield. And then as far as an open for this week, Simmons and I emptied the entire cabinet out NBA wisewise, so it's a little tough for the turnaround. So I'm going to do a big quarterback changeover thing on Friday.

And Bill and I, I think, went for two and a half hours. We also have Kyle checking in here. Kyle, people are worried about you. They're worried about the microphone setup. Is the microphone setup situated? Because we didn't touch on this ahead of time, but there's just a lot of Kyle fans out there, and they want to check in with you.

So where are we at right now, audio not not only is the microphone set up the office is set up which is just it's a night and day like I'm turning my camera on now in meetings you know it's uh it's uh it's goddamn incredible yeah Kyle's not a big he does not share video on zoom he does not want you I mean it was just like squalor for the longest time and now it's not so that's awesome yeah i saw a bedroom the other day just young guys bedrooms i forgot what that was like so i'm not being critical of any of it but i saw zoom all the time and everyone else shows their office i mean yours actually is the most modest that i've seen but most people are like yeah they got their corner set up they got. And then there's just like my dimly lit bedroom and there's a laundry room outside of my old place. So this is like, this is, this is awesome. I'm proud. That's great. Yeah. I wish maybe we could post

a picture of it. Can we post a picture of your office on my Twitter feed? Yeah. Yeah. Let me get the pictures on the wall and then we'll do it. That's good. Yeah. Yeah. Let's cause people are going to be excited about that. A lot of people are going to be excited. Yeah, yeah. Let me get the pictures on the wall and then we'll do it. That's good. Yeah, yeah. Let's, because people are going to be excited about that. A lot of people are going to be excited. Yeah, people freaked out about my setup here. They're really worried. They think I live in a jail cell. I know there's a joke there somewhere, but I don't.

I just, this is one of the rooms that we set up this way. Japanese minimalist over here. We don't like clutter. And I don't put up anything on the walls. I was so convinced the first house I moved into out here, I was like, I'm not going to be here long. And I didn't know which way I was going to go. You know, I was like, there's a pretty good chance you're going to be told you actually can't live in this house anymore.

And so I didn't put up anything. And I don't know what's going on with the renters. I mean, I guess I'd probably check in at some point and be like, are people just hanging up stuff at my house now? Because people like doing that. Kids like doing that, right? People like to hang up stuff they like are you not supposed to i'm actually one i guess i'm in an apartment but it's still like the same sort of tenant landlord situation like you'd be mad if people did like normal stuff i'm not necessarily saying

i'm looking for studs to hang a 50 pound mirror but like uh yeah that would be that would be problematic like if you're just putting in bolts into the wall to hang up some kind of stuff i mean i had i had another place that somebody was uh you know years ago when i was running out something and they like can we paint an accent wall i was like you can but i mean you realize like it's coming out of your deposit right i'm like yeah yeah and i actually you know wasn't wasn't harsh about it because i remember all the years with the security deposit and just going, I'm going to get screwed over on this. No matter what, when you're younger, the young ones out there, the old ones that live those days, you just know whatever your rent is and the first and last and all that stuff. It was an experience that I had. It was just like, oh, yeah, and we're losing the security deposit. And I'll be honest, if I'm being accountable here, which I think people have a hard time doing, I deserve to lose some of those security deposits early on. But the one that bothered me the most is we rented out a house on Martha's Vineyard. It was my first grown-up deal. We were doing a week there. Shocker, I wouldn't let my girlfriend and her

friends come. And it was like a guy's weekend. And that was, don't do that if you have a serious girlfriend. They're not thrilled when they find out like, no, hey. But I always wanted to do that. I always wanted to do a, you know, living there in the summer and going to high school there and have my family be from there. I go, I can't wait to one day have a house with my buddies and do the summer thing. And we couldn't do the summer thing because we were, you know, we were talking like mid-20s, maybe around that stage. And we rented out this house. It wasn't sick.

It did have a hot tub, NBD. And we made a deal where it was going to be like five or six guys. Like five or six guys got together and all the girlfriends got really pissed about it. I think there was even a wife in there with one of the other guys. And we didn't really, you know, we didn't throw a party. Look, I mean, we're getting after it. We're kidding. But we weren't out of control we were a little bit older there was a guy that i think was even 30

that was in the mix yeah actually there was a guy that was north of 30 but he's from europe and he smokes cigarettes but they're good for you i think if you're from europe so i'm not quite sure what the science is on that one but now we leave and then of course you get a call from the booking agent who does the summer rentals and she's like like, oh, the homeowner is in hysterics. I'm like, are you kidding? That's the nicest I've ever cleaned anything. I'm like, we didn't even go out the last two nights because guys were just defeated. And we actually wanted to leave early.

And she's like, no, you broke this couch. You broke this couch. And the frame is destroyed. Did you jump on it? And I'm like, no. That couch sucks. Nobody slept on it. Nobody wanted to deal with? And I'm like, no. That couch sucks. Nobody slept on it. Nobody wanted to deal with it.

It's a trick couch? Trick couch. Trick couch. So they had this thing where they could take the frame apart and then have the realtor look at it and be like, oh, it's split right down the middle. And then they would put it back together

and then take the next renter's deposit. And that was something people would do with these summer rental places. So I was naive to the ways of the security deposit so um yeah back to my place i mean i guess i i could probably put something up because the security deposit isn't really in play because i live here but i don't know i'm just i'm fussy about that that's another thing we had a text thread going the other day kyle maybe you can help us out with this too the growth in your wall art like where

you go from okay take down the conseco mark mcguire poster um i'm trying to think for you for younger people well iris is still too old for you but like okay what's the last athlete poster you had up kyle i've got a bunch of super bowl wins on like the the scene from the from the like the clock hitting zero uh it's a thing so i've got a couple of those ones still right yeah yeah still still okay right i mean you're still well how old are you again 27 i got 27 butler interception okay that's a good uh a frame there but what i'm telling you is your next place and i know you just moved but your next place you add a couple years years to that license, you're going to start thinking about frame stuff. And you're going to start saying, hey, do I really want Pat's posters up?

Now, if you want to ride it out until you're 45, all the respect in the world to you. All sorts of respect. Keep doing it. Maybe that's what I'll do. Maybe I'll just go backwards and start putting up some posters. I had a Wayman Tisdale one I really liked from Sports Illustrated when I was a kid. We had a lot of St. John's stuff back in the room. But then the first thing that I thought was mature

is I bought a Miles Davis kind of blue poster. And then I framed it, but I framed it not at like a frame place. I bought a frame that was close to fitting. Maybe it was from Ames. I'm not sure. Yeah. Like the frame cost 15 bucks and the poster cost more than seven.

So I was like, this is pretty nice. This is pretty nice. And then it's just, you know, if you're into jazz, you want people to know that you like jazz. I think that's half of liking jazz. And I'm like, this is going to be this is going to be tight. And then, of course, you hang it up in the frame, such a piece of shit that it's already bent and like hanging from the thumbtack that it's on. So it's not even lined up perfectly and it just looks stupid and it's not plexiglass. It's like thin, thin plastic. And that was the, I think the last thing I bought a couple of pieces,

but nothing, uh, nothing like that. Whatever I've bought now, I'm just like, okay, this is supposed to be nice and cool. And I'll see it on the walls and other rooms of your house. Not a ton, man. not a ton man not a ton i'm not gonna lie i hung up nothing at the other house nothing zero and so i have a couple pieces that are up but you know and i'll see something really nice and i'll go should i do that i'm like god it's so expensive i don't want to do that so there you go and i'm not you know trying to sound cool about it but there's some dudes out there that buy some art you'd be surprised about some of the guys and their art purchases and some of the stuff that they'll buy because they just start

making money where they're like yeah i guess i'm supposed to buy this stuff that's what happens with our i'm not in that world i don't know how it works i'm just telling you can't wait though one day who knows i don't know how i'm going to transition to the nba but yeah if you want all the nba stuff check out the simmons pod the other day but a lot of people were asking like how come you guys didn't say anything about kairi irving how come you two guys didn't say anything about Kyrie Irving um when it comes to the Kyrie topic I think there are two groups there are groups with sources that are reluctant to talk too much about it because we don't know where the end game is here we don't know where he's at mentally we don't know where he's at as far as what his goals are his goals

don't seem to be basketball at this time and until we know more about it like i'm not going to be comfortable just going i can't believe this guy's not showing up to work that's not defending him that's not defending him because i think there's another group that doesn't have sources that are trashing kairi or saying hey it's been a tough year if he needs a break he should be able to take a break like okay um i don't want to trash him on the podcast, but I'm definitely not going to also say, hey, whatever a person needs, he's a human being

because that's kind of ridiculous. You can be going through some stuff, but eventually your employer is going to go, hey, dude, you ever feel like showing up? So whether it's the video where he was a Drake, but we're not sure. And then a birthday party where it looked like there was a lot of people not social distancing and not wearing masks. And then the Zoom call one where his name was Kai with a progressive leader.

