The Three Questions with Andy Richter - Dave Franco

Episode Date: August 5, 2025

Actor Dave Franco joins Andy Richter to discuss working with his wife, Alison Brie, on their new film "Together;" how the project prompted them to examine their own relationship; how Andy and Conan’s working relationship resembled a marriage; why body horror is often surprisingly comedic; the “Funny or Die” video that changes Dave’s career; and more.Do you want to talk to Andy live on SiriusXM’s Conan O’Brien Radio? Tell us your favorite dinner party story (about anything!) - leave a voicemail at 855-266-2604 or fill out our Google Form at BIT.LY/CALLANDYRICHTERListen to "The Andy Richter Call-In Show" every Wednesday at 1pm Pacific on SiriusXM's Conan O'Brien Channel.

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to The Three Questions. I'm your host, Andy Richter. And today I'm talking to Dave Franco. Dave is an actor and filmmaker. You've seen him in films like 21 Jump Street, Neighbors, Now You See Me, The Disaster Artist, and a lot more. He wrote and directed the films The Rental and Somebody I Used to Know,

and he's starring in the new body horror film together with his wife, Alison Brie. We had a great talk. Here's my conversation with Dave Franco. starring in the new body horror film together with his wife, Alison Brie. We had a great talk. Here's my conversation with Dave Franco. ["Can't You Tell My Love Is You"] All right, hello, Dave. Hey, how are you, man?

I'm good, I'm good. I'm glad you could do this, glad I could see you. And I have to tell you, right off the bat, because you're here promoting a movie that you and your wife did. Together. You did a movie together and it's called... And it's called Together. Together. And I only have seen the trailer and it looks really, it looks like it's got some good body horror.

There we go. Yeah, yeah. And I always love that. Do you really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Where it kind of goes into like, I don't know why they call it like hyper realism. Like when shit gets, like it's all very, you know,

it's like played straight, but it gets all very, you know, it's like played straight but it gets real weird. You know what I mean? That's all very accurate. Yes. Yeah. I mean, our director, our writer director, he's the first time we're out of Australia and he, one of his favorite movies is The Thing. And so that's, that's a huge inspiration, but it's actually, it's rare to meet a body horror fan on this press tour. And I'm happy that it's up your alley. Yeah, that's good. Why are people like, have people seen the movie and they're like off put by it?

No, you know, it's just like with horror and especially body horror, I feel like it's very divisive where you're either all about it or you're like, I'd rather, there's literally nothing I'd rather do less. Yeah. But I'm curious, like which, which movies do you think of when you think of the genre? Oh, well, like David Cronenborg, exactly. You know, scanners. Oh, and then there was that, can't remember Herschel Gordon Lewis. Was that his name?

I don't know. That did like there was he did like a bunch of like, like he was just like one of those great pulp directors where like he did one movie in like a location and then was like, hey, we got the location for another week. Let's shoot an entire another feature. You know, like I think there's like a movie called Dolls. That's just, you know, about creepy dolls that come to life. And that was just tacked on to something else

that there's peppy people out screaming at the podcast machine, yelling the name of the movies. But they're, reanimator, reanimator. Oh, reanimator, of course. Yeah, yeah. Of course. But there's just one where like the pineal gland comes out of somebody's head. You gotta love it. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Do you know roughly what ours is about? Well, I know that it's about co-dependence then becoming physicalized. Yes. So basically, we play a co-dependent couple who gets infected with something that makes it so that when we're apart from each other, we start to feel sick. So we need to be near each other at all points. And then it starts escalating to the point where we actually start fusing together and then just all chaos ensues.

But like you said, it's like, when you're playing with body horror, what we did with this one and what's really fun to do is to play everything as straight and as real as possible. And so you're in the most bizarre, insane scenarios where our bodies are fusing, but we are reacting as you actually would if that was happening. And because of that, it hopefully adds this extra layer of humor. So I don't think they've fully promoted the humorous side of the movie quite yet, but it's definitely pretty funny throughout.

Yeah. Yeah. No, I mean, I like horror movies, but I'm so often let down by horror movies. I get that. And there are so many nowadays too that are, nowadays says the old man, that are way too violence porny. Like the whole Saw school of... I wasn't into it.

It just really seemed like violence for violence sake. Yeah, for what it's worth. I love it all. I love it all. I like the nasty shit. I like the more classic tasteful stuff like Rosemary's Baby or The Shining or whatnot. But have you seen some of these other modern classics like It Follows or Hereditary? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, Hereditary. Well, like Ari Aster, Midsommar I would classify as a body horror movie. I love that movie.

