The Watch - Patrick J. Adams on the Making of ‘The Madison.’ Plus, ‘The Pitt’ S2E12 and a TV News Roundup.

Episode Date: March 27, 2026

Chris and Andy talk about the trailer for HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ TV adaptation (1:25), Mahershala Ali joining the cast of ‘Task’ for Season 2 (7:25), Stephen Colbert penning the script for a new ‘Lord of the Rings’ (10:49), and ‘The X-Files’ reboot finding its co-lead in Himesh Patel (16:44). Then they discuss ‘The Pitt’ Season 2, Episode 12 (18:51) and ‘Top Chef’ Season 23, Episode 3 (41:00). Later, they are joined by ‘The Madison’ star Patrick J. Adams to talk about his experience working on the Taylor Sheridan project, acting alongside Michelle Pfeiffer and Dustin Hoffman, what he’s watching, and more (48:33). Subscribe to the Ringer TV YouTube channel here for full episodes of The Watch and so much more! Hosts: Chris Ryan and Andy Greenwald Guest: Patrick J. Adams Producers: Kaya McMullen and Kai Grady Additional Video Supervision: Sarah Reddy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Stand up and walk now. Hello, and welcome to The Watch. My name is Chris Ryan. And I am an editor at the ringer.com. And joining me in the studio, very little going on this week. It's Andy Greenwald. How are you? I'm doing good, brother.

Happy opening day. Good to see you. We represent just the beauty of baseball and the national pastime here. I thought for sure we were going to get a Phillies hat today to celebrate opening day. But you know what happens if you cut my arm open? Bleeds Phillies red. That happens to everyone. That's good.

You know, when it comes to hats, I like to mix it up a little bit. bit. We've talked about this. Do you think that you are like eagle-eyed viewers, because we have viewers now of the podcast, do you think they're aware that you've been, you've been subtly spelling out a message with the letters in your head? No, that's what I've been, that's the message I've been signaling with my hands for the last six months. Please let's see our month end. Andy, today on the watch, we're going to talk about the pit. We're going to talk about Top Chef. We have a special guest from the Madison, Patrick Adams. Here to clear some things up. I feel pretty like I got the plot of the Madison. I got it. Yeah. It's all clear to me. It's not like Paradise, which we will

be talking about on Monday after its season finale. Can't wait. A couple of things at the top to discuss news and notes-wise, the Harry Potter trailer did drop. Kind of unexpectedly. Was it unexpected for you? No. Okay. Thank you. Nor was it unexpected to many because yesterday was the HBO Max launch event for the UK and Ireland. Sorry, I was reading the Financial Times. They didn't mention it in there. for those people I know that you are mostly FT we were just kind of really focused on other things You mostly travel by Waymo these days

but if you had taken public transportation in any of the major cities you would have seen they were like they were you know the best platform I travel by Waymo but I hire a guy to like sit in the front seat just to like normal make it normal Just to be like how's the temperature for you sir

Would you like the ox cord my friend? Yeah that's great yeah so no I was not surprised Also, I don't know why I'm piling on, why are you paying more attention? That members of the cast posted like tomorrow. Oh, okay. Great. It's coming in Christmas of this year.

Yes, that was news. Okay. That's crazy. I think just my relationship to you being over there is, you know, obviously you were part of the writing staff. And it's been a huge deal for you. And for my frequent flyer miles. And for your frequent flyer miles. Which I can't wait to you.

used in an airport soon. When you go to George Bush Airport in Houston. I wanted to go through the trailer frame by frame and ask you if you're responsible for each scene. I think that's the only way we should be covering the show. Do you have any observations or do you have any reflections or any statements you'd want to make? Statements. Like, to me, this is all new. Like, I've watched Harry Potter movies over other dudes' shoulders on airplanes or in bars when they're on mute for some reason.

Just two adults staring at children becoming wizards. What the fuck is wrong with me? I was at a bar once last year, and I was like, damn, this is pretty interesting. But it's, you know, obviously, what's it like seeing the stuff on screen? At the bar, were they showing one of the later films when they're like a little more mature? Now, they seem pretty young. Wow.

I guess they're always young, right? It's not like the old potters. To us. First of all, stop giving good ideas away for free. Didn't they make an old potter? Where a potter has a kid? Isn't that the play? This should be our podcast for the next a year and a half.

I don't think so. The play is, yes, many years later, and the children, of the first generation characters are going off to Hogwarts. And maybe this will make you more interested. Harry's son is sorted into Slytherin. Do you like those words in that order? I never got that. I never understood what that stuff was.

Well, you've got, you know, you've got nine months to catch up. And I have to say, I really appreciated your enthusiasm about the trailer for a property that you have at this point. I have no knowledge of it. I will say the corny part out loud, which is like when you see work that your friends have done come to life, it's pretty cool. Thank you. That's how I felt about CR month. It's the same thing.

It was basically the same thing. And it means the same to the Warner Brothers Discovery Corporation. It's possible. Yeah, it was extremely exciting. And I'll just say that I thought, I mean, as we go through this, like, and everybody knows, like, I am a consulting producer on the show. I am not showrunner. I am not involved in the decision making. And I am not privy to, like, the cuts of the trailer.

So I was seeing it for the first time. And I was really pleasantly surprised because there was footage that. I'd seen and been involved in. And there was things that I had never seen before, but was happy to see. And the thing that I was most excited about about the trailer was that it did seem to communicate some of the central tenets of what Francesca wants to do with the property and what we want the show to be. And it was also, because this is the first filmed version of Potter, obviously, to happen since all the books have been written, since the movies have been adored and digested. and it is, I think, hopefully communicating with the fandom

as well as opening it up to new people. Like you. If you had been responsible for the trailer, like if you were the decision maker, would you have used J. Ruse Come Clean as the music for Harry? Oh, in the beginning? No, I mean, Hans Zimmer is doing the score,

but I would have done some of his dune work over this trailer, just like the real, real blaring stuff. No, I thought the kids looked great. And, you know, there's a lot more. unfold. I don't know. What else can I, should I say? Nothing. I mean, it's coming out Christmas of this year. You know, it's a very Christmasy vibe. I'm sure like more will emerge. It was cool to see Papa Esideo. That's mostly my relationship to this show, I guess, at this point, other than Lithgow, right? Nick Frost, also seen Jenna McTeer, saw her. Some randomly got served a scene of her

death in another TV series. Oh. Yeah. because of your interest in the Harry Potter trailer? No, it was like a tour like I saw, it was like a prompt of like sickest needle drops and her death. And it was John Williams' Harry Potter score over her death in, I don't know. No, I don't want to spoil the show

that happens in so I can't really tell the story. It would have been such a good story. Do you want anything else you wanted to say about the Potter stuff? No, I'm excited to, I'm excited to have it out there. And I'm excited for Christmas back in London. Are you going to be there for Christmas? I will be introducing the show to the world, yes.

I know I just sort of Like- Oh, because the premiere would be theoretically in London at Christmas. Yes, and all the principles have decided that who better to introduce the entire project to the world than a podcaster from America. The world's most beloved man.

On the internet. Let's talk a little bit about something that happened right as we were finishing what was, I thought a solid show for us on Monday. I always feel like it's a little bit like an away game when we're in a different studio with a different seating. And didn't we do Monday was like, let's talk about a bunch of,

of different shows. Yeah. Right. I thought it was a good show. It was fine. Now you're voting it down. Now I'm turning it down a little bit. But as we were leaving that day, it was announced something that...

Oh, there's some news. Yeah. NPD had been out there in the ether, which is that... Mahershala Ali, one of my favorite actors, is joining the cast of TASC for season two. Say the name of his character. Do you have in front of you? Yeah, sure do, dude. It's cool as hell.

He is going to play, quote, Eddie Barnes described as a seasoned and well-respected DEA agent in Philadelphia, whose team comes to into conflict with Tom's unit. This is the same energy I saw on the Harry Potter on HBO subreddit yesterday. Like, we all have our fandoms. And Mahershal Ali playing a guy from Philadelphia called Eddie Barnes is pretty much our love language. The thing I wanted to point out other than the fact that this is so great to see Mahershala get a role that he will. will obviously be sinking his teeth into

since he did not get to sink his teeth into anything as boys. Yes, come on. Look at us. That was pathetic. Cut that. Actually, you run with it. What are we doing? Which one? Open or fit. Like a fucking cool, like, predator guy. Here we go. That would cool.

Blade has been in this sort of development hell. I don't know what kind of schedule holds it put on his time. The only real thing that popped off for him, I'm going to say since, like, true D3. Yeah. was Jurassic. He had a little beret in that.

Yeah, and he's like, good in it, but it's a weird, like, that's an Oscar-winning actor, man, like, what's going on? And so it's awesome that he's going to be doing this, and it's also a great zag for task to be probably making the oppositional force of Tom, another law enforcement agent. You know what I mean?

And it's, we're going to get in... Are you saying all cops? in Philadelphia stuff. All cops aren't buddies. That's right. Is that what that stands for? Damn. That's tough. Yeah, you like that one. Your ACAB jokes are pretty funny.

