WHAT WENT WRONG - Dysfunctional Duos (with Couples Therapy Podcast)

Episode Date: September 2, 2026

This week we have Andy Beckerman and Naomi Ekperigin from the Couples Therapy podcast to discuss some of the most chaotic creative partnerships and rivalries in Hollywood history. Join us as we lay out an array of feuds from Tom Cruise vs. Anne Rice, to Patrick Swayze vs. Jennifer Grey, and beyond. Grab yourself a bucket of Liz Taylor’s favorite chili and get ready to pick a side. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, dear listeners, and welcome back to your favorite podcast, Full Stop, that just so happens to be about movies and how it's nearly impossible to make them, let alone a good one, let alone with somebody who may be your creative soulmate, but also you kind of want a murder. I'm not talking about our guests. I am talking about Lizzie. Just kidding. As always, I'm Chris Winterbauer, joined by Lizzie Bassett. Joined by Lizzie, who do we have with us today? We have the hosts of couples therapy, who, of course, are also an actual couple and extremely talented comedians. We have Naomi Ekparrigan and Andy Beckerman.

Welcome to the show. Hello. Hey. Hi. Chris, can I jump in for one second? Your intro reminded me a little bit. Now, I know you didn't mean it what you said, but it did remind me, Naomi and I watch a lot of House Hunters International. And you can watch and see the passive aggressiveness on some kind of. couples, ooze out of their pores as they are.

As they're saying like a little joke about their spouse or partner or whatever like that. So I just want to, I don't, I don't want to take over. But I do want to ask, was there any truth in there? Was there any truth in there? No, shockingly, we still don't want to kill each other. And actually, we got the chance to talk on your show. We came on your show. And you provided a bit of therapy for us, co-worker therapy, if you will.

Could you explain what your show is and what you do on it? Sure. Naomi? Well, on the show, we have folks. We enjoy, la Lizzie and Chris, come on and we talk about relationships. We talk about mental health. And then we answer some listener questions. And often, you know, we'll have an individual.

We'll have some actual romantic couples. But, you know, you guys, we had to just get to the bottom of this working relationship. We had to say, how are you staying sane? Also, because you also are in a weird kind of thruple with your husband, Lizzie. So we really wanted to unpack the thruple angle there. And so how does that affect the work? And just to note, we do own the interstate copyright on the name couples therapy. We do.

And have owned it for over a decade. And maybe there's other couples therapies out there that maybe didn't check before they named their show that. Wow. Just wanted to throw that out there. He loves to mention the interstate copyright. Looking at you, Dave. Doesn't David Ellison technically own the copyright on, because isn't that on Paramount Plus? I guess so.

Showtime Paramar Plus, honey, it's all owned by three dudes in a trench coat, right? So yes. Sure. Two Ellison's in a Trump in a trench coat. That's right. All right. Well, we've brought you here today because we have covered a lot of very dysfunctional couples, both romantic and working relationship couples over the course of the show.

And we've selected three very dysfunctional ones that we thought it would be fun to present to you today and kind of get your thoughts on. the situation, what you would have done in the situation, what they should have done, could have done, anything you want to talk about with these. Does that sound good? Absolutely. All right. Lizzie, can I name just one or two honorable mentions because they didn't get... So, because she passed away recently, we removed them, we were going to maybe present

Marsha Lucas and George Lucas. Very interesting relationship. Really interesting relationship. Marcia did, you know, just pass away, but kind of the head and the heart, you know, of a creative duo in many ways. I also want to mention Francis Ford Coppola and Bob Evans. Just an ego-fueled

cocaine-laced explosive dynamic for the ages. And then I also want to mention Marlon Brando and anybody he ever worked with. Which would also be an incredible relationship to explore. But those were my three honorable mentions, Lizzie,

that I just wanted to get out there before we dive into the great slashes today. Marsha was black, correct? No. No, Marsha was. His second wife. Your honey, isn't it always the second wife? Anyway, continue. Sorry. Sorry, continue.

I do keep tabs on who has black wives. And so that's why I was like, wait a minute. But okay, first wife. Yeah, first wife. First wife. Very painful divorce. And she's maybe responsible for why the first Star Wars movie is pretty good. Anyway.

All right. So we thought that we would kick this off with one of my favorite dysfunctional relationships we've ever covered. and someone who we have sort of accidentally been going on a deep dive on recently, which is Tom Cruise and Anne Rice. Do you know anything about this? Really? No, I do not. Lizzie picked the not-expected relationship, right? It could have been Katie Holmes. It could have been Nicole Kidman.

I don't want to touch that. David Miscavich. Sorry, I was making my Zinu joke. So I heard exactly what you said, but take me back. literally this is a not this is a romantic relationship no this is not this is a working relationship this is a working relationship when they were doing the interview with a vampire movie he was a nightmare to poor anne well so have you seen the movie

yes okay what are your thoughts on that movie and his performance in it well look I am an AMC interview with a vampire stand so knowing that you know I'm not really it's fine. I don't really care all that much. I'm not, I wasn't really into either. They were the guys of the moment to be in that movie, and we understand why.

Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise. Were they the right ones to be in it? No. Was Tom Cruise giving theater production? Yes. Yes. Can I ask? Okay, great.

Where was this in Tom Cruise's Uvra? Like, what was before and what was after, please? Okay, so you would have had, you know, he's coming out of the 80s. He does time. The Cap Gun, Rain Man, The Firm. This is 1994. He's gearing up, and he's working with all the best directors in Hollywood.

And this is really pretty different. I mean, legend with Ridley Scott in the 80s, he'd kind of done fantasy. But this is very different than that. He's never done anything quite like this. It's different in a lot of ways. I think it's different in the sexuality of the character, which is somewhat unstated in the movie. But it's also heavy prosthetics work. It is a period piece, which he kind of stayed away from again outside of legend,

which isn't even really a period. It's just high fantasy, and he plays an elf, basically. No, what's the one where he's Irish? Far and away. Yeah. With Nicole Kidman, which I just, I don't know if he had done that yet. Okay. Lizzie, do you count Irish as fantasy?

No. He was saying period of these, because I tried to watch it recently, and the accent is... That was the, yeah, Ron Howard directed, I believe, far and away. But so he's really, he's peaking or about 2P, Mission Impossible, will be shortly after this. So he is, he is as big a movie star as there is on the planet, really. A much bigger movie star than Brad Pitt at this point. It should be noticed. So, you know, it's the early 90s.

Anne Rice, obviously, she's the author of Interview with the Vampire and The Vampire Chronicles. This was a truly revolutionary series of novels when it comes to how vampires were portrayed. Prior to this, they were really like monsters. After this, we get this sort of world of vampires as people, like vampires as sexy, vampires as, you know, emotional and potentially even sympathetic. So they're turning interview with the vampire into a movie. She should be super stoked. But instead, she's really pissed because David Geffen had gone around her to cast Tom Cruise as Listat. Oh.

DreamWorks, David Geffen? DreamWorks, David Geffen. Yes. Wow. Yes. Okay. So she wasn't even involved at this point. No.

Well, she was not involved in this decision. That's for sure. Was that in her contract? I'm sorry. These authors, these authors, trying to get into Hollywood, read your contracts. Yes. It was not. But Lizzie, she had written drafts of the script before.