Yeah, it's fantastic. And yeah, no, but I mean, I just, I do like, to get back to your point about playing things naturalistically, that's one thing that really does bother me in horror movies is when like, whatever's happening, you know, like there's a werewolf or, you know, or the house is turning against you and the people who are like, I can't believe this is happening. It's just,

it's so like, no, you get maybe one scene of that and then you got to get right into like, no, there's a fucking werewolf. Look, you know, I'm with you. I'm with you. And I think, I think that's honestly kind of how I approach everything I do, no matter what genre I'm in. And I guess I think about if I'm in a comedy, I've never really been the guy who comes in and is throwing out a million jokes. I think I excel when you put me in a really bizarre scenario and outplay it as real as possible. So again, it's just like that's how I approach anything regardless of the genre. Yeah. Now I do because, you know, having, you know, I've been married twice and three times

if you count Conan. I count it. Conan. I count it. But I think like working with your spouse is a potentially dangerous thing to do. Yeah, I don't disagree. Did you guys have to deal with that? You know, for whatever reason, it just works. Yeah. I, you know, and we've worked together in all capacities. We've acted together, I've directed her, we've written together. And I will say the writing is the most difficult. I get to understand it because there you're talking about ideas and things that are intangible. And then you're going to have arguments over which intangible thing you should go with. Yeah you're starting with this blank page where you can literally go in any direction you want and so inevitably you're going to disagree about things. Yeah. But like you know when I'm directing

her she's such a great actress that she just makes my job easy. And we really do share a brain. And so if I ever do have a note for her, typically what happens is I'll walk over to her from behind the monitors. And before I even say anything, she'll be like, I know, I got it. I got it. Go back, go back. Yeah. So that's so fun.

And then acting together, we've done it a few times, but never quite to this level in our new film. And it was incredible. For many reasons. First off, we know each other so well that we can't be fake in front of each other. And so that almost makes us raise our game where it's like, okay, I know if I have a false moment, she's going to see it, she's going to call me out on it. But then on top of that, it's like, it's just easy because of the comfort level and because

we're just able to be so loose with one another. And I feel like I've been pretty lucky for most of my career where I've been able to work with her and my brother and close friends. And whenever you're in that situation, it's like you just feel comfortable to take risks my career where I've been able to work with her and my brother and close friends. And whenever you're in that situation, it's like you just feel comfortable to take risks and get weird. And that's when the best stuff comes. Yeah. Did making a movie about co-dependence make, you know, was a cause for self-reflection with you guys? Like, did it make you like do a wellness check on your own marriage?

Yeah, I think, and I think we're really going through it during this press tour now where these questions are coming up a bunch. Yeah, well, you asked for it. Definitely, we begged for it. We kind of knew going into this whole process that it would either end in divorce or we'd be more codependent than ever. Luckily, it's the latter. But yeah, I mean, even the film, it's not like our movie is saying that codependency is good or bad.

Right. I think there's gray areas. It's just a device. Yeah. Yeah. And even in our real life, yeah, we were definitely, I think people would call us codependent based on the fact that we have been together for 13 plus years and work together on so many things now. And, um, but I think for us, maybe we're lucky that we're almost forced to be apart because of work sometimes. So that's a good, a good thing to lean into. But, uh, but yeah, man, I mean, I'm curious,

did you ever work with any of your partners other than Conan? In my first marriage, my ex-wife and I acted in some things together. But there was a point at which the question of us writing something together came up. And I just was like, I don't think that's a good idea. I just don't think that because I also too, I mean, I'm a nice person, but when I am working and writing, I'm not a dick or anything, but I certainly, if I don't like something, I can just say, I don't like that, you know, especially if it's comedy, it's like, I don't think that's working. I don't think that's money. And, and I learned, I mean, I kind of, you know, I was in improv and so you don't, you don't say that to anybody. You're not like, Hey,

that thing you did was bad. You know, just everybody does their own thing. But then I start working on late night and it's like, we're writing bits and you got it, you know, people coming in with different ideas and you got to say, no, I don't think, I think there's a better ending for this. Or I think that and you know, and you get your sort of, you know, you get grounded in, in your idea of what's good. And, and then I, then I just got used to, there was no time to be like, to baby people. You know, you can't, it's not like, let's, you know,

like I think that's a really good idea, but, and then I came, when I came to LA, that's all it is. It's like, you can't tell somebody, nah, I don't think that's gonna work. You have to be like, you know, gosh, Jeremy, that's really good. But there's a different direction. I think that's actually part of the reason I love working with my wife is that we can

be pretty blunt with each other and not and know that it's coming from a good place. We're not trying to hurt each other's feelings. But like I even think about on this movie, like this was a very quick shoot. It was a 21-day shoot and it was really ambitious. We either had heavy prosthetics every day or we were doing some action sequences. And so there's days where we were literally attached to each other with prosthetics for the entire day and we were going to the bathroom together. And she was straddling me and she's a very small woman but like when you're straddling someone for fucking 10 hours like it hurts and I could be like I could be like babe you like this is fucking hurting stop yeah where where was someone I didn't