I don't know what any of this stuff means other than I'm not comfortable until we know of being very critical of him. Because I'm also not going to sit here and say, yeah, man, whatever he needs. That's cool. That's totally cool. But this was why so many Nets fans are like, oh, it's just bitter Boston fans. It's bitter Boston fans. Like, no. Boston's really not there anymore.

All right? That was the most unlikable team that I've watched. And I think most of you guys know I'm not super crazy Celtics guy anymore. But I still like the team. And I like being able to talk with my family and friends from back there about the team. And I like and care about a lot of people that work with the team or around the team, you know, that have been there a really long time. Like those people are people I've, I've known for, for a long time and have always been really cool to me. And that means a lot. So it does feel like kind of going home every now and then when I go back to a

game there, but the, the Kyrie part of it, um, it wasn't, it was never bitterness. It was just like, Hey,

you know, how long is this going to, how long is it going to go where it's smooth? And I think even the, the worst projections were, you know, probably be good for a year and then we'll see what happens to play. So they come up.

Sure. Is there going to be some turmoil there? And you have to, if you're Durant and you're being honest with yourself and you're talking to the people that are closest to you, you have to have some moments of being like, wait a minute, why did I do this? Why did I, did I really know what I was doing here? Like, did I, there was, he basically did an impulse buy of a teammate for the next three to four years which is really strange because i'm not saying like you know durant could have been upset about the steph's team steph's team well dude you went there after they won it was always going to be steph's team even though

you're the better player but to then go okay i'm gonna go ahead and do it on my own again after i got my rings there it's like all right fine i get it and i can understand things without agreeing but to then go all right kairi's the guy that i want to bank on um you know even if this is the part of it where the kairi story ends up becoming hey he's just not that into basketball or whatever and you're sympathetic to him which i think is still even a possibility but as far as the dedication and commitment to a team, I mean, that's still actually kind of important. That's still part of this process here. And I think that's the thing that I keep coming back to. Like, why would Durant have picked Kyrie of all the guys that he could have played with? This is what he did. And now here

we are. And we have no idea when the story is going to end. And I think some people are like, are just, you know, like, Hey, um, I think some people are like, are just, you know, like, hey, I think some people are worried about him, to be honest with you, more than they're even mad at him. So that's probably as comfortable as I am about talking about it. And, you know, I would hate to be in a position

where, you know, I'm just crushing him and I'm super negative about him. And, you know, we don't know. We don't know what's going on. So there's that. Again, check out the Simmons podcast from yesterday. I also did one with Chris Long and Big Cat from this week. So yesterday was a busy, busy day.

All right, let's do this. This is going to be really cool. Max Greenfield coming up. Our next guest, this is going to be a lot of fun. I'm excited about this one. It's Max Greenfield. You probably know him from New Girl, The Neighborhood. He plays one of the greatest all-time roles ever in the big short, the mortgage guy. I was like, does that guy exist? I was like, I don't know. I kind of felt bad. I was like, I think I like that guy. I was like, that's amazing. They got these real mortgage brokers in the movie. I'm like, McKay's amazing anyway. But no, that's not really who he is. Although I bet you some people wonder, you know, is successful as he let's do all that stuff let's do all that what's up man thanks a lot for doing this um look i can do 45 minutes on the big short if you want and the 12 lines that we added it

um i just we had a stretch where it was just like i want to vote and then you know other guys would be like you know i'm i'm a numbers guy you know you're just like what and it just it was perfect because i try to say on this podcast a lot especially like younger people where they'll go well what about this what if i go you know the big secret of life a lot of times is that you because you get a little bit older and you get a bit more aligned with like what it is you're pursuing you start to become less impressed with everything around you and you get a bit more aligned with like what it is you're pursuing, you start to become less impressed with everything around you. And you start to realize like a lot of this is just sort of bullshit. So you can pretend you're some hero and reject it, or you can just sort of figure out like how you fit in. And the mortgage part speaks to that perfectly because I had friends that were on the different sides of the financial world that would hate realtors and hate mortgage

people. Cause they're like, these fucking idiots are having a parade for themselves while all they're doing is scamming everybody. So you guys nailed the role. Well, it was ridiculous. It was a really funny story. First of all, I did more research on those three pages of that movie than I've done for any role that I've ever been in. Did you get to South Beach early and you were like, is there any mortgage convention I can hang out? I mean, at that point I was like, what's a mortgage? I just didn't understand that world at all. Okay.

So to read Michael Lewis's book and to read the script and to sort of like have a real understanding of what that dialogue was, was intense. And so we were sort of were asked to improv at points during that scene. And I was like, I can't go outside of what you've given us here. And I think, I was like, it's really well-written, man. Let's not go too far out.

And McKay at some point was like, talk about how you went to a Dave Matthews band concert. And I was like, talk about how you went to a Dave Matthews band concert. I was like, what has happened? McKay's just going like, let me check the douchebag list. He's the greatest, man. He's unbelievable. Yeah, right. First of all, they sent me that script and they were like, hey, Adam wants to meet you

for this movie. And I thought, does he know who I am? Does he have the wrong person? Because I thought there's no way. At that point, the cast was like Ryan Gosling and all these guys. And I was like, there's no way. I'm like, this is ridiculous. So then I took the time to read the script and the book, which for me was a heavy lift.

And then so I get in there and it was really exciting because to me, like one of the things I love so much about our industry, but anybody's industry is when you get a guy who's known for doing one thing, who then does something totally different. to really shift. And we all, and like everybody who knew Adam knew how brilliant he was. And to see him shift in this direction was really, really exciting. And the script was wonderful. And then I'm in his office, like I'm in the waiting room and they call me in. And I remember like thinking as I was about to go in, I was like, man, you know, I'm really excited about this. I'm going to express my excitement to him. And if he gives me like one of these yeah man thanks i'm like happy you enjoyed the script i was like i'm fucking quitting i was like i don't want to do this anymore this is dog shit everybody sucks so so i walk in and i was just like hey i this is really exciting i love this script i love what you're doing with it um and he like totally engaged and then for an hour

talked about how awesome and exciting it was and explained everything that i needed to know about it um and i originally was supposed to read for like one of carell's guys um because he has that crew yeah right right and they're all based on real people i i think to some degree yes they are yeah and having read like all those parts i was like you know i'm not really right for any one of these guys and at that point you're like you know who you're auditioning with you know like the pool of people or the pool of actors that exist. And you go, there's a lot of really good people, much better than me for these specific roles. So I go, I know you want me to read one of these guys. I'm not interested. I go, what, do you have anybody in mind for, and at that point,