Before. Oh, good. So she had been involved. Yeah. Yeah. And also, like, this was an extremely personal work for her. She said that LaStat was based partially on her husband, partially on herself, and also, I didn't know this until we started diving into this, but the character of Claudia, an interview with the vampire, kind of came to her after her own daughter had passed away from leukemia. Yeah. Oh, God. Five or six. So this is, like, I understand why she cared as much as she did. And also, it had an enormous fan base. Right. So let's talk about why she was pissed. First of all, physical appearance-wise,

Lestat is supposed to be six feet tall, blonde, blue eyes, androgynous, kind of like, you know, moves like a lion a bit. Does that sound like Tom Cruise? Absolutely not. But he has a history of play. He played Reacher. Right. He is in denial.

He is, again, but this way goes back to the zeno of it all. Like in his mind, he is seven feet tall. Okay? In his mind, he's seven feet tall. He moves like a lion. He can. have whatever he wants. And so he has this image of himself and nobody's going to tell him no. So he was like, why wouldn't I do this? Because I'm shocked that he would even choose to do this

for, I think. And again, they toned down the sexuality. But, you know, if you had ever read any of that source material, I'm surprised Tom would even take the chance, which is probably yet another reason why they did water it down so much for like for him to be happy. But I think between, him and Pitt, he embraced the sexuality more. Yes. Than Pitt did, in my opinion, if you watch the movie. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Where's eyes wide shut? That's five years after this. Okay.

So this is like five years of him kind of like playing around and he's like, fuck this. And I'm just going to go do like Spielberg and Mission Impossible. That's exactly it. He had a really interesting period where he actually was, I think, pushing himself in terms of the types of roles that he was taking. And this is like smack in the middle of that period. But Anne does not like this idea. The ideas that she had thrown out were Julian Sands, John Malkovich, Jeremy Hire. Okay, okay, I can see irons.

Irons would have been pretty good. Basically, anyone but Tom Cruise. So this is a quote from Anne Rice. I do think Tom Cruise is a fine actor, but you have to know what you can do and you can't do. Savage. Savage, just the word fine. I think he's a fine actor. I think he's a fine actor.

This is happening during like pre-production on the movie or development of the movie. This is not years later. Right, right. This is leading up to shooting the movie. She's trying to get him off the movie. She said, you know, I'm tempted to call up CIA chief Mike Ovitz and tell him everyone will be gunning for his client. Cruz should do himself and everyone else's service and withdraw. Whoa.

Oh, she wasn't playing. See, that's why I like it, right? She was messy as hell. That is so rude and it's so inappropriate to decide to handle this in the court of public opinion. But I think it's also because, Because she was also thinking about, again, you were joking about these, like, right, you know, these authors in their contracts.

But it's like, because the books were such a smash, I think she thought she would have more power than she did when it came time to do the movie. Because she was like, I come with like a strong fan base. This is a huge property. The fact that you get to make it, I should get to call shots. And it's like, no, Ian, you don't. Don't sell the rights.

Look, you didn't have to. I know. I'm sure you had enough money from the books. You could have been fine the rest of your life. You didn't have to sell the rights. I don't... Look, all these small-town hicks come into Hollywood. Wow, savagery, small-town hicks.

You better be careful. The Anne Rice Army can mobilize. Heidi, they'll come get you a half a second. They know I'm kidding. They know I'm joking. The Anne-Rice heads love me. They know that... But she did...

They know I'm goofing. She said of Hollywood producers, I think they're awful. I can't warn writers enough to stay away from them. They will kill you. I hate them. I hate them. Well, she's not wrong.

Great, but that's accurate. That's accurate, actually, and that's accurate. It's like that. What was that bad mammet movie? Was it Mamet? Which one? I like David Mamet, but. Welcome to my home.

Is that bad mammet movie? And I go, I don't know what you're saying. I need more information. State in Maine or something like that where like it takes place in like a small town. It's like a bunch of like Hollywood folks descend on it. I believe that's correct, yeah. Well, thank you. We'll have to cover it on the show.

But Lizzie should tell you about the Anne Rice Army. Yes. Because Anne Rice mobilized it. Once you realized her voice alone was not going to make a difference. She did. She started stirring the pot big time. There was actually a book signing in Houston, her book signing, where a crowd of a thousand people showed up and started chanting,

no, Tom Cruise, no, Tom Cruise. Wow, that's good. Which is crazy. How did he respond to that? Like, how do you think he emotionally, like, he heard about that at some point. Oh, yeah. He actually did talk about it. He said when it first hit, it really hurt my feelings.

To be candid about it, her venom hurt. Ooh, spicy. Venom. He also said there were certainly some nights where, you know, there was anxiety. And I was very surprised by the controversy that came up by it. You know, it's interesting because all of us were like, yeah, this is a strange role for him to take. I think he'd read the books in high school. He liked the books.

To your point, he was like, I'm Tom Cruise. I can do anything. This should not be a problem. And he, I don't think, had ever been met with this kind of aversion to him. And he had no idea how to handle it. Honey, they were all suppressive people. Honey, he said, I got to go clear about Thetons. These SPs are coming to get me.

And I will not let them stop me on my train. That's the thing. I think if you try to resist Tom, he is going to mobilize the church. Right? He's going to take that energy. He's clear. He's level 10, and he's not going to let it stop him. I got to pitch Paul Thomas Anderson,

the Master Part 2, about this. Wow. That's good. I'd love to watch that. It's basically the character he's playing in Magnolia, I mean, a little bit. But what's interesting about you're mentioning some Scientology, we just did an episode on Scientology.

And Tom Cruise, though, I agree with what Lizzie's saying. He, rejection only means he will double down to make you like him that much harder. And every quote of how he wins over everybody on the crew, he wins over his collaborators in so many instances. He learned piano. Yes, exactly. He lost 12 pounds.

He wore vampire teeth. He studied lions. It's not just, you think I can't do this, I'm going to do it. It's, I'm going to prove to you I am the only person who could have done this. It's just such an extreme. He really dedicates himself to it. And also one thing about Tom Cruise, though, is, like, he will not badmouth people unless you're Matt Lauer. Interesting.

And in retrospect, I'm kind of like, well, but, you know, he really would. Why would you badmouth Matt Lauer at all? Well, I don't know, Andy. He really will not badmouth Anne Rice. Instead, he just, to Chris's point, like, goes to work, and he works so hard. And I will say, do I think that he is the best list at? No. Is he fun to watch? Yes, which is more than I can say for Brad Pitt in this movie. So, you know, I think like he did his best and I don't begrudge Tom Cruise for doing this one.

Anne Rice, though, did. Filming had already started and she was still publicly talking about the ludicrous miscasting. That is a direct quote. She said, I'm still at a boiling rage over the whole thing. The things I'm hearing now in the press, things the studio and producers are saying are very. upsetting. Wow. It's on one hand, you know, my thinking is like, Anne, girl, you got to let it go. But then on the other hand, I'm like, I understand. To say you're at a boiling rage months later over something that actually was not your decision, I relate. I said, Anne, we've all been there. She doesn't stop there. She gets like, she gets kind of mean. She said, they're very cocky in Hollywood. They don't care about the thousands of loyal readers who cherish this character. And now we're going to hear that Tom Cruise is hurt.