know I'd be like hey would you mind yeah moving your? My leg is asleep. Can't you tell my love's a croak? I'm also curious with you and Conan, why does that dynamic work so well? And is it, I don't know, yeah, go into that. Oh, because we go home to different homes, honestly. I mean, and it wasn't always perfect. You know, we got on each other's nerves. We have, we have as close to, you know, it's a cliche when people say like, you know, I'm, we're at work, we're a family, but it really is pretty family-like, you know what I mean? Yeah. To the point where like, there's guys that, you know, prop hands and stage manager type people that have worked on that show since day one, who honestly, I feel like they're my cousins or

something. You know, like we've just known each other for so long and, you know, we'll do stuff outside of work together and it just feels like family. And Conan is definitely that way. It's it very much is like. It used to kind of be, I think, more of a honestly, truly like a married thing. Like he was kind of he was the dad and I was the mom and I can't. You know, he kind of like he had to get

business done and I sort of like made sure all the kids were happy. You know, what would you guys butt heads about when you guys would argue? Would it be over jokes? Would it just be like, hey, I don't think that's funny? Oh, because because neither one of well, first of all, neither one of us are we're not that kind of person. OK, you don't like one of my jokes. You know, I might push back a little, but

it's like, all right, fine. It's like you're producing so much material. I don't have a lot of myself attached to any fucking joke that just come up. And he's probably the same way. And he also too, honestly, one of the most beautiful things for me about working with him is that he kind of like, I was his consulieri, basically. Because you do, when you're putting out a show like that, you need to have somebody you can turn to and go, hey, is this good? Yes. Yes.

And I kind of was that for him. So no, when we had clashes, they were personality clashes. They were just like, he runs at a higher RPM. Just like different ways we need different things out of a workplace. Yeah. But I also get that thing where you're just each other's kind of support system and someone to tell you that you're doing okay. Yeah.

I directed two movies and my wife was in both of them. Of course, it was amazing to have her there creatively because again, she's just so good. But it was also just incredible to be able to go home to her at the end of each day. And to have someone there to keep me from spinning out, especially when I was directing my first movie. It was like, I've never done this before. It's so easy to get in your own head. But then to have her there at the end of the day to be like, you're doing great. It's all going well. Stop. It's so easy to get in your own head, but then to have her there at the end of the day, to be like, you're doing great. It's all going well. It's invaluable. Yeah. Yeah. You know, then it's really nice. And I mean, from what you described this movie,

it does kind of seem like it would need a couple to do it. Like you are going to be literally tied to each other and having to go to the bathroom with each other. Like that's kind of, that's a lot to ask someone to sign up on, you know, sign on to. Every single day we would say out loud at the end of the day, we could not have done this with anyone else. Yeah. And not only because of the intimacy, but like, again, because it was such an intense schedule, like one thing that we didn't think of ahead of time, but that was so valuable, because we were obviously living together, we could rehearse as much as we wanted.

So we would come in each day just knowing everything front and back, having rehearsed it so many times, knowing that we were only going to get one or two takes per setup. So that, yeah, again, it was so fun and truly could not have done it with anyone else. And you never get to a point where it's like, I've had enough of her, you know, like on a particular day, like, you know what, honey, why don't you go watch TV in the other room?

I mean, there's moments I'm sure we annoy each other. And this is probably going to sound annoying for me to even say this out loud. But we've gotten really good at squashing arguments before they become anything significant where I honestly, I can't remember the last time we fought for more than an hour or two. And I think that just, it wasn't always that way. We, you know, it was a learning curve, but we just got to the point where we were like,

hey, if I've done something to hurt your feelings, it was not intentional. I never, that is the last thing I would ever wanna do. And it's always coming from a misunderstanding and we're both very quick to apologize. So yeah. And then like, I'm just trying to think of like when she's been pissed at me during work.

I mean, you know, it was a very specific scenario on one of the films I was directing where we were trying to get like the most important scene of the movie during magic hour. And so, you know, we were all set up. And we knew that at a certain point when the sun was coming down that we had like 45 minutes to shoot this entire scene. And normally as a director, I'm very, you know, sympathetic to actors.

I love working with them. I just want to make it as comfortable and as easy as possible. But because we had no time, I was coming up to her in between takes and it's like, you can't do that. Say it like this. Okay, do this.

You were doing this. And she was like, you need to fucking chill, dude. Yeah. But I think that's the math. It's not me, it's the sun. It's the sun that's making me do this. Yeah, but I think that's the math. It's not me, it's the sun. It's the sun that's making me do this. Yeah, but I think that's the most upset she's been in the onset. Yeah, yeah. How did this project come to you guys?