they didn't even have names. It was just the color of their suits. And I was like, do you have anybody in mind for maroon and black? And they both started laughing. Everybody in the room starts laughing. And I was like, I got a real handle on these guys. I go, let me just, like, I don't know if you have the sides or anything. I don't know if you want me to read it, but if you give me a pair of Oakleys and let them put me on the, like, let me put them on the back of my head. I think like, like, just let them rest there. All I got to do is sort of read the dialogue. And then they got really excited and McKay started laughing and everybody in the room started having a good time. And then, you know, like a couple of weeks later, they were like, we'll see you in New Orleans. Wow. So you actually, all right. There's, I don't want to, this is exactly what you said. Like I'm almost thrown off here because now I'm so fascinated just about that part of it,

where there's more lines with all of those other roles, like Carell's whole crew with that fun. Like that's a, that's a recurring character. You have this moment, although you guys crush it in that moment, but you, I would almost think like actors, you'd be competitive and you'd be like, well, I don't want to just be a part, like I want a major role. I want one, like if I'm not going to be Carell or Gosling or whatever, I'm not going to be Bale. I can be in this other one that has more lines. You actually looked at the entire people and said, even though I'm here to read for

this, I don't even want to do that, but I want to be one of these mortgage brokers. Yeah. I mean, it's specifically with a movie like that. You're like, I just want to be in this movie. This movie is going to be great. I want to be a part of it. And I just knew that like, I'm like, I'm not going to get one of these, one of these, I'm not ripe for it. I think a lot of the times it's helpful to put yourself in the position you go, well, which I'll never be in which is if i were directing this movie and if i were directing the movie i wouldn't put me in any one of those roles

i go i might put me but i'm just surprised because no one would ever i'm just i would almost think you guys are so egotistical that you would never read the script and be like now i can't do that or i'm not right there like you're admitting to this this is the opposite of the athlete that every quarterback that got cut or every kid that didn't play in college is blaming some high school coach that fucked them over. And you're like, no, it's just not me. Like I couldn't, like you could have done one of those guys. And that, that surprises me. Yeah, I could have, but I, I, I, I probably could have done it. I don't think anyone would have let me do it. Right. So you knew you just, this gives me a better chance. Yeah. And I, and, and personally, I just thought, and if, look,

if there wasn't another role in there that I thought that I could really get a hook on or do, I would have happily read the, you know, the audition sides for one of those guys. But I was like, those guys I get. That was perfect. And here we are. I mean, I started the interview with it and I'm not even going to get to some of the other stuff that wasn't as clever as this. So I'm good. Good start. You're doing me a favor here. You mentioned quitting. And in the piece that I saw about your timeline is your career. Now you're 40 now. You're from upstate New York? Yeah. Okay. And, you know, when you look through it, it goes, okay, high school and then LA.

And then here you are before the new girl and you've admitted, I'm going to quit. So I don't know, is this a real packed your bags? I'm out of here. And then you get the new girl role of Schmidt. Or was there another tier of I'm going to quit? I mean, is this something you do? Or is this a reality where you go, hey, I'm heading back east? Well, there was never a head back East. My folks had moved from New York to LA when I was 18. I did a, I did a year in Wisconsin, uh, university.

So Madison, you were at Madison, Madison. Uh, we call that the forgotten year. Um, why? Because the place is so much fun or because you had i don't remember i don't remember right i don't remember the place is awesome i guess so you know you know i went back recently um we could do another 45 on uh on crossfit but i went back for the crossfit games because i have some friends there and I really wanted to see it. And because the last two years they've held it in Madison. And so I went there and it had been 20 years since I had my, the dark year. And I went back and I was like, man, I'm really curious to see like what this place looks like and what the perspective is now. And, uh, and I got there and I remember when I first got there as like an 18

year old kid, it was a freshman in college. I'm like, man, oh man, there's the Capitol building. This place is huge. This is so overwhelming. Look at all these people. I got there this time. I was like, it's two streets. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy i thought vermont was too big for me the first month i was there oh my god i'm like man i went to way too big of a school i'm like yeah i also was like man this place is really beautiful i i fucked up a real opportunity here so does wisconsin reach out to you because uvm no see wisconsin probably just has more bodies so they don't pay as much attention to it because ben affleck was at uvm the year before i got there and then he was like all right i'm out of here i don't need this um and it's freezing and they would kind of proudly

mention that affleck was a student there you're like he was here i don't even know if he made it a full year he might have been a semester and then goes and makes goodwill hunting and then i ran into him the first time i ever visited la i ran into him it was in a bathroom of a place and i was like oh hey man i went to uv he's like fuck yeah he's just like not interested dude that was your that was your opener i like hey man if i ever run into affleck you know i love all his movies i'm gonna i'm we're alumni. Mass, kids, UVM. I'm like, no, I have this great story about the theater department there. Hold on.

Tell J-Lo to hold on. J-Lo, we'll be right there. Ben. He just was great. UVM alum. What's his name again? Ryan. He went to UVM too. Oh, man. Hold on. Let's stop everything. It's such a loser move. going on man do you have a spec

do you have a script anything yeah like i've been kicking around this idea for a couple years let me just throw you what are you in hotmail so i i do have a story that i might tell you a little bit later about the business that i really want to share with you based on some of the research okay so there was never quitting there was never quitting to the sense of no i shouldn't say't say it that way. We had a dark year in Wisconsin. Dark year. Okay. That's good. Hey, it was only one year. That's pretty good. Really? Yeah, man. Congrats. Thanks. I appreciate it. Look, I think the good news, the positive outlook on it is that I didn't push it any further. Like I knew this was not the place for me. And by place, I meant college in general. And then I came out to LA where my parents now lived. And, uh, and I had

always sort of wanted to, to get into acting and it just felt like way more, uh, realistic, even though I was from New York, for whatever reason, it felt very far away there. And in LA, it felt like something that people were doing. And so I did that for, you know, auditioned into classes and nothing worked for quite a long time. Probably about a decade. And there were like little things here and there, but it just never clicked. And then my wife and I had our first child. And at that point, like, I just didn't want to be the guy who was like showing up to auditions with, you know, a car seat and being like, hey, I'm just going to put the baby down here.

So I was like, fuck this. I'm not doing this anymore. This all feels selfish. Like, I don't know what i'm chasing anymore let's try to figure something else out um there were i didn't have a plan b at all uh where people start to pitch you on like pharmaceuticals can be really good and you know if you start you didn't even have that no one no there was nobody i mean, with the dark year in Wisconsin, there was not a lot of people banging on my door like, you know, he's got some real assets.

I have a Wisconsin follow-up. Please remind me later, but keep going. I had a couple people in my life that really did not want me to quit acting. Sean Hayes and his partner from will and grace and his uh producing partner todd millner they had tried to put me in a couple different shows that they had made and it didn't work out and so they were really advocates of mine and i was trying to like get a writer's assistant job with them and at some point during that time the new girl audition had come up and it felt so far away and i really had mentally checked out at that point

and quit which worked to my advantage um because i had i was putting for the first time literally nothing on it and no it's amazing how often you'll hear stuff like that like once you remove the i know it's impossible to say hey person that has nothing going on right now remove all the pressure from your life but i always say like for the people that are on air at espn you never get great until you have that zen moment of i'm fucking good at this everybody out of my way like i'm just good and it's gonna work out and i'm not worried about it anymore the one thing about that audition i remember feeling wow this wow, this is really well-written. So I know I can, I know I can really dig in on this. And I also know not only do I not want to

do this anymore at acting, but I also will never get this. Zoe Deschanel was attached to it at that point who, you know, was a movie star and it was like, it movie star. And it was like all the cool kids. This woman, Liz Merriweather, had written the show, who had just done a big movie, who everybody was like, she's the next thing. And Jake Kasdan was directing it, who is the greatest. And he came from Undeclared and Freaks and Geeks. And had a bunch of great movies and I just was like, oh, there's no way

they're going to hire me for this. So there was zero pressure that I put on myself for this audition and then just went in and I kind of had a little bit of a fuck you attitude with it because I knew

