WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1079 - Paul Walter Hauser

Episode Date: December 12, 2019

To play Richard Jewell, Paul Walter Hauser knew he needed to tap into a part of himself he thought he left behind in Saginaw, Michigan. Paul and Marc talk about his Christian upbringing as the son of a Lutheran pastor, the importance of faith in his life today, how show business initially beat him down and kicked him back to his home town, and how he got back in the game with an emotional audition that changed everything. They also talk about his performances in I, Tonya and Blackkklansman. This episode is sponsored by the Watchmen Podcast, SimpliSafe and American Express. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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what's happening i'm mark maron this is my podcast wtf welcome to it Is it your first time here? I doubt it. What's happening? Is everything all right? I'm going to talk to Paul Walter Hauser today. Yeah, the guy who is the lead in the new Clint Eastwood film, Richard Jewell. And he's quite good in it. I like the guy. I like the guy a lot. I liked him in I, Tonya. It's where I first really noticed him. And I was just very impressed with the humanity he brought to such a... There's a wonderful buffoonery to the way his characters take themselves so seriously. But this is a...

I'd say it's kind of a heavy movie, but it's pretty great. And he carries the film pretty fucking well. And he's a big fan of WTF, it turns out. And we had a nice conversation. So that's coming up. Enjoy that. Another thing. It's been a while now since there have been WTF cat mugs for sale.

These are the handmade ceramic mugs I give to all my guests. Our friend Brian Jones makes them. He's a potter. I don't know where he ended up. I think he's still in, it might be in upstate New York somewhere, but you can get them. I get these mysterious boxes of these mugs every few months, but he's now made some available to the general public again. You can go to brianrjones.com slash shop starting at noon today. Today being Thursday the 12th. These are always unique mugs because they're all, each one is handmade and he always alters the design a bit. I don't even know what these ones look like,

but they're going to be available today and they go quickly and they're a hell of an original gift. So brianrjones.com slash shop noon today for the new WTF cap mugs. Also tickets for my 2020 tour dates will be on sale to the general public tomorrow, December 13th at 10 a.m. wherever you are. It's just wherever you are at 10 a.m. But the pre-sale is still going on now if you want to go to the venue's websites and use the password Buster. And those venues are, I'll be Thursday, January 30th, Cleveland, Ohio at the Agora Theater. Friday, January 31st, Grand Rapids, Michigan at the Fountain Street Church. Saturday, February 1st, Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Turner Hall Ballroom. Friday, February 14th, Orlando, Florida at Hard Rock Alive.

I think that password is actually Marin. Saturday, February 15th, Tampa, Florida at the Stras. Going to be at the Stras. Stras Center. Thursday, February 20th, Portland, Maine at the State Theater. Thursday, February 21st, Providence, Rhode Island at the Columbus Theater. Friday, February 22nd

in New Haven, Connecticut at College Street Music Hall. And Sunday, February 23rd, Huntington, New York at the Paramount. Go to WTFpod.com slash tour for links to all the venues. And all of them, I believe, except Orlando.

The pre-sale code is Buster. Orlando, it's Marin. It's a very odd thing. I have a lot of good things going on in my life. There's a lot of horrible things going on in the world. But I guess that's every day, everywhere, not just the world. Maybe across the street. But it's very weird what i sort of hang on to you know it's weird what i hang on

to in terms of what am i trying to say here i've i've got to fly i'm going tomorrow i'm going to shoot a few scenes in the aretha movie the the shooting for respect the the Aretha Franklin biopic I'm in, uh, on my part of it starts, uh, on Monday in Atlanta. So I'm flying out there. It's very exciting. I've done a lot of work on, on the, on the, on the scenes. And, uh, you know, there's just good things going on. I don't, I don't love to travel that much, but I do it. It's part of my job, but with all the exciting things going on in my life, I gotta be honest with you. I'm just now getting over my feelings of excitement and elation almost, I would say, about something that happened last week. I think it was last Friday. I'm not sure I told you about it, but I don't know where you live, but here in California,

you have bins. You have your garbage bin, you have your recycle bin, and then you have your leaves for grass and stuff. That bin, but you have bins, right? And I've taken it upon, I started to, I use all pine pellet cat litter because I think it's more healthy for the cat and you change it more often. And I throw it out in the bin where you throw away leaves and stuff, right? Because it's just wood. It goes with the other, whatever. It doesn't matter. So here's the crux of it is that over the years, I've been in this house a couple of years now, and my bins, all of them have gotten pretty disgusting.

They just get gunk on them, spider webs, goop, glop, things that stick on it, weird sludge. It's just over time, the inside of your bins can get pretty fucking nasty. And I knew it was happening. the inside of your bins can get pretty fucking nasty. And I knew it was happening. We all know when our bins are getting nasty, both inside and outside. I'm talking about our inner bins.

Look inside yourself. Maybe it's time to clean your bins in there. Huh? Clean out your bins. Well, that's what I'm getting to. I just like all of a a sudden I'm like, fuck it. It's enough is enough.

And after they picked up all the garbage, I, uh, I got the hose out and I wheeled it out in front of the house and I just, I washed the shit out of them. I put it on jet and I cleaned out all the sludge and I dumped the sludge into the gutter. And, uh,

I just cleaned out the bins and I can't stop thinking about it i think i've achieved an amazing thing i think that like there's some part of me that feels like i should be rewarded i get weirdly proud even when i i i fold my shirts out of the dryer but this bin thing that was a couple years coming and and it was just so satisfying. I can't, I can't stop thinking about it. Like, look, I didn't get a gold, golden globe nomination, no SAG award nominations for any, I'm never going to win an award, but every year I think around this time, I'm going to clean my bins. Cause I think it's a better feeling to be honest with you. Cause just between me and myself and God that I've cleaned the bins and now you. But I'm just saying that if you wait and then you clean your bins, it's a pretty great

feeling. But now I'm thinking more in terms of the inner bins. How's my inner compost? Do I need to use that? Do I need to spread that around and grow some better things inside of me? Maybe I do. Maybe I do, folks. My bins are clean. So, all right, people. Thank you for all the emails about my cat and how you handled your cat's passing or putting your cat down. But here's what I did. I really thought I was going to have to put her down before I leave because I'm

going to be away now for a week. People are going to stay at my house. You have to deal with this and it makes me sad, but I can't just put my cat down because it's convenient for me. If she's going to live, she's going to live. At least there'll be people in the house. But I called a couple of places that come over and put the pets down and ask them some questions about how she's behaving. I think she's going a little senile. She seems to be a bit confused and disoriented. Sometimes she'll just start talking or howling, but not in pain. Just I don't know.

