Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes) - Jesse Eisenberg (Live in Austin, TX)

Episode Date: November 12, 2025

Ted Danson, Woody Harrelson, and Jesse Eisenberg recently got together for their very first live podcast taping in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse! They were there to discuss Woody and Jesse’s new movie, “Now You See Me: Now You Don’t,” and they got into a lot more, including “Zombieland,” Jesse’s plans to donate his kidney, and his Polish citizenship.  Like watching your podcasts?  Visit http://youtube.com/teamcoco to see full episodes.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Woody, your research. This is so sweet. You do like I'm just going to come in here, unprepared, like some schmo. Welcome back to where everybody knows your name. Today's episode is a little special. Woody and I got together at the Alamo Draft House here in Austin, Texas, for our very first live podcast. It's part of an event for Woody's new movie,

Now You See Me, Now You Don't. Our guest is Jesse Eisenberg. He's an actor, writer, director, and playwright, who you know from such films as The Social Network, The Zombiland Films. He also wrote, directed, and acted in a real pain, an amazing film, and much more. Their new movie, Now You See Me, Now You Don't,

is in theater's November 14th. So let's get into it. Here's our live podcast with Jesse Eisenberg. I'm so honored to be on your show. Thank you so much for having me. Good. That was good. And adding this kind of unnerving live element, too. Yeah.

To make me feel really comfortable. Yeah, I just, I can't see you even doing an interview, much less the live interview. I can't picture myself doing anything. and then sometimes during the day things happen and then at the end of the day I think yeah I shouldn't have done any of that stuff let's hope you don't feel that way I hope those aren't one of this is not one of those moments

oh it will be but it's a nightly problem for me but I'm so thrilled to be on your show it's and so nice to finally meet you you too I've been sitting here thinking you have you both write plays big contradiction that that makes sense when you look at jesse this doesn't make sense but thank you i think just visually just visually yeah no can you oh here we go dude do you uh i've seen four i think you've written five plays yeah is that right yeah you're

like the only four of them and they're phenomenal phenomenal writing phenomenal direction. Every one of them I thought was sensational. Oh, thank you so much. I've seen your plays and the most impressive thing I've ever seen in a movie theater is a live movie that you wrote, directed, acted in, and filmed live

and it was beam to Bloomington, Indiana where I saw it. That was the most incredible thing anybody that I know personally in the arts has ever accomplished. In the streets of London. It was the most unbelievable thing. If you have not seen Lost in London, watch it's the most incredible achievement anybody I know has ever done it's unbelievable I still can't believe that you pulled

off how you turn my compliment to you into this boomerang deflection you're a great at deflection yeah I'll talk you through my five plays he won't take in a single compliment it we're going to compliment him he won't take it oh you're what do you do with acknowledgement it is tricky what's everybody you mean what does how do you handle what do acknowledgement what happens to you when people praise you. Oh, I don't know. I find, like, our profession over praises and asks for not so much effort. So I've developed a kind of guilty conscience about that.

You know, almost everybody in my life works so much harder than me, and no one knows who they are or what they do or stops them on the street to tell them that they liked something they did 10 years ago. So I don't feel worthy of any acknowledgement. It seems always silly to me. But I do understand that people want to talk to me in public. because they've seen me in something. And so there's the feeling,

I want to talk to that person. I've seen them in something. And so they have to say a nice thing because otherwise you can't just go up and say, hi, I've seen your face in a thing and I want to look at your face now. And so the thing they end up saying to you is, hey, you're really good at whatever things

because it's a polite way to meet a stranger. And so that's how I think of it, that people just want to see somebody they've seen on television in the flesh. And so they say a nice thing to them. Do I think everybody who comes out to me has thought about, you know, I really like what that person's contribute?

I don't think that crosses people's minds as much as they just want to have a little interaction with somebody I've seen on TV, and it's very sweet for me, and it makes me feel nice, and they feel nice. But I don't take it as anything like a compliment, you know, like, you know what I mean? I don't. So anyone here who feels, yes, yes, yes, I will stay for two hours afterward, and if you have any nice things to say. Oh, oh, yeah.

One more thing, because I'm leaning somewhere with this. You both don't do social media, right? You don't have a phone. You wouldn't even... Do you know what social media is? Social. Oh, no, I... Sorry.

You don't, though, do you? No, I don't do social media. But I didn't know that you didn't do social media, although it does kind of make sense to me. I barely do social. Right. Social media, no. No, I'm like, you know, I'm terrified of what people already know about me in the world.

I don't... You know, I try to limit... No, yeah. Also, I knowing me, I would say something stupid, on the first day, and I would be canceled from society. I would say something that seemed so innocuous to me and is the most offensive thing in the world, just because I'm an idiot. Yeah. And you guys have worked four times together, right? The two five times, yeah. We did a TV show of all the family. All in the family. Oh, my God. Okay. We didn't see that. No, Jimmy didn't

do that one. That's right. No, that's right. But it was a great episode. Amazing. Yeah. It's cool. Your dear friend didn't see it. I'm sorry. no that's okay you know you got shit to do yeah yeah it's just the most riveting half hour of television yeah it was live yeah something a lot of people took the time okay so here's here's what i've been leading up to you guys have done so you're leading up to phase yeah yeah i'm leading up to this so you have so many similarities you you behave the same way in many situations i've just been trying ever since i heard we're going to be doing this to picture what it was like for you the first time you smoked marijuana with Woody.