I could do a really good job with it. And it was just one of those, you just have a good day okay but as i've heard the story told maybe from you is that you're you're fired up you're like all right i can nail this i love all the different parts and it's a really well written show it's perfectly like quirky but originally funny it's not like cliche layup sitcom stuff that we'll see in some other things, but then it has this, this ensemble that kind of plays off each other perfectly. Like it would be the goal of all of these, these comedies to have all these characters that work with each

other. Like, I like that it's goofy in the right parts and it kind of snakes back to like being something with a heart that actually feels a little bit more sincere. So you're right. It's, it's incredibly well-written. It's a really good idea concept. All of it works out great. a little bit more sincere. So you're right. It's, it's incredibly well-written. It's a really good idea concept. All of it works out great. But when you read for him, you felt like they weren't interested at all, right? No, I just, I put that on it myself. Okay. All right. Going in, I go, oh, well they'll, you know, they'll cast some known actor, you know, what some known TV actor who will come in and do a great job and whatever. Yeah. And I just didn't think I had the resume for it. And they're like, well, maybe I really, I didn't know. Did you not believe your agent though? When your agent was like, no,

they really liked you. Because I know that I had to like learn some of that. So the agent is never going to say, Hey, you suck. No, I have a good gauge on it. After I read, I felt really good. And you can feel the response in the room. And they were into it. And it felt like the right rhythm and tone. And I went, oh, okay. That went really well.

I don't know that I'll get it. But I hate that my hopes are up right now. And then they called and they said, and it's usually not like they really liked you. At that point, there are next steps. So you go in and they're like, okay, well now they want to test you and then they have to put a test deal in place.

And then you have to like audition again and again, you know, for studio and then network. And then eventually at some point, you hope you get a phone call that either lets you off the hook that goes, actually, they've hired somebody else or you got the job. Do you have different? Well, this was a different approach of the read because of the life situation altogether. I think those of us on the outside of it will hear about these stories like the Margot Robbie slapping DiCaprio in the face reading for Wolf of Wall Street. It's

like, oh, that was amazing. And then I can't imagine how many actresses are just around Hollywood slapping people left and right because you heard this story during a shitty audition. Yeah. Like the worst ever. You didn't have to fucking slap me in the, God. This is a Nickelodeon show. What are you doing? So after that, you have this incredible run. It's, it's, you know, it's just, it's, it's your moment, right? It's your early moment in your career where you probably are just thinking of yourself differently and the industry is looking at you differently. I mean, that has to be fair to say, right? of how the industry's looking at you. So I never really thought about it that way. The goal was always to be on a network TV show for me.

There wasn't anything grander than that. And as you get beat up over time, over a decade, you go from, I'm going to be in Good Will Hunting. We're going to write it. It's going to be great. And then slowly over time, you're like, okay to be in Good Will Hunting. You know, we're going to write it. It's going to be great. It's, you know, and then slowly over time, you're like, okay, maybe not Good Will Hunting, you know, we'll do this. And then by the end of it, you're like, man, I just,

can I be like the fucking eighth guy on CSI? Who's just as like, there was, you know, whatever. You can only see them on the DVD. Yeah. It was like for the widescreen. I had a fucking computer just like, you know, I checked the sample. They're negative. And you're like, no, it's a paycheck.

It's fine. You were really, really, your parents are telling you how believable it was. The samples were negative. So at that point, you're like, then so so new girl does really well and i felt like i had exceeded all expectations to such a degree um that i was i was so happy and and satisfied and and the game plan at that point was you're on a show this show is wonder it's a wonderful experience it it also happens to be really well respected and you know the people involved are point was you're on a show. This show is wonderful. It's a wonderful experience. It, it also happens to be really well-respected and you know, the people involved are great.

Try to, in your hiatuses, do stuff that like, even if it's two pages out of the big short, stuff you really feel passionately about and people that you really want to work with and people that you're going to learn from and just try to get into stuff like that. And that's sort of always been the goal for me and just enjoy it and keep learning and keep going. It's been really interesting. And, you know,

I started listening to, I want to say probably a little bit after, but I got really into, uh, NBA free agency right around the time when new girl was starting to end. We, We thought we were going to end in, after the sixth season. The network had come to the producers and said, listen, write a finale that you guys will be happy with if this is the end. And they informed us and let us know that season six might be the end. And we ended up doing season seven.

But, so during that time you sort of they gave us a runway to sort of prepare ourselves which you very rarely have which was a real gift of like okay well where do i want to go and how do i want to approach what i looked at as free agency so you didn't know if you wanted to be difficult, if it was market, you know? Well, yeah. I would like to see a guy demand a trade off of a show.

You're like season four. Yeah. Okay. Do you have any stories? Well, anytime you see somebody like, I guess the famous one, which is not, you know, like when Katherine Heigl is like,

I want off of Grey's Anatomy. It happens. And it's an aggressive play, man. Right, because I imagine studios, they're not going to forget that kind of stuff. You have to really, really be able to pull that off. People are not appreciative of that move, man. I don't know.

This podcast isn't a warning to the neighborhood, I hope. No, God, no. No way. But the difference is, you know, James Harden is potentially going somewhere where there's infrastructure and where he could make an immediate difference. And as an actor, you don't have that. You can't say, I'm going to leave this show and go to another show. I mean, I guess you could, but it would be ridiculous. I want to see somebody try it now, though, now that you've brought up the concept. I can't wait. I went off the neighborhood and I went on that new Ted Danson, the mayor show. What kind of leverage do I have there?

And by the way, there's a guy in the mayor right now being like, this is bullshit. Like, this is the best role I've ever had. Max Greenfield. Be like, look, I just can do your role better than you. And you're going to have to find shots elsewhere. No, because the mayor is like, Max is awesome. Sorry. They would just put me in. They would just put me to find a elsewhere no because the mayor's like max is awesome sorry they would just put me in they would just put me find a new place for me um but it really was like you know

do you want so as new girl was starting to end it became like well i know i'm going to get offered a bunch of stuff that's like you know schmidt from New Girl only as a dad. Yeah. What does that look like? And I knew I definitely knew that I wanted to stay in TV and I wanted to keep going because I like I like working. I like TV. Why do you like TV more than movies? I just I like the steadiness of it for you to only do movies right now, you're either a massive movie star or you're a different kind of dude. Like you're a real, it's a gypsy lifestyle. You're just moving around. Nothing's ever really set. It's a lot of instability. nothing's ever really set. It's a lot of instability. Um, and you know, I, I'm married. Uh, I have two kids. Um, there's a lot, there's a lot of responsibility there and I like a balanced lifestyle. So having some of that stability is good for me mentally. Um, and I, and I, and I like,

good for me mentally. Um, and I, and I, and I like, you know, I, to the, to the point that I'm able to feed into my ego. I like the fact that I know that I'm capable and good at this job and I can add to a set. And, you know, I heard, I heard your interview with, uh, I think you were talking to Jay Harrington? Yeah, yeah, from SWAT. Yeah, and you guys were talking about, you know, it's like, well, he goes and does the CBS show. And the question became like, well, you know, does money become a part of that conversation when you go to do a show like that? And for sure it does. when you go to do a show like that. And for sure it does. But the other part of that conversation is if I really believe that I'm added a value to this, which, you know, coming off a new girl,

I felt like I could be in the right situation. You're also then putting yourself in a position to give the network some real confidence in a show that they will then put money into. And then you're providing for or you're helping to provide for 150, 200 people who work on a set every day. And you're helping keeping them employed. And so that part I really like about it. That like, we're all sort of like, let's keep this going. Let's everybody have a fucking good attitude and have a good time. Like each week, we're so lucky to do this. And you know, the neighborhoods now we're in season three and we're doing well and we hope that it goes for a really long time.

But that's like, this has been the dream job for us because it really is. Like the multicam, I don't know if you know about the difference between multicam and single cam, but multicam is the greatest gig.