Well, you can't just take everything you want in this world. And he can, though, is he only. Wow, if only there had been like a 60 or 70 year period of Hollywood where people come to this town get chewed up and spit out for her to learn from before this experience happened. If only there were plenty of movies and books about that. She's the first person to be done wrong by a Hollywood producer. But now here's a question. How soon after it is did Anne Rice die?

Oh, a while, because she was involved in the early development process of the AMC show. Okay, okay, just making sure, again, once you're declared an S-P, anything can happen. And I just want to make sure the Ann didn't come out here. Well, we don't know something didn't happen that just took decades. That's true. That's true. Okay, good. Well, I think she was okay because, I mean, Chris, do you want to tell them how this resolved?

Yeah, so the funny thing was that, obviously, it just made Tom work harder and harder. And it was, it really, there are so many instances in the show where we meet the immovable object of Anne Rice and the unstoppable force of Tom Cruise. And they're just, they just hit each other for what feels like an eternity. And then eventually Anne Rice sees the movie. And she actually, and now I'm convinced it's partially that she appreciated how much Tom Cruise. did at least try to bring to the role. And I also think it's just how good the movie looks. I think Neil Jordan does an amazing job directing it.

It's gorgeous. The production design is gorgeous. Kirsten Dunst is fantastic. Claudia. So I think it was more of the whole package. She was pretty wowed by. And I think she saw it and realized, oh, they care about the book.

Right? Like, it's not exactly the book. There are definite departures from the book that some fans definitely don't like. But it's not that they didn't care about the book. And the question I have, this is obviously an unhealthy relationship in so many ways. But had Anne Rice not been such a pain in the ass, would Tom Cruise have worked so hard to try to win her over and all the fans over with his portrayal of this character? I know he would have tried hard at the role no matter what. But there was a zealot-like adherence to the text as if it was biblical in some way.

she did not provide her approval in advance. And it should be stated she afterwards, to Chris's point, she did turn around and say like, oh, he was pretty good. Yeah, she did. Yeah. Did she say just like that? Did she like ignore the fact that she had been? Yes.

Yeah. Never brought it up again. She said, yeah, well, time was good. Wow. No, like, I'm sorry. No, it was really, I really, I actually respect her thinking. She said, I wasn't wrong before, but he was. pretty good. Yeah. Yeah. Which is

quite the tightrope to walk at the end of the day. Has anyone delved into Tom Cruise's past? Like, what happened in childhood where because this is so Freudian. Someone says you stink and he's like, I'll prove you wrong.

Well, sure. Yeah, that's a certain person. I think a lot of siblings, absent father, moved a lot as a kid. You know, found something in theater was not an obvious I don't think was an obvious huge leading man talent, etc.

Much in the way James Dean kind of had faced early rejection too and just wills himself in so many ways into superstardom in the mid-1980s. And then it's like I think it's the Church of Tom, so to speak.

You know, he is his own Christ-like figure would be a too exaggerated way to put it. But you know, I will put the movies on my back. Yeah. Well, that's how he would put it exactly. Right the motorcycle off this cliff. And, you know, there's also, I think, an element too, though, of, as you said, Chris, of sort of, oh, you know, remember he was married to Mimi Rogers. He does have this complicated relationship. Is Anne a mother he needs approval from? Okay. You get a mean mommy in there saying, you can't hack it. Tom says, I'll show you, mom. I'm playing piano. And that is, to me, a very big part of. of it too. There is, like, and he's, to me, it's like, it's classic cocky dude. You had to neg him. Anne Rice had to neg him. Yes. I think you're right. And Rice had to use pickup artist moves.

She is mystery. She's wearing dynamic outfits. We know that she peacocks in her ensembles. Okay? We know she does. RIP. Okay. Rest in peacock. And she was. Do you have her, Amy Sherman Palladino both have bigger hats? I believe so. Big a hats. Big a hat. But no, I think, and so I think she was like, I have to neg this man. And I don't think she, did it thinking I'll get a better performance out of him. I think what... No, I think she genuinely wanted him on the movie. Correct. No, no. She's also, she is mean, she is petty, she is bossy. I love her. And so that is, you know, that's what we're gathering from there. But the side effect of that with a man who is DeLulu is that it makes him go to the

max. I empathize with that. There was a few girls that, like, I got assigned to sit next to them in high school or something, and they clearly didn't like that I was sitting next to them. Yeah, a few times. And I remember thinking, like, oh, I'm, I like you. I'm going to make you like me. Like, I'm going to work really hard at this. Like, you're clearly smart. You don't like me.

You're clearly a smart person. I need to make you like me. Wait, but what would you do? What would you do to try to win them over? Well, usually because I was, I liked being a class clown. And then I would, I was like, I'll show that I'm actually not a complete idiot. Like, I'm going to slowly reveal that I'm slowly because I can't do a quick. I will slowly reveal that I'm somewhat intelligent underneath all of this.

And just try to, you know, slowly. I'm not saying I was successful. I'm just saying like this was something I enjoyed. But the other thing with Cruz that you point to, who knows, but as we've explored Lizzie on the show, a lot of his closest collaborators, women, not the directors necessarily he worked with, but, you know, Paula Wagner, his longtime producing partner, Pat Kingsley, his trusted publicist. When he did replace Pat Kingsley at first, it was with his sister, Leanne DeVette.

So there was certainly something. I mean, yes, on the one side, he was seeking the approval in a Freudian sense from the father figure directors from, you know, Kubrick on down and Kubrick being the failed experiment that turned him maybe toward more generic roles in the 2000s. But there was a guidance, I think, from many of the women around him that he sought as well. Well, that wraps up Tom Cruise and Anne Rice. We diagnosed it. Yeah, we did it. Yeah. We fixed Tom Cruise.

Chris, do you want to tell them what our second couple is? Absolutely. So in the late 80s, there was a couple with, I would argue, some pretty solid on-screen chemistry that you may be surprised here did not. extend behind the scenes. Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray on Dirty Dancing. Wow. Have you guys seen Dirty Dancing?

Yes, indeed. I've heard the soundtrack a million times. You've never seen Dirty Dancing. No, my parents. My mom loved the soundtrack, and so played it a million times when she was cooking dinner or just... Oh, my God.

We've got to watch that. Yeah, it's an amazing movie, like, genuinely very good. I've had the time of my life. I mean, that's the end of my life. I mean, that's the end of every bar and bat mitzvah. Did anyone else have that played at the end of every bar and Bob mitzvah? That was the bar. That and what was the Green Day song?

Was it called graduation? The time of your life or whatever? You know, it wasn't called time. It's good riddons. There we go. Thank you. That one. They would all end was good.

Oh, I thought you were talking about a Green Day song in Dirty Dancing. No, no, no. They were, Green Day would not form for a few more years. Do you remember when they did that dance to basket, Yeah. So good. Boulevard of Broken Dreams as he drives his car. The movie made an incredible amount of money. $6 million budget made over $200 million worldwide. Despite mixed reviews, it was a cultural phenomenon. Andy didn't see it once. There were 100 plus clubs for people who wanted to see it 100 plus times in theaters. Yeah. That's a lot. Lizzie saw Lord of the Rings 13 times in theaters. I just wanted to draw that in front of everybody.