Oh, yeah, it was at a screen test for a movie. Wait, first off, I'm not getting, I'm getting, get it, get it. No, I met him at a screen test for Zombie Land. That's where I met him, and I remember just, it's a, you know. Thank you. I remember staring at him, I was so distracted because we're supposed to be sitting in a car together, so they placed us like he was here and I was here, and I was auditioning. I was so nervous.

It was in Los Angeles and everything. I remember thinking, whoa, he's thin. I just remember looking over and I was like, I got to say my line, but I also want to just make sure he's thin. Because I kept looking over. I was like, wow, you were so fit. I don't know why that was the thing that struck me. And so funny, so, so funny.

Because, you know, when you watch a funny actor in a movie, you don't know if they're funny. And a lot of times they're not necessarily funny, but he is like a genius improviser. And so part of the nature of that movie was a little like loose. And so we were doing that. And I was like, oh, my God, he's unbelievable. quick, which is not something

that you always get, even by an actor is super funny in movies. And then first time we smoked weed together, actually, I think I probably do remember, maybe I think you dropped me off at my hotel in Valda, Georgia. We were shooting

the first two weeks of the movie in Valda, Georgia, and Woody, I think, drove me in a Prius to my hotel, and he was living in a house there, and I think, yeah, I think that was it. But I, yeah, I think that was it. And I remember I remember thinking

like, oh, I should have like a frat boy feeling about Woody Harrison, is this book? And I didn't. I was just like, what a nice guy dropping me off at my hotel. And then I think I told my friend and my friend had that frat boy thing like, whoa dude, it's like meeting Michael Jordan on the bat,

you know, and I was like, ah, it didn't feel that way, man. And it was like I kissed a cheerleader and then my friends were like, and I was like, no, it's really love, you know? Like, don't make it base. Yeah, and like we're seeing each other again, you know, so don't make it awkward. And if I introduce you to her, just be cool. Don't be like, I love your cheering, and I'm a big fan of the team.

Just be cool. Because we might actually wind up married, and then it'll be awkward for you that you acted like such a dope when you met her. So it was like that. Yeah, and I love that. leader analogy did that kind of hit home yeah um but you know it's interesting because you say you know i i'm not one of those people trained to always bring it back to the movie but to bring it back to now you see me now you don't nice you um you you say that this is your favorite character

daniel atlas yeah by like a million times you know it really is a character it is so different from you because he's the most confident guy. Yeah. I know. You're always troubled and doubtful. He's like just pure confidence. I know. And brash and tough.

Yeah. And all those things you're not. I know, I know. He's like, he's attractive and he cleans up well, you know what I mean? Handsome, handsome. I forgot to mention. Nice to his friends and everything. Yeah.

Yeah, it's a departure. But I don't, yeah, I, I, this to me is like the most mentally healthy thing I could do. You know, I don't know about you guys, but part of me wanted to get into acting because I felt just personally embarrassed to be myself and acting allowed me, I think for a lot of actors, it allows you to kind of step outside yourself briefly or whatever. And like, I haven't had a lot of that because a lot of times I'm playing people who are like kind of depressives or troubled or anxious. But this movie is doing the thing that like I, in some ways, got into it for, you know, so I can like get outside who I really am and like, you know, and I just love it so much. Do you guys have those feelings,

those similar feelings of oh this part allows me to do this thing i like more about myself than my actual self teddy would you oh okay um yeah i think that in the last like 15 years or so that i have been able to whatever it is i'm going through in life at that age miraculously kind of find a piece that fits that character and then it really pleases me because I don't have to pretend like bored to death I was I was turning 16 it was like hey hey don't leave me behind younger folks I still want to play whatever it is you're doing cut me in please don't leave me out and that was the character and now at my age it's like could you help me across the street characters which but yeah I like it's not like it's their

kind of therapeutic but it's yeah that's my story i seem to find things whatever phase i'm going through in life yeah what do you have you had a character that you felt like i wish i was this person more than who i am i don't this isn't a direct uh uh i'm not saying yes that this character i would like to be but i when i played larry flint yeah i felt much more confident you know yeah and i like I would try, you know, I got arrested immediately, you know, because of, you know, protesting things and things that, it kind of helped things in my, that were minimal in my nature become more pronounced. And I wouldn't want to be a pornographer. Don't get me wrong. I don't believe in pornography. I just want to, I want to be clear.

you don't believe in like the democratization of it right like where everybody gets to see it it should be for the special few yeah yeah right right wait but did you you mean you became like more of a public activist after that movie yeah that's so interesting wow for causes that you had already been part of and feeling though right yeah well when i would i i'd give money to or I'd support, but I'd never thought, oh, you know, become an activist, climb the Golden Gate Bridge. I never would have done that kind of thing without having played that part. You know, it made me say, well, you know, it's okay to get arrested for something you believe in. Right.

Wow, that's so interesting. And now I'm back to, I don't think I'd want to get arrested, period. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, you're the kind of guy. Like you have that home that you support in Bloomington for women who've been abused and such. Yeah, exactly. What's that called? Oh, yeah, it's called the Middle Way House.

It's like a domestic violence shelter in Indiana, and my mother-in-law ran it for 35 years. So, you know, my wife and I volunteered there for years, and my wife's been working there since she's a kid. Yeah. And that's so cool you do that, man. You really give back. Oh, and what's great about is just that. Larry Flint transition to the domestic violence shelter. I wanted to get all the way out from under Larry Flint.

Well, that doesn't sound good either, but you get over into the... Oh, you're talking about, like, activism and stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was mainly through, you know, my wife was raised to, like, be an activist, like, you know, my wife was raised by activists, so she was raised to, like, you know, if you're not doing something to help a cause during the day, your life doesn't have real, you know, meaning. And so I'm in the arts and got into movies when I was younger. And so, you know, I feel a little, what is it called?