Why is it so much better? The hours are incredible and, you know, you're're probably most days you're sort of in there at nine out at because you're not reshooting the same stuff over and over again you rehearse all week and then you tape now with you know if you if you pre-tape an episode which we've been doing all year because of covid uh it takes two days And so for the most part, you know, at least before all this, I was taking my kids to school, going to work, maybe picking them up afterwards, getting to see, you know, my daughter's basketball game after work. It's like, it's, it's the best life. And when you're

doing new girl, you're like, I'm there at six30 in the morning and I'm home at, you know, 8.30. And you're like, man, I woke up before the kids got up and I'm home just as they're going down. And I'm like, do I go in the house? Because now it's going to rile them all up and my wife's going to be pissed because now they're all fired up and they're supposed to be going to bed

and she almost had them to bed. And you're like, fuck, man man this is a real tough one so when you were navigating because you actually segued into this perfectly because all right you're a real guy now you're going to be offered these roles you like tv and then anybody that it's an actor be like hey this cbs thing has money behind it like you said like we already kind of know what our season three and our season five is. For those who don't understand, the first thing that happens to you in television is, okay, cool idea, but what's season three? What's season five? When everybody starts making way more money. I mean, it's just the reality of the business and how all these things work out. Why do you pick

the neighborhood? What made you pick that and go, okay, this is the role that I want to play after New Girl? Yeah. So back to sort of what we were just talking about, it was like, okay, so do I play the dad or do I look for, and what I was looking for, which was, and which I really think is the only way to do specifically network television is a strong ensemble. And then like, let someone build a team and then come in and be like, yeah, I want to be on that team.

Um, and that's why I talked so much. That's why I thought so much about free agency, which is like, it reminded me so much of like Durant. Yeah. That's exactly what I was thinking about here. I mean, when Durant first went, my initial thought was, what?

And then as I sort of like found myself in this situation, because it's so funny when you're young and you see these guys and they're moving teams, you're like this, wait, what? And then you go crazy. And then you find yourself in a real situation where you're like, well, what do I want my life to look like? You know, I've been doing this for a really long time. I'm good at it.

Like, what do I want my life to look like? And I think you got Durant. I mean, this is me just, this is me pretending that I'm on your other podcast. But I'm like, you know, look, Russ, I love the guy. You know, he's a good dude. What I like ton of respect for him, but man, it's tough to play with. I just can't do it. And then I'm like, looking at this other situation, they got up in golden state,

man, those guys are having so much fun. It looks awesome. I want to be a part of that. Like I want to have fun again and I can play the way that I want to play. I want to do. And then all of a sudden he's like, yeah, this makes sense. Jerry West is talking to me. This is great. And then he ends up in Golden State. And for me, it was like, yeah, you know, you want to be in a place where your days are great and you're with people who are like-minded. And look, I was in a real unique situation where they had come to me on the neighborhood and they they had offered me the show and at that point um nobody else was attached and the show was about a white guy who moved into a black neighborhood and at that point all the people that involved were involved were all white albeit that it was Jimmy Burroughs was directing

who's you know the greatest but I was like you, you need to find some black people and be in this show. You don't need another white person. And then I heard they had gotten Cedric, the entertainer. And Cedric, funny enough, had done a show with Todd Milner and Sean Hayes, who I talked about earlier.

Yeah, yeah. So I knew them well. And they had worked with Cedric on Soul Man and loved him. And I'd always heard how great he was and how involved he was. So I knew how important he was going to be to the process. But I still was like, I don't know. I passed on this. I don't know.

And so, because they had come to me and offered it to me, I think two more times. And finally, they called me and they said, okay, we shot the pilot. We're going to pick it up. But we're going to replace the guy in it. And we're offering it to you one last time. And so I got to do something that an actor really never gets to do, which is I got to watch the pilot. And I got to see something that an actor really never gets to do, which is I got to watch the pilot. And I got to see everything that was there. And I got to see the sets and I got to see the wardrobe and I got to see the

cast and I got to see like what the feel of this thing was. And I went, Ooh, and I liked a lot of what I saw. And I liked, you know, Cedric, Cedric, Cedric,

I knew, and I knew how wonderful he was and he was great. They had to cast Tashina Arnold from Martin. Um, and, uh, everybody hates Chris and Tashina is lights out. She's so good.

And I went, Oh man. And their chemistry is so good together. And I was like, man, Cedric's kind of awesome. Every time he does something like, and not that this is breaking news to anybody, but I think there's a lot of comedians that once they go ahead and do like the sitcom role, it's sort of a struggle.

Or it's like, hey, I'm doing my standup routine around 22 minutes of other people trying to figure out how to play with me. And he just has a thing about him that I've always thought is really funny. And it actually works perfectly in a sitcom. Yeah. And he also is a producer on the show. So he's very involved in the storytelling and the writing. And so having that, I thought was instrumental to everything. And so when I met with those guys, I was like, Cedric, are you going to be involved? And he was

like, yeah, man. And I go, okay, great. Let's do it. And, but it really felt like, so he was the Curry and you were the Duran. Well, I never... The one thing that I knew going into that show, I was like, I'm the white guy on this show. There will be episodes where I'm just Urkel popping up from next door like, Hey! Oh, yeah.

No, no. There's definitely some truth to that. Anybody that's... Yeah. And I'll never get any credit for this show. Don't need it. And this show is so much about these relationships, but it really is, to me, that represented a black family.

Um, and that's on TV every week now. And it's awesome. Okay. So here's, here's something else that that i i wanted to touch on here um when you were talking about like figuring out dave in the neighborhood you were really descriptive you're like i wanted to be able to explore all these is that a rule that actors actresses have to make it sound way more complicated wait what was the question there isn't really much of a question here i'm making it i've noticed that whenever actors like i remember one time like you know when you're stuck in a hotel and you're like you turn the tv on and immediately goes the

advertisement for like all of the stuff you know it's like whatever movie and it's these long they're not even junkets but they sort of are it's like a big trail you turn on the hotel tv immediately it's advertising a movie, right? Yeah, it's Mario Lopez. Mario Lopez is telling you to buy some bracelets downstairs in the lobby. Good dude, by the way. Good boxer. Well, yeah, Carissa,

my good friend Carissa worked on Extra with him forever. So got all the Lopez stuff down. So then, you know, you'll be like, what's going on? And then there was an actress on one time. She's like, I just think that this movie speaks to the role of family in today's day in the dynamic of that it's nuclear and that it's challenging. But at the same time and like whatever, on and on and on. And I'm turning around and be like, holy shit, what movie is this? This is heavy. Like what's going on? And it was a movie about like a kangaroo being a pet. And so I thought, all right, you're really overselling that there a little bit. So I've noticed that actors that when they'll talk about roles, it's like, I wanted to be able to just inject my mind into the person.

And you're like, I don't know, man, like, well, that's why I say, like, look,

I was like, man, there's going to be some episodes where I'm just, I'm the white guy showing up from next door. Like I'm the punchline in all of this. And there we go. Yeah. It's going to be a lot of that.

And you know what? Great. Awesome. And like, and you know what what when i have to do those scenes there's not a lot of thought that goes through it it's just have fun and be there perfect see i i like that you know it'd be just great like the next one you have to do like what did you see in this role you're like it was going to be really easy like i was going to be able to just do this i'm not saying this one is but i feel like i feel like there's this there's an acceptance that i have to make this sound so complicated playing a role and everybody just sits back in awe and i just i've i had that epiphany that day in the hotel where i was like

they're talking about a kangaroo being a pet like this isn't that big of a deal yeah those are tough to do man all right last last couple things here there was a show i don't know if i want to do this because I know I'm not supposed to. My agents always get pissed at me whenever I like tell revealing stories about my pursuit of, you know, some of the stuff that I'm doing and moving out here. But there's a show that you were on very briefly. And I met with the showrunner to potentially write for the show. Well, you're a writer. Yeah. That's, you know, we know this is you're a Simmons listener. And Bill loves telling that joke over and over and over again. So my age. I honestly, your name is blocking the end of the pen. And I thought you were vaping for a second. No.