So I actually, I met this writer director about a different script that he had circling around. And during that conversation, we just we bonded over horror movies. And he was like, Hey, I have this like my real passion project that I've been sitting on for a handful of years, I think you might like this. And he sent it to me. And it was, you know, just one of the most innovative scripts I've read in a very long time. And like, it's one of these horror movies that once it gets going, it is relentless. It's set piece after set piece. And I knew that it was a difficult

thing to pull off. But this director, he had made a short film that really showed off his VFX skills. And that's the world he comes from. Oh, cool. And I knew that he could really do that. And so I read it and I turned his VFX skills. And that's kind of the world he comes from. Oh, cool. And I knew that he could really do that. And so I read it and I turned to Allison and I was like, I think this is the one that we act in together because of the fact that the characters in the movie have been together for over a decade.

Like I think our real relationship will lend itself well to this dynamic. You won't even have to act. Like honestly, that said, the relationship of the movie is much more strange than our real life relationship. But I think what was nice is like, even though our characters are at odds most of the film, you still want to like feel this undercurrent of love between them. When you've been together with someone that long, there's still a reason, there's still

some sort of connection. And so I think our natural love for each other kind of hopefully shines through. Yeah. Yeah. Now you're getting all these like, you get the you know, writer, director, producer, actor. What's interesting to me is, and I know you've talked about it before, but like, this isn't what you set out to do, you know? Right.

I mean, you know, I was a very shy kid growing up. I was the kid in middle school who said like three words throughout that entire time and ends. Was that in reaction to other like your brothers or something? I don't know. I honestly couldn't tell you why I was so kind of in my own shell, but I always loved movies. I always loved movies and maybe that's a very simplistic thing to say, but my first job ever was at a mom and pop video store.

I was 14 years old and it was actually illegal for me to be working there at that age. And so they essentially paid me by allowing me to take home as many movies as I wanted. Oh, wow. Yeah. So that kind of became my film school. And my job there, at least at first, was just kind of organizing the VHS boxes. But I was working with a couple guys who enjoyed smoking weed and they taught me how to work the register so they could go out back and smoke.

I was 14, but I looked like I was 9. We had a small adult video section in the store. People would come up to the counter and be confronted by this 9-year-old. As they're checking out busty stewardesses. Exactly. Yeah. So anyway, I loved movies so much. And even though I had no intention of being an actor or performing in any way, when I came down to LA to go to school, I kind I got forced into an acting class by my brother's manager. And I hated

it at first because I had never performed and I was just so nervous every time I went on stage. But I guess maybe in the back of my mind, I figured like, hey, maybe this is a way into this industry. Yeah. And over time, I really learned to love it because it did kind of bring me out of my shell a bit. But at this point, like I feel so grateful and so lucky to be able to kind of bounce back and forth where, you know, when I direct a movie, I think those two times have been maybe the most gratifying experiences I've had, but they just deplete

me. They take so much out of you. And it's years of your life. And so it's nice to then kind of step back and be like, okay, I want to just act for a while. I want to step on set and be like, okay, I got one job. I'm going to fucking kill this for you. So I just have to memorize words and then say things. Okay. Yeah.

And honestly, directing has made me like acting more than ever. Yeah. Where I just have realized like, oh, I'm, you know, as an actor, I'm a small part of this process. Yeah. And I really want to like, just kind of help the director with his vision anyway I can. And like, I, you know, I've always been a very prepared and punctual actor, but like I go above and beyond now because I never want to be the problem for the director knowing how much they have on their plate.

Yeah. And so, yeah, I try to just be the easiest person they will ever work with. Yeah. Yeah. I'm that way too. And if I, when I do something to fuck up that like is taking time or, you know, like, you know, I'm not like just making it run smoothly through a mistake or whatever. Yeah, sure. I'm so fucking furious with myself. Like that's like the same way. It's one area where like, I'm, I think I'm pretty well put together just in terms of like my mental health when I go to work. But it's one of the areas where it's

just like, no, no, this fucker needs to be yelled at. And this fucker is me. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Because it is like whenever it gets into somebody else, you know, I always like to say don't slosh your bucket onto other people. And that's definitely kind of how I feel. I want to, I do want to go back because it's interesting to me to say that your brother's manager made you take an acting. Was it just because you were young and still kind of shy and could easily be pushed into something you didn't really want to do?

I mean, the reality is probably from his perspective, he was like, let's see if there's another brother that I can make some money off. Yes, of course. Of course. But you were 10% to him. Or 15, whatever, depending on what the deal is. Only 10. Only 10. Okay. All right.