A little, you know, behind her, you know, in terms of like, you know, doing that kind of work. But didn't you come from that in your family? No, no. My parents are academics. My dad's a teacher. My mom's a teacher. But my mom was a birthday party clown when I was younger. So she did like children's birthday parties.

So kind of entertainment, but in a local. New Jersey, you know, she was doing birthday parties and stuff, but no, they're great people, great people, but they're not like activists, not, you know, not climbing. And your mama would get pulled over. She'd be in her clown outfit, the cop and be like, what? That's exactly right. Yeah, she was, she was like a nervous driver, and she's driving from parties to parties and all this stuff to, you know, on the weekends.

Yeah, and she would get pulled over and, you know, never get a ticket. Yeah, I have a joke, but I'm not going to say it, but it's so funny. It feels like you should. Come on, man. Don't be a tease. This is an open, warm, accepting Texas crowd. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But anyway, yeah, she was dressed as a clown,

so she didn't get, you know, a ticket. I have such a good joke, but I want to do it. If I could meet everybody after with no cameras and all this stuff. Oh, is this one of those get canceled jokes? No, no, no, no, no. It's just so niche. Hey, hey, I promise you, because we do have control of editing the podcast. I promise word of honor, we're here, that we will cut it.

every single person here has a telephone where it's that's that's that's he's making a good case good point oh it's like social media yeah yeah yeah yeah no i i i i i keep everything indoors so anyway what are we talking about okay turned it to my mom getting a ticket so okay i never thought i'd say this but could we go back to larry flint no almost almost and you brought this up the other day on a talk show and we mentioned it but so because you one time you've said that you know your wife is doing everything good and you're not or however you phrased it but in life but but you are scheduled to donate uh one of your kidneys anonymously in a month and a half yeah exactly December 16 yeah okay yeah are we soaking that in you know um yeah yeah

Can I ask the chain of events or thoughts that led up to that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So for me, what happened was, like, I was listening to a podcast like 12 years ago, and it was, they were doing an interview with somebody who was part of this effective altruist movement. These are people who are like, it was like a philosophy, and the kind of face of the company became, the face of this philosophy became this guy Sam Bankman-Fried. So the philosophy kind of like died with him. You know, he's the guy who was arrested, you know, for this Ponzi scheme of a, you know.

so anyway of crypto you know currency or whatever but nonetheless they had some really great ideas one of their ideas is like you know we can live without uh both kidneys we can live without actually you can donate half your liver anybody could donate half their liver and your liver will grow back and you live a full healthy life same with donating a kidney and when i was listening to it it just seemed like a no-brainer like to me like just seemed like uh oh that that's something we should all just be doing it didn't i didn't think of it as like uh important thing just like so i call I was like be the match or something. They send you a little vial. You spit in it. And so if your saliva matches somebody, they call you. And my saliva, I guess, never matched anybody. And then I was talking to a doctor like, I don't know, in the summer. And I was like, you know, I've been wanting to do this. She's a doctor. You know, so I was asking her like, you know, I've always wanted to do this. But they never called me. And she was like, go across town to NYU. I live in New York City. She's like, it's the best, you know, best hospital in the world for this kind of thing. So I got, so I called him the next day. And day after that, I was in getting blood tests and everything. And it's, it's. It's like I appreciate you complimenting me for it or lauding me,

but it's really like it's such a minimal thing. It's such a minimal thing. You're in the hospital for two days. It's a it's a laparoscopic procedure. And it like genuinely will save lives and your health is totally fine. I'm not trying to fan you and make you whatever. I really not. It is, I do find it amazing, you know.

Did your wife? Yeah. Did your wife, family, mother, how does everyone feel? They're all thumbs up? yes because um because there's a voucher program so the way the kidney registry works now is like you know if you could make a list of all the people that you would have given a kidney to if they had needed it and they'll be now at the top of the list so normally a wait for a kidney is like five to seven years okay but if you donate a kidney and you put those you put certain names on that

voucher list so my my family's going on the voucher list so my kid needs a kidney he'll be top of list won't have to wait for any years. You see what I'm saying? So this is, yeah, so everybody's happy with it. Because really, the thing I think a lot of people are hesitant about is not the surgery. Surgery is not that big a deal. It's not living with one kid. It's not big a deal. But I think it's like thinking, God, if my kids need a kidney, I'm not going to be able to give it to them. But this, the way the registry has developed this process is so that they can be. Well, it's brilliant. And I'm trying to circle around to your acting, because what you are, Sorry, my thought is you're intensely real, Jesse.

Your acting is intensely real. Your writing and your action in life is intensely real. And you're very, I feel a shame. Do you, Woody, or are you holding in? I can't imagine doing what you're doing. Like, to give up a kidney, now I know you say you're fine with one kidney, right? Like, I would, I would trade you livers right now. Like, I would do that.

And I know because you don't drink like, you know, me. So that would be, like, for me, a good thing. But I can't imagine, like, other than, you know, probably righteous bucks for a kidney. But, uh, wait, you're the healthiest person I know. That's a bad joke. What? You're the healthiest person I know. Oh, really?