What year did it come out again, please? 1984. 87. What else might a child see that year? Well, three dancing is not for children. That's what I'm saying. I was a child. I was a child.

Yeah, Goonies, I think, was the year before or something like that. Yeah, yeah, there you go. Tiehardt could be there within a year or two. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Full metal jacket in the theaters. Oh, mannequin? A classic. Oh, my God, I love it, but I will say I'm partial a mannequin too on the move.

Okay. I have not seen that one. You haven't seen a mannequin too on the booth? No. Girl, you need to get with the program. Okay. Because she is from a medieval village, and then she comes into present day,

and Meshach Taylor gets her together. Hold on a second. Are they, like, trying to do her riff on Bill and Ted for that? No. It's just a mannequin. They said the second version, why don't she come from far away? Why aren't we talking about Meshack Taylor more?

I know. All right. Let's talk about Patrick Swinney. Yes, okay, keep us on task, Chris. Apologies. Who had, they'd worked together before. Oh. So they had done Red Dawn together.

The 1984 inaugural PG-13 recipients. Yep. First PG-13 movie. One of the best high school boy fantasies movies. What if our country was invaded? Could we fight off the invaders? The football team? The answer is no.

Yeah. But they do. Especially not with Patrick Swayze. Lizzie, you want to tell him about the antics of Patrick Swayze on that movie? Sure. Look, according to Patrick, he was super intense. He was very in character from day one. You know, he wanted to be very method about this.

However, he and his co-stars... He's playing the high school version of himself, to be clear. I don't know how method you need to go. He had to go hard, and that involved going out drinking every night and pulling pranks like rigging director John Milius's toilet with dynamite, which is just fun. It's just fun, you guys. If you know John Millius, that's kind of funny. That's true.

He probably would like to. Do you know John Millius? He pulled a diehard two, or not a diehard two. A lethal weapon two on him? Yeah. Have you seen, you've seen the Big Lobowski, right? Sure. So John Goodman's character in the Big Lobowski is based on John Millius.

So imagine rigging John Goodman's character in the Big Loboskey's toilet with dynamite. It is funny. It's pretty funny. It's dangerous, but it's pretty funny. You know, I'm not for pranks. So I'm not in general. I'm not into pranks. in general. So I can't even get on board

with this, but also something that could involve scorching a butthole. Scorching, blowing up a bottle. I know. I was trying not to be so hateful. I was trying not to be so negative. Because I'm like, well, maybe it would. But, okay, so he's doing pranks of the director. A prank? It's just a scam.

That's true. That is true. So he's like, you know, I could tell that Jennifer Gray was not super into me. He said, it's probably safe to say Jennifer couldn't stand me once I started barking orders at everyone. Okay, fair. Yeah, right. So. But this is where it really takes a turn. So according to Jennifer, who I'm going to choose to believe a little more here, she said when it was time to shoot their sex scene,

they had one love scene in this movie. Patrick Swayze showed up so drunk, still drunk from the night before, that he could not remember his lines. And so John Milius was like, we'll get this later. We can't do it right now. We'll shoot this scene later. They never shot it later. They ran out of time. So she never got to do that scene. And then when it came time for the scene that she was excited about because it was her big emotional moment, it was her death scene, spoiler alert, she was not too happy because the night before Patrick Swayze, and to be fair, other guys in the cast as well, had been setting off firecrackers outside her hotel room because they thought it was funny to make her think that there were gunshots going off. What the fuck? What's wrong with him? What's wrong with all these

people. First of all, it was the 80s. Second of all, he was intense. He was a really intense guy. And I think, you know, that's not intense. That's rude as hell. You at work. I know workplace. This is my thing like, what? And you have to be up at like four, five in the morning. And someone's like, why don't we do that? I'm just like, you're annoying. Also, that's not a prank. I'm sorry. These are not pranks. They're just being an asshole. Yeah. There's a lot of being an asshole in quotes that gets miscategorized as a prank. Yes, yeah, I agree. And I think he actually, to be fair, would later on very much admit to that. But Patrick Swayze, as a person, we've covered him a couple times on the show, and he's very interesting. I think he's a fucking awesome actor. He's obviously an incredible dancer. He's really, really super duper intense. He was a classically trained ballet dancer. His mother was his choreographer, and she was, she drove him so hard. He also was a high school athlete. and got a horrible knee injury during that. He's just, he works himself to the bone and I think doesn't understand people who don't operate the same way that he does,

and Jennifer Gray really did not operate the same way that he did. This is so similar to Cruz. I'm already sensing the scene. I was going to say, is there an actor that doesn't have some kind of strange homewife at their origin? Well, I mean, yes, not only the mom relationship, but also just engaged in working himself to the bone,

going to the map, like, not understanding anyone who doesn't. And not just not understanding, but it's also like, what it sounds to me more is, like, not respecting anybody who doesn't. You know what I mean? Yeah. I think we talked about, yeah. Yes. And I will say, I think Swayze in later years was a bit more honest about that than I've heard

Tom Cruiseby. But so, Jennifer Gray gets basically cast in Dirty Dancing, and she's an early member of the cast, because obviously, like, this movie is going to center around her. And this is her big break. She'd been in other stuff. She's a very small part in the Cotton Club. Obviously, she's the sister in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. She's wonderful in that.

But she's not a big name. And like, this is it. This is the big thing. So she screen tested with a bunch of actors, including Val Kilmer, hot. Benicio del Toro, also hot. Wow. Benicio del Toro. I know.

But Val Kilmer, who may have been even more difficult. Yeah, based on what we know about him. Honestly, probably would have had less fun with Val Kilmer, I think. Scott Plank and Billy Zane But Yeah, you can see some of the footage With Billy Zane in the audition tapes You can

The casting director This is, I feel This is sad They said it looks like he was dancing At his Bar Mitzvah Which like, give him some credit He's not a professional dancer Well I was saying

Can any of these guys dance? Because I was like The other name you mentioned I'm like not to the extent Swayze could dance No, that's the thing That's the thing Is that she was like

I'm guessing like Del Toro could fake it a little little bit, or Komer could fake it a little bit. They're both very good with their bodies, but you know, not like... But you're up against literally an intensely trained professional ballet dancer in terms of Patrick Swayze. So she has all these guys coming in, and she said, the second any of the guys who came in put their hands on me, I just knew. She's like, this is, they're not, it. And the casting directors were saying the same thing. And then they said, hey, we have an idea. What about Patrick Swayze? And Jennifer Gray said, anybody else, please.

Wow. She begged them. She told them, too. She was like, I worked with him on Red Dawn. It was bad. Like, please do not make me do this. And they were like, too bad, so sad. It's Patrick Swazzy.

Yeah, he was the only one, really. And it's funny, there's a movie here that, you know, you mentioned Lizzie. You know, he's, Patrick Swazy is still, he's up and coming to. He's probably more known than Jennifer Gray, but they're pretty close, you know, in terms of relative cue rating internationally. But I was thinking about, in retrospect, Lizzie, Kevin Bacon. Oh, yeah. Yeah, because Kevin Bacon really can dance. He's got the moves.

He's got the vibe, too. I've heard he's, I've never heard a bad thing about him on set. I saw him on the street once. He seemed pretty nice. He was talking to someone. I know his daughter. She's lovely. You know what?