This guy's really loose. What's going on here? All right, man. No. So I don't know how much I want to, I might just tell you because fuck it. Because it was just a funny story. And it was like one of the first times I'd moved out here. And so, you know, the agents had gone over some of the pilots that I'd written in.

They were like, this is the strongest one that you have. Like, okay, look, this is your business. This is your world. If you think this is the strongest one, this is the strongest one. So they're like, there's a show that's going to be on soon. It did get picked up. And the showrunner wants to meet with you and we're going to just do a, you know, over the phone. All right. And I was like, yeah, all right, no problem. No problem. So I'm kind of like, this is interesting. You know, this is really interesting. Like I'll see

how this goes. And it's a little different for me because I'm very settled into the sports part of this. I actually didn't expect to be doing this, this much in sports once I moved out here, but I'm in a good spot. So I'm not going to complain about it. Everything's terrific on that sense, but it was not being 25 and hoping this is my big break. It was like, let me just kind of sit back and see what happens.

And this gets back to like sometimes revealing the, these industries and how you can be like, are you fucking serious? So we're going through it. And the guy's like, yeah, Hey, this is the show. And I was like, yep, yep. Got it. I was like, I got some of the going through it. And the guy's like, yeah, hey, this is the show. And I was like, yep, yep, got it.

I was like, I got some of the research on it. This is really interesting. We're going back and forth. And he's like, I read your stuff. Really funny, really funny. And I was like, oh, okay, cool. And he's like, all right, you know, we're going to go over this stuff. We're going to meet with the rest of the people, figure out how we're going to staff this show.

But we'll get back to you. The pilot I wrote was a drama about a company offering an alternative to suicide. It was the least funny thing I'd ever like. It's not even, there's not one joke in any of the 60 fucking pages. And I'm sitting here on this conference call with a guy trying to talk about like how or what I would or wouldn't bring with a non-traditional background or writer's room. And he's like, you're really funny man really funny i didn't i haven't written anything funny nothing like there's there's nothing that i've been writing that's ever been funny and i just was like this is perfect like welcome to town you know we should do a special

episode of your podcast where we have a reading of that suicide show we're trying to make it funny or now or whatever we'll just let the words speak for it we'll like let the words do the work and we'll cast it up and it'll be wonderful and i think you know maybe it has a second life no yeah if zoe wants to just jump on the zoom i'll call her right now let her know yeah is it a female lead uh the female leads the best character i'll let her know there you go perfect um was there anything else that you wanted to talk about? Because this is great. I have a couple of questions.

Okay, perfect. I've gotten the sense throughout this entire thing that you kind of want it. You have directions that you want to explore. So go ahead. I, I didn't know. I did no prep.

Um, I, I tried to do some prep and then I said, this is a waste of time. I can't do it. My brain doesn't work this way. Uh, this is also for Kyle. I actually

have two questions that sort of involve Kyle. The first one is, SportsCenter on Instagram puts up these highlight clips or whatever. On skates. Yeah. And so some of them are funny and some of them are sport, whatever. So there's one where there's a guy during a Celtics game and he's dancing in the audience to some Bon Jovi song and really takes it to an 11. The skinny kid. And then he runs down the aisle. Yeah. Dad in the bottom.

I don't think Dr. Bill seats are up there. Yeah, that was him. Oh, the bottom. I don't think Dr. Bill seats are up there. Yeah, that was him. Oh, it is. Right. Yeah. You can see him there. Oh, my gosh. It's incredible, man.

I watched it and I went, that's who is that? And his the look on his face. It's like it goes from. I don't know what this is going on, but I understand why it's amusing, to then, if he comes any closer, we might have to do something. And it really, I like, because they repost a lot of stuff. And the second time I watched it, I went, oh, yeah, there you go. Anyway, now that I have confirmation, I feel happy. The other question, uh, I w when I was listening to,

I remember listening to you guys and there was talk like Kyle had fallen off a lime scooter. Did you have a scooter accident? Yeah, I have a car now, it was uh yeah i did i broke my pinky actually on my way to work okay good i didn't i didn't i didn't it was good just a confirmation of the story you mean or that he got hurt no no i was confirmation of the story also that he has a car which is important um but that story sort of like lingered like the Russians and Sopranos. It just never, it was like, Oh, Kyle got into a big accident. That was your own personal Pine Barrens with Kyle. I thought about it once a week. I was like, we're never going to revisit this.

What was the extent of the accident? That is brilliant. By the way that you connected it to that Soprano. So like, when is that guy showing back up it's been four years what's going on kyle do you have anything to add i didn't know i don't i know that there's a bon jovi one there's an older one kyle are there different bon jovi ones because i thought there was another one that was towards the balcony and freaking out um i didn't know that dr bill was was in that one or it's it's he worked his way all the way down he started up yeah he worked his way down uh okay because dr

bill's almost center court there just a few rows up like eight or eight well maybe i shouldn't give out exact seat location in case well you can find it on this video. Yeah. Maybe you cut this out. No, no, that's fine. We keep the mistakes in. Yeah, man, this was awesome. Again, I'm such a big fan. I thought, was the plan always for you to get your own pod? With Bill?

Yeah. You know, the plan, when I left ESPN, I didn't even think i'd resign there and then i resigned once i moved here so i was like all right and then there was a chance that i was still going to stay and then do both and then you know bill was like let's just figure something out here and it's really i've been lucky you know it's it's worked out but i moved out here to pursue the other stuff that we were talking about i mean that's been the goal since day one. I know. But I think, one, the plans never work.

Yeah, right. I mean, the plan's gone well, not working so far. Yeah. I'm lucky. I thought the way that you were rolled out on that show into this show was so well done. I remember at one point you were like, you did, I think you were doing Stephen A's show and it was like the Talking Heads thing. And at that point, I had gotten to know you so well from Simmons' show and was like, this guy's fucking hilarious. And then watched you jump in to the talking heads thing. And I was like, oh, these guys don't get it.

What are they? Well, it's tough to go on. I'm not even knocking on the guy because I've always got along with Stephen A and Max. But when you go on, it was not a knock on them. I was just like, it felt so uncomfortable for me because I was watching it. I know which one it was too. Because it was like the last time I was on. And I was like, are you guys serious?

And then I just sort of went. Because when you go on, one guy goes five minutes and then the other guy goes five minutes. And I said to the producer one time, I go, I don't give a shit if it's me. I go, but when you have Snoop Dogg as a fucking guest, it's weird when the show starts with two five minute monologues from the guys. And then there's like a really important guy sitting there for 12 fucking minutes. Like, that's kind of weird, don't you think? And then they took it as me complaining about my situation. I was like, no, my point is simply like, it's a weird dynamic that like those guys have a million other segments where they go back and forth. dynamic that like those guys have a million other segments where they go back and forth i mean you know they'd be like all right we you know president-elect biden here but like all right the first thing about this buck's bench and biden would just be sitting there and then kellerman would say you know i think it's great kairi you know if kairi doesn't want to play this season i'm on team kairi's side and then they'd be like okay joe biden's here and he'd be sitting there

and be like they have to wake him up. So it had to have been that episode because there was one specific episode where a bunch of people reach out to me after the fact. They were like, you were awesome, but no one else got what you did. And I was like, yeah, whatever. I'm like, you know, I'm just, I've been here 13, 14 years. It's not a big deal. Well, just you in long form.

a big deal well just you in long form and it was again the transition was really great because you was the number you planned to to bill allowed you to be the punchline guy and i mean just i could listen to you referencing laurie markenden into some sort of game of thrones reference i mean literally thrown corner was was really popular it was it was popular so yeah and then and then now you have in your own pot it was like okay well now i gotta transition into ryan doing lead on this and it's been really fun man and i think like you have some runs on that show on your show on this show where you know look i know you're a writer but yes man you transition some of those monologues into whatever story you're telling any actor would be like i don't care what this show is

if i get to do that monologue i'm'm in. Wow. That means a lot, man. I have a big smile on my face. Cause that's just a very specific thing. And it's, it's, you know what I mean? There's compliments.