You were the healthiest person. Yes. You're like a comically healthy person. Yeah, but what about the marijuana? and alcohol. I'm taking all of that into account. I've seen you eat. I mean, you know how he eats. You know, Woody's the healthiest

person I know. Whenever I see him, I pretend that today I'm eating that way, too. Right. I literally, knowing that I would see you. You'd be so proud. I had a lot of celery, bud. And I'm like, you mean, just today? Yeah, just today. Yeah. I got to go on his diet. When we were doing Zambuland, he

had, you know, somebody was making his food and it was like unbelievable. I come from actually vegetarian family. My family's vegetarian, but I'm not. And when I was eating that food, it made it fun. It made it great because it was amazing food. Oh, good. Yeah. You've managed to like, you know, find a way to do it that as like an outsider of your diet is like not compromised. Oh, cool. Were you more regular or was anything, were there any positives? I got to check my diary from those times, but it's not so much of diary.

It's just stuff like that. It's just, you know, morning, noon, and night, just taken into consideration, that kind of stuff. And just to see if there are any patterns I should be concerned about. So I'll check. Yes. More about the movie.

More about the movie. You have, I, you're about to watch it, so, but I don't want to spoil anything, but you had new cast members. How was that? Was that fun? We, you had young blood. Yeah, they were great. Yeah. You know, it's the kind of thing that like, you know, so, you know, Woody and I've been in three movies. And so we're like, what, that'll be three of these movies. Exactly. So we had developed a great ensemble. Dave Franco, Ilo Fisher, and Lizzie Kaplan was in the second one. And it's a great team. I mean, it's the most. fun group of people you can imagine fun you'd laugh all day long i mean it's amazing like we have such a good time and so you know the concept of this was of this movie was like you know these three younger

uh you know magicians come in we recruit them for this big trick you know and um you know so of course it's like a you know something that could go terribly wrong you know mainly i was just concerned they're not going to get great actors because you know you think like i don't know if they're getting like young people they wanted to be poppy and cool but they hired like three like amazing actors like no like you know i i would just like i felt we got lucky like they're all really good really quick really talented they all take it seriously in their own way so it was not like anything i was worried about and so so it was great and felt really natural i had like a few days of scenes with them before like the other cast got in there and i remember just thinking oh this is

great everybody's going to work out well and it did and the movie's really special it's um It's directed by our old friend Ruben Fleischer who did both Zombiland movies What he did Venom with him I did 30 minutes or less with him So we worked with him a lot And he's an amazing shooter Like visually amazing

Very inventive But loves comedy and loves actors so much Like does not consider himself Like a funny person He's like an appreciator of comedy Which is a really sweet thing for a director Did you guys work with people Because you were doing stuff

That you didn't naturally know how to do I'm assuming some of the sleight of hand and did you get trained for a while before the first one or this one yeah yeah i did more like slight of hand stuff woody was amazing what he worked with keith barry do you remember remember from the first move do you want to talk about that at all it was a pretty interesting collaboration mentalist and uh he taught me some uh i guess you could i i don't know i tried hypnosis we we tried we tried it it's it's very hard to pull off because you don't know if the person's faking it is that part of hypnotism is that kind of knowing that people will go with it because of the

environment they're in well the hypnotism is when your conscious mind kind of gets subdued and drops down and then your unconscious mind takes over so you that's how there's a certain suggestability, you know, you can say to someone to do, you know, you know, walk like a rhino, make noise, you know, you can just get them to do crazy shit. And so, yeah, well, I tried it a little. I found it kind of, I found that I got nervous right at the key part when you want to go sleep. You mean as a person receiving hypnotism or giving? Giving. Giving. Giving. Why'd you get nervous? Well, you know, like, once you do that sleep thing, it's a big, you know, it's a move.

You know, you grab them by the head, sleep. And then when you open your eyes, blah, blah, blah, you know. Did you partly get nervous because you felt uncomfortable manipulating people? No, no, no, no. Definitely not, definitely not. No, do you know what I mean? Did you feel nervous because you're like putting somebody in a weird, Because I'll just say for me, if you don't want to answer it, like for doing magic now, for me and learning it, I feel very uncomfortable when people ask me, how'd you do that? I feel uncomfortable and not telling them. I don't like keeping that. It makes me feel. So you do tell them? Yeah. I don't. I'm supposed to tell people how you do the truth. I know. Someone told you all. So what is that?

I know. But if you just tell everybody willy-nilly pretty soon, it's not, it's not magic anymore. What is it? It's just. manipulation i mean trade secrets yeah he's yeah he showed me a card trick on the way over and would not tell me even the beginning of how to do it so yeah can we talk later do you know the same car yeah yeah yeah he'll tell you for sure he'll tell anybody here it don't matter yeah exactly every trick in this movie he'll tell you how well some stuff i don't know like god that i don't Oh, and a lot of times the guys who are our magic teachers won't tell me, probably because they know what I'd do with it, you know. I just feel so strange.

You're like talking to somebody, you know, it's not like our other jobs. Like, when people ask you, you do an interview for a thing that you act in, and they ask you, how did you think of it? You give an honest answer. You're like, oh, I was on, you know, I thought of my, you know, brother in the relationship I had with him, and it kind of was similar to this relationship and that, and you give a real thing. I find it strange, you know, to do another performance for some people.

And they say, how'd you do it? You're like, I don't know. I can't tell you. Yeah. It feels strange. I feel I'm withholding in a bad way. Well, you're a good person. I don't know.

He's a great person. Oh, thanks. You know, I don't mention this much, but when he auditioned for Zambi Land, it was very clear that he was the guy to play this part. There's no question. But, you know how studios are. So the studio thought this other guy who became famous in this rather silly commercial should be the guy because he's known through this silly commercial, right?