Because they're right. I'm dancing on the edge. Yeah. You never know which way I'm going to go with them. We don't really, I mean, like, those wars, you know, I guess ACAB comes up, but we want to, it's a lot of bastards out there, you know? So you don't want to just, like, limit them to one, Exactly. I don't want it's limiting. So any other thoughts on this? No, it's just exciting.

I mean, it also potentially is proof of concept for why Task is an ongoing series, which is that they can attract really A-list talent to come play in this sandbox for presumably one season runs or maybe one. And then you've come back in a sort of like, you know, we don't know the terms of his deal. But I would imagine that he is not joining the show to become the new. Tom Pelfrey or the new number two on the cast, on the. the call sheet. But they are building a pantheon of characters and worlds within the setting of the show that could be revisited depending how long it runs. And then Sir Kristen Cole gets out of the Bing at the end of season two and he could be the bad guy for season three or the good guy for

season three. You know, there's a lot of opportunities here. I also think at some point, not that he would probably do it, but if the concept of the show is durable enough, Ruffalo could leave in one way or another and you could have two different characters. I mean, it doesn't have to be an anthology for it to change a lot. No, I mean, the star of the show is basically the Wawa diaspora. That's right. So, like, as long as you can get a hoagie within spitting distance of where the characters live, they can be the stars of the show.

I didn't really have that much more for you on the news side of things, but I did want to ask if you saw the Lord of the Rings news this week. Yes. Yeah, I wanted to ask you about that. So it's like some sort of Lord of the Rings celebration or anniversary this week, or it's like Lord of the Rings Day. Some sort. Like, it couldn't be me.

You definitely have no idea what's going on. It wasn't in the Financial Times. It wasn't? They weren't writing about it in Alphaville. I mean, the price of gold is fluctuating, so thus the one ring may have gone up in value. But Peter Jackson did some straight-to-camera video stuff on social media, and he was like, yeah, you know, Andy Circus's movie is going pretty well. The Hunt for Gallum, we discussed that. We sure did.

And he was like, a little surprise. And he patches in the co-writer of another Lord of the Rings movie that is in development. and it's Stephen fucking Colbert Yes And it turns out Stephen Colbert really likes

chapters four through eight of fellowship of the ring which aren't really in the movie fellowship of the ring so he's like

what if we did that Is that all like the Tom Bombadil chapters Yeah I can I can fucking get it Come on now we're doing this Hold on you put me

Yeah You put me on an ice flow And set me out And started shooting arrows at me Like a Viking When I knew What are Vikings

called Isle Dwar was Middle Earth Those guys are dwarves Right You talk to your people About that I don't know

The Gimli and all those guys See This is the thing You can't pin me down Well You don't know where I'm at This is honestly I only like

The chapters in those books About the little minstrel Singing his songs No I'm just trying to zag Okay Because I'm having my My reaction to this news Is closer to what you were like

Like we're like Why are they hunting for Gollum When they just hunt for a Gullum For a Gullum for four five movies and for three movies and my

that's my reaction to this which is I know that there are LOTR fans who are like Tom Bommidil is actually

and I don't really know if that's how you say his last name when you say it like that he sounds like a 1984 Philly's left fielder who platoons left right

but like what no he doesn't he sounds like a rapper who hung out with like like Buckshot and like the rest of the gang Black Moon

and like show an A. Tom Bombadil Drop the knowledge He apparently I haven't read the books And since he's not in the movies I'm not certain about this

But is like the counterweight To Soron Right like he's Tom I thought he was just like A dude with a banjo Because the whole thing is At one point he puts the ring on And nothing happens

Because Because he's powerful Oh I thought it was because he chose himself He doesn't need to get married Tom chose Tom I chose me Anyway Anyway this is

On one hand, I guess this could be a 90-minute movie. I doubt it. But it could be like a tight, interesting little, like, slice of life with a bit of who was this guy and, you know, what did he mean to this world? But shout to Stephen Colbert. He is not going to be hosting the late show. Much longer.

Much longer. But he is going to be writing a Lord of the Rings movie. Do you want to weigh in on, there was an interesting, Daniel DeDario wrote an interesting piece and variety about Stephen Colbert. victory lap of a final season. Yeah. And how it was sort of becoming a little bit.

I don't know if you had any feelings about that. I haven't seen it. I haven't seen a single second of it, to be honest. This is like someone... Well, I mean, like curdling, how? Is he like... You sound like the federal judges testifying in front of the Senate, the nominees. Just like, who won the 2020 election?

And you're like, I haven't seen it. Yeah. I read the financial times, so I wouldn't know. I have no idea. Is it different than the way it was in 2017? Right. I mean, I think that the thing is that because of the political nature of what happened and that he's had this long runway to be, I think, righteously aggrieved,

all of the guests who have come on, including the star of HBO's upcoming Harry Potter show, John Lithgow, are just using their time on the show to just glaze him. And, like, Lithgow wrote a poem about, like, the rapier wit of Sir Stephen, you know, and all this and how like the scared orange man ran. It's a miracle that this is not a popular thing with the most of America. This is the thing. It's like it is, because you, this is.

I mean, Colbert does well, right? Like, he does, this show does pretty well. I think it all does pretty well. I think it's expensive. I think that people who were old like us remember Johnny Carson's last week. I mean, we didn't watch, they have to watch Johnny Carson, but do you remember what a big deal that was? I do.

I have a recollection. And for the last week, like, Bet Midler came on and sang him a song and he was like, you know, crying. but that was like four days after 30 years. Yeah. So it is a little bit of a long. Anyway, I'm glad he's going to do something. He's a very smart, very talented guy.

And this seems like a passion project. He is co-writing this with his son. That's nice. And with a longtime Lord of the Rings screenwriter, co-screener, or Philippa Boyens. How do you think Philip is feeling about that? Like trying to be the third wheel and a man and his son doing their dream.

Well, I think he's probably like, how do we make these... I think she's trying to work on making the chapter that are intentionally like the beginning of a journey have a middle, a beginning of middle and end. What, and I don't want to put you on the spot here, but I will, of your favorite works of literature,

which three chapters would you like to adapt into a film? Like, for me, I would say it's chapters 36 through 41 of Larry McMurtry's Texasville. You know, just the rest of it, you kind of get it. But there's no good answer.

It's just kind of a wild. are really disturbing. They're like parts of Blood Meridian that are unfilomable. But you and your 15-year-old ward would adapt it together?

My boy! There is kind of a 15-year-old ward in Blood Meridian. He's a little younger. Is that what gave you the idea? I was like, this seems great.

The judge and this kid. There's one other thing. I don't know if we, we mentioned that Danielle Deadweiler is going to be the star of the X-Files reboot. Yes.

Do you see her co-star was announced this morning? No. Himesh Patel. That's great. Who we like a lot from Station 11. I saw the

Gillian Anderson is like, it's going to be really fucking cool. That was nice of her. Didn't have to do that. Yeah. I mean, I think that those two have like a good relationship to X-Files. Yeah, I mean, DeCoviney's been silent about it. But DeCovey, like, has he talked about like who's going to win the MVP in the NBA? I mean, he's pretty silent guy.

You think? I don't think he has like a pod where he's just like, tonight my takes on. Tom Bombadil? The TSA. Tom Bombadil. Did we talk about, I mean, we'll have time to talk about this. But like, have we established on the pod where we are with X-Files? I think we've talked about it.

Is this interesting to you? Like this reboot? Honestly, I probably, first of all, I was a little bit more of a millennium guy. That is such an elite you take. That's incredible. I have had two runs, not complete runs through X-Files,

but my wife and I did the lore cut basically once where you basically watch the alien version of it. And all the like, continuing cigarette and stuff. And then there are just like

the top 15 monster of the week episodes. And you see what Vince Gilligan was capable of. Yeah. And it's just like

oh damn. You know, like everybody, like practically everyone who worked on that show is like of note, you know? I think it's very cool.