I wonder if he was too He was too. Because Footley has that, he's already footloosed. He's already footloosed. I bet he was like, I don't want to get stuck being the dancing guy.

Where's tremors? Yeah. Oh my God. Tremors wouldn't be for a few years. I think Tremors is 89. It's 90. Let me just double 90. One of my favorite.

Tremors is one of the best romances of all time. Just why do we need her? It's just about these two guys. Just let him have each other. Yes. It is. That's what they should have called it.

Two men and a little grab boy. Yeah. But yeah, Kevin Bacon was the only other person I could think of. And I'm sure you're right. He was probably too expensive. I'm sure you're right, Andy. He probably just didn't want to get typecast at this point in time. It is a very similar movie. It's just almost gender swapped in some ways from Footloose. So. Well, and I mean, Swayze was also concerned about being typecast. He'd actually turned down a lot of dancing movies because he didn't want to be known as the dancing guy. But the reason dirty dancing appealed to him, Andy, you don't know this because you've never seen it. But yes, the dancing is great. And it is amazing. But that's not like the driving force of the movie. There is actually like a very engaging plot and you care about these characters. So I think that's what really drew him to it. So it came time to do the screen test. And apparently, and this is according to Jennifer Gray, he pulled her aside.

He started crying and he apologized. Okay. He said, whoa, you clean up good girl. And then he said, this is a great part for you. congratulations. So she's really softening up. And then he said, I know you're probably thinking, oh, no, not this idiot again. And then his eyes started to well up, real tears. And in the most earnest delivery imaginable, said, you know, I've always loved you. And I've been really working on getting my shit together. So if I get the chance, I swear I'm going to make it up to you,

you will not be sorry. Oh, he's a sociopath. Oh, I think he means it. But she started crying, too, except she was crying because she knew he was going to get the part. And she really didn't want to do it with him. Okay. She knew it was not genuine. She knew that he was using all his actorly abilities to try to fool her.

This is what I'm wondering, because I'm like, I was literally about saying, like, do we think he meant it? Or do we think he was like, I know this is a part that he's like, I need this part. And she's my hurdle. I think it's both. I think he knows he fucked it really bad. Yes.

But I think he wasn't seeking her out to apologize. Before that. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. So I think it's both. I think in the moment he probably was remorseful, but he also realized, like, I can't keep being like this or, you know, I need to clear this hurdle in some way. So, yeah, I wouldn't go quite so far as to say sociopaths, but I also wouldn't say it.

He got the part and then immediately dynamited the director's toilet. No, no, that was the first movie. Oh, that was Red Dawn. That was Red Dawn. That was Red Dawn. There's no dynamite in toilets on dirty dances. although they did continue to hate each other. Sorry, I got lost.

I got lost trying to figure out whether who the character was, the Murta's name from Lethal Weapon 2, who got dynamite and toilet. I was stuck in that. That was a long time ago when you referenced his love. You've been gone for 15 minutes. Yes, Chris. That is correct. Thank you.

Welcome to our household. I just love how Andy's mind has just been this little treadmill going into it. Is it? Different direction. Yes. Yeah, Rakes and Murtax. Yes. But wait.

Okay, wait. But Lizzie, go back, though. You said he did do one prank on dirty dancing. Okay, Chris, you should explain this. Do you guys know the infamous story of Chris Pratt and Parks and Rec? Leslie's at Anne's house. She opens the door. The joke is Andy.

Chris Pratt is nude on the front porch. But he's supposed to be wearing spandex or something that they'll then just pixeled out. And on one of the takes, I don't know which take. And you can actually see the photos of this online blurred. He lost the spandex. and just stood nude at the door, and Amy Poehler opened the door, and I mean, started laughing, but freaked out.

Right. And Patrick Swayze on this movie in the scene where they're in the car, and she's, like, laughing and says, like, you're wild. He pulled his penis out to, like, shock her. Hold on. Now, wait. What, Lizzie? Here me out.

Normally I would not defend this, and I still don't defend it. But apparently what was happening is she was having a really hard time with this. She could not get a genuine laugh out. It was not going well. They'd been doing it over and over and over and over again. And so Patrick Swayze's solution was to unzip his pants and take his penis out, which did, in fact, make her laugh hysterically and say, you're wild. She actually said this was fine. Of all the things that happened on the set, she was okay with this.

I don't know if I would be okay with this, but that's the context. Hollywood is so sick and so depraved and so dead because there's nothing that would make me laugh less. And I'm like, and you know, on one hand, it is like dead serious. That would be incredible. I would just be like... That would be very funny. Who's that for?

That would be my response. Who's that for? Okay. But if you were laughing really hard on set and having trouble being serious. We know what. Yeah. You know exactly what it will work. Okay.

I'm laughing too much. Could someone sexually? harass me so that I am now angry and stoneface. That is so nuts. But somehow it worked. Okay, well, good, whatever works for Jennifer. This works, yes. But so they did still not get along super well on set.

I think by the end they tolerated each other. But the problem was, and honestly, this is like why the movie works so well, I think, because they are supposed to be frustrated with each other for most of the movie. It's genuine. He was such an incredible dancer, and he, like, expected the same level of dance ability from her. And she's like, I'm not a professional dancer.

That's the whole point of this. Yes. Baby don't know what she's doing. She just trying to find herself as a woman. Yes, yes. So that's exactly what was going on. And according to Patrick Swayze, she was very emotional. sometimes bursting into tears if someone criticized her.

Like, sir, are you the one criticizing her? I think you know the answer to that is yes. Yes, yes is yes. If someone criticized her. He also opted to do the scene where they're walking across the log himself instead of using the stunt double and immediately fell off and re-injured his knee, which cost the production an enormous amount of time and money. Oh.

And by the way, the lift, the famous lift in the movie, I believe that is the only time she got it 100% right because she was very scared of it. And that's something that really pissed Patrick Swayze off too. He's like, why can't you just do it? Wait, what? Wait a second. Right, because he basically lifts her up.

They're in the water, the big jump. And also there's something I even remember from that movie. The end. The end is the one time, the one take, she got it right. It never looks comfortable. It looks like he's like gripping her ribs in a way that I'm like, that must really hurt. And to have done that over and over

or as many times as it took to get it, I was like, this is not pleasant. This cannot be pleasant. And you're in the damn lake. Everything about it. But it's true. That movie, that's wild to think that they really couldn't stand each other

and it still came out so well. I mean, you were rooting for them, you know? Yes. And I think that they ended up respecting each other by the end of it. Did they like each other? I don't know. maybe not. That works for the movie because of the context of the situation. And, you know, they both admitted, like, they're both very hot. So there is also that working for them in that movie. And she said, you know, there was no question that our bodies liked each other in spite of what my head was saying. Wow. Okay. So her, you know what? Okay. So you know that's giving. It's giving genie in a bottle. It's giving Christina Aguilera. It's giving my body saying let's go, but my heart is saying no. Yes. Okay. I'm saying no, no. No. Okay.

All right. Well, so now we know. Now we know that's Jennifer Gray's truth. And that's beautiful. But to that end, yeah, keep it in your pants when you're at work. Literally, please, please, please. Yeah. Good general rule that we like to promote on this show. And that's happened, it's happened a number of times. Oh, yeah, so many times. Wait, Andy would like to give you another peek into his brain, guys. Please, Andy, where have you been? I've just been thinking about how RFK Jr. looks a lot like Sloth from Goonies. He's, like, kind of transforming into him. Let me see this.