So I had to call and beg, please, this is the guy. And remember, I told you this. And then she was like, you know what, if you feel, this passionately then okay and then uh then i got a call from the guys saying you know that you were in rubin and uh gab and they were like he's in i don't know i didn't say anything i was thank you so much not a kidney but you know it's so nice it was what's that not a it's not a kidney but he gave you yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah well it's it's as close as i'll get to the kidney yeah to an organ yeah to an organ it's definitely yeah it's like a nail um

No, I thank you so much. That was so nice of you. And, I mean, I know you didn't do, like, as a favor. But I did it because it made the movie way better. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no. What's that one great thing you said, one of your improv things? You say, one and done.

That's what I say. Well, I said it once. What had happened. And now I've heard that so many times. Have you guys heard, like, one and done? You know, that came from this guy. You know what happened? I never told this story publicly, actually, but, I mean, or privately.

I've just thought about it. So, and what happened was, so we did this audition scene for me to get into the movie, of course, the one I was telling you about my screen test. We did this audition scene, and it's a really well-written scene. Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, they did some writing on this movie, too. Great writers and everything. Really well-written scene, especially for like an action-y kind of movie. Very funny, good wordplay, everything.

And so we did this scene in the audition. It was my scene. I memorized it up and down. I'm on an airplane going to Los Angeles for the screen test. So I got the scene in my head so, you know, so embedded in my brain. And we get to set to do the scene. And I had for the very first time a true nervous breakdown. And the way my nervous breakdown manifested was I shut down. And so the camera goes on me and camera goes on Woody's side.

And he's, you know, exactly what you'd imagine. He's hysterically funny. He's loose. He's interesting. and everything camera turns around on me and I'm young but I'm kind of aware of camera angles now I know this is my turn you know what I mean when I first started acting I didn't know what my turn was

I don't know with a camera seeing now I know this is like my turn to do the scene that I had been doing for now eight months whatever right since the auditions and I shut down and it was the most terrifying thing that's happened to me on a set ever in my life I've never had that feeling on stage or a movie set again it's that terrifying frozen shut down and I am just sitting there

real and I'm realizing whatever I do with my face right now is going to be in a movie and so if I like close my eyes now that's in a movie and if I say this word like that that's in a movie and it was just this complete like self-aware out of body awful the opposite of being loose and everything and so the camera's on me and I panicked and I couldn't say the lines from the scene and it was a great written scene and I started just saying random joky bullshit because I was panicking that every time I would say a line from the scene, it would come out weirdly because I was so self-conscious. And so I have like improvisations in that scene

that are just out of a pure and utter terror. And I, you know, I talk to my therapist about it. You know, I'm like, because one of the things I think about all the time is because I'm doing a play now in New York, I have stage fright. What I always talk to the therapist about it is that one time in Zambuland, something went terribly wrong and I was able to get through it. You know, and this is my story of like, it's okay. It couldn't be, you know, it couldn't be as bad as that time in Zambuland and I got through

it then. So it's become in some ways like a staple of my psychological life, this scene. And the line you just said, it just came out of pure anxiety. And I'm lucky that what happens to me when I'm nervous is some adrenaline thing. Yeah, some adrenaline thing comes on. And I, and I save myself in a weird way. That's amazing. Yeah. Do you ever get panic attacks? I get panic before I start a movie every time and I can't sleep the night before the wife is right there, she can attest. And I'm just like, I'm moving around, I can't.

And I, but then after the first day of shooting, and then I start to mellow and by the second, it's just everything's rolling, you know. Even in a movie like this, a third? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Well, probably less so with this

just because I know you guys so well. But I still get nervous before the first day. I manifest the illnesses that Mary very sweetly goes, I know you do that every time, you'll be fine. No, this is arthritis, big capital A. I know, I know. Wait, what do you mean? I have ailments that will make it impossible for me to work.

Oh. With my fear. You mean like psychosomatic arthritis? Yes. I was fearful last night thinking about this. I wake up and I'm excited. Because somehow I've gotten past there. I thought you were saying, I wake up and I have herpes.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. That's what I was thinking. You both went to socially transmitted diseases. That's where you went? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I go there all the time. Arthritis, that's the only place I go. You know, I have this other weird thing.

Go on, please. Now that we're talking about this, if I'm doing a play and I can't get sick, like, and I'm really panicked, I really get panicked about being sick when I'm doing a show. If I'm listening to a podcast, which I do all the time, and somebody has a cold on the podcast, I cannot listen to it. If somebody is a little nasal on the thing, I turn it off. I'm so paranoid about getting sick that if I hear somebody talk who's sick, I have to walk away or shut it off. How are you when you direct?

Because you're an amazing director. It's audio germs. I'm sorry. No, sorry, sorry. I do apologize. I do say sorry a lot, don't know? You do. Thank you for that.

I'm sorry that you... Anyway. So directing all of your little insecurities or fears or this, do they vanish because you're the answer man? You're the guy who has the no? A little bit. Yeah, I find like the more busy I am, the more okay I am. You know, it's so funny because like the movies... So I did...