But like I said, I just, I loved movies and I just thought this was a way in. But I do remember him saying as crazy as he was in certain respects, I do remember him giving me a good piece of advice where when I first was visiting my brother in LA, and this was when I was still around 14, he was trying to push me into it back then. And he said to me, he's like, as much as I would love you to try to do this, this business is crazy. And you should only do this if you literally can't imagine yourself doing anything else and I think there's something to that and

With you, yeah, and I absolutely feel that way now. I don't know what I'd be doing. Yeah Where you know people ask like what I do with my downtime and and the truth is like I write I use that time I'm like, oh I got time to write now That's sick Dave. It that time. I'm like, Oh, I got time to write now. That's sick, Dave. It's disgusting. I know. That's fucked up. Jesus Christ. Let me ask you, let me ask you, as you're, you know, you kind of dipped your toe into a lot of different realms.

Yeah. Now into the podcast world. I got to imagine it allows you to kind of show different sides yourself and just kind of explore different things. Like what do you love about, I guess, podcasting that you haven't been able to do before? Oh, well, podcasting is just, you know, it's sort of something that I can hit. And I mean, surprise, surprise, there's a lot of people doing podcasts. I don't think all of them are like, I have a drive to be a broadcaster.

I think it's just, it's something, especially with COVID, you know, like people, one of the funniest things to me about COVID was about two months in, you saw actors who normally would be like, no, I don't do press. All of a sudden, you can see them, you know, like in a podcast, cause they're just hungry for attention and to get out there. So I think it was just, it was something that was available to me.

And also too, when I started doing it, it was during the breakup of my first marriage and I was, and I had made a very conscious effort to like say yes to things. So when the opportunity came up, I was like, I'm going to say yes to this. And the thing that's, I mean, it's a fun thing to do. It makes me, you know, not a ton of money, but it makes some money. And I have learned how to interview people. I can do like an hour interview now

Yeah, yeah, and it's fairly I Don't want to say effortless but but it is it's like way easier than it was when I first started doing this Like I was sweating bullets on the first few of these, you know, yeah. Yeah. Yeah Because I'm honestly I'm surprised though, even like coming from the late night format, there's obviously a lot of crossover and like you've interviewed people before. Yeah, but not for an hour. Not for an hour of conversation. And even like, you know, the, the, our talk show for years and years, right up until the

end, in the end, you know, it switched to a half an hour and he would do this. And it was my favorite way of doing it. And I wish we'd thought of it years before, but he had somebody come out and he'd do a 20 minute interview with them. And then they would just edit pieces of that. So it wouldn't be like, you know, like, ha, that's a good one. We'll be right back with more. And, you know, there was none of that shit, you know, because you just come back from commercial and it's like, oh, they're still talking, you know? Yeah, I love that. And, um, and then you could just kind of take the best pieces that

make each interview really solid. And like, when I think about kind of these late night shows, which I think I've gotten better, but like, you know, you tell me, but it feels like they're really catered to people who are like standup comedians or who are comedians period, because it's almost like a five minute stand up act. Yes. And like as much as I love, you know, doing comedies, like that's not who I am. I'm not a I'm that's not who I am. I'm not one of those, whatever. And so, I guess, I don't know where I'm going with this,

but I guess my question is, over the years on Conan's show, there must be so many times where people come in and they're so anxious and that energy must transfer to you in a way where you're trying to like make them at ease. I don't know. Can you speak to that? Oh yeah. No, I mean that was, it was like a big, a big, I'm not even going to say a big part, but often a part of my job was to say to somebody, you know, like I remember, like one that I remember, and it was kind of early, Sam Neal was on and And Sam Neal to me, like, that's a fucking movie star.

You know, like, that's a gigantic, amazing actor, been in a million things, been good in everything. And he was a nervous fucking wreck. And like in the commercial break, I just was like, and I mean, this was the thing I tell everybody, none of this really matters that much. It does. It's just conversation, you know, and it's just, and it's just a little bit of TV

time. And I don't mean that it's like, so you shouldn't care and you shouldn't like. Take pride in your work because it is work, you know, you're there. You're not there out of the goodness of your heart. You're there because you're trying to sell a movie. You're not there out of the goodness of your heart, you're there because you're trying to sell a movie. But it is like, it doesn't matter that much. And I never after, and even working on a talk show for as many years as I did, I never was

fully on board with the notion that it was really important for Dave Franco to get on a talk show because that would really translate into butts in seats. Oh, okay. I was just feeling like, if you give a mediocre six-minute interview on one of the late night shows, does it really mean the movie's going to tank? No. Right. No, it doesn't. Would you say though that was different before with Carson or, I don't know, I just feel

like so many comedians have talked about like you get on Carson and that's how you make it. Yeah, well it's different. It's a different thing for standups just generally. Got it. Yeah, yeah. That's a totally different thing. Even, I don't know how much it is today because now, and even, you know,

like talk shows aren't what they were. I just heard, and I've heard different, and I mean, I'm friendly with very, pretty much every talk show host that's left. Yeah, yeah. And, but I just hear him still say, you know, just as many, I just heard one of them the other day being interviewed and said, him still say, you know, just as many, I just heard one of them the other day being interviewed

and said, yeah, well, you know, just as many people are watching talk shows or late night talk shows as ever they ever have, but they're just watching it in different ways. And I just was like, no, they're not. I mean, they are watching them in different ways, but no, it's not the same amount of people. People have so much more stuff to watch.