And that's such a specific thing. Yeah. You should write a show about the college football playoffs. Yeah. But what's season three Alabama's in it again. You're like, yeah, it's just Alabama.

Let's, let's, let's check it again, man. Let's just Alabama. Let's check it again, man. Let's do this again at some point. All right. I would love to. Whenever you want, man. All right. Thanks, Max. All right.

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Uh, oh, that was funny. You seem, oh, appreciate you being a cool and relatable guy, as well as your masterful use of the word fuck. I do swear a lot. Um, it's weird because I wouldn't say like, hey, it's fuck. I do swear a lot.

It's weird because I wouldn't say like, hey, it's cool. I don't know what happened. I used to never and then I did. I think working in the service industry, bartending, waiting chefs, it just rules that you have to start swearing all the time. As far as being on the air, I don't want to jinx myself

here, but at ESPN, it never once... I think there was one time I almost said shit. I think I almost said it. Oh, you know what it was? We started into the Boston accent thing Van Pelt and I used to do. And whenever I got into that, all I could do was swear. And so I almost did it live where I was about to say something. And then I was like, oh my God, I almost just swore in the air. But the difference is, is, okay, say you're a guy and you're meeting a girl's parents. You don't walk into the house, be like, this place is fucking sweet. You know, like I would imagine enough of you have some self-register that you figure that out. And that's kind of the way it works on the air.

But when I first, first started, I was actually kind of nervous about it. I was like, what if I, what if I swear? But now I've been dropping in a few here and there. I didn't mean to, I wasn't like I wanted to, but I think every now and then just to make your point, you have to say, fuck, I strongly believe that. So I, I'm sorry for some of the people with kids that have people in the car. I've got a few complaints. I get it. But, um, you know, just trying to be me, man. It loosens the guests up sometimes on air. Like sometimes I'll be like, oh, am I allowed to say fuck you? Like, it's cool.

And they're like, all right, all right, you're cool. I'm cool. I think I did it a little bit too much at the beginning, but I wasn't doing it to be like, oh, I'm so free now. Now I can swear like I finally reached my lifelong goal of being able to swear in the air. But to never do it. I mean, I could do a whole podcast without doing it. But I think especially in the life advice ones, you have to kind of do it so uh to hammer the point i remember um julia louis dryfus right elaine seinfeld um deep also aka veep she was doing i think the

larry david special and the idea was that all of a sudden they were going to do some show for hbo it was like a whole spoof and the fact that the show was already on hbo i don't know if it was curb or if i don't know it was that larry david special that was kind of like the beginning of curb and elaine shows up and they're pitching her a show and it's like what's what's the new show going to be elaine the real character louise drives was like i just want to say fuck and it was really funny i always thought that was that was hysterical the way she did that all right so anyway okay here's the deal our guy 27 live in austin recently just ended a four-year relationship no hard feelings nothing messy we just grew apart and realized we weren't right for each other we met early on in our move out to austin spent most

of our time together so we didn't exactly reach out make a ton of other friends along the way how do you make friends at 27 anyway question for for another day, I guess. Exactly. I agree with you. When I see friends of mine, I think guys have a much harder time with it than women do. But you move to a new town and you're like, what am I just going to be like

friends with this guy now? We're 40. I know when you have kids, you kind of have these situations where maybe you meet great new friends because they're parents of your daughter's best friend and that kind of stuff. And then there's a lot of stress in that though. Because it's like, Hey, look, our kids are going to be

in school together for a long time. And if you guys suck, I don't want to pretend like we're going to be buddies the whole time. So that's, that's a really dicey thing. College, you just ignore dudes or you just move away after college. But then it's weird. Cause then you're friends with somebody new at 40 and you're like, this guy doesn't really know anything about me. How weird does this guy get at 40? You know? And then if he gets too weird, you're like, that's too weird for me. I'm 40. Um, I personally always feel like eventually somebody's going to ask me for a big favor. So I'm like, eh, I don't want to do that. I've not done a good job in my life making new friends in new places. Really bad at it, actually. All right. So I

hear you on that one. That's not what you're calling about. We live together and don't have our separate ways to go. Okay. don't have our separate ways to go. Plus, the financial convenience of living together seems worth capitalizing on. We agreed to stay friends, classic, and had a long talk about living together, how it didn't have to be weird as long as we were both honest when we needed space or how we were feeling about everything. Sex wasn't the highlight of our time together. Okay, so I'm looking to make up for lost time in a city full of beautiful women. Started ramping up workouts, dieting, and signed up for one of those

wardrobe box subscriptions. This guy is back in a big way. Texas is back. This guy is back. Basically getting back into game shape. I obviously can't bring girls to the house and do the old sock on the door routine. Gal knows what that's about. I don't see a way to text and say,

quote, can you feed my dog? I won't be home tonight. The struggle is wanting to be considerate of her feelings, but wanting to get out there and knock some boots. What advice do you have for a newly single guy living with his ex? My advice would be fucking move. Are you kidding?

This is the worst. Why, why do people do this? Yes, I understand the financial convenience. Be less convenient about your situation. Inconvenience yourself. This is, you know, I get it. You're worried you know, but this is going to suck. This is going to suck. This isn't going to work. All right. And it sounds like you're way over it.

You could say she's one of it. One of you is less over it than the other one. Okay. Those are the rules. And the other part of this that's actually kind of fucked up is all right. So we broke up and now you're going to start, it's going to be hot girl summer for you, you know, ramping up workouts, dieting, signed up for a virtual box subscription. You're like, Hey, do you mind checking out this V-neck? Look at this cardigan.

I'm going to rock. Yeah. I didn't want to wear any of this stuff. I didn't work out when we were together. I didn't diet, but man, I'm single and I'm going to look awesome now. And you're going to see it all because you're living with me. There is going to be a moment where this is going to be bad. Okay. There is going to be a moment. If you are both mature enough where you can bring someone home and have that girl stay over while your ex-girlfriend is living there, then you guys are the most mature weirdos ever. We're going to raise their kids. He's not allowed to watch TV until he's 18. And whenever anybody comes and visits your kid, your kid's going to be talking circles around him because he's a genius. So I already know what's going on. If you actually are the couple that is mature and you're an ex

couple mature enough to pull this off, then you need a TV show. You need to be writing books about being mature. I could never do this and not even like the girl. Okay. I wouldn't ever want to do this ever that I'm making that very, very clear, but she's going to get pissed at you or you're going to get pissed at her at some point, or maybe you're not,

maybe you're not, but then you still have already pointed out all the inconveniences. So the fact that you're like, Hey, I can't really texture this, or I can't do this deal. Um, I don't know, man, even if you think you guys are totally on the same page, you probably aren't. Even if you are that mature and there is nothing, there's 0% feelings about the other person whatsoever. Here's the other part though. Every girl that you're going to want to bring home, even if it's cool. Okay. Even if it's worked out, this new girl likes you. The, the old one is, is living there and she's paying half her bills and she's not ordering too

many movies and she's nice enough to maybe get sushi and offer you some, all that stuff's cool. The new girls that you're going to be meeting are going to be like, are you fucking nuts? You live with your ex like this. And every one of those girls is going to be meeting are gonna be like are you fucking nuts you live with your ex like this and every one of those girls is gonna go this is awkward and then they're gonna tell their friends be like i don't know what the deal is and then her friends are gonna tell the new girl fuck that guy like he's still living with his ex-girlfriend so yeah man i hope you're month to month on that yeah zillow my advice to you is zillow.com if your situation is like the plot of a sitcom you should probably get out of it there you go exactly kyle what sitcom did that most remind you of i don't know it just seemed like something that i would see a preview for

towards the end of a football game or something yeah now it does coming up coming up this Thursday the new hit sitcom messing with Texas that sounded like a genuine laugh I just made that up on the spot because I'm a writer that's why I stick around. Thanks, bud. Okay, we have a work one here. This one's difficult. Hey, guys, get right to it.