As time goes on. Just one brainworm away from sloths. Oh. If you ate a dead bear from Central Park, you too could be a picture of health and wellness. Yeah, I don't know. Let's not talk about him. Yeah, but I'm saying, would you like you go to the third couple? I understand.

No. But there have been a number of times. So Paul Verhoeven took his pants off on the set of Starship Troopers when... God, I love that movie. To inspire actors to do a nude scene. And they said, put your pants on, we'll do the scene, stop it. Which I do think that was a bit of a cultural difference

between the Dutch and the Americans, perhaps. I don't think the Dutch just peens out all day. I agree. I don't do they are. Never been. Can't say for sure. But then we haven't covered it yet, but the infamous one is Paul Schrader on the set of the Canyons with Lindsay Lohan.

There's another infamous one. Yeah. Oh, okay. Well, you tell me the next one. But she didn't want to do the nude scene. at the end of the film, and he said, if I direct it naked, will you do it? And I think she said yes, thinking he was bluffing.

And he's like, okay, let's go. And so I think it was just like him and the actors in the room. All naked? And Trader was, yeah, and he shot the scene. And that's, we have to have to cover the canyons. The way... And to think we just got intimacy coordinators, like five years ago. I was gonna say.

It's crazy. It's insane. How can people not say we do? do not need I know coordinators when the history of film is littered with these

Well, it's also what drives me crazy is that in I think all forms people forget and I don't know if it's just because I think both you and I, Andy,

we came to this, we came to this industry after having had other real jobs. What's wild to me is that people seem to forget that just because something's

creative or they think that because it's creative, it's not still a workplace. Because it's creative, somehow the rules of like decency, respect, and boundaries no longer apply just because we're playing make-em-ups.

And that is what makes me like so crazy. I'm like, this is work. I am being expected to provide a skill set in exchange for U.S. dollars. Hey, Andy, if you stock the shelves faster at Pathmark, I won't pull out my ding-dong. And now, there you have it. That's what gets people to work? It's like, what are we talking about? Why do people think that's okay?

It's a great question, and one that we wrestle with often here. the podcast because it happens really more than it should. So the other one that is truly horrifying is Peter Farrely. This came out around the time of Green Book. I remember that he was a serial penis flasher in the past. Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Who was it? Not like one time. It was just like all the time. It was a lot. It was like Dwight in that episode of the office where he's wearing the disguise as everybody else. And he keeps turning to the camera to reveal it's Dwight. So it's just Peter Farley turning to the camera to reveal his. penis. I remember it was like an article. There was an article. Maybe it was a Vanity Fair. Because it was basically like, they were like, we cannot let Green Book win the Oscar for Best Picture. What can we do? Can we talk about how Peter Fairly always has his penis out? But it's just like... And that may have helped it. Who knows? Who knows? Sick.

All right, we have one more for you all. So before West and Amanda, or Lily Allen and David Harbor, or Brandelina, there was an original toxic couple in the press. one that I am endlessly fascinated by, and that is Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Classic, classic. Multiple marriages and divorces. They married each other several times, which is just wild. It's wild.

If I go to the trouble of divorcing someone, you will never see me again. All right. Have you guys seen Cleopatra? I did, but don't remember it. It's worth watching. I read about it. Does that count? Are you a fan of the soundtrack?

I, you know, it gets so much shit and like it is a bit of a disaster, but it's pretty fun. The costumes are amazing. The set pieces are amazing. Rex Harrison is such a messy bitch. Richard Burton is also like messy, fun, for sure drunk in a lot of it. And it's just like all of the women have like, you know, bright blue 1960s eye shadow and like sparkly bikinis. It looks like the Katie Perry music video. It does. It does. I kind of liked it. It was not the worst thing that we've seen. And I love Elizabeth Taylor.

But at the time, it was the most expensive movie ever made. Yes. 40 plus million dollars in 1963. Wow. Elizabeth Taylor got paid a million dollars more than any other actress had ever gotten paid for one movie at that point in time. It was a monster payday. They're basically mortgaging the studio on it. and it is just a press gadfly gathering machine from like day one. It's a disaster. Including the obvious, if you even watch the movie of there taking place between who, Lizzie?

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Now, it should be said, this is a surprisingly age-appropriate relationship. He was in his mid-30s. She's in her late 20s. We love to see it. Okay. They were, however, both married to other people. so that's not great.

Wow. She was married to Eddie Fisher, who, of course, is the father of Carrie Fisher. He had left Debbie Reynolds to be with her, and Burton was married to Civil Williams.

I will say it is interesting. You know, everybody always gives Elizabeth Taylor so much shit for having a million husbands. And she has said, everybody's like, oh, she had all these toxic relationships. She had one husband,

Mike Todd, who was prior to all of this, who it sounds like, like she actually had a really wonderful relationship with, that it was very secure. He really loved her. She loved him. He, like, made her feel like she deserved to be loved. She said, like, he was actually her great love, which I think people don't realize because they think of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as, like, the great love. They were a mess. They were an absolute mess. And she was also a mess because of Mike Todd. What happened? Did he die? He died. He died. He died only about a year after they got married.

which was really traumatic for her. And Eddie Fisher, who she's now married to, was actually Mike Todd's best friend. So she had jumped from... Okay. Okay, yes. This is trauma bond. This is trauma bonding.

All Freudian. Everything is Freudian. Everything is Freudian. Well, according to Freud, yes. Well, it's not Jungian. We're not talking about these people's dreams or the collective unconscious. Yes.

So there were some other red flags I want to call out. For one, first of all, Elizabeth Taylor, did not like Richard Burton. When they first met, she's like, he's a huge flirt. He's completely full of himself. He will not shut up. She said, I had given him the cold fish eye. And apparently his opening line to her was,

has anybody ever told you you're a very pretty girl? She was like, I'm Elizabeth Taylor. So yes. All right. But she changed her mind about him because he got hammered. So apparently he showed up to their first day of work. so hungover that he was like about to die, basically, couldn't get any of his lines right. And this is what Elizabeth Taylor said.

She said, he ordered a cup of coffee to sort of steal his trembling fits. And I had to help it to his mouth. And that just endeared him so to me. I thought, well, he really is human. He was so vulnerable and sweet and shaky and terribly giggly that with my heart I quetched him. That's Welsh for hug. I probably mispronounce that. I'm so sorry.

Then when it was time to do some work, he blew a line. I think she means flubbed it, not a line of cocaine. If it had just been a planned strategic campaign, Caesar couldn't have planned it better. My heart just went out to him. Oh, this poor... Little munchy. A little munch house.

I would say, little munchy by proxy. It's also, okay, this is such a sad lady, right? Like, she's like, oh, wow, when he is, like, weak and incapable, my heart goes out to him. Exactly. It's like, okay, ma'am, well, you need to see a professional. There's a little delirium tremens in her heart. The DTs for life.

The DTs for life. But also, just to bring it back to Parks and Rec, when Anne is intimidated by Chris, and then he gets the flu, and he's finally vulnerable, and he says, stop pooping. That's when she realizes, no, it's okay.