I think we should also 100% go, when this show comes out, we should do a podcast where you're like the only true text was Millennium and I could come back

with actually the lone gunman spin-off. I don't think either of those shows are available to watch. We should just just talk about them. Okay. I think that would drive interest. But, but, but I think it's exciting. And I, I'm curious to see the path that considering two of this year's best director nominees

were both involved in, um, the very delicate and purposeful rebooting of beloved 90s, early 2000s television shows. We know what happened with Chloe Jow's Buffy. And so I'm curious to see what happens with Cooleers X-5. This episode is brought to you by Amazon Prime. Ever have a plan come together out of nowhere and realize you're missing something. Like a last minute beach day, a spontaneous hike, or an outdoor movie night you didn't plan for, that's when Prime's same-day delivery as you're back. Getting you exactly what you need,

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Why don't we talk about a beloved show that's on right now? Spoilers for this evening's episode of the pit, which is 6 p.m. I believe at 6 p.m. And I think the tenor of the episode is set early on when someone says, smoke them if you got them. This place is going tits up. Yeah, Santos says that. This was another banger, even with the very, like, stilted turns to camera and says,

well, you know, emphysema is a rising cause of death in the senior citizen community, moments. It's really coming together, man. And I am really impressed with what they are doing with Robbie, because for as much as obviously there is a kind of parisocial relationship with

TV characters, there's pretty common phenomenon these days, and people being like, Robbie is being inappropriate in this workplace, which I suppose he is, but it's also compelling television, and it's fiction, so you can stand at arm's length and watch it. I didn't

really get it maybe in the first few episodes or not not get it but I was like well that's this interesting like what are they going to do and how are they going to land this with him and I think when I when I say I didn't get it I was like well he's come in everybody is immediately keyed into this helmet thing and this motorcycle trip but what you don't really see or what doesn't really become apparently for a few episodes is the lack of his loss of his warm touch that this ability to take somebody aside and make them feel okay or make them feel better or share or be vulnerable or talk about like here we stay you know we we we do a moment of silence and we do a debrief and all these things is a teaching hospital all the stuff that was like obviously like

principles of the hospital that he had internalized and made part of his like character essentially um he lost he's lost it you know he is a guy steamrolling through his last workday and and is making everybody around him pretty miserable, including people that he's trying to help, like Duke, who he's brought in and insists on him getting a scan so that Robbie can leave, because now there's obviously a ton of speculation about to what extent Robbie is leaving

and what plane of existence he is leaving, and several characters, or at least Dana pretty specifically, is like you are giving off, like, Last Will and Testament vibes, pretty much. It was nice to see, that some of the characters on season two of the pit seem to be watching season two of the pit? That's a very succinct way of the long way

of what I just said, yeah. Santos says something, Dana goes right at him. I really like Santos. I feel like I mistyped it, but something about like a grand ego death and Robo Doc over there shooting her in the proverbial dick. I'm like, yeah, that's a pretty,

she should be a podcaster. That's pretty good. During the first eight or nine weeks of the show, it seemed like you and many people, myself included, were waiting for the other shoe to drop in terms of the big event that was going to royal the ED. And that part of that may have been just what the show had taught us to expect, that if they were going to choose a day, they were going to choose an exceptional day, probably due to something beyond any expectation of what an emergency department can expect to handle.

So it's a mass shooting in the first season. And this season sets us up to believe there's going to be something because people are, it's incredibly hot, people are gathering for the festivities for the holiday. We have seen some fireworks-related incidents. There's the looming cyber attack that actually, this episode reminds us, never came. They just shut themselves down to avoid it. In the last two weeks,

the storyline that has emerged as the central story of this season is Robbie's internal combustion. Combustion. And I'm wondering how you feel, about, it seems like you're feeling positively about it, but the way that the show, I don't know if it roped uped us or just lulled us

into expecting one thing and then suddenly receiving another. But do you feel like your engagement of the show is at the same level that it was last year? And how has this resolved your feelings about the first part of the season? Great question. Thank you. I think that there's a way in which this,

what they're doing on the second season, is a great leap forward and a great example of how this show is going to be able to iterate and move forward and do five, six, seven, ten seasons, however many they want to do. That being said, the Robbie Bullet is in some ways the same kind of caliber of bullet of a mass casualty event.

Like I don't know how many times going forward on the series they're going to be able to do winding Robbie up and having him come apart over the course of a day. So it's an interesting gambit that they're doing it this early in what I think we would all assume is at least going to be a four-season run, right? Like, oh, I mean, I think the nature of the show, I know I turned to camera last week,

and I was like, Robbie is not leaving the pit or not dying on the pit. In a perfect world, the pit isn't just like a reboot of a broadcast network style show. Yeah. They want this to run for 10 years. So I would imagine in success,

this show will outlive, not literally, but many of its characters. Well, even, you know, And that was one of the cool things I thought about this episode was as the night shift started coming on and you see Mateo and you see a homeboy with the coffee who's just the greatest triage nurse of all time. He's a doctor. Yeah. You're like, oh yeah. And then when Mateo says to Javadi, like, you should join the night shift.

It's like. The dark side. Yeah, the dark side. It's sitting right there for them to do that. Now, I don't know if they could maintain the same level of quality that whether you'd want to make season three the night shift or whether you'd want to spin it off. and do shift, the pit night shift. I don't, this seems like a very carefully written, important show to the people who are writing it.

I don't know if they're ready to franchise it yet. Yeah. But there's so many different directions as it can go in is what I'm saying. It's Dr. Shen, by the way. Dr. Shen. I feel good about it. You know, I was glad actually when, I think Al-Shemi says the other two hospitals have paid the ransom

and we're going to have like our defenses up soon. Did you like that she knew that with her own internal Wi-Fi? She was like, hold on. I have a signal. I've come to like her as well. You know, I'm a pretty I'm a pretty easy date when it comes to this show.

Well, she is doing the part, she has taken on part of Robbie's job and responsibilities and personality and that she is quite calm and seems to be very comfortable conducting and teaching like a professorial vibe and role

and that seems to be working with a lot of the younger doctors and residents. Yeah, I think if you think about the potentials, it's an HBO Max show, but it's an HBO show in many ways. And an HBO show is nothing

if it doesn't have a morally complicated and conflicted male lead. And one of the challenges to probing and exploring Robbie as a main character, not just as the engine that makes the entire show go, is that as a doctor, he is essentially flawless. He, through, I don't know how many episodes has been 15 plus 9, so 24 episodes, he is, I don't think he's ever made a mistake or a misdiagnosis.

He is. Other than the slash trache, there's nothing he hasn't seen before. Right. So if you accept that, and I think there might be hopefully room to poke at that in future seasons, what you needed to do in this season was to give him. him the runway to experience what a crash out would be without the temporary high of a crisis. The first season was about him walking in on a day that was going to be very traumatic for him and memories of COVID and of his mentor.

And then in a, I was about to say strange way, but I don't think it's strange at all. The day gave him something that he almost needed to not deal with the trauma. It gave him a different mountain to climb and he could focus on the thing. thing that he's been focusing on for his whole life, which is what's in front of him as opposed to what's behind him. The smart character misdirected of this season is we all thought that it was going to happen again. And in fact, what's happening as this season winds down is he could go now. He could go, it seems. And he is not going. Well, this is the best scene of the episode to me, very on the nose, but the pit is a very direct show in a lot of ways. Was the Dana-Robbie

confrontation outside? Mom and dad are fighting. Well, her just being like, I always like when there's a hierarchy to a television show, but then it gets broken by the characters of the TV show itself. Robbie is the main character of the pit, but I liked the fact that Dana reminded him and the viewers that in real hospitals, these places and these institutions have to keep running for as long as they can,

with or without the heroes, the main characters. And the fact that she's like, it's still here without Adamson. It'll be here without you. It'll be here without me. Which is what we said about ER when Dr. Green and Dr. Ross left. Right. And so it's just like to basically,

if ego death is what you're looking for, like you can get it here. You know? And I really liked that confrontation that they had. It seems like I would be curious to know whether or not Dana and Robbie's, relationship is something that they have basically gotten feedback about like Catherine Lanassa being who she is and being as popular as she is. And then like we need to

make Dana his foil. Yes. Well, I think that there isn't, there's the potential for this to be the case. But in the early episodes of season one, it's not necessarily a given that these are the two main characters, that these are the two pillars of the show, the North and South Pole, who you're rooting for. And what's uniquely interesting about that relationship is that we have no idea if they have ever spoken socially in their lives, if they have ever hung out. If they ever have a different valence of their communication. Like, can they chill out and talk about the pirates? Right. We don't know.

And so this scene was particularly interesting because they were going at each other with the level of energy and frenzy that exists in the emergency room. I know this kind of breaks some of the central rules of the show, but in that scene, thinking about what they were like together in that moment, it had me wishing that if we ever get another Beers in the Park moment, like we did at the end of the season one, like, could we see what they... Or is it better for actually finally having a television show where work family isn't really family. It's just work.

I wanted to talk about like the off-ramp of this season, because I believe there's like four episodes left, three episodes left. What number was this? It's 6 p.m. but now they're past shift now. But this is episode 11, is that right? Yeah. Episode 12. And there's 15. So we have three episodes left, let's say. Four.

You're such a stickler to D.4. What about a bonus episode like Stranger Things? Which I know the powers that be are still denying, but the real heads no exist. I was pretty bummed out that Sorrow went out of business because I was almost done assembling my Stranger Things secret episodes. You're super cut.

Wow. They didn't even let you back up. Or Snape and Tom Bombadil come in. Can I ask you off the record, how did we cast Bombadil? How did I cast him? Colorblind? I have Shrek playing him.

That's so sick. So Scottish representation, finally. In the first season, they're like, we're going to finish the mass casualty event. We're going to tidy up. We're going to take a look at Pittsburgh from the roof and from the park. And now we're going to go home.

I don't know when these guys are getting off work. Like Santos has her paperwork to do. Joy kind of ostentatiously. Joy left. puts up boundaries. Classic Greenwald move there. To be like... One million percent.

To be like, I'm off the clock. I respected the hell out of that. Did you really? Yes. God, you're such a zoomer. I know. That's why I'm the voice of...