I've been working in the same publishing company since I graduated college in 2000, so 20 years in. Risen through the ranks. I'm now the GM and right-hand man of my boss who owns the company. I love my job. I get paid well enough for what I do. This isn't a field you get rich in, but he does have the autonomy to come and go as he pleases. Since my boss knows I will get all my work done. I get days off when I want, show up when I want, leave when I want. You get the idea. It's pretty cushy. Um, the problem is my boss's son. So that's great. You know, I was, I was, even though the construction thing was, uh, it was not the easiest thing. I did like working outside and I was fine with it. And if I'd had a career as a GC, I would have been happy. I would have been totally content with it. I would have liked it, actually.

I've thought about doing it on the side now. But what I loved about it, the part that I leave out, because whenever I tell the construction stuff, I make it sound like it's a sad. And it wasn't. I made good money. I liked being outside, learned some skills. But did want to get a truck with a sick lumber rack, but I couldn't afford it. Still kind of want one.

Don't have a ton of lumber to haul around though. So it seems a tad excessive. Probably still do it though. The being able to, Hey, I need tomorrow off or, you know, I mean, look, if it's a big project and they're, they're putting up, you know, a beam, you gotta be there, but you get the point like, Hey dad, you know, I'm out. I'm going away, going to Red Sox game or something like that. There's some real joy in the autonomous career path if you can find a way to do it. Okay. So that's not really what this is about.

Several years ago, my boss hired his son and his son's wife to work for the company. Neither had any experience in publishing in the fields they were hired to work in. But for a part, the wife's actually become a very valuable employee and deserves every penny she makes. The son is another story. I resented him almost immediately because he was being paid nearly what it took me 20 years to start making. That sucks, but it's the owner's son. So you already know that. I could live with it if he actually earned that pay. In the time he's worked here, if anything, he's regressed. He's begun refusing work projects, always claiming he's too busy. It's a running joke around the office now because everyone knows he does the least amount of work here and it's not even close. This has started to affect me because when he refuses work, my boss assigns it to me. In fact,

there was one job the son was supposed to do, kept putting it off. He works graphic design. I was in the office at the time, but when my boss approached him about the job for the third time, the son blew up and threw a fit and even cursed his dad who again is my boss anyone else does that they're fired on the spot yes yeah i mean the fact you're even asking me these questions um you already know the answer to these right okay so kid yeah he didn't fire his kid shocker all right get back to the office my boss told me that his son was vehement he wasn't going to do the job and my boss had hoped um that i would be able to find the time to do it i learned later about the blow up from other co-workers this finally set me off and i explained to my boss had hoped that I would be able to find the time to do it. I learned later about the blow up from other coworkers.

This finally set me off and I explained to my boss that I was also very busy and didn't have time to do his son's work all the time. The boss told me that his son was having emotional problems. It gets pretty heavy here. He said he hates the job and gave me a bunch more excuses as to why his son shouldn't have to do this work. As you can see, I have a lot going on here. The father backed the son even though the son yelled at his dad in front of coworkers,

and he's just hoping you get the project done. So our man says, this is going to sound very conceited, but if I didn't work here, the place would collapse. I do most of the work. I do things nobody else even knows or cares to learn how to do. I do other smaller things around here. My boss probably doesn't even know I do. Every employee who's come here to work here or left since my boss hired his son always says the same thing about him. He's lazy. I asked my boss why his son doesn't quit if he's so miserable here. And he says, um, he doesn't have anywhere else to go. He would just be miserable anywhere he worked, et cetera. I think the truth is he knows he could do next to no work and ride dad's course. He knows he stays there because he can get away with doing this because he couldn't do it anywhere else it's exactly like you already know all these things you're smart

he's clearly never going to fire him no matter what he does if i'm going to do the work of two people i want to be paid like two people i also don't enjoy the inference that i sit on my thumb all day because apparently people can just pile an endless amount of work on me as if i'm not busy it's like i'm punished for being efficient and good at my job. I'm also worried about me and my coworkers' safety. I've long thought there was something off about his son and his blowups and mannerisms make me think I'm onto something. He doesn't talk to anybody but himself. You try to engage him, you get one word answers or no answer at all. I don't want to quit this job and I don't think the son is ever going to leave. I know there's lots of work out there. What do you think? Okay, well, it sounds like you're going to find a new job.

It's cool that you get days off, but what about all the other days you're there and it sucks? So it's the nepotism thing. This is beyond nepotism. We've talked about nepotism before in this spot, but the kid isn't going anywhere the father is bought in um totally that you know he cares like there's a there's an element of the father-son here thing that i don't know that you maybe you get or maybe you don't get but if the son is having some problems even with the wife and he thinks this is the best way to cover for him like clearly the dad cares more about his son than all of his employees

situation. Like if this kid just is a daily deal where he sucks all the time, he has prioritized trying to make his son not even happy, but just baseline content. It doesn't even sound like he's content. That is what he's prioritizing. And so you can do one or two things. I mean,

you can, you can go to the boss again. Like, look, even if he paid you more, is that really a solution to it? Because it's going to be great when you get that money and you're going to think, oh, this is awesome. I'm getting a little bit of money. And then it all just sort of goes away because as soon as you're getting paid, whatever you're getting paid, you never have a moment where you're getting paid where you're like, you know what? I'm getting paid too much. Like, this is great.

We can pay too much. I don't deserve this. I mean, look, there's always exceptions, but a lot of times you'll just start thinking, okay, now I'm being paid the money that I'm owed. And then you're going to start at zero again because you're just going to be mad about the kid. You're going to be mad about the kid and all of these things because the money eventually, it's not going to matter to you. You're not going to be sitting there every two weeks looking at the direct deposit going, I'm mad at the kid. I'm mad at the kid. I can't believe this dad. I can't believe he's doing this with the son. He's like, oh, hey, look at my direct deposit. You're just going to get numb to the direct deposit going, I'm mad at the kid. I'm mad at the kid. I can't believe this dad. I can't believe he's doing this with the Sundays. Oh,

Hey, look at my direct deposit. You're just going to get numb to the direct deposit and you're going to feel good about it. So even if the boss gives you this raise, it doesn't solve your bigger problem here. So, um, you know, or you're just going to have to suck it up, but you don't want to, you clearly don't want to. So I would go to the boss again and say, Hey, I'm out of here. I'm out of here, but don't do it until you have something else lined up. That's what I would do. I would work on, um, you can start saying no to some stuff too. I mean, that's always, that's always weird. How many people have, you know, people listening now that have been at the workplace and the first time you're like, yeah, actually I don't have time for that because people will take advantage of you.

People are taking advantage of you. You're letting it happen. They're dumping all these extra projects on you and you've said yes to them so start saying no to a bunch of them just go hey no no not like maybe no just straight up yeah i can't do it not doing it don't put it on my desk i don't want to deal with this but i would put i would do a little me time once a week where you start exploring other opportunities because if you are this good at this and you've been at the same place for 20 years in an industry that sounds like there's probably not a ton of people entering this workforce, I don't know if that's the case or not. You may be incredibly more valuable. And instead of all of this stuff being a negative, you're like, thank God that kid shows up because now it forces me to be motivated to get the fuck out of there. And look at this. Now I found an

even better working situation. So the extra money is not, it's not even temporary to solving this problem because it doesn't solve the fundamental problem with the kid works there. The kid's still there. You're going to hate it. And it's not going to matter how much money you're making. Life advice, RR at gmail.com.

Okay. Big football pod coming up on Friday, Chris Long, Friday, Chris Long, Friday, finally doing it this season. And make sure you subscribe.

Tell your friends. And again, the basketball part, check it out with Bill and I from this week. Thanks. Thank you.