She just kind of lost. And she got very excited about the toilet. I've never seen that happen. She's been drinking a lot of water. It's just a kidney thing man and i just really wanted to be around either for her passing or to transition her into death and now i got to go away and it's going to be hanging over me it's very anxiety um causing and sad but like i said she's still here she's still accepting love she's still kind of it still kind of,

it's kind of interesting, you know, and I guess it's not unlike humans, which I have not had to deal with, but in this level, but she is definitely not the same cat that she once was. And she, not at all. I mean, she's several pounds lighter. Number one, she's got no fight in her, and she can't resist. You know, like, she's fragile. I mean, this cat was a little fucking fireball of fury. I mean, she would pop you with her paw. She would snap you with her mouth.

She was very unpredictable. She liked love, but then, you know, if you gave her too much, she'd fucking pop you. You know, we had a lot in common. But now she's sort of odd and slow and, you know, spacey and a little confused and weak and very soft and fragile and loving. It's a whole different cat. And it's sort of interesting to and nice to uh experience like that it's sad but um but instead of i'm trying to sort of focus on it not being so tragic as it is kind of the transition and just

appreciating this this cat that was just a kind of a terror for a lot of years she got a little nicer she got older but now she's just kind of loopy and fragile. And it's a whole different type of cuteness. I'll tell you that. But nonetheless, again, thank you for all of the advice and sharing your stories and also sharing some of the places I called who come, the vets that come to do the euthanizing, and I talked to them about where she's at and how do I make the decision. And they were very helpful. Both of the names of these places in my area were sent to me by listeners, and I appreciate that. I really do.

I'll keep you in the loop here, but it looks like I'm going to be going away without putting her down because it's not time, I guess. Unless tomorrow she just, I don't know. It's just every day, the projecting. You just spend so much time focusing on these cats when they're sick. I do it when they're not sick. Like, I'll look at a cat long enough. I'm like, there's not something's not right. Maybe I ought to bring her in, bring him in, whatever.

But I'm just kind of obsessed. And that's got to be a lot of stress on her. I really it was weird. The other night, I pretty much like two days ago, she was out of it and like just not well. And it was just sad. And I like I went to sleep that night kind of getting resolve around it, around putting her down the next day. Like I sort of let go and accepted that I'm going to have to do it the next day. And the next day she just was zippy and running around. They pick it up, man.

She knows, man. She knew. She read my mind. She felt the vibe. She felt me let her go. She felt me make a decision. And she realized, fuck, that's me he's talking about. I'm the one going down.

I'm the one he's thinking about letting go. I'm going to perk up. So for the last couple days she's been not her old self certainly but up and about drinking a lot of water talking a lot she felt it man they got the telepathy so this guy hauser paul walter hauser does a beautiful job in this movie uh richard jewel it's a clint eastwood movie, Richard Jewell. It's a Clint Eastwood movie. And I remember I complimented him on Twitter for his work in I, Tonya, which I thought was great. He really stood out to me.

There's just something about him. And then I think he got back to me, or at least he told me in this conversation that he was a fan of the show and it meant a lot to him. So it was very exciting for both of us to have this conversation about work, food, Jesus, and a lot of stuff. Is there anything else for some people? But this is me talking to Paul Walter Hauser, and the film Richard Jewell opens nationwide tomorrow, December 13th, and he carries the movie. He is the movie. He's the lead. And Sam Rockwell is right there with him. And the guy's a nice guy.

This is me talking to Paul. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store

and ACAS Creative. Death is in our air. This year's most anticipated series, FX's Shogun, only on Disney+. We live and we die. We control nothing beyond that. An epic saga based on the global best-selling novel by James Clavel. To show your true heart is to risk your life.

When I die here, you'll never leave Japan alive. FX's Shogun, a new original series, streaming February 27th exclusively on Disney+. 18 plus subscription required. T's and C's apply. There's this verse in the Bible, better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked,

which is kind of a big thing to say, but I actually use that verse when I think about great material, because I really would rather have a tiny part in something dope than work and be the lead in something I wouldn't even want to pay to see. Kimmy Schmidt was one of those things where I'm like, oh, I'm so psyched just to be here. I assume that whoever created the show is probably flattered that you would take such a lofty, biblical

verse that has such profound connotations to apply it to doing a small part on their show. I'm not a very learned human being, so I have to use things that I know. I know the Bible. I know food. I know pro wrestling. I'm kind of a, I'm a bit

of a Neanderthal. Oddly, you know, the Bible and pro wrestling will give you everything you need to get through life. Absolutely. Tag out. Yeah. Tag out. That's God.

I need you. I need you in here, man. Yeah. You gotta run the ropes for me. Acting chops, understanding good and evil, understanding,

uh, uh, uh, orchestrated, uh, uh, presentations. And then the Bible,

you know, you can just sort of, uh, if you've got if you've got it all the Bible in like New Testament and Old Testament I mean I'm not one of those people who can throw out every verse and as a savant with it but I've read it twice all the way through it took me a

long time in your life yeah no no no I did it like in a way where you're like reading it every day yeah recently but there were within the last five years I'd say the last five or six years I read the Bible twice all the way through No, no, no. I did it in a way where you're reading it every day. Yeah. Recently? Within the last five years. I'd say the last five or six years I read the Bible twice all the way through. Oh, really? I'm on my third time and I'm having a lot of hiccups. I'm having trouble getting back into it. Why? You're busy?

It's that thing of being distracted. I think I'm in the most distracted phase of my life right now based on social media having some career success not living at my apartment i basically live in a suitcase based on my schedule right now which is really because you're shooting so much stuff yeah but that would seem like a nice time to read the bible you know you just sort of and it has been. I did a movie in Thailand and I was sober for, oh man, I was sober for 10 months from pot and alcohol. I just really wanted to clean myself up a little bit. Did you stay clean of it? I did. And then now I'm in a place of moderation where I'm not like, I'm not lying to myself. With both? With both. Yeah, yeah.

Occasionally? Just in the morning? I just, just before I go talk to the National Board of Review at Acuna. No, I'm being silly. I just think it's, you know, I was sober for 10 months and that fell during a shoot in Thailand for a Spike Lee film. And I did that back in March and April. Oh, okay. And that movie, I didn't have a huge part. What's it called?