I'm the younger voice on this podcast. It's just like... Then, then, like, do you really want to be a doctor then? Yeah, she doesn't want to be an emergency room doctor. That's been abundantly clear. I like her character a lot, but that was very funny.

It was also sort of an abrupt, like, is this a sag thing? Like, they didn't want to pay her for a franchise episodes. No, I think they are really leaning. into something that we are not used to seeing, which is a complete lack of sentimentality about entrances and exits. I'm going to go take a nap for four hours, so goodbye.

And we don't know if he's coming back. I assume he's coming back because of his prominence in the show and night shift and all that. But Nurse Jessie might be gone. And I think this is another example of how nimble they are. They know that the show is going to be running for multiple seasons. They know that they have opportunities to give all of these actors and these characters more room to grow.

but they're, and because they know that, they're kind of being savages, and they're using something that they didn't intend, which is the departure of Dr. Collins to be permanent, like, do not disturb forever, but they're using the audiences surprised of that to their advantage, because now there's a sense in the casual fan

of, like, Jesse might just get remanded to a different country. Like, we may never see him again. Yeah. It does make me think that if I ever get into, like, a car accident or something, I wanted to happen at, like, around six. like get the, get the, get the fresh blood coming in? Fresh blood, but also like cool, maybe like some of my fan faves are still on the artwork. So they're bringing you in and you're like, oh, thank God, Dr. Shen.

I bet you're still on that first Dunkies high. That guy loves his. That's so interesting. We should do an RFK Jr. Dr. Shen thing because Dr. Shen loves Dunkin' Donuts. Does RFK love Dunkin, Dr. Nones? He does not. Have you not been reading the news?

Oh, I'm sorry, financial news only for you. Things going well for your portfolio. BOLio? Yeah, he was like, you can't call this. There's a lot of opportunity. He was like, you can't call this milk in this coffee drink. Just shut the fuck up and try and fix some other problems. Oh, so you're talking to me. No, him. He's worrying about Dunkin' Donuts milk? Yes. Oh, because of this, like, creamer, like the flavored splashes that they put in there? I can't think of a single bigger problem in America right now, honestly.

You know what, man? You know what's good? Yeah. Is when you go to Dunk and you get a fucking, like, hazelnut-infused. whatever. Like, let people do what they want. Yeah. You know? We used to feel that way in this country. Worry about other shit. I think this is really... Duncan Donuts. Do that to camera.

Hands off. Send this clip to Bill. Because he loves RFK or because he loves Duncan. He's from Boston. I thought that he would represent the... I had no idea RFK was coming for Dunkin' Donuts. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I mean, first Duncan Donuts... That being said... Sweet Green is next. That being said, is...

It's said to you. I don't want to invalidate. any contractual obligations I have sweet cream, but it has, you can feel it. You can feel the kale is from elsewhere now. Elsewhere? Something. It's soft. It just doesn't have a crunch. What if that's domestic kale? Because the tariffs of the sweet

delicious Canadian kale that I've been feasting on. What are you talking about? I don't know. I'm just asking the questions. We're getting way off track and we have a tight show today. Whitaker and Santos, I thought, was nice. I mean, tell me what you want to talk about because I thought that there were a lot of really nice character moments in this one. Did you catch Santos pocketing?

A scalpel? Scalpel and sutured pack, I think. I did. I did. And that was the moment when, poorly timed moment that Whitaker chose to be like, admit that you like having me in the house and that we're roommates and we can be friends. I thought she admitted it.

She admitted it with her anger. Her casual, the classic Santos frustration, yeah. I think Santos has had a really good arc this season. Yeah, me too. She made Garcia happy. She did a good job. I'm trying to look up the name of the director of this episode. It's Amanda Marcellus, brother. She did great. You did great Amanda. And she did a great job in the first season. She did. I don't know if this might be her first second season in episode. So just for the record, this was episode 12. There are three left. You were correct. Noted. Every once in a while. Everyone's a while you get one. I wanted to mention Amanda Marcellus is because I thought the part of the the Filmmaking excellence of the show is surprisingly unshoey. Like we rarely, even though the camera is constantly moving and the choreography is tighter and more demanding than on, I think, any other television show currently on the air, it doesn't call a lot of attention to itself. You're focused on the patients and the doctors and the medicine, even if you don't understand it.

So I thought it was really noteworthy and cool when they did take a little cinema moment when the firework guy starts to go south. Yeah. And Robbie says, Perla, get the brother out of here. And the camera in a oner followed Perla on the brother out. Perla does some breathing. Every once in a while, they fucking do it, man. They flex. Cinema.

As far as patients go, coked out golfer. Whoa, he's not beaten the allegations. You know what I mean? Like, there was no... Well, I was like, oh, maybe he has like a brainworm that's made him mean. And it turns out it was just cocaine and white claws. Brainworms just make you hate Dunkin' Donuts, as far as I can tell. From my limited study of the field.

but yeah like that it's kind of funny that like again sometimes with a show like the pit with the relentlessness and the pace the zigs can be zags where it's just like this douchebag who assaults nurses and golfs and drinks all day might be a jerk and his no friends they're just like uh yeah I'm gonna come back

at like 9 p.m. Never met the guy yeah uh and then the only other one that I wanted to mention was like the only other like big plot thing I wanted to mention I guess it was just Emma's first day. I suppose paralleling with joy being like doctors get burned out, it's important to go off your shift when you do.

I don't get paid to be here. This is my internship. I'm not trying to become an ED doctor anyway. Was Emma being like, I'm going to stay after being put in the headlock by a cocaine golfer. So I thought that was, they do nice jobs like balancing out like stories with like, well, there's this way of doing it. There's that way of doing it. neither one is better than the other.

Or just how about Dana carrying around some tranquilizer ever since she got assaulted last year? Same. Not because I was assaulted, just because you never know I want to just like, slam some versed before I have to talk to you. Take it down a notch. I would say,

you want to talk McKay at all? She had some pretty cheat to camera scenes of like, sometimes I worry I've lost access to my human emotions. Yes, I thought that that was a bit of a, I like, Doref as a performer and I just think that that was a little bit of a rigid scene. I agree. Langdon kind of being like this lost lamb in the D.D. But I thought that was good because it would have been like

the hour after you get yelled at like that, deservedly so probably. And I like that they even followed up as Santos being like, I don't care that he's an addict, I care that he was an asshole, you know? Yeah. And they also added context in the Dana Robbie scene where he's just like he's a criminal and I let him get away with it, which is a level of it we hadn't really been discussing in terms of why he hates him and thus hates himself and Dana called him on it. I think that McKay is a really, really good character and presence in the space and they use her well as like a finishing touch in a lot of canvases, but without the ankle monitor drama of season one, she hasn't had as much to do about herself. So I thought it would be interesting

if they were positioning. She's supposed to have a date that night tonight. She has three hours solar date. That doesn't seem as ticking clock to me as Jesse got arrested by ice agents and is now in a detention center. But, you know, I guess everyone comes with their own, their own points of view to the show. But what she says, but she's the one who says to Robbie at the end, I had friends who would go close to the edge. And so it's curious to see, is she going to be the person who gets him at the right moment? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, there's a lot of different. We have Santos kind of spiraling. We have Langdon, like you would assume, is like, like, like, quote unquote, okay, but I don't know.

Mohan is having a crisis of confidence in terms of like what she's going to do with her life. And also obviously they've threaded through her relationship to her senior patients really well this season. And I think that this show is not like slick, but it might surprise us with who needs care at the end of the season. It might be us because the only other note I has that if, and I don't know what members of the larger Warner Brothers Discovery family or the people that make the show do listen to the pit but I would just like to make a personal request for like 20%

fewer elder care storylines going into season three particularly ones. So do you remember how like when we would watch, we reference this often but like we watch four seasons of the wire being like no show has ever had this level of verisimilitude about the drug war than the wire

and in season five they showed journalists and we're like nah, it's not how it works. Pony bullshit. That's the all. only time I got taken out so far in two seasons of the pit is when the stubborn old couple who can't live alone accept help thanks to the patient care of two young doctors. Well, they accept help because it turns out like there are meds with the only thing in the way. Let me tell you something. Where's the camera? It's probably not just the meds. You know what I mean? I'm just going to say like that was a little bit. Shout up Brittany Young from Glow though as the daughter. That was great. I thought

was nice to see her. I do like seeing friendly faces from other TV shows. up like it's the love boat. Patrick Adams is going to be joining us soon, but I did want to talk to you about Top Chef. Oh, Christ, yeah. I know. We need to get into this. This is the thing is sometimes I need you to kind of watch the sheet music

while you're playing fiddle, you know? Like Tom Bombadil? I have one thing to say about this whole episode. And if you haven't watched the most recent episode of Top Chef, which is the third episode. Season 23, episode three, True Colors. And it's about the elimination challenge involves using natural dyes. That's what RFK wants to do by the way

If Nana hadn't been sent home She seems like a lovely person And I'm sure is an excellent chef If she had not been sent home It would have been my January 6th Because They opened it up to the idea That somehow not putting food on a plate

Wouldn't get you sent home Like she just has like an onion sauce At the bottom of a bowl Which by the way, for you as a diner That's as good as no food I don't really love onions I mean, I know that they're in everything, but like I fucking hate raw onions.