Like, now you see me three is like a big movie. It's a spectacle. It means a lot of waiting in your trailer and then going to set and maybe only... only having one line. And, you know, I love these movies, as I said, more than anything in my life. But there's some times where, like, you're waiting in a trailer for three hours to say one line, like, guys, we got to go. And because you have that inflated amount of time, you're like in the trailer going like, guys, we got to go. No, no, no, no, no, no. Guys, we got to go. No. Because you just have, like, more time than is needed, you know? And I find when I'm like,

the movie I did right before, now you see me, now you don't. This movie was like a movie I was acting writing, directing in, and I didn't have any time to think, like, to think, like, oh, you know, what are we doing today? You know, you're just kind of on it all the time. You're thinking about weather and, you know, the actor's makeup person is coming in from the States, and if they're not going to make their flight because it's raining in Denver. You know, you're thinking about all this stuff that has nothing to do with your own anxieties, and I find that it's just better for me. Yeah. Hey, one might get the impression you have some anxiety.

about thing. But, uh, so, but I wanted to say a real pain is to me, it's just a masterwork. And I, you know, I know there's times where people complain how they got robbed, but I really felt like you not only should have been nominated for best picture. You should have won best picture. I thought that was just a master work. Oh, thanks a lot. So great. Oh, that's very sweet. And you and Karen together, I mean, Just amazing, dude. Oh, thanks a lot. That's so nice. Yeah, and so I...

But I read, and I didn't realize this, that you was going to do that movie, it starts with a B, some other city. You weren't going to do it at Auschwitz, and you saw an ad or something. Oh, yeah. You mean instead of Poland, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah, I was going to do the movie in Mongolia, like, because I had been to Mongolia and I stayed in like a yurt on top of a mountain. just backpacking with my wife, you know, and it was so cool looking. And I was like, it'd be amazing to shoot a movie here. It's just such a fascinating place. And so I had, so I had written

a short story about these two guys who go to, you know, Mongolia and they have this experience on a, on a Yurt farm. And it's their third friend had turned it into like this kind of, you know, very like Western resort thing. And, you know, one of the, you know, characters, the two friends, one of them goes crazy, upset that their friends sold out. Anyway, so I was like, you know, maybe 30 pages into that script, and it just wasn't working, and I, like, didn't know enough about Mongolian, you know, I was there for like a week. I couldn't. And then I saw an ad online, as you suggested, yeah, and it was like, the ad online was

Auschwitz Tours with lunch, it said Auschwitz Tours, and then in parentheses, with lunch. Like, not all, you know, let me finish, that kind of ad, you know what I mean? And so, like, so I clicked on that thing, and I was like, oh, I see why this ad came up on my thing. It was very tailor-made for me. It was like, don't worry, you can see all the sad things, but you'll be comfortable, which is like my M.O. And then I changed it from Mongolia to like a Holocaust tour. And I knew, I'm fascinated

by that history, obviously. My family comes from Poland, so it became much more flowing out of me to write. And the house you filmed in at the end was your family's house until 39. Exactly. Woody, your research. This is so sweet. Are you thinking I'm just going to come in here unprepared like some schmo

one mistake I wasn't sure I wasn't sure no that's so sweet yeah basically that's true right yeah that's true yeah exactly yes my family lived in this small town in this small house and it was weird when we were doing location scouting for this movie it was unlike anything else I've ever done because all the

locations were not only in the script but like were real places you know and so it was this fascinating experience of just trying to get access to all of these places you know, a concentration camp, my family's house, small towns, monuments, you know, because I was not writing, thinking maybe this will be a movie, you know, you're just kind of writing thinking you could do anything as most writers do. Like, we could do anything. And then you come to terms of some practical, you know, situations. But nonetheless, yeah, so that was my family's

house. I was given like a key to the city and everything. It was really sweet. And, you know, the history is so horrible, you know, like what happened obviously to the Jews in this particular place and all over Poland in Europe. But it was a really kind of warm, almost reconcilatory feeling. And so you became a Polish citizen? Yeah, then I got actual Polish citizenry ship. Yep. Yeah, I became a Polish citizen. From the president. Yeah, the president who is outgoing, he's not in power anymore. So like towards the end of his term, he, you know, you know, in order to get Polish citizenship, you either have to show like very strong blood ties, like your parents moved from there, or you're working there for a decade. You speak the language

and you pay taxes there. Or there's like this third route, which is basically just like a governmental pardon, a presidential exception, I think it's called, which they give out to a few people. And because I had made this movie that showed Poland in a nice light, which was my goal, even though talking about the history that was not good there, you know, they appreciated it. And I kind of lobbied a little bit for myself saying I really want to reconnect to my family's history. You know, I thought about it in this way. Like, my family's been in New York since, like, 1918 for the most part, for the most part. And yet, we think of ourselves as very, very American.

You know, like a lot of Americans who've been here a short time, you think of yourselves as American and nothing else. And then when I was there in Poland, I realized, God, we've been here a lot longer. And it's so strange that we just have no connection in any way. And, of course, the history and how the connection ended is why, you know. But still, so I felt this kind of deep connection and a desire to reconnect. And was Banner there with you? Yeah, yeah, yeah, my kid got citizenship. Oh, yeah, my kid was in the movie, playing my kid in the movie.

A scene was cut, but not because of them. They did a good job, but just... You just got to hurt your kid, you know, like, hey, I was in it, remember? And then... Yeah, it was weird. It was the one scene like everybody agreed was not good, but from the script perspective. And so we just reshot it. So this movie used to open where I'm saying goodbye to my family, and everybody was like,

you have this cool, interesting movie framed with the most unoriginal scene I've ever seen, which is, you know, guy packing up, okay, I'm going to Poland now to see my cousin. You know, just like bullshit expository nonsense. And so everybody said to cut it, but everybody agreed my child was adorable in it. And do you and Banner still get along? You know, listen, the movie's been out. It's been kind of digested by the public and we're back to kind of speaking, you know. Not one-on-one, but we'll have somebody there.

And normally, it'll be like over a puzzle or a game, you know, something that we can talk about. That's not the issue. Jesse, you're magnificent. You really are. Oh, you are, buddy. Thanks. You are.