It's called The Five Bloods. I think I just read about this. Vietnam vet story. Yeah, they go back. Yes. How long after the war? Like this is a modern era thing? It's like takes place in both times

and I can't say too much about it because Spike probably wants it under wraps. What I can say is it's it's just like a friendship story where like the friendships are tested and you know there's they're sort of bringing up digging up the bones of the past you know sort of like that movie with

with Carell oh that's flag flying yeah yeah and who else was in there Larry Fish Fishburne that's right and Cranston Cranston that's right. And Cranston. Cranston, that's right. Kind of like that one. Yeah, it's got that vibe, but more the Tarantino, Spike Lee thing where there's a lot of F-bombs and crazy violence.

So that's the second time you work with Spike. Apparently he likes you. I guess so, yeah. He showed up to my screening of Richard Jewell in New York City the other night, and I was really almost moved to tears that he showed up. Is that a text you get? I'm coming kind of thing? I just kind of hit him up because I saw he went to Shia LaBeouf's

screening of Honey Boy. Right. And I'm like well I'm buddies with Spike maybe he'd go to my movie so I texted him and offered it and he said he'd be there. That's fucking nice. It was a pretty emotional night. I had my brother Matthew sitting next to me next to him as my manager and close friend this guy brian walsh yeah and then a few seats down it's spike and his son and the whole movie i can hear spike doing like whispered

commentary oh really laughing out loud during parts or like oh yeah saying saying stuff like um you know just stuff like oh these motherfuckers are gonna get it you know, just stuff like, oh, these motherfuckers are going to get it. You know, like totally giving commentary like you would almost like a horror film. So I don't want to say that it's stereotyping, but so talk during the movie. Is that what you're telling me? That Spike Lee talked during your movie premiere. You know what? I've talked during a lot of things I shouldn't have talked during.

Sure. I just think it's nice. Sometimes it's just true sometimes it's just true. It's just true. Well, and I hold up to my stereotypes, like not, you know, being from the Midwest and being the size of two people. Believing in both pro wrestling and Jesus Christ,

things I can't prove as real but love deeply. Yeah, I think that's a common thing. I mean, the bible thing sort of interesting to me so your faith is strong uh yeah very much so like in a weird way like i probably should have more reservations but i i have more reservations about people than i do god to be perfectly honest really that's comforting to you i guess yeah i mean i also i you know i listen to your pod all the time you time and uh yeah and the the danny mcbride episode where he talks about how the church turned on his family because his mom got

a divorce right i was never the recipient of that type of church treatment and i think that sets you up for success in your faith journey yeah if people If people who are Christians treated you like dog shit, that sucks and never should have happened. And it probably taints the experience of the Savior because the congregation wasn't emulating the very thing they protest. Right. Well, I mean, I just had Tony Hale on. He's pretty strong in the faith department. I've worked with him. I did a movie with him. Yeah. So do you guys talk to Jesus? We're literally like singing hymns between takes and stuff. No joke. A little tongue in cheek, but no, we both love Jesus, man.

You just know. So where does the Jesus come in? Is this something you grew up with? Yeah, my dad's a fifth generation Lutheran pastor. Lutheran? Yeah, Lutheran. It's like Catholicism, but if you give less of a shit. Right, right.

It's not Unitarian, which is we don't give a shit about anything, right? I can't speak to that. I'm not sure what they believe. No, but Lutheran is a very Midwestern thing. Came over from Scandinavia type of deal. You probably know more about it than me. I don't. I don't.

Martin Luther was the dude who got pissed back in the day in the 1400s or whatever because people were literally selling forgiveness of sins. They were called indulgences. So people were taxing people for their spiritual relief, which was insane. So Jesus and Martin Luther, the people we really fashioned the faith after, they were radicals. Right. Martin Luther was a dark guy.

Yeah. I mean, do some reading on him. I feel like he's anti-Semite a little bit. Oh, is he? I don't know. Maybe. Maybe I'm wrong. Should I Google it? Martin Luther, anti-Semite. I mean, it's an old story. I mean, that's already in my

Google, I think, somewhere. It wasn't what? Anti-Semite resources. I gotta be careful who I... I'm the type of person who I'm always... I can't be a stand-up comic anymore. I started in stand-up comedy and theater. Yeah. And I don't think I would survive,

not because I'm one of these ugly people who's trying to hurt people, but I think I have a lot of those brainstorm joke moments like you just had, where it's like you're just joking around, but someone could take that and write the next big internet article about Mark Maron thinks Lutherans are anti-Semitic. Luther successfully campaigned against the Jews in Saxony, Brandenburg, and Silesia. Well, now let's know the nuance here.

What were the Jews doing he was campaigning against? Probably just being Jewish. Could have been a dietary thing. I mean, we don't know what it here. What were the Jews doing? He was campaigning against. Probably just being Jewish. Could have been a dietary thing. I mean, we don't know what it was. Okay, okay. I'm not defending. I'm just a devil's advocate. A little bit. I think you're innately defending, and you should, because this is your team. I don't know the guy.

I'm team Jesus. I'm not team Luther. I'm team Jesus. All right. Look, this isn't on you, man. I mean, this is the 1500s. Hey, listen. Anything my ancestors or your ancestors did to anyone isn't on us, period.

Right. You know, stuff our parents did isn't on us. No. I mean. A little bit it is. No, it isn't. We're not responsible for it, but it might have fucked us up a little. Oh, I didn't say that.

That I agree with wholeheartedly. All right. I'll co-author a book with you on that. I didn't have a dad who was a minister. Fifth generation minister. Yeah. So your grandpa was a minister? Yeah.

Did you know him? He was having the family. Yeah, I knew him. He was, you know what I liked about my grandfather, my paternal grandfather, was that he was kind of relaxed. I don't think he was one of these, I don't know. You know that teacher who's like looking for you to do something wrong. Those are the type of Christians that I'm like, I can't sit in the that teacher Who's like looking for you To do something wrong Those are the type of Christians

That I'm like I can't sit in the room with you Sorry Well it seems like Lutheran Aren't Lutheran the sort of You know quiet Passive aggressive types I mean I

Maybe I'm generalizing But I thought Isn't it like A lot of the Lutherans It's Minnesota Right I'm thinking Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin Then they got all these synods

That's the other thing Synods See so When I say Jesus I'm talking about faith I'm not- Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin. Then they got all these synods. That's the other thing with- Synods. So when I say Jesus, I'm talking about faith. I'm not talking about religion. Religion is, you know, don't do this, don't do- It's a lot of legalism. The dogma. Well, it's legalism and it becomes theatrical convention.