Yes. And I don't really like... And a bowl of dyed yellow onion soupies. No, I would have just been like, I pass. And then they kind of the judges, which I thought this was a fascinating, and this is an awesome season of this show so far, but I thought it was so interesting

because Nana goes a little bit early, I think she's like second or third, can't finish any of her plates, like does just this stuff because her chicken gallon team won't. come together, and she undercooked it, right? First she undercooked it, then she didn't get it on, she just didn't even slice it.

I thought they used the inevitability of her exit as a green light to tee off on all of the contestants. Yeah, we had angry Tom early in the season. And it almost got to the point where I was like, if it's so easy, you fucking go do it. Look at you. Not like in a mean way, but I was like, is there somebody out there who can really easily use natural dyes

to confuse but delight the judging battle? And use them in a way, I think the brief was have them be brilliantly colored, which is also very hard. Because look, shout out to our health secretary. I've seen fruit loops in England. You know what I mean? Oh, my God. I've seen them. And what do they look like?

Very muted. Very chill. Very chill. It's kind of like Cool Ranch Doritos over there. You're like, why does this taste like milk and cheese and not like I'm just going to keep in them? Let me ask you. Don't you prefer the American version of Cool Ranch Doritos? Yes, where it's just like pure versus said.

I don't... Yes, I don't, you don't need to lie to me. You know what I mean? Like, I can eat healthy and I can also like Doritos. I know it's not healthy. I have made a choice here. Yeah. Why do we sound libertarian?

Also, ironically, I find I don't like cigarettes over there. Okay. Which is probably for the same reasons. Like where they're like treating it differently or less or whatever. It's just like tobacco. They had to come here to get it. And they better... The camel company puts smack in theirs.

It's toasted, I believe. Anyway, sorry, go back. No, it's a great. First of all, this season has been absolute fire. It's been great. There is a completely renewed, pepinate step, and it's really impressive. And one of the things that was so impressive about this episode is they are not handholding anyone. The two challenges of this episode, there's a quick fire with our old pal Emerald comes,

and it is a challenge to class up Livermore. If you had a drinking game in which you took a drink of alcohol every time a character said liver mush, my respect and condolences to your family, you died. Yeah. That was, and by the way, that's basically what you and I would call Scrapple. Yeah, I thought it was going to be more like paté, but it wasn't. You looked real sad. Well, I didn't eat it, but I didn't look like patte after a while. But I really like that early on, which is often a time because it's hard to track the characters anyway at this point.

this is maybe a more convenient time to be like a troll six activation challenge but instead they were like here's a regional delicacy that many people would turn their noses up at and you have to make it good was cool and then the die challenge was another thing where they like actually in a way that I feel like they had kind of lost touch

with the last few seasons. They educated they were like this is a hub of garment manufacturing and dyeing and so we're going to have you do this thing I actually liked they almost all fucked up Because it was a big flashing sign being like, this is hard. And I know it was television, so I know that they have to kind of entertain that.

But Nana had had not gotten her food. Well, she left a mold in her first dish for elimination. For her second elimination dish, she had completed some of them, didn't plate them great. Obviously, she was quite upset about that. And then in the third episode, completely messes up her checking gallon time, died dish. I get very upset, but to her credit was like, I'm walking out in front and I'm being like, I did not complete my dish.

Then you get 17 chefs after her, and they're all being told, like, you fucked up. You know, this was bad. So do you think it was melodramatic television, reality show optics at play in which they had to kind of hide the ball and make you forget that this challenge was decided instantly when it started?

Or, because I think even if that's the case, they pivoted it into an opportunity to just roast everyone in a way that I think was... Which I thought was cool. But the last 15 minutes of the show, I was like, they're not really going to make some weird, like, Nana not doing the dish at all was better than somebody making something boring. Who's the woman? Was it Sherry? Who is just like, I have studied decades for this challenge. I know how to make, like, beautifully rainbow...

Yeah, the black, the charcoal pork. thing that she made. But then she made like rainbow-colored spetzel and then downed them in like white sauce and then made black

was she made black parsnip gray parsnip mush? Yes. Dude, they fucked up. It was kind of interesting. And do you feel, but speaking of your

January 6th was a beautiful day of liberation ideology that you're bringing to this television show. Fair. Are you justice for day?

Do you feel now that the ring mold debacle. You could say the second guy as well, the guy who made the Vindaloo Lamb. Jossi. He made his cumulative cooking

probably stood higher than Nana's. Yeah, it's pretty it was interesting that they had to... And now Nana gets to go to Last Chance Kitchen and those other two chefs

aren't. So that's interesting to me. That's interesting. Are you doing the wind horse fingers? Why is that? Why is that happening? This is, I know people, my assumption is

the people who don't watch Top Chef or have stopped watching Top Chef, have also stopped listening to us talk about it. But I would say, again, this season has the juice. It has the juice. Kaya's watching every week before these pods. Did you watch before the pod? I watched last night.

Oh, good. What do you think, Kaya? Season wise, Nana wise, January 6th wise, if you just want to weigh in. Would you have been upset if Nana had won? Or not won, but if not one... Not one. She was certified the winner.

Do you understand what I mean by that? If they did not send Nana home, I would have been upset. So, yeah. I was like, you're done. Yeah. You're done. Yeah.

Well, she has a more reasonable temperament than you. You're a little hot-headed about these things. Let's stop down for a second. Okay. And when we come back, we'll have Patrick Adams from the Madison. Andy and I are honored to be joined by Patrick Adams. It's happening. From the Madison.

We've been kind of circling each other. Long-time listener, first-time call. Online flirtation. I brought this for you, Andy. I wanted to bring a gift. Thank you. It's like a piece offering. I just want to say if this is from Taylor Sheridan

and he's giving Andy some kind of gift through you, they did check it at security. I'm going to be upset. This is actually the Hornets Nest. Yeah, yeah, yeah. From the Outhouse. This is very nice. Oh my God.

I just wanted to make sure you had it for your collection. This is physical media. Signed. You know, obviously signed. I didn't sign this in case Chris wanted one, but I feel like you probably need both. I really appreciate this. Yes.

This is really great. Seriously, unavailable on streaming, too. Yeah, yeah, you know. I know it has ever caught up. I know you're already off book on the series, probably, but I just wanted to make sure you had physical media. That's really kind of you. Any bonus content on here?

Yeah, tons, but I don't want to ruin the surprise. Did you do an audio track? I think actually, that's a good question. I think we did on the first season? Yeah, commentaries. So, yeah, you can get the behind the scenes. Could you just bring this back when Megan signs it? Oh, yeah.

Oh, damn. It's going good. It's going good. It's a really nice. Thank you. You guys know I'm huge fans. Thank you for having me. It's like we've been aware that you listen. It's sort of shocking. I'm, I'm... Are you shocked? Are you shocked when people listen to your podcast? Yes. Yes. Yes. I think we just assume... You guys are a big deal. Sometimes I think they just indulge us and that these cameras aren't connected to anything. No, no, no. I'm there. I'm listening weekly. Except when you're going to spoil a show that I love Phenem. Because like, I'm watching industry now because of you. Oh. So I try to avoid like industry talk. Are you at industry? Like, are you... Season two? Season 2. It's just basically. There's a lot coming.

There's a lot. I was going to ask you, you know, this is sort of the end of your Madison run. Last interview. For S1. For S1. S2 is already in the can. Do you feel like you are coming out the other end of a shoot of like a kind of Taylor Sheridan promo tour whirlwind? I have never experienced anything like this.

I also have a two-month-old daughter, as we just discussed. So I don't know where I am or what's happening. And this press tour, like all things with Taylor Sheridan, is just like the craziest version of a press tour for a TV show. I mean, they don't really do this for TV shows. Your show probably won't have this. Yes, but I won't be flown around the country to talk about it. So we did London, we did New York, and then I went to Toronto because I'm from Toronto. Oh, awesome.

To help sort of prime the pump of the locals. Yeah, yeah, we've got to get Canadians excited. I bet Canadians are digging Taylor stuff. Oh, they love it. Yeah. They love it everywhere. I didn't know why we were in London, but apparently it's huge. He's a big deal there.

I can imagine. They watch Landman in a different way over there, I think. This confirms all of our priors. How do you think they watch it? You let me know how much we can spoil about the television show of Madison. But I would say that you were doing a press tour with actors whose lifespan on the show are limited. And so we did see some of these actors. You decide whether we name them or not.

We had to walk a bit of a high wire. And some of these actors said to be like, Boy, it was really great doing that scene. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We can't. I mean, and a lot of us never worked together as a result of that. Yeah, how great it was to be on set with them. No, but we could walk a fine line.

I mean, we were given the ability to talk about loss and that there was some, that there was a tragic loss. They just didn't want to name that loss. I think that's diagrammed in the trailers and stuff like that. And we talked about it when we talked about the first couple of episodes. Let's talk a little bit about your character. If you don't mind. We can do like the sort of more official.