And also that six, seven minute interview, people have podcasts. And there's all kinds of really interesting people that would be like tough gets on talk shows that are now available on podcasts. And so you can listen to them for 20 minutes and you can really sort of like get into stuff as opposed to just like, let's talk about your vacation and get to that punchline where you

fell down the stairs. And then, you know, and then we got to get to commercial. Like it's such a pressurized, unnatural kind of way of doing things that I just kind of think is becoming a little bit irrelevant. And I don't know, I don't know, you know, it might take somebody to reinvigorate it, but I just, it just, it doesn't feel like, I don't feel like anybody talking about, did you watch so-and-so's monologue last night? And within my lifetime, there was definitely a point where it was like, there was stuff that was going on. And it's like, I see what

Dave said about that or, you know, right, somebody had a really good line about that, you know? Yeah, I will say just to close the loop that my first ever talk show was Conan. And I was obviously so nervous and I just decided to stay that. I just was like, you know what? I was going to come out and tell him this is my first time. I am so nervous. And it helped a ton just to get that off my chest as opposed to trying to like, oh, I'm

cool. Everything's fine. And like Conan, you know, he's just the funniest guy in the world. And like, he just makes it easy and he takes anything you say and he turns it into gold. And so he makes, you know, made me seem a lot funnier than I naturally am. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. that will hurt your chances of doing something. Whereas if you go out and go, hey, let's see how it goes. I'm happy to be here one way or the other. That's like, and I know that I've had a gazillion hours, so it's easy for me to say, but it is like something that I have learned where it is like,

and then I do take into different situations in my life where it is like, you know, then yeah, all right. It could go one of many ways, but I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna like have too many predictions either way. I'm just gonna kind of remain open and see how it goes. What, what is there anything that does kind of make you anxious these days or make you nervous in terms of like any kind of performing? Oh, fuck.

Yeah. Um, scene work improv. Oh, fuck yeah. Um, scene work improv. You know, like the stuff that I was, that I did, you know, eight times a week for whatever, you know, 12 hours a week back in when I was in my twenties, you know, and then just, you know, my brain was like a muscle and stuff. I have to do that now. It's just not enjoyable for me. I mean, I like fucking around and I like making stuff up and I like making things especially. I've never directed anything narrative, but I've directed commercials. And I, it's like, that's, that's fun.

You know, like that's fun too. It's like a fun beat the clock game show. Like you got this set list of things you have to get done. You only got so many hours and you know, and you've got to figure it out. Um, but yeah, improv. And there has been a couple of times where I've done sit because it's, you know, virtually all of my friends are from an improv, the improv world and I'll do a show and I'll do a live show and in that last minute, they'll kind

of be like, no, we expect you to do scene work too. You're not just doing analogs. And one time it was like literally as we're going on stage, I was told like, no, no, you're doing scene work. And I was like, oh, fuck. And I did. And it was a, it was a longest show. It was about two hours of improv. And I did fine. I didn't do great. I didn't do terrible. I did fine. I said some good stuff, made some good plays that helped the whole group. And then as I'm driving home, I'm thinking like, well, good plays that helped the whole group. And then as I'm driving home, I'm thinking, I don't want to do that. I'm not itching to do it again.

Yeah. Yeah. There's sometimes you go into something that you're anxious about and you walk away and you're like, I'm so happy I did that, that invigorated something in me. But then there's sometimes where you're like, no, that's not for me. I don't want to do that again. Yeah. And I mean, I like doing live shows and I like, you know,

I mean, I have this much fun. I do a lot of game show shit now because, you know, it's just there and I like, I like them, you know, and you get paid to go literally play like what would be a board game or a party game. You're riffing with the contestants. Yeah, it's fun. It's fun. It's a fun day, you know, and then like I've always, you know, one time I was doing one in New York and it was at a studio, an old studio, and I'm walking down the hallway and

I'm seeing like truth or consequences or match game, all these, and I'm'm like I'm one of those people now like that's wow Oh, you know like as a little kid when I would watch game shows in the middle of the day when I was homesick And go you know and see Kitty Carlisle All these weird people it's like who are these people and it's like oh well now. I'm one of them now I'm one of that's pretty cool. Yeah. yeah, it's not bad. It's not bad. And it is, you know, and I do think it is like for you because I'm sure that coming into this business

and having your brother kind of, you know, already have elbowed his way into it to sort of make an opening for you. Like that, I imagine that there was times where that was tiresome. For sure, for you. I imagine that there was times where that was tiresome. For sure. Yeah, it was a blessing and a curse. It definitely was helpful in the sense that he helped me get a manager, which I did not take for granted at all. But then from there, no one was going to hire me just because I was his little brother.