Suddenly people are doing things that have more to do with the roboticized nature of it than doing it organically. Right. with the roboticized nature of it than doing it organically. Right. So with the Lutherans, not only are they their own sect of Christianity, they've then become different synods

where you have the Wisconsin Synod, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. Oh. And they all have their own rules and feelings about politics and church. Oh, really? Yeah. Which synod do you come from?

LCMS. That's the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. So you grew up in Missouri? No, I grew up in Michigan. That was just the synod. Once again,? LCMS, that's the Lutheran Church of Missouri Synod So you grew up in Missouri? No, I grew up in Michigan, that was just the synod Once again, see how confusing this shit is? Not really, it spreads all over the place Spreads over into Michigan I grew up in Saginaw, Michigan

Which is by Flint And I have three siblings A brother and two sisters Any of them end up in the uh in the in the racket the my brother yeah my brother is a minister minister now sixth generation yeah someone had to do it that's what it kind of felt like in a weird way though we both certainly you know fought against it with our behavior and stuff is he older uh yeah he's five years older than me but he's um you know he's one of these guys who partied all through college,

was sort of a Belushi type on this small campus in New York. Which campus? Concordia University of River, no. What is it called? That is small. It's White Plains or whatever? Is that so familiar? That's a place.

I don't know. Bronxville. Bronxville. Sure, Bronxville, yeah. I feel like there's another college in Bronxville. What was that one that used to be a girl's school? Fuck. Go ahead.

That's not the name of it. No. No. Fuck university. F you. Oh, it was a hippie school. Fucking. Maybe.

I don't think. Whatever. He became a pastor, but he didn't exactly have the route that one would think. So is there a sister in between you and him? Yeah, it goes Matt, and then Julia is the second oldest, three years above me, myself, and then Elise is my younger sister, two years younger than me. So we had four in about seven years. All right, so the older brother, you look up to him when he's partying, doing the business?

I've looked up to him my entire life, I have, because he's brilliantly funny and allows himself to be logical. He's not one of these fanatical people who can't be talked into things, which I appreciate. Malleability. Malleability. Adaptability or just malleability? Are those synonyms? No.

Mark, I had a long day. I don't know. No, malleability means like, oh, he's not a control freak, doesn't lay a bottom line on you. I don't think so. And I think there's humility in that. It's okay to have hard lines on some things.

He has some acceptance. He accepts. He's a tolerant man. Yeah, and my sisters are just the coolest people ever. They're really darkly funny. They'll say stuff, and I'll be like, that was brilliant. Everybody's funny in your family. A lot of funny people, and in different ways.

Parents funny? My parents were funny and sometimes unintentionally funny, obviously. Sure. That Christopher Guest mockumentary character type of funny. Yeah, but what's the old man like? What is a Lutheran minister? Because it's not fire and brimstone shit right i mean what do you i mean growing up with a minister i mean

it's like psychiatrist kids are usually kind of fucked up and ministers kids a lot of them end up being ministers or just being devils yeah i think i think we had a little of both yeah from being honest um so from the get-go, was your mom working in the church? No, she was raising us kids, and we were broke as shit. We lived on this street called North Bond Street in Saginaw. We had, and I'll rattle it off quick, we had our house broken into and robbed. We had our car broken into and robbed. We had a gang take over our backyard and play on our basketball hoop without asking us.

Wait, so that's what gangs do in Saginaw? They're like, we're just going to use the hoop? Listen, that would be the best case scenario. But we were surrounded by drug dealers on our block and gang members. We had a police dog shot in our backyard by a bank robber on Thanksgiving night in the mid to late 90s. Just crazy stuff dude it was a weird upbringing where sunday morning we were singing joyful joyful and eating donut holes and then monday through saturday it's like i'm hearing my neighbor kick out her boyfriend at

five in the morning and cuss him out you know isn't that great to to sort of be able to eavesdrop on that stuff like i remember my my like, years ago in Somerville, lived across from some woman named Jennifer, and she was always fighting with people on the street who knew her. And it was just sort of like a different, like, males and females yelling up. And it was Somerville, Massachusetts. And she was always like, Jennifer! Fuck you, Jennifer!

It just went on and on. Oh, yeah. We had that my whole childhood, dude. Just hearing that shit and just wondering where it's going to end. How does it end? But not wanting to get involved because you're like, oh, I can't.

Hoping no one gets killed. Yeah. So it was real chaos, huh? And why were you in that neighborhood? Was your dad on a mission? Did he see this as his test? You know what? I think, if anything, we were in an earning bracket where that was a place we could live.

But where was his church? We were like a mile and a half from the church, maybe. So it was proximity. Yeah. He had four kids, too. It's like four kids on a pastor's salary. You don't make anything, dude. But did he, like, well, now, was it his church?

It was his church. It was called Bethlehem Lutheran. And it was maybe 500 or 600 people on a Sunday, I'm guessing. And that's the school. I went to the school and the church. They were adjacent. And that's where I started doing theater and plays. What do you learn as a Lutheran, though?

What's the punishment situation? It's the most Marc Maron thing I've heard ever. What is the punishment situation like? It's like you just breathed like a political cartoon or whatever in the funnies. I think more than anything, you are called, you abide by two commandments that cover all ten. So you got your ten commandments, but you're really supposed to abide by the two. Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as yourself. Those are the two.

Yes, and you have to believe that. Wait, isn't don't murder important? Wouldn't you be showing love to your neighbor by not murdering? Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. But what if you don't like the guy? What about enemies? Well, you know what? That's where you create a distance. Relationships get get difficult creating distance isn't a sin i've done that

with many people okay who mistreated me i created distance and when i see them i try to be cool yeah but uh yeah detach with love yeah and then be there for them if they actually need it versus hey can you read my script i saw that you booked a movie yeah i think it's like i see you're in a huge movie could you help me out pal you know what i'd rather get booked a movie yeah i think it's like i see you're in a huge movie because you helped me out pal you know what i'd rather get asked to do honestly i'd rather get asked to move people's furniture then i'd rather get asked to like help in a real way not just like oh i know because we all make each other's dreams come true in the next 20 minutes but it's so nebulous when people do that they don't and they don't understand that you're not like it took me

a long time to realize it took having some success to realize that there's really limitations to what you can do for someone else right of course but they don't know that they also don't know that you're not where they think you are where do they think you are you think they think they think you are eddie murphy and they think i am philip seymourman. Right. And neither of us are those people. We're doing our thing and our thing is great. And we're trying to just hang on. But even if we were those people, does that mean I'll attach myself to your script? Or I know a friend who can make this tomorrow.