Be around. Love you, man. Do you want to take some Q&A questions? Let's do some Q&A. Hey, just be loud because we can't run up there with mics but if anyone has some questions, holler. Will there be a zombie land three?

Zombie land three. I heard that the movie before has to be a big success in order to do a sequel. Really? It's not just if like the people who acted in it liked it. I wish. I know. Yeah. Super fun.

Yeah, people love those movies. I think the second one, I think they probably, maybe expected it to be, like, more popular. Maybe, is that right? I did. You did? I expected it. Yeah. But it's like a beloved movie, but for some reason, I don't know, yeah, it's not, like,

as popular as, like, whatever the bigger thing is. Like, you know, venom. It doesn't compare to a tenth of venom in terms of, like, popularity, but it's beloved. Yeah. Strange, right? I guess. Don't people tell you they love zombie land so much when they meet you? all the time.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Zombie land and now you see me are the two movies people come up to me for all the time. They love it, love it, love it. Yeah.

Oh, thanks. You're okay? I don't know. Something in there felt weird, but yeah, you know, you're right. It's cool. Wait, what felt weird? I thought we're commiserated.

No, just the fact that we had a movie that didn't, you know. No, it was still popular, but it was not like, you know, because Rubin and you had just unlike Venom, which was like the most popular movie of the year before. right that's why i bring it up okay is this bad to talk about something in there

no i'm enjoying it anything that he's in that didn't quite do well it just lifts my spirits oh but in it because here's what when he is in something and he's and he's not it's good and he's nominated yeah my little rebellion is i watch it on my cell phone that's hysterical yeah that's and if he wins i put it on my apple watch that's a real great way to stick it to him yeah that must kill him it kills it kills me. Yeah, yeah. Every time. Question. Woody, Woody, I have a son with Down syndrome, and I want to thank you for champions. It's a great film. Oh, thank you. Thank you.

Is he up there with you? He's not with me. Well, tell him hello for me. Did he see champions? He has seen it, yes, and he's a big basketball player. He's 18. He loves football. Oh, great, great. How did you end up choosing that role? well a friend you know gave me the script and I was like wow this is so cool but you know then you know before I was going to shoot I talked to Bobby fairly like the night before and Bobby's like okay now some of these guys might have a little trouble with the

you know it's what what'll happen is if it's not going according to the script we'll just throw out the script and it just filled me with terror you know but I like to improvise but I then I suddenly it was just delving into the unknown and then I went at first day I fell in love with these guys there's like 10 character this movie champions if you haven't seen it it's it's a wonderful movie but anyway we got along so great everybody just the coolest people so So, yeah, tell them hi. Absolutely, thank you. I got a question for all three of you.

Could you talk about your creative process, your writing process? Jesse mentioned you were inspired to write something, didn't feel like it was right, but had another inspiration. But do you say I'm going to go take some time off and write something, or boom, it hits you, and then how do you know to stop and maybe change for, wow, this is really good, let me continue? before you answer this question i just wanted to say that jesse you know we'll go do a movie and we'll work for several months and then i'll have like at the end of it an impaired liver or something but he's written a screenplay or a play you know he's actually always productive it amazes me i mean i don't

know with banner are you able to write it like you used to or you know like you get up at six o'clock with manner and how does that modify things and can you in it almost in a better way like now I have to like really focus so like you know my wife and kid like taking vacations and I don't so like they're going to Dominican Republic and over Christmas so I'm you know I'm gonna take like three weeks and write my next movie so yeah that's kind of how I work and I've been thinking about it for like four years and I it takes place in Guatemala and I just went there last month so I've been like working on it but I need to spend like three weeks just at the library doing it so that's kind of how I how I've planned my life. So having a kid has kind of helped me, focus me, you know what I mean?

Because normally I would just like, if you have all the time in the world and as actors, like even very, very successful actors, like you have six months of the year off a lot of times, you know, it's just my brain turns to mush, you know. So I stay active and I try to focus it, focus my time because I'm trying to write from a place of like almost, not stream of consciousness like that, but almost like momentum rather than like taking three weeks to think about the next thing that happens. I want it to all kind of flow out because it's usually better that way. Thank you for asking. Oh, yeah.

What about you? Can I ask, what do you? Like, when, like, first of all, I've been, first of all, you've got to do another live. I mean, it's so insane and so brilliant. But, like, do you ever think, like, yeah, let me just take, like, these two months, you know, and do, like, another, you know, Lost in London type? I do, I do want to do a live, another live film, but I was thinking to do it in, uh, in Denmark. Oh, my God. Of course. The one, yes, I know all about it. Did I, I told you about it? Yes, of course. I know all about it.

Are you part owner in his houseboat? Like, no, I don't have a stake in that boat. Do you? No, all right. Conan does. I know that. Yeah. And about 20 other people. Yeah. Seriously. Now, I'm still getting a hard time about this. The wife, he won't let me get a houseboat anyway, so you guys should get a houseboat. Don't you hate it when?