And furthermore, for the first 10 years of this, all anyone wanted to talk to me was about him. Whether I was doing an interview or even in an audition or just running into anyone in this business. All they cared about was him. Despite the fact that I really did make a conscious decision to try to pave my own path and not just do a bunch of projects with him. And it was hard because he was offering me jobs that he was maybe directing. And I

kept saying no, because I wanted to do my own thing. It wasn't that I didn't want to work with him, but I just knew that I need to stand on my own two feet Yeah, but I'm sure that was hard for him to to have his brother kind of saying no to him over and over and then over time You know, I felt like I I kind of established myself enough that I was like, you know What people are gonna say what they're gonna say. I know I've been true to myself I know I've been doing my own thing. And I wanna work with my brother. And so the timing was right when-

Disaster artist. When you approach music, exactly. Yeah. When you're a disaster artist. And it was one of the most fun times I've ever had on set. And for similar reasons that I was talking about with me and my wife. Me and my brother, we have very similar sensibilities. And to be

in these scenes with him, it was just, it was surreal, especially with him playing Tommy Wiseau. But it was just like, it was so fun just to do this with my family. And I remember there was one of our friends was playing a very small part and he just took me aside one day that I was in a scene with my brother and then our other brother actually came in to be kind of an extra in this scene. Oh wow. And our friend took me aside and he was like, dude, take this in. You're doing this movie with your brothers right now. This is like such a cool thing and

and so, you know it is what it is and I'm sure it's it's kind of shaped me in many ways. I don't even know but If it was this was my path, but you say I mean James could understand why you were turning him down, couldn't he? I think so. I think so but Again, I think it just gets to a certain point where it's like dude, come on How many how many projects do I have to offer you? Let's go. Let's go. Well, but I think it is good I'm I mean, I think I'm I'm gonna just from an outsider's perspective I think that that enjoyment that you could get from something like the disaster artist and that experience was because you did lay off,

you know, like you did make your own way. And you did, so it's like doing something like that when you already are bringing, you know, you're not his brother in that first and foremost, you're a working actor with a resume and a reputation. And so you can come in there and not feel like Well, you know, thanks. That's true. Yeah, that's true. Yeah. Yeah where where maybe early on Again, who cares what people really think but like early on maybe people would have been like, oh here's these give me

They've given a handout to the brother. Yeah, let's see what this kids can do Yeah he's giving a handout to the brother. Like, let's see what this kid can do. Yeah. What kind of stuff do you want to do in the future? I mean, because you kind of have like, you've been doing some kind of like, at least the things you've been doing yourself are kind of on a horror kind of, thrillery kind of, is that kind of the milieu you want to work in? I wanted to say milieu because it makes me seem classy. I was gonna say.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I love horror. And I'm sure I'll continue to do things in that genre. But I really do like bouncing around. And I feel lucky that I've been able to do that where, you know, this year I have Together, which is a horror movie. And then I did something that's very different for me. I did this movie called Regretting You. That's like a very earnest romantic drama, which I've never done before. And I was like, I think that's a good

reason to do it. Let's see what happens. Let's put myself out on a limb. And I had a great time doing it. And it was scary. It was like nice to come to set and be like, I'm a little scared of this, but it's exciting. That's kind of scared. Scared that you're just going to look stupid or that the movie's going to be bad or? No, just scared because it's something that I haven't done. It's a type of role that I haven't done.

It's a tone that I haven't done. But I think that's a type of role that I haven't done. It's a tone that I haven't done. But I think that's a good thing. And it's also been nice that I've kind of been able to bounce back and forth between slightly bigger studio movies and then these independents that I'm building from the ground up where it's amazing that I get to go off and do, you know, one of these Now You See Me movies every so often and reunite with this incredible cast who I've known for nearly 15 years now. And then do something like together where, you know, we're in there from the ground up and we're all just hustling and killing ourselves every step

of the way. No one's making any money and the little money we're making, we're putting back into the movie. Yeah. And it's because we are so passionate about it and we believe in this director's vision and we're willing to do anything to help them achieve that. So yeah, I just I feel lucky that I'm or I guess I'm attempting to just not be in one box where people kind of know what to expect from each time. Do you ever worry about burnout? Like about pushing too hard and... Yeah.