Even if we were those people, neither one of those things would necessarily happen. Correct. And it's tough too when they give you something good. I've been given real good scripts from like three people in the last year and a half. Well, then at least you can move it along to somebody. That I am trying to do, yeah. Oh, really? Yeah, I got this brilliant buddy named Mike Targus who's like, he literally does that

TaskRabbit type thing where he's a handyman. He literally puts together shelves for people in Bel Air and stuff. Can you get his number for me i need some sconces put up in my bathroom honestly i could and he'd do a killer job yeah it's not a big job he uh he but you know when he's not doing that he's writing scripts and he i produced a short film with him that we shot in michigan and la we're trying to make it into a feature i mean like that i met him at a key and peel taping i used to make it into a feature. How did you know this guy? I met him at a Key & Peele taping. I used to do work with Key & Peele.

Yeah. And he was a Detroit guy, as they are. Yeah. And they studied there, so I kind of met him through them. So back to the two commandments. Got to love your neighbor. Got to love God. Okay.

That's what's up. But that's the deal. So you're a minister's kid. If you fuck up, what's the old man do? You know, I'm trying to think. No beating the shit out of the children? No. Well, that wouldn't be loving your neighbor as yourself.

Oh, so, okay. He didn't beat us up, which was cool. Have passive aggressive sort of like, how do you feel about yourself? You know what? He'd give you a stern talking to and him talking to you felt like you were getting a belt because he's a pastor. You know what I mean? Emotionally, that's a belt. Speaks directly to your heart.

Yeah, he does. Your dark heart. You feel convicted as shit, of course. I would say more than anything, my dad always impressed upon me like, oh, here's a good example. I was on the basketball team for the sake of inclusion. I was not a good athlete for very obvious reasons. For the sake of inclusion, what do you mean? They had you on as a charity case? Yeah for very obvious reasons. And I had a- For the sake of inclusion, they had you on as a charity case?

Yeah, very much so. Yeah. I was like, I was the guy, they're like, I guess you're a power forward. You get to use the word power. You're very powerful. I'd like you to powerfully sit on the bench, please. They, you know, I had a thing where

I mouthed off to a ref where I kind of acted crummy. I was just being a crummy 13-year-old brat, you know, on the court, making a show of something that didn't matter. And my parents blew up at me. I'll never forget being in the kitchen. I had to be young.

It was our old house, so I was maybe 12. And they kind of told me, they're like, that's not how you behave. You embarrassed us. You embarrassed yourself. And we know we have tickets to take you to pro wrestling for your birthday but they're like maybe we just won't go wow that's they're like ready to take away my favorite thing in the world and lay the guilt on pretty heavy oh yeah so like it's on you now to beat the shit out of yourself till you come to your senses i think i would have done that

regardless of my parents i'm a mess man i'm. I'm just starting to get into that good pocket of normal daily self-love and also de-escalating all the stuff I used to, you know, bloviate and cry over and stuff. Really? Yeah. I've spent way too much time being mean to myself. Yeah. Yeah. And trying to be really nice to everybody else, you know.

Well, yeah. I mean, although I— Pull them both back a little. yeah yeah and then and trying to be really nice to everybody else you know well yeah i mean well that although i back a little well i guess those devices or those things that were innate in you certainly came to play in this role in richard 100 100 all the characters i've played have a piece of me whether i like to admit that or not um well i like this like between jewel and uh what was the guy's name in I, Tonya? Sean Eckhart. There's a sort of kind of elevated sense of self. Unpacked that, that's interesting.

Elevated sense of self. Yeah, self-importance to both of them. Oh, sure, a bit of a mission, right? Everybody else looks ridiculous. Yes, yeah. Well, that goes back to that Christopher Guest documentary character. But they're very earnest about their sense of self, which is inflated and ridiculous. Well, and once again, for the right reasons.

Sean Eckhart was never doing it for the right reasons. Richard Jewell was doing it for the right reasons. That's right. They're both empathetic characters, oddly. Yes. I mean, which is what made me so excited about this movie, but also the first time I saw you was in that I, Tonya thing, and I was, like, ecstatic about your performance.

You gave me a shout-out on the Richard Jenkins episode. Me and all my friends, like, texted each other. We're like, Maren gave you a shout-out. It was like Carson asking you to sit on the chair. I just thought it was such an inspired, humane approach to that fucking guy. And there was a lot of humanity to it. It was fun to do, man. And because these guys, they're just, they're, like, he was a sort of a specific type of confident buffoon.

Yeah. Yeah. But he really thought he had an angle on everything. The confidence is just so funny. When that kind of guy breaks down, it's some of the best comedy in the world. Yeah. It's so, I also love, there's a moment in I, Tiny,

where I get to shout at Sebastian Stan and I say something like, I couldn't, no one could ever break me. And then a second later, it's a montage of me telling everyone. It's like, that kind of felt like a Walter Socheck, like John Goodman, Big Lebowski moment of like, you know, you're out of your element, Donnie. I love having even a smidgen of that in there.

It was so fun to play, man. So where do you think all this resource you have of self-loathing, where do you track it to? What are you doing? Are you doing more than just Jesus to help yourself? I mean, I think Jesus is enough. But the good thing is that Jesus compels you to do other things that are byproducts, which are the things you're alluding to. Yeah? Whether it's yoga or whether it's-

Therapy or what have you. Of course. I believe in all that stuff. Yeah. I think those are gifts that you're allowed to employ so that you can get past them. But have you been able to track the self-loathing in particular? Why are you so hard on yourself? Why do you let people walk all over you?