Still consider it. Yeah. A wife only get a, houseboat she won't I'm telling you a houseboat in Copenhagen I mean it's by the way when you say wifie you're not you're hearing wifie you're not getting laura louis who is magnificent astounding the wifey boo right there why aware of you the reason why you know he can walk and talk is because of laura anyway back to wifie go ahead sure oh was it me going to do one. Well, I was thinking of doing one. Yeah, it was an amazing idea. I don't know. Yeah, we'll see what happens. And then a couple nights ago, you know, I was up in the middle of the

night, and so was Laura. And then I, anyway, I told her about this other idea that came to me in a dream, which is also a pretty cool idea for a live film. I don't know. I kind of like the idea of a live film although after I did it I felt like I'll never do this again it was tragic for my health and I couldn't sleep and it was but to people who haven't seen it understand that it was it was there are cameras waiting for you in tax cabs when you get I mean right there one camera did the whole thing got into the cab with you and oh my god I didn't realize that yeah yeah what he wrote directed and started a movie that was live stream to theaters it's never been done before

I can't even believe the technology exists let alone the artistry and so I was in Indiana watching a movie he was making in London in the middle of the night it was like I don't know a 7 o'clock show for me or something it's the most unbelievable thing and it's an amazing movie

like if it was just a regular movie it would be amazing thanks man you've always been the most supportive about that oh you got to yeah you got to do another any other yeah right here in front

first off justice for zombie land too. Thank you. Thank you. I watched three times in theaters, no jokes. Really? Thank you. Call your Congress person, you know.

Thank you. Yeah. But for Betsy, I would love to know how you kind of get over your anxiety, you know, in general, but also, you know, when you are kind of put on a stage and then you're anxious leading up to it, do you have any interest and tricks? for people, like, myself.

Are you an actor? Is that what you're asking about? Or just anxiety person? Trying to present more. Just presenting public. Yeah, yeah, yeah, interesting. Because I was going to give two different thoughts. If you're an actor, I would say, like, what I do is, like, if I have, like, an anxiety thing or something, I put it on the character.

You're like, the character is having this feeling, you know, or something. Ted and I were talking about that earlier in the last play you did, you know, a character's feeling this. So that can be a helpful. But in terms of just like a general thing and then trying to present in public, I don't know. You just seemed like the most normal person.

You asked a nice question. You were funny. You had a joke about something we said. It's much better you than a person who's polished and you feel like is trying to sell you snake oil and is suspicious and, you know, you know what I mean? So what you have, I don't know you well. I'm looking at you through his seat here.

but like what you have is so much more important and special than I don't know putting on something that wouldn't feel natural to you you're a funny person I know you 20 seconds and you made a funny joke so I guess maybe think more highly of yourself wow well done well done and he's giving a kid me away but not to her you know well maybe maybe sorry scratch that

Any more? Yeah, right there. Yes. This is a lighthearted one. The card and chip scene from the now you see me to, I think, is one of the best from any of the movies. But I'm curious what your favorite trick or scene is from any of the now you've seen movies. Favorite trick. So, you know, she's talking about the passing the card, the computer chip in the second movie?

Oh, yeah, yeah. That was amazing, wasn't it? Yeah. That was really cool. including that thing you did at the end which I don't even know what's the last thing you do in it it's like you throw it

and ricochets off the floor is that what happens yes I think at the same Bobby knows Bobby and at the our producer

who also produced this what throw the card it bounces off the floor at the same time as somebody's putting metal through her her jacket her coat

yes amazing You were very good at it, Woody, by the way. That scene was amazing. What you're about to see is even more nerve-wracking for us, which was there is a scene in this movie where all the characters are doing a trick to each other, and it's kind of like a one-upsmanship kind of scene.

And we did it in one shot, which means no cutting, which means if you're like the fifth person. You can't mess it up. You had something at the end of the first half with Dave. Yeah, mine had just a little five-card little mentalism. And you had the toughest job because you actually had to do like a full trick where the rest of us were kind of doing like parts of things. And you had like a real, you had like an actual show on you. No, I thought yours was much harder.

My thing, I had a little thing to Dom in the beginning. The best part of the trick, though, is there's a quick change. Ilo Fisher, she does a quick change. If you don't know what a quick change is in magic, it's, to me, it's like the most impressive thing that magicians do, which is, you know, you're wearing something and instantaneously it changes to something else. there's like this French quick change artist who could do like 25 full outfits. I'm talking like going from a mini skirt to like a full fur coat. She's amazing. And so there's a quick change in that scene.

That's my favorite part of it. And it's a real quick change. It really does happen. Everything we did was real. And so that was an awesome scene. Nerve-wracking for us just because like you don't want to be the one to screw it up because then we got to start all away from the beginning. But it was great.

But it was fun when someone would screw it up and we'd just kind of playfully, you know, yeah. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah, not for the person who screwed it up But yeah I do remember for us it was fun Yeah

What was the one Justice Was doing the three thing And then he had a little trouble Justice, it was not Justice's fault It was a wire in the table I agree with you dude Yeah but that was the one that would normally catch Yeah no I'm not judging

Not at all Not at all Well you're about to see it And I've been told that we should let you watch The movie which is Okay Let's do that Thank you all

Thank you so much Thank you Thank you Jesse Thank you, Jesse. Thanks, thank you, Jesse. Thank you, Jesse Eisenberg, the Alamo Draft House and our fans for being such a great audience. Now You See Me, Now You Don't, is in theaters November 14th. Can't tell you how much fun I had sitting down.

down with my buddy. That's it for this week. Special thanks to Team Coco. If you enjoyed this episode, please send it to someone you love. Subscribe on your favorite podcast app and maybe give us a great rating and a review on Apple Podcasts if you're in the mood. If you like watching your podcast, all our full-length episodes are on YouTube. Visit YouTube.com slash Team Coco. See you next time, where everybody knows your name. You've been listening to Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes. The show is produced by me, Nick Leow.

Our executive producers are Adam Sacks, Jeff Ross, and myself. Sarah Federovich is our supervising producer. Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Grawl. Talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Battista. Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Antoni Yen, Mary Steenbergen and John Osborne.