Have you guys watched? Yeah, I watch it. You have to watch. Yeah. You have to watch everything. We do. I mean, we don't have to watch everything. But I choose to watch.

I chose to watch the Madison. And it was like, you are a Taylor fan. Yeah. I would say that I'm, there's like 60% of it. I just sincerely like, and then there's 40% of it. I'm just like, this is so, I'm so curious about like how it gets made, how he writes all this stuff. That was what I was a dork for. I showed up. That's what I was interested in, is how is this man doing this?

Because I suffer from my term this the other day, TDS. I have Taylor derangement syndrome. Yes, you do. And yet, I'm still watching. Yeah, we've got you still. So it works on either side. I'll be honest, I was probably a bit more in your camp before I started. I hadn't consumed a lot of Taylor. I'd seen 1883, which I think I only watched because I knew that this was maybe in the mix. And the director that we had, Christina Poros on the show, had done a lot of that. on that. So I started with 1883 and was really impressed. I watched some of 1923, but I had never seen Yellowstone and then tried it and it wasn't for me. It was not, it didn't

it wasn't something that I wanted to stick with. But I was profoundly impressed by the production. I was like, something is going on here. So to go and step onto the set and sort of get to see the machine in operation was pretty remarkable. What is the machine like? We're

both curious about that. I mean, they've been making shows now for what, 10 years? So this is a group of people who have been working together in an environment that's not easy to shoot in. You're shooting on hills that are like that Stacey's Valley and the show is this like, you know, technical. I'm a nerd for technical. And like shooting in that valley is an insane thing to try and pull off and they do it with no problem. You're shooting in the elements. It's raining.

It's windy. We shoot five cameras. Everything. Everything. It's five cameras. You're inside in a restaurant. We're shooting five cameras. You're out in the field for five cameras.

So it's just like. the A team that has been, you know, found by Taylor and his team over the course of many years, they all love it because it's job security. Everybody's so happy to be there. And if you're not good at your job, you've probably not been asked back. So you sort of step onto that set. Usually you step onto a set and you feel like everybody's getting to know each other. It's like the first day of a new school for everyone.

But on a Taylor set, you're the new kid at school. They all know each other. They've been at school for years and you're the new kid. And they're like, what do you got? The five camera thing, is that like the way they used to talk about Friday Night Lights where it's like there's coverage everywhere. Exactly. You can kind of do your own thing. Yes.

Friday Night Lights was a little more on the shoulder, you know, right? They would be handheld. And so I did one episode of Friday Night Lights and I remember, I mean, famously, there was no rehearsal even. They would just show up and be like, go, just see what happens, which is terrifying. As an actor just walking on the set. This is more prepared. We're rehearsing. We know where they are.

But, you know, I'm a camera guy. I'm a nerd for cameras and I love to know you're on a 50 and you're on an 80 and on suits. We would never have more than three cameras in a courtroom, two cameras every other day. So I'd always be aware, okay, we're kind of here and here. And as an actor that does something to your brain on this set, you can't do those calculations anymore. There's too many cameras. Also, it's not even a set. I mean, one of the things that we definitely agree on about the Madison is it is gorgeous.

Beautiful, right? Shot after shot is just stunning. It's stunning. Unbelievable. And so you spent years in a courtroom on a set. In a warehouse in northern Toronto. Sounds sexier the more we talk about it. Suddenly you're on this wheat field, golden wheat field somewhere in Montana.

Overwhelming. How does that change both the performance and the overall experience of having the job? Well, you arrive with a lot of gratitude. I mean, I remember when we drove out there, day one, the base camp is an hour. You get on the highway from Bozeman. You drive like 40 minutes. You get off the highway. You get on the small road, then you hit the dirt road, then you're on the dirt road for 20 minutes until you get to the base camp.

And then you're at base camp, you get ready, and then you do the 20-minute drive down the roads that Taylor has built. Taylor in his team, not Taylor personally, has not built the roads. But they've built the roads to get down to the cabins that they've put next to this, you know, next to the river, whereas before it was just a ranch, there was nothing there before. So you arrive filled with like the majesty of nature. You've watched the sun come up over the river. So that does something to you. For me, as the character, Russell's scared of everything. So there's so much to interact with.

When the wind would blow in my face, I would get to pretend I have dirt in my eyes. There'd be bugs that would drive me crazy. Like, I was just trying to use the environment as much as possible to be as uncomfortable as possible. That's how I use the environment always. Yes. I can relate to that sometimes.

But Patrick's a bit more comfortable in that place. So you'd show up and be very grateful that you get to shoot in this insane place with these people that know how to shoot it. That's a big difference. Because if you could be in that environment with maybe people who are learning it for the first time, I don't know if you've had that experience, but you can be miserable because nobody kind of knows what to do when the wind blows or starts raining. But these are people that have been on the front lines with Taylor for so long. I was reading some old interviews with you last night, and I came across one when you were, it was like from EW when you were nominated for SAG for suits. And you said, talking about the character Mike on suits, you were like, the thing about Mike is it gives me the chance to embody the energy of somebody who's in a new environment that scares them and that they're not sure that they can survive in.

And you were like, you were talking about basically. I seem drawn to this. Well, why? What's going on? I don't know. Yeah, you don't want to be. I feel very uncomfortable all the time. Mike McDee at the poker table.

Like, I know exactly what's going on. You kind of like to be a little bit on your toes. I think I relate to that more. I don't know. I think the desire, especially is like an. actor and people want you to be a leading man is to be super cool and be the Harvey Specter, you know, to be that character. And I certainly spent a lot of time on suits wishing I could occupy that space and be that. But, you know, lo and behold, you come off suits and this is what I'm

drawn to. It's just what I relate to. I'm much more that guy who's uncomfortable and unsure how to be and how to be with people. And I'm into discovering their confidence along the way. You know, Mike became a much more, I guess he started confident, but He was in a very alien environment, and I thought that was fun. And that was my experience of being on a show for the first time. I had never, I mean, I'd done guest star stuff, but I'd never been on a series where we're shooting 16 episodes and doing all the things that come with that process.

And so I would have thought maybe I'd be more confident now. Sure. But when I read a script like this, I see that character, and I just think as an actor, there's so much more to do. It's so much more fun. I'm more of a Lewis-lit guy. He's on Suits.

He was a character from Shoe's That was the beloved USA series. Fire up the DVD player. I'm more of a Lewis lit guy that I think maybe a Harvey Specter

guy. I think that's more interesting. Like Tom Wamskans is like you know, that's who I'm drawn to. I know that one. Yeah, you know that one. I do want to ask about the scripts

because as you alluded to at the beginning, the Madison has a sort of unique production history. You shot one six episode season in 24. Is that right? Then you shot a second season

of six episodes. We just finished it this summer, yeah. Before any of it premiered. Yes, exactly. With a project like this, like all Taylor projects, he's the writer. Yeah. When you signed on to the first season or when you showed up, are all six scripts locked? Or is it a fluid process?

Not even close. Fluid's a word, yeah. I think I got one script and I got to decide whether this was something I wanted to do based on that script. And if you watch the first episode, Brussels does not have a lot to do. So it was really just a conversation with him, one of the few conversations I've had with him, where he talked about the part and how he wanted to shoot the show and how he likes to work and what he had responded to in the tape that I had sent in. Did you have to fly to Texas to have this conversation? No, luckily. He does these tests in Wyoming.

Oh, okay. Which I don't know why they're in Wyoming. Yeah, yeah, yeah, why not? But strangely, in parallel to this show, my stepfather had passed a few years ago. I'm sorry. And we had this, thank you. And we had this cabin out in the wilderness north of Toronto. It's sort of a common thing to have cottages up there.

And we'd been going there our whole lives, but it was really his domain. He took care of this place. It's very remote, hard to get to. And we had just bought it from my mom. Okay. And I had just arrived at this property, at this cabin, and was like, oh, my God, I got to take care of this place. I don't know how to do it when I got the audition for the Madison.

And so, long story short, we were in this environment living out the story of the Madison apparently in our own little world when he said, well, I loved your tape, come to Wyoming. And it was like, it's on an island where we were. I was like, I can't leave my family on an island. My father, who's not well, was coming to visit us. It was just like, I know this is an amazing job opportunity, but I cannot come to Wyoming to see you. And I thought that would be the end of it. And to his credit, he was like, just send another tape. And my team still thought you're never going to, this isn't going to happen if you don't go to Wyoming. Like, that's a part of the process. Taylor needs to like see you in person.

and smell you and see how you do things. Make you do it. I'm sort of naked and from a loon or whatever. So I thought it probably won't work out and I made another tape and then he called and said, you got the part. So I didn't have to go through that whole process. I feel like that would be-

It sounded very scary. That also sounds like that would appeal, like you were living the show. That's what I thought. I'm like, I'm in a cabin. Yeah. Having this family experience, my father's coming to visit,

that's sorry that's more important to me. in this moment then blowing up this whole thing to come under the show. I think that's good. I was hoping that. I don't know if it ever landed because he never said anything about it.