Are you talking to me or the characters I play? Because I don't let people walk all over me. I've fired to me or the characters i play because i don't let people walk all over me i've fired people i've oh good okay i've okay okay you passed that test what why why are you so nice to people uh because i love i actually love people like i love i love you fired people who'd you fire um that's probably not something i want to get real into but there was just somebody I once fired Because even though we were friends The relationship wasn't

Like it wasn't like working anymore What was the job? I don't want to get into it I want to be respectful And the person I fired I still to this day love them And acknowledge how much impact they have Was it pre-show business? Yes and no

It was pre and then post. Oh, no kidding. No. All right, so you don't let people walk you. You stand up for yourself. No, sir. I do stand up for myself. So where's the self-loathing come from?

You think it was just the nature of your parents' hands-off method of letting you feel guilty and process your problems on your own? I mean, I think we all got some some some angels and demons you know and i think like you know i think there are i know some have you talked to your demons have you sat down a little bit yeah yeah legitimately yeah i know you're kidding but i actually have unfortunately no i you have to talk to them you have to tell them you gotta acknowledge well you have to say like you know this is not is not your day. I'm going to take it from here. And if we could only say it every day. You have to.

You know what helps? Okay. I see you're here, but you're going to have to sit back down. And it ramped up with alcohol though. Because when my demons showed up when I would drink too much, when I have two beers at a restaurant with a buddy, it's not, I'm fine. It's cool. But the nights when i would go a little

too hard it was like i was ripping the door off the hinges for my demons to come out and and it wasn't even the reason i know it's my demons and not me is because they would say and act in a way that isn't indicative of my actual spirit and who i am interesting so do you have what's what are your demons names are they the rage demon or the sad demon? Oh, rage, man. Sad is a byproduct of the rage. Sure, sure. That's afterwards. It's a two-headed demon, yeah.

Well, the sadness is where it starts, but rage feels better than crying. I got some rage in me, but it's never for other people. It's always against myself. But like I said, I genuinely am getting better at that, man. And it helps to have a good circle of friends. circle my circle of friends in LA is absurd I am I don't have time for all the amazing people in my life yeah it's it's absurd how many sweet pick you up from LAX text me and say how can I pray for you today type of people I have in my life it's weird man wow you can you know you can take a car from LAX.

I can. That's my example. Because back in the day, the buddy who would pick you up, that's the guy. He's a big damn deal. Yeah, that's like the guy who's got your back in NAMM. But those are the people who I would have their back in, the veritable NAMM.

Sure, sure. Yeah, you'd go get them at LAX. Who do you have from back in the day? Because I've heard all the beef about the people who weren't there for you by listening to the show. Who was there for you the whole way through? Oh, who were my old friends? Yeah, who like freaking would show up and sit with you at the diner for three hours. Well, I mean, there's been guys who did that.

Ryan Singer. Say their names. Ryan Singer was a dude who sat with me literally sat with me at at a diner on my 50th birthday because i couldn't go to my house because uh i i uh wanted i was waiting for a woman to move out of it oh that's yeah that's tough yeah that he was there for me my buddy jerry stall is always pretty solid we go back a few years and then their old old friends like jack uh bulware up in san francisco sam lipsight new york jimmy loftus uh out of boston area these are guys that i go way back with that uh john

daniel that i met like i don't i don't need to call in too many favors you know generally and i'm kind of reserved about asking for help but my steve danziger is another guy who I go back about 10, 15 years with. So I got guys. Dave Stebbins in Florida. There's some dudes that know me pretty deeply and I can go to. You're eliciting some smiles, some good feelings just by saying those names, I'm sure. Yeah. I'm going to do it too.

I'm going to steal a moment to say Peter Hins is the guy I moved to Los Angeles with who's still my best friend and just came to the Richard Jewell premiere with me. My buddy Caleb Wall is a cinematographer who's from Oklahoma and is just a sweetheart who is a good friend and makes movies with me. And guys like Mike Targus and all these guys, I mentioned him earlier, the handyman. These are the types of people. My buddy Tommy Snyder, who we audition against each other because we're a similar look. Yeah. But every time we see each other in the audition rooms, it was like hugging it out and let's go get a burger after this. Oh, that's nice. Nothing but love.

Oh, yeah. I feel like we just did a church-like thing just now. I'm sure we did. We're acknowledging our blessings man yeah hell yeah in the form of people yeah so when do you start doing funny shit i was a pretty funny kid and when i wasn't funny i was just loud yeah obnoxious um i uh i did like a lot of theater as a kid and in high school I did like 10 plays in four years and I got into standup comedy and screenwriting when I was 16 and I did

those, um, for a very long time. My whole thing was I loved everything and I didn't know what was going to get me into the business. So I was just- You were doing standup in Michigan? Michigan and Chicago and LA. Really? Um, yeah.

I did the store several times. I did places like Formosa Cafe and the Meltdown Comics. Were you like a working feature or were you just... I was doing a bunch of bringer shows and not having a lot of success. I was... That's what you mean out here. So let's track

it though. So 16, you're doing all the plays in high school. All the plays, getting head shots, trying to find a local agent. At 16? Yeah, or like 17, though. So 16, you're doing all the plays in high school. All the plays, getting head shots, trying to find a local agent. At 16? Yeah, or like 17, 18. I wrote two features by the time I graduated high school. And still in Saginaw. Yeah.

So where are you going to get a local agent in Saginaw? Detroit? Well, yeah, Detroit or even Chicago. And if you've got to make the schlep, it's worth it because you might get, you know. So you want to be in show business. Oh, yeah. By the time you're 15, 16, you're like, this is it. Obsessed with waiting for Guffman, A Few Good Men, Saturday Night Live.

My dream was to go to Tisch School of the Arts, get on SNL. Oh, wow. Okay. And get repped by Rhonda Price at Gersh. I had this all figured out. I was like, I'm going to do all these things. Yeah. And then life did not go that way, and SNL didn't care about my writing packets.

Really? Well, how did it go? So did you get a Detroit agent or a Chicago agent? Yeah, I had a local agent in Southfield near Detroit. I got one local commercial, not much. But the break happened when I dropped out of college. I was- Were you going to college?

Went to Concordia University of Chicago in the River Forest Oak Park neighborhood. Yeah. of Chicago in the River Forest Oak Park neighborhood. Yeah. And I went and I ended up getting repped by this guy, Joel Zadak, who was my manager for like 10 and a half years. The guy literally repped me out of obscurity. So when you're in Chicago, you're just doing standup or you're doing improv, you're doing the Chicago thing?