Yeah. I come from a family who is very ambitious and always pushing themselves in a really admirable way. But we also have a difficult time knowing when to stop. I used to be a lot better at that. I would really look forward to the time between jobs where I was like, oh man, I just got off this job and I earned this downtime and I'm going to do nothing and no one talked to me.

But now, I mean, like I mentioned earlier, it's like when I have downtime, I almost use it as an excuse to like, Oh shit, okay, I can work on this other project that I've been developing. And I've been trying to find a good balance. But I don't know. I don't know. Maybe it's getting to a place where I've been lucky enough that I've found ways to get my projects made. And I'm like, you know what? People aren't going to give me this opportunity forever. And I feel like I need to take advantage of this time. I don't know. Maybe it stems from that. Is that what it is? That you're striking while the iron is hot?

Maybe I mean, the truth is probably that I just love it. It's like I love making movies and like, this is what makes me happy and what excites me. And maybe it's a little toxic. Yeah, it's it's it's what I like to do. Is Allison on the same page with you as far as that? Temporamentally? She is. Temporamentally?

Yeah. She is. And I think we do inspire each other. It's pretty amazing. I mean, from the beginning, I think we've both really grown with each other in a great way. And to think about even like maybe six, seven years ago, where the idea of writing and producing and directing maybe felt like very daunting. Now, it's just fun. And that's what we've done it, we know how to do it. And we can see the path towards

actually making things happen. And so, and again, I really think that's a product of us being able to lean on each other and really build each other up when we are scared. Yeah. What do you think, what's the biggest lesson you've learned, you think, in the time that you've been doing this? I mean, I think one thing for me is you just got to make stuff. Everyone's got a camera these days. I look back to when I was first starting out. And when I first started getting jobs, I was obviously so happy and excited.

But after a while, I was doing all these jobs that I didn't necessarily feel proud of. And they didn't feel like an accurate representation of who I was. And so I would do like an episode of TV and I would tell my friends and family, like, don't watch this. It's terrible. And so what I did is I kind of pivoted and paired up with a friend who I've known since middle school. And we just started making our own short films and skits for FunnyOrDie.com. Yeah. And, and so we would, we would write them, act in them, direct them,

edit them. And, and even though it was on a smaller scale than the other stuff that I was doing, the like more quote unquote professional stuff, it at least these silly little videos felt like an accurate, accurate representation of my sensibilities at the time. And those little videos, one of them actually helped land me the role in 21 Jump Street. Oh wow. Where I, you know, which was the biggest movie I had done at the time.

And I auditioned for that movie like, no joke, like seven times. It was this very arduous process. And after I got the role, the directors told me that a part of the reason I got it is because of this video that I did for Funny or Die where me and my good friend Chris Mintz-Plois, we tell each other in vivid detail how much we want to fuck each other. And that insane video got me my biggest movie and like the movie that still most people know me from.

That's good. They can show it at your funeral. Exactly. That's that's gonna book end my in memoriam. Yeah, graphic graphic details of what I want to do to Christmas plus. All right, well, Dave, thank you so much. Everybody go see together. When, when does it come out? July 30th. I look forward to it. I will say like, yeah, thanks, man.

And it's like, it's definitely for major horror fans. But I've heard also, I've heard people say that it's also like a quote unquote gateway horror movie for people who don't typically see these types of things. And I think it's because it's like, yes, it's scary. There's like intense moments, but overall it's just fun. It's a good time. And at its core, it's a relationship story. And so I think it's got something for everyone.

Good. Yeah, you got to do that. You got to get, yeah, like you got to get, I mean, it's like something for everyone. Good. Yeah, you gotta do that. It's like you're talking like a studio guy. Like, look, you get the horror people. You get the girls in there. It's true though. Who want the romance. It's a good date night movie too.

It'll definitely make you reevaluate your own relationship. Right, right, right. Reevaluate. And then there's jump scares so you can grab onto each other too. Yes, exactly. Exactly. All right. Well, Dave, thanks so much. Of course. Thank all of you out there for listening. I'll be back next week with more of The Three Questions. The Three Questions with Andy Richter is a Team Cocoa production. It is produced by Sean Doherty and engineered by Rich Garcia. Additional engineering support by Eduardo Perez and Joanna Samuel.

Executive produced by Nick Leow, Adam Sacks, and Jeff Ross. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Battista, with assistance from Maddy Ogden. Research by Alyssa Grahl. Don't forget to rate and review and subscribe to The Three Questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts. And do you have a favorite question you always like to ask people? Let us know in the review section. Can't you tell my love's a-growing?

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