This guy is the guy for me. It's just, it's like this is a tale as old as Parks and Rec. The fact that Parks and Rec is your touchstone for so many emotional moments is what's concerning. Okay. I happen to have, I've re-watched a number of episodes. I'm working on a pilot.

And I was like, this is a good reference. I've, like, watched five episodes randomly that I'm pulling all of my life lessons from. But, Lizzie. Why are all of these, every one of these stories, and it spreads out to real life, obviously. But, like, it seems there's a core of, like, patriarchal kind of masculinity and the inability to be actually genuinely vulnerable. And then when like alcohol or the need for a job in Patrick Swayzes, again, I still think that he was, he was, uh, he was faking.

Yeah, you think he was faking it. Then, then they're like, oh, I've seen one vulnerable moment. But it's, it's never like the person genuinely being vulnerable, it seems. It seems like it's all like some kind of like coercion. Coercion. I don't know if it was his intent to actually coerce her in this situation because he was just physically so slammered. You know, he was not doing well. But he, I mean, he was a difficult person for sure.

Oh, really? The man who showed up to work so hungover from the night before that he couldn't even say his lines. Was he difficult, Lizzie? He was a little difficult. To be fair, very consistent with the time. and Elizabeth Taylor loved staying up until 4 in the morning drinking before every night of shooting. We just covered Giant. And she and Rock Hudson, Rock Hudson, Rock Hudson would just throw ragers every night before going to shoot the next day.

I don't know how people did it. And that was 1950s. They literally had to run outside to vomit in the bushes and Giant because they were so hungover during some of their scenes. So she's done it too. She's done it too. Well, of course, she has to be down with it because you can't marry. you can't have one person born again Christian, another person to crack hit.

Somebody, you gotta kind of be on the same page as part of it for it to work. That actually was the problem with Eddie Fisher is that he wanted to go home and go to bed. Elizabeth Taylor wants to go vomit in the bushes with Richard Burton and Rock Hudson. I'm on her side of that, to be fair, that they sound more fun than hanging out with Eddie Fisher.

But I'll say this, Eddie Fisher had to have done something right to create Carrie Fisher. That's true. I mean, he also married Debbie Reynolds, who's incredibly charming and, you know, lovely. Oh, they all did. And Elizabeth Taylor, Lizzie just talks about this.

She would, you know, later in life, really take on the mantle of advocacy for the AIDS crisis that was happening. And she helped raise an incredible amount of money and awareness for that campaign. Richard Burton was the voiceover on a Jeff Wayne War the World's concept album that I really liked. Those are the same contributions to society and culture. Yes. But, no, I mean, yeah, and Eddie Fisher was, I think, he was a very charming. performer and whatnot, and same with Debbie Reynolds. Look, he wanted to go home and eat dinner in their PJs, which, like, that sounds great to

me, but not to Elizabeth Taylor, who wanted to go out and rage. And so she and Richard Burton obviously started having an affair on the set of Cleopatra, which was pretty clear to, I think, basically everyone. And Elizabeth Taylor's going through, like, massive health problems on the ship as well. Always, yeah, because she was just treating her body like an absolute garbage can. And flying chili from Los Angeles to Rome. Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean flying chili?

She had them put chili from, it's from Chasins, right? Mm-hmm. On to a plane in like vats so she could have her chili that she wanted to eat. What? I'm sorry. She is not without her foibles. Of everything you have said, the idea that someone loves chili so much. I get it.

I wouldn't take one step to. my right for a spoonful of chili, let alone waste jet fuel flying it intercontinentally across the Atlantic. She needed it. I'm just dying because not just chili. Just imagine like a drunk bitch throwing up chili. I'm like chili in the bushes. Chili in the bushes.

She got a good base of chili before a cocktail. It's the smoothest thing coming up. She's like, I got to have my chili. But can you imagine their breath as the kissing you said? No. And like he's, they're both of them smoking and drinking martinis. Well, hopefully they can't smell anything because they've been smoking so many cigarettes. Just because you can kyan.

Oh my God. That's crazy that she's so, because you know, obviously again, Cleopatra, like this is a woman who is known for, you know, this beauty, this, you know, high class, high status. And the idea that she is flying in vats of chili is killing me. I can't believe this is the film that destroyed Old Holly. would. I mean, it really is. Queen Patrick was kind of the beginning of the end, and then we got all to her cinema. She said Richard and I really fought and heard each other terribly to keep it from happening, meaning the affair. My God, we told each other to leave a hundred times. It was really more off

than on, which does sound like, you know, their entire time together. So she actually does, she told Eddie Fisher the truth while they were making the movie, and they did break up towards the end of it. Not Richard Burton, though. He actually stayed with his wife throughout all of filming. And here's some things that he said and did. So at one point, he apparently burst into the makeup trailer and told everyone, I've just fucked Elizabeth Taylor in the back of my Cadillac. Oh, what? He was also allegedly sleeping one of the dancers on set. Jesus! Well, he denied everything and stayed with his wife. And after shooting wrapped, he told Playboy, quote, Elizabeth is a pretty girl, but she has a double chin and an overdeveloped chest,

and she's rather short in the leg. So I can hardly describe her as the most beautiful creature I've ever seen. Jesus. And she wanted him. Fuck off. And she wanted him. This is somebody she wanted. Also, like, have you seen Richard Burton?

I mean, look, I know he busted. That's not even a question. I'm going to look him up right now. He's handsome. Like, he's attractive, but he's not Elizabeth Taylor levels of handsome. I mean, I just don't know. These men Men are a scourge

A scourge Okay, he is handsome I take it back He's pretty handsome He's fine He's fine He's fine He's mid

He's got a great voice If Richard Burton's mid What am I? Come on guys Well Chris I'm mid We weren't trying to make it about you But you forced our hand

I am gonna force your hand I've been sitting on Mid Island Very happily for a long time Don't put Richard Burton here Look at this hug over for He's sweaty as hell. He's so sweaty. You can see the beans

coming out of his pores. He was eating too much chili with with Liz. That is a handsome sweaty man, though. You got to listen, Elizabeth Taylor, like, she's, I get it. I understand.

She shouldn't have. She could have done a lot better. But also, the press was all over this set. They were all over the affair, which obviously they didn't do a great job of hiding, probably due to Richard Burton announcing that they were sleeping together any chance he got. The press would apparently dress like,

like priests or plumbers to get inside of the house they were staying in. They'd use ladders to climb up and keep in windows. We need to come in here and pray real quick. It's like, why would be a priest get you into a house unless something need it last rights? They just let them in. They let them in anywhere, I think. She needs her chili blast. Yes.

Also, the headlines were insane. There were headlines like Liz wants her bottom smacked and one of her four husbands should have done it. Wow. Savage. The Vatican newspaper published an open letter, including this excerpt, quote, even considering the husband that was finished by a natural solution, referring to Mike Todd. The dead one who died, yeah. Yeah.