Yeah. I took classes at the IO Theater. Yeah. You know? Improv Olympic. And I was doing standup everywhere. Improv Olympic. Zany's and the places. Yeah, totally. I auditioned for Last Comic Standing. at uh the io theater yeah you know improv i was doing stand-up everywhere yeah olympic zanies and the places yeah totally i auditioned for last comic standing i auditioned for jamie masada

who tore me a new asshole and treated me fuck him he told me he was like sorry that's not christian i went up to i was it's all right there's forgiveness bro thank you i um i went up to his room to get notes and he looks at me and he goes, just come back in three weeks. And I was like, I had a horrible day working at a Starbucks in Rosemont, and my buddy Chris Arcangeli drove me in the pouring rain to go to this requested audition. They requested I audition, so someone saw me and thought I was funny. At the Laugh Factory. Yeah, and told Jamie or someone underneath him.

So I go to the Laugh Factory after a 10-hour day at Starbucks. I'm walking in the rain. I show up. I do my set. And it's in front of like 13 other comics. I'm like, this isn't even an audience. How am I supposed to kill in front of 13 comics? What was your act like?

Oh, it was a hodgepodge. Very unpolished. A few jokes, a couple stories. And a lot of characters, like the way Galifianakis would do character bits. I had a bit where I used to get the biggest laugh when I would say, I'd say, I wish I was Hispanic and a realtor so that I could start a business called What Up Homes. And like dumb jokes like that got big laughs. And I'd go up and talk to him. And Jamie goes, come back in three weeks.

I said, can you give me notes or anything I should change since I'm coming back? And he goes, it just felt like some SNL audition that somebody wrote for you. And I go, okay, well, I know that, but how do you get to that? Like, what can I change? And he goes, just come back in three weeks. And he circles the date on a piece of paper. And I go, okay. And then trying to, like, be a good student, I go, oh, when I come back, it'll be way better,

I promise, or something. Yeah. And he goes, you're full of shit. Wow. And so I walked out and got a 30 rack of beer, got drunk at my buddy's place. What's a 30 rack? Oh, like the big, fat 30 rack of cans. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Cheap. Yeah, yeah. Basement beer. You got fucked up? Yeah, because I was just so, I was distraught. I was like, this is a, you know, this is, I don't know. It was me reaching for a moment and just getting pummeled, which happened a lot, by the way.

Well, that's show business coming up, right? Yeah, so many scripts I wrote for people that I developed, and then they either unattached themselves after a year. Wait, so you're doing the stand-up, and this is in Chicago before you even come out here, and you're also writing at that time? I'm writing, and this guy, Joel Zadak. Movies? Movies and TV.

I'm doing sketch comedy packets, movies, and TV. You're gunning for it. Yeah, big time, and I'm putting in the work. So this guy, Joel Zad zadak who worked at prince apollo young still is there they changed their name but he read me from the age of 20 so he read me like when i had nothing but he signs you in chicago not in michigan before i even went to chicago no shit i just sent my query letter and a bunch of like materials to different companies and what did you learn about all this query letter business and sending stuff to companies immersion man this

is all I did. I wasn't getting laid in high school. I was watching Sidney Lumet films and memorizing the dialogue in A Few Good Men. I was popular, but I wasn't cool. What's your favorite chunk of the dialogue in A Few Good Men? Oh, goodness. I actually recorded this for this woman, Joy Zapata, who worked with Jack Nicholson for years. And she sent it to him.

I believe the speech goes, and I won't get it perfect, but he goes, you want answers? And Cruz says, I think I'm going to tell them. You want answers? I want the truth. You can't handle the truth. Yeah. Son, we live in a world that's surrounded by walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns.

Who's going to do it? You? You? You, Lieutenant Weinberg? I have a responsibility more important than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know, that Santiago's death, while tragic and incomprehensible to you, saved lives. You don't want to know the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like code,

honor, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone for a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to argue with the man who rests under the blanket of the freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just say thank you and been on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are

entitled to. But that, I mean, I literally sat in front of the TV or the tape recorder at 13. And she sent it to Nicholson? Yeah, yeah. When he was 13? No, she sent it to him while we were in the hair and makeup trailer and Richard Jewell, because Nicholson's a big fan of Rockwell. Oh.

So Rockwell, he got on the phone with Rockwell. Yeah. Joy gives him the phone, and she goes, it's Jack, and Sam just goes, like a little kid meeting Santa, you know? Yeah. And Sam leaves the room for a minute and a half, talks to Jack. Jack loved his work on Fosse-Verdon, you know and sam leaves the room for a minute and a half talks to jack jack loved his work on fossy verdon you know and then sam walks back in just like in another dimension you know and we start talking about jack and i tell her how much i loved a few good men

yeah and then i memorized that speech she goes we're doing on camera and we'll send it to jack so i thought he probably it was probably it was probably the same reaction of like a parent watching their kid try on their clothes and walk around or something silly. You're so talented. Oh, isn't he cute? The button nose. All right, so this guy signs you, and he stays with you, and you're frustrated. You're writing for everybody.

Did you get to audition for SNL? Never got to. I made tapes because I would do celebrity impressions. So I could do Norm MacDonald and Rush Limbaugh and Danny DeVito and all these different people. Oh, let's hear a little Rush. Recently, Michelle Obama was seen eating a meatball sub on a yacht.

Then my Norm MacDonald was just like, oh yeah, yeah. You know, the funny thing about Madonna is she's filthy. And then Danny DeVito, oh, what? Hey, Charlie, I like banging whores. Can you get me some? I just did all these different characters, and I had original stuff, but I never got to truly audition, and that's on me.

You have to commit yourself to one of those theaters like Second City or you've got to be a regular at the store. You've got to have that big brand of comedy behind you usually, unless you're one of those viral internet people. Yeah, I guess so. It's a different time, huh? Yeah. I like that Rockwell gets excited about Jack Nicholson. I wouldn't.

He's still a fan like me, man. That'll never go away. God, I'll never be cool. It sucks. I would love to be cool and not get super excited about all that type of stuff. I used to more. The number of people that I have it with seems to be coming less because I talk to a lot of them. And then they become people.