This is the first he's here ago. He only listens to this show. Did you feel like what was it like to jump into that blind with only the first script and not knowing the full trajectory of the character because I think for as much as he's an outsider in terms of the environment,

he's a city guy, he's a finance guy and he's all of a sudden out here in the wild like he's also the only guy among a bunch of women and an outsider to the family so to speak because he's the son-in-law

and by marriage. It was a leap of faith. Yeah, it was a leap of faith. I mean, look, there's worse things than, I mean, I knew even though I wasn't super familiar with all Taylor's work, I was like, I know this is going to be

a big deal. I know that his shows are a big deal. And I know Michelle Pfeiffer's in it and as an actor. Like, I'm going to get a front row seat to whatever she's going to do with this part which is really attractive.

And I just sort of trusted that he would become something more than what was in that first thing. I guess I trusted that instinct that I related to the part, and it just sounded kind of like an adventure that I was willing to go on. The Michelle Pfeiffer thing we have to talk about because she's so amazing generally, and she is amazing on the show.

Isn't she like phenomenal? But it's kind of unique, or at least very rare in Hollywood, She took off, essentially took off decades to raise her family and have different priorities. But then she comes back with her 100 mile power fastball still intact. Unbelievable. Just paint in the corners. And to watch it on set. Yeah.

It's like I get any great craftsman, you know, when they paint. You're like, oh, that looks easy. I could do that. Like, not that it looks easy, but she just, it's so effortless. Right. Yeah. Like when you're on set, you're like, oh, that's, you just did that. Like, it doesn't seem to take, I'm sure that there's a ton of prep.

and God knows what she's doing to get into that place, but she's just so effortless in the doing of it that it's a thing to behold. Was there a specific moment you remember where she went from, holy shit, that's catwoman, to your colleague? I never got over it, if I'm honest. I still get nervous around her.

I told her on the press tour, and she hates it because it's like the last thing in the world she wants. She's like, we got to get rid of that. She doesn't want any mystique. She just wants to work. But I was doing this stupid thing where I was rewatching like every movie that she's ever made While I was working with her

thinking that that was going to help. Did you go do the Chris Farley interview with her every day? Remember that time in Greece too? That's exactly what I was doing. I'd watch like Age of Innocence and then show up and have to shoot a scene with her. I'm like, what am I doing? So when you had to do with Daniel Day Lewis,

was it like this? Exactly. I'm like, uh, Connie Russell. I'm Russell. Did you watch Baker Boys when you were going through herself? You know, I couldn't because it's not available. Oh, okay.

Did you know that it's not available? I didn't. I hate that it's because of the music? You have to get the DVD. Yeah, it's also like one of those things that it might have been like three studios that have since been merged for. Yeah, it wasn't because Bo Bridges is like, that wasn't mine.

I think they're just playing like piano jazz. I'm sure it's like public domain at this point, but it's one of my favorites. I was hoping you could get on this as folks at the record. You can find out. Simmons is a huge Michelle Pfeiffer fan. Yes, I've heard. We've talked about doing Tequila Sunrise and a bunch of her movies.

Yeah, Baker Boys is, I remember being one of my favorites, but I couldn't revisit it because I didn't have the DVD. Like, I was curious because, you know, you've also done, you've gotten to work with like Dustin Hoffman, you know, on luck and whether or not there is a commonality of people at that stature that you are ever like, I wonder, you know, obviously maybe they're acting styles, they're acting schools that come from are different, but is there something that like that top of the call sheet kind of person brings that is descrivable? I've been around some top of the call sheet people that are not

people you'd want to be around, but in my experience, especially with those two people, they love acting. That's it. They're really disinterested in being star. or what you think of them as stars. In fact, it's kind of a burden because it's a sort of series of expectations that they're not interested in. I really related to Michelle right off the bat. She would talk about how nervous she was,

like real nervous. And I'm nervous all the time, as I've already explained. So to have a person who's delivered those performances say to you, like, I'm as terrified as you are. I don't know what I'm doing. And then, of course, she steps up and throws the fastball. And you know exactly what you're doing.

But you need that process of saying, like, I don't know. I don't know if I have it this time. Dustin was a little bit less like, that. I think Dustin knew he had it. But he's just having fun though. He just loves it. I was on an elevator with him shooting luck once, a fake elevator on set. And they had put in the little numbers that change that go up and down to show you what floor it was. And we were alone in the elevator waiting for them to move some lights. And I was just standing behind him quietly. And I was watching

him watch these lights change as they were like making the floor change. And he was acting the floor stopping and starting. Like the cameras weren't on him. He was just like staring at it. feel like his body was like, this is fun. How could I pretend this elevator's moving up and down? And he looked at me, noticing, he's like, pretty cool, huh? You're like, oh, yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yeah, let's do it together.

No, he wasn't the pretty cool what I'm doing. It's just, like, pretty cool. Like the they've gotten. It's like movie magic. Yeah, right. That's awesome. Yeah, they're like kids in a way, which I relate to. There's some great stuff in the finale, season finale with you and Michelle.

I was curious about, you know, you got on the flight back. The joke. And then you guys do the Irish car bombs together. but she actually starts to unpack your character a little bit. And, like, I was curious whether the stuff that's in that season finale about kind of getting at, like, your character, Russell's, like, what do you want, man? Like, what do you think? That is totally unexamined. Yeah.

And that, like, if that's a signal towards, like, what his stuff might be. Again, I have no idea. I hope that's what it is. You know, it's a leap of faith. I took that scene to mean, like, yeah, we're exposing that this character has just lived kind of in fear, for lack of a better word, if it's. wife and just sort of getting along and just trying to do whatever he can do to like not cause any waves. And I think that scene is her saying like, who are you? Yeah. What do you want? What are you doing? And his inability to answer that, I hope, plants a seed for him. I think going into the second season,

there's some stuff that shows that he's, you know, on the path to trying to figure out really who he is in this environment and how he wants to show up for these people. But yeah, I don't know. Yeah, I don't know. That's the thing with Taylor. You really don't know. Sometimes we didn't get those final scripts until days before we shot. So this is kind of a bigger picture question. It's a little thinky, but you're here on it's a different podcast. No, you listen to the podcast. It's a different podcast. To look at your IMDB and your CV, like you've had such a phenomenal and long career, which is hard for an actor to have any time. But it also felt like it was really reflective of the changes in the industry. Oh, yeah. I was thinking about this too. You're doing guest spots on really prominent shows and getting your reps in in

different styles, Friday Night Lights, lost, old case, like big shows of the era. And then you, you, get the type of thing that a lot of working actors out here dream of, which is like, I get to play a cool character on a popular show. And I know where my paycheck's coming from, and I know my colleagues, I have my parking space or whatever. And then that era of like reliable series work has completely changed. And now you're in the streaming era and you may have found it again, but it involves, you know, once a year before anyone's seen the show flying to Montana. Yeah. Almost even, I don't even realize there's a question in that. It's just you're obviously I feel just scrappy. I think I'm just scrappy. I look at my IMDB and it just looks sort of like patched

together because for me it was all just survival. It's like, what are we doing? I get a guest spot, you know? Like I feel like I'm always hustling. People always ask you when you do press tours like, what drew you to this character? And it's like a lot of times, it's like, I have kids. I need a job. You know, like I want to sound cooler than that. Like I have all the opportunity in the world. And I do have more opportunity than most. But I love what I do. I love acting. And so even at 44 and tired and three kids, I try to take that Dustin's story to heart. Or Michelle, which is just follow, you know, find a script that light something up in me, even if it's Russell and it's three scenes in the first episode, I go, I can do something with that.

And lucky enough, in this case, you get to do it with, like, the top-notch people. But I just love to do it. I really love acting. Do you have any, like, have you ever, like, been like, oh, this is a different industry that it was seven years ago, 12 years ago. Or maybe it's always used, so it's like that there's a consistent thing about your perspective.

But I think Taylor's stuff is this weird hybrid. It's hard because he like exists in this like. Yeah. There's nobody else's doing it. But sometimes it's like you're made up his own industry. You're watching Dallas and sometimes it feels like you're watching an action blockbuster film. You know,

so it's like this crazy hybrid of like very old school TV principles and new feature film stuff. And everyone's a little different. Like our show, I don't know, so many of the other shows, I wouldn't say rely on it, but like the cartels around the corner and someone's coming for the land. Don't spoil season two of medicine. Our show doesn't have any of that. It's literally it feels yet, maybe. But it just feels like Taylor is, you know, I don't know where he writes or how he writes, but he sits down and he's like meditating on grief.