There remain three husbands buried with no other motive than a greater love that killed the one before. But if we start using these standards and this sort of competition between the first, second, third, and the hundredth love, where are we all going to end, right? Where you will finish in an erotic vagrancy without end or without a safe port. What is that me, Lizzie? I don't understand the text. I think it means don't aspire to greatness in your relationship. Stick with the first one. But did anybody ask them for that? I prefer when the Pope says AI is bad. I don't need the Vatican telling me not to get another man. Well, a congresswoman from Georgia actually tried to stop both Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton from reentering the U.S. because Americans have the right to, quote, ostracize those who show no concern for either. flag or people, particularly innocent children, or show no respect for either cherished institutions

or God. It is my hope that the Attorney General in the name of American womanhood will take the measures necessary to determine whether or not Ms. Taylor and Mr. Burton are ineligible for reentry into the U.S. on the grounds of undesirability. I bet that person is still serving at Congress. Yeah, probably. Fully on their 27th term. Yeah. Jesus. Always doing the most. They got married in 1964, divorced in 1974, remarried in 1975, and then finally divorced again in 1976, and during that time, they co-starred in 11 movies together. Oh, my God. I bet those were fun sets.

Exactly. I was a, God, the dramatics there. And were they good movies? Were they good movies? No, no. I think this is the downturn. The twilight of Taylor's career in a lot of ways. And same with Burton.

but you guys work together and do you think you could do continue to do what you do if you were to divorce like I couldn't if David and Lizzie divorced it would ruin the show don't do it David and Lizzie no Andy will get the podcast

in the custody arrangement okay he can do it every once on Mike you go ahead take the pod by the way he has couples therapy interstate right he can take the interstate right do you think there's ever like a nine and a half week scene of them sitting in like with the fridge light spoon feeding each other chili yes he's back to chili lizzie

i can't get over how it's say that is i will never get over the dynamited toilet in real life i will never get over the flying the intercontinental chili do you have the paperwork for the for the intercontinental chili than you are at richard burton so it's true what does that say about you what's the people i do i do think film sets become like Like, so often, especially maybe in earlier eras, like summer adult summer camps, where it feels like the reality of the world stops. Yes. And this is affairs happen. Weird immature pranks or scams, as Andy rightly calls them, happen.

Because people think, like, this is a bubble that, you know, time has stopped outside. Right. Nothing that happens here impacts anything else. And also anything that's done here is done in the name of. furthering the movie and something. There's always that justification to your point, Naomi, where you can say, oh, well, this is a creative environment or, you know, this is basically the circus.

You know, it's not, it's not, which is kind of what, you know, the movie industry has roots in. But like you said, like, this is a profession. This is a workplace. Right. It is beholden to the same OSHA requirements and, you know, sexual harassment standards. It should be.

Well, yeah, and I think the film industry has gotten better over time on, especially on safety fronts. We talked like, you know, about the Twilight Zone. movie a lot on this episode, which I don't think would happen again. I hope not. I really hope not. But yeah, what is it? I'm curious if, you know, there is that feeling of, it's like, is it the vacation?

Is it the summer camp element? Is it just that feeling that what's happening here is separate from everything else? Yeah, why do you think the rules don't apply on the exacts? I got an answer. What's your? I mean, it's not a fun one. But it's, if you have an environment like that, it's easier to exploit people. that it is if you're really adhering to the rules.

If you create a summer camp environment, you can more easily get people to do what you want. If you keep it casual. I understood what you're saying. We're like, yeah, we're just going to stay here and work 15-hour day. Oh, yeah, we're just going to start up again tomorrow in seven hours instead of 12 hours. Can you imagine on like the set of white chicks? They're like, look, I know everyone's pulling their weaners out and we're doing all this stuff,

but it's in the name of art. To be clear, we have no idea if anybody pulled the winner. Sure, that's the special episode. Special episode of what went wrong. Why are you looking to it? Well, we'll probably have to because I think they just got white chicks too green.

Oh, God. But also, I think I agree with you, Andy, in part. But I also think it is, I think it is because usually that, as you said, you are away from your daily life when you are acting in a movie. And that's all you have to do. The assumption is that when you are in that space, you got one.

job and it's to show up for that movie. And I also think that, you know, I've in no way done any of this stuff to the extent of any of the famous people we're talking about. But even when I have to do something like, you know, the movies I've been in where I've, you know, shown up for more than a day, it's a lot of, it takes a lot of energy. And if you are doing it remotely well, which granted, we don't know they weren't doing a dead well in Cleopatra, but like if you are trying to, like, show up and learn your lines and be like a decent person. to people. It takes a lot of energy out of you. And then I think that if you're separated from home and friends and all the people who you, who would probably be healthier means of sort of

processing and unwinding, now you're left with like just these like, you know, dudes in cargo pants and like your co-workers who you may or may not be pretending to be close with, you know, in the project, I think it's really easy for people to blur the lines and to get really inappropriate. And also like there is the physical separation of it, which I do think lends itself to, because you are oftentimes physically separated from your home, your family, whatever, it does feel like this kind of liminal space of like we're all playing make believe, we're not at home, you know, kind of, I understand how that anything goes, mentality starts to slip in there. But that's why rules and regulation and professionalism are so important on these sets. And also, like, look,

it is a creative endeavor. I understand that, you know, when you're acting, especially if you're being required to engage emotionally with another actor, I totally understand, like, lines can get blurred, things can happen. But I just maybe don't, don't cheat on, don't cheat on husbands and wives. Like, let's not, I wouldn't do that. Let's not do that. Let's not do it. Or also, if you're going to do it, I'll say this. Wait until after. Or don't walk into the makeup trailer and then tell everybody who has sex with somebody.

To me, it's like what I'm hearing of a lot of this behavior, it's giving terrorizing. I feel like, for instance, Patrick Swayze was terrorizing Jennifer Gray on Red Dawn and then decided to just like kind of bully her a bit during dirty dancing. Richard Burton terrorizing the whole damn set.

You show up so drunk you can't hold a coffee to your lips. That's, that's terror. Okay, you've taken over the space. You've stopped everybody else from being able to do what they came to do. Yeah. And it's not cute. Don't forget Anne Rice publicly terrorizing Tom Cruise. Imagine if Ron Swanson had walked into the Parks and Rec building and said, I just had sex with Zena, whatever her name is. Right, right, right. Yep. Imagine that. Horror. Horror. He did come in and say, I just had sex with Tammy, but that was a different episode. Okay. Thank you, Chris.

Thank you, Chris. And I think it was not well received. Exactly. It was not. He also had dreadlocks and cornrows, I believe, actually, it was in that episode. Yeah. Anywho. I have one last question for you all about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, which is that, you know, this and actually every couple we've covered today took place prior to the advent of social media.

So how do you think it might have played out differently had this happened today? I think that, okay. If social media had been in place, I think Tom Cruise definitely wouldn't have been an interview with a vampire. Because if what we've seen from the AMC show, honey, the Anne Riceheads, they're active. They're out in line. They will bring you down if they're not having it. And I think if she had had that, there would have been no question we would have been dealing with Tom Cruise. And I think that certainly, you know, if there had been Andy, you know, social media, we would have known about that chili situation within weeks, within weeks.

There would have been so much fan art of them eating chili in bed with each other. Yeah. That would have been the difference. Chilly fan art. Great. All right. Well, thank you so much for helping us go back down memory lane with these three couples. Folks, if you have not listened to couples therapy, please go listen to it. It's really so fun. You're both such wonderful hosts and great interviewers. The guests that you get are absolutely amazing. So please go listen to their show. It's an absolute comfort listen. I love it. And you will too. Thank you guys so much for having us. Good to see you again. And we'll see you again soon.