He always talks about plot. There's the one thing he said in that early conversation was that he's not driven by plot, you know, which says, to me. I too have seen Landman. You know, the process of writing a show, as you know often, is let's put a bunch of cards on the wall and figure out story B and story B and by committee, now you go write

it, but then we're going to put notes on it. This is a guy in a room going like, this is what I'm thinking about. And sometimes for better, sometimes for worse, if you're not a fan. But I will say it's kind of cool to be on a show that's just like one person's vision. Totally. And they are

allowed to do whatever they want. Yeah. nobody's coming in and saying, well, what if it was a little bit more of this or that? It's his idea, and he trusts Christina absolutely, and I cannot speak highly enough about her. I mean, she is, when you talk about the visual part of the show, she came up through the camera department. She was a director of photography. So she, her spirit is as much imprinted on this thing as, as his is. And to his credit, he really lets her run with the ball. So we're given a lot of leeway. It's like, these are the words. Do with them what you will. he casts people that he loves.

He's put Christina in a position where he trusts her. And then he's like, this is what I've written. Go see what happens. When you read the scripts when you get them, do they feel different than a typical episodic television script? Because like when you watch them, it does this. You have a 20 minute dinner scene. Yeah.

And you're like, wait, Russell's going to go out with her? You know what I mean? Like Russell's going to go out with Stacy? And like they're going to, isn't it going to be the daughters have like a final? that's the way the episode should end is they have like this resolution. He doesn't seem to care about the expectations. But that must make it interesting as a, not a script reader and an actor. I think it's fun to play those scenes, yeah.

I mean, it sometimes leaves you scratching your head. And sometimes you're like, oh, I thought I'd have a moment. You'd sort of expect you'd get a moment that ends up going to somewhere else, someone else. But I think we all bought into this story early on. We both, we all believed in it. We believed in Michelle. We were all there to support her at this performance, especially given what she had to do in the first season.

So, you know, you're kind of along for the ride. Yeah. Was Taylor with you on the press tour in New York? No. I really wanted to know what going to New York City with Taylor is like having watched the first episode of the Madison. Did you watch his introduction to the premiere? It's like very, very tender. No, I didn't see that.

I told him. He was like, this is like, you know, I lived in New York. I love New York, but New York didn't love me back. It was a beautiful. He's a remarkably, I don't know why remarkable. He's an amazing writer and he's obviously prolific. but the way he spoke from the heart I want that show

I want a young Taylor He doesn't do a lot of public talking speaking No no Taylor at the early LCD sound system shows This isn't working for me Something's off You really liked other DFA stuff I wanted to just So you have the three kids

You're a working actor But like are you do Are you an avid TV watcher? I'm a pretty avid TV watcher I mean you know we have kids I don't know how you watch what you watch with kids Like you're your I don't watch that much

But you do on the show I don't know. Talking about all of it. What do you mean? I mean, you know, you're an actor. You know, it's like sometimes you kind of fake it. Yes, he can do like... I'm waiting for your Bluey watch episodes. Oh my gosh. Because we're deep in Bluey. I'm held. I'm held back by this guy.

I'm out. I'll be honest with you. Come on. Yeah, let's go ahead. We'll do it. Finally cover the real stuff. Yeah, I try to watch as much as possible. That's why I love your show, honestly, because it's a cool guide to like you guys have set me onto some things that I didn't know about. I tried watching the first series season of industry early on.

and life happened. I liked it, but I just life happened. So to hear you guys talk about it, it's like, okay, no, I know. Our tastes are aligned. I'm going to want to watch that show. Watching the pit.

What else are we watching? DTF, we just started. What do you think of that? I like it. I think the tone is really cool. Did you do Patriot? Did you watch that when it was on? I loved Patriot.

Wait, is that him? Yeah. Oh, I didn't realize. Yeah, Steve Conrad. I think it's like the people who love Patriot, I think, are much more. And I've tried with Patriot. Maybe I should try again, but.

I, you know, Patriots, I'm saying I loved Patriot. I don't even know if I finished Patriot, but I just remember loving the vibe. Yeah, I was so in on the vibe and his performance. Yeah, I was in. So that's how I felt about this. I was like, I just felt the tone was different than most things and that on TV can sometimes be enough because there's so much that feels the same. As a Canadian, have you ever done Shorzie? No.

I love them too much. I can't do that. They're too good. No, I mean, but like, do you watch that stuff? I watch Letterkenny. I watch Shor Z. I have not finished heated rivalry yet, but my sister is a fan. Orphan Black was, I guess, a Canadian and co-production that I was a big fan of,

and then I tweeted my way onto that show for a minute. And now I'm friends with Tatiana Mislani, which is amazing. Your social media manifests things. It does. Look at us. This is really... And they say it's all bad, but I don't think that's true. Try to find our videos yesterday. We have to look them up.

Someone has to post this on social so we can get a little history here, because I couldn't find the original. It was video review. It was pretty amazing. in my car. In your car radio and be like, you have to understand how surreal that was. Because I do.

I literally listen every week. And you guys had never talked about suits ever. Nor did we. Which was what made the video so amazing. But you did in that case because you were, you were just laughing about like, why is this show? No, Chris, like, it was pretty good.

And I was basically like, yes, I know it starred people like Patrick J. Adams and I didn't watch it. Like I literally said something, just like a shot, just a drive-by as you were driving by. How bad was the response? You've made commentary about how some people came after you after I made a post.

Yes. No, you got, yeah, you got the suit stands. Did they get, were they mean? Were they? No, they're, there's a polite group. They're passionate. They want to educate. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

They don't, they lead with open arms. How much suits have you watched? Since this podcast started? Yeah. Yeah, where are we? When you was waiting for physical media copies. Have you seen one episode of suits? From what I understand.

You did a show on USA. I did. I did. They didn't make you watch suits before. Is that part of your contract? No, weirdly, they made me watch Royal Pains. Yeah. And they were like from the Blue Sky era.

We'd prefer you to focus on it. Now you have a place to start and you don't have to stream it. It was really kind of you. It's really kind of. We'll pivot. Because we do like to zag on this show. So now three years after it became the number one show in the world. We'll do suits.

Now it's time. But only the DVD versions of suits. Yeah. And I'll be like, actually, the episodes are one and a half minutes long. longer. Can we do a ringer rewatch of suits that I'll be involved in? Yes. Just pitch it here.

Probably. Okay. Perfect. Do you notice how we went yes? Probably yes. I was thinking about who would want to be on it. Bill Simmons. Juliet.

I mostly heard from Juliet about my suits erasure. She's a big fan. I don't know Juliet. She lives in New York. She's our head of operations. Let's get her in. We've just created a moment for her where she's on the subway listening to it. She hears one of her favorite actors.

Hi, Julia. Don't know her. Juliet. But this is how we work. You want to know a fun ringer thing that you can cut out, but Adam I went to high school with. No way.

Yeah. I love Adam. He's the best. Oh my God. He's my favorite film critic. It's so smart. Can I nerd out with you for a second? What's the camera thing?

You were looking at my shirt. No. I mean, I loved LCD. I saw that you did, you've done some photography exhibits and stuff for you. Yeah, yeah. I have a couple of exhibits. I haven't done a ton of that,

but I survived as a photographer when I was an actor. I was taking head shots. And do you ever get into like, like the film side of it? Like the actual like... I shoot film. Yeah, I shoot a lot of film.

Oh, you mean like moving images? Because you were speaking so fondly of the photography department on shows you're on. That's what I'm drawing. I directed some episode of suits. You'll discover those along the way. Later seasons. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, later on.

And I love directing. They're perverse, by the way. They're just really weird. Very lynchian inspired. Really dark. What is under these suits? I'm super dry. That's where when I'm on set,

I'm always just dorking. out with the camera department and trying to figure out when it's not like a scene of yours just to see what they're doing stuff. I was shadowing Christina on this and usually when I'd shadow Christina, I'd just go and hang out with the camera department and ask them questions. And I just, I just love cameras. I love visual storytelling. I love getting to understand when you have five cameras. There's so many people who are focused on different things and trying to figure out how you organize all those cameras. Like, well, who's going for the close up? And on most shows, there's like an A camera. And I am in charge of the closeups. And on this show, it was like,

so fluid. It was like, no, you're there now, get that, you get that close up. You're feeling that. Shoot that eagle that's flying by right now. It was like sort of this beautiful orchestra that nobody really needed to be told what to do and they all understood it. And so yeah, I don't know, I'm just fascinated by the camera. It's always interesting to me. Like when the actors start to gravitate towards that. I saw like Giovanni Rabizi. He's like super into it. He makes the camera. He made the camera that they like maintains VistaVision. That one battle was shot on. Yeah. He built it. Strange Darling like this really good like kind of horror movie that came out. I got to work with him once on his show, which was called... Sneaky Pete. Sneaky Pete. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We covered that.

And it was amazing. He's such a trap. He loves cameras. Yeah. I sometimes see him walking around in Outwater with like a camera on his neck. He would love that. He would love that. Just say, take a picture of me.

Photographed. Patrick, man. Thank you so much for coming on the watch. It's fun. Thank you. Thank you for the gift. The green light to come on. When you finish industry, come back on.

Oh, I would love it. I would love it. Good luck with season two whenever that comes, but congratulations on season one. Let me come back for season two. Please tell Taylor, Chris said hi. I will. Enjoy more ways to save at Ralph's, like low prices in every aisle. And when you download the Ralph's app, you can clip and save more with digital coupons every week.

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