And you kind of feel a little weird after they become human to you to keep them on some sort of ethereal plane. Sure. You're also becoming one of them because you just did like seven biopics, right? No, I'm just doing one biopic. You did a few, man. I haven't shot it yet. No, I played a supporting part,

and in a couple weeks I'm going to go play Jerry Wexler in an Aretha Franklin movie. So it's going to be two but you're slowly and you don't acknowledge as much because you're you know uh for whatever reason you tell me but but you are like one of those people now i felt that when i was at the sag awards for being nominated for glow the first year like having interviewed a lot of them i felt like i you know i was there for a real reason i did good work and i don't i wouldn't say that i'm i would call myself a great actor or anything but i i felt like i deserved to be there and it was exciting that's and that's fair i would say you are a great actor whether whether you are

the most diverse actor or not or i'm the most diverse actor or not right remains to be seen sure we have stuff we still have to do to show that. But as far as our lane, I think we're both great actors, dude. Yeah, we can do, we have a wheelhouse. Yeah. Yeah, but do you, like are you? I saw Sword of Trust, dude. Oh, that is, yeah. I love Lynn Shelton, man.

I do too. Big fan of hers. She's killer. Yeah, she's great. She's got a good ticker, I think. I don't know her, but I can tell she's got a good ticker. Yeah, a good heart? Yeah.

Oh, yeah, she's great. Yeah. We're dating so really yeah oh that's cool man oh that makes oh i love that sorry that's all i'll say about as an outsider though i love that because i knew she was a great admirer of your work yeah and now she's a we ended up later of you man we end up together it. That makes sense to me. I like that. Yeah, it's been great. She's great, and she does great work, and that was a fun movie, wasn't it?

Yeah, that's a special movie. That's a movie that more people should see in the current age we're in. I think so. It weirdly echoes a lot of things right now. Got a lot of heart. Got a lot of heart. Got a lot of heart. That too. We need more of that, man.

I don't think there's enough. Things are getting a little too cynical for my taste. Sure. It's getting dark out there. I'm trying not to turn with it. Getting dark out there. I don't want to turn with it. That's what's interesting about the Jewel movie.

Maybe we should come back around to it. But yeah, in terms of acting, but do you find that you're like now that you i mean you carried a movie dude and that's like a big deal i mean that was your fucking movie and that's a that's you know that's a big thing but do you find you know given that you acknowledge that you have a sort of uh uh you have a thing that you can do is there a part of you that's sort of like, how do I challenge myself next to get out of this wheelhouse that I've gotten comfortable in? Are you? Oh, I mean, I wouldn't even,

I have the sort of knowledge of knowing everything I have done. So the people who are just getting wind to me, they only have three references from the riches. Right, right. Black Klansman, I, Tonya, and Richard Jewell. They don't know the high school work. But they don't know what I've done in a bathroom mirror. No, but I did a show called Kingdom back in the day.

I know, a bunch of them. Did like 25 episodes of the show. Yeah. Playing opposite Frank Grillo, Matt Loria, John Tucker, all these great guys. Yeah. And I busted my ass and did awesome work on that show. Yeah. Like if we were on HBO or Showtime, people might have been holding trophies for the stuff

we were doing on that show collectively. I don't know. I saw it on the resume. I didn't even know what it was. Yeah. It's one of those things where I know what my range is, but whether or not people allow me to do it or not remains to be seen. And that's why someone like Lynn Shelton speaks to me.

Cause a movie like your sister's sister was shot in like 13 days. Yeah. Rose, Rosemary DeWitt jumped in at the last minute to act for someone who dropped out. Like, right. I might have to do that someday where like,

if they're just like, Hey, can you play every damaged fat guy? I might go, no, instead I'm going to lose 45 pounds, write my own script and see if Mark Duplass is generous enough to play opposite me. I might do that someday. Maybe he could play the weight you lost. Maybe he could play the voice in my head.

He's the angel. The demon will be played by maybe my buddy, Yul Vasquez. You lose 45 pounds and he's the guy that keeps telling you you're still heavy. Yeah, ooh, that's dark. That's good. How about you act in it? I'll write it, and we'll ask Lynn to direct it. Okay, yeah, we can do that. I've got connections with her.

Good. Oh, that's right here. Yeah, yeah, I can talk to her. I could text her even. There's even an outside chance that she has texted me since we've been on. Yep, there it is. Yeah.

She just said, oh, so I'll say, she said, hi. I'll say I'm talking to a big fan of yours. Oh, I got to shout out my buddy, Robbie Pesky, who's a huge WTF fan. Okay. He listens to it and it makes him like feel good, man. WTF fan. Okay. He listens to it and it makes him feel good, man. What's his story? He's a musician and a college professor

in Michigan and a dear friend of mine. We used to write short stories together. He gave me a He turned me on to Raymond Carver, who I now adore. Oh, wow. This dude handed me a Raymond Carver book. It was pretty awesome. He said, go. Do it. He said, do it. This is you, dude. So how do you get to, like, when do you decide

and how do you come out to LA? So I dropped out of college because I was, Mad TV got canceled and my manager, Joel, repped all these Mad TV guys. And he goes, these guys got nothing to do. You want to write a script for them? Yeah. So I wrote a movie for Key & Peele over the course of a year and a half. Wow.

And in that time, I dropped out of college. I went back home to Michigan, got a day job, and was saving up money to move to LA. While there, I find out that this movie with Ed Harris and Jennifer Connelly called Virginia is having auditions to be background extras. So I just go with four of my buddies. It was my buddy Rick and Pete and- Where? They're shooting in Michigan? Yeah. We go on the west side of the state by Grand Rapids yeah we go to this town and we all audition

we take it's literally you take a photo you write down if you can play the saxophone or yo-yo or some shit and then they say we'll call you if we need you for a scene but as I'm walking out I see Lance Black Dustin Lance Black the guy who won the Oscar for writing Milk yeah with Sean Penn and so he black the guy who won the oscar for writing milk yeah with sean penn

and so he's the writer director of the film and i go i'm just gonna go congratulate him on his oscar win yeah so i walked up to him and i said almost verbatim i go hey i just want to say congrats on the oscar for milk i love the film and i loved your speech even more when you said god doesn't hate gay people yeah i thought that was so beautiful and necessary for people to hear. So I just want to say thanks and congrats. 30 seconds, maybe, 40 seconds. And he goes, what's your name? And he writes my name down. And he says, we might bring you back.

There might be a part for you. And I'm thinking, well, part sounds like more than a background actor. Right. And I get an audition. And I'm auditioning against like 12 other guys from the local area who like work at gas stations and pool halls.

Yeah. These aren't guys who like were watching SNL and Sidney Lumet movies and are obsessed. Right. So I show up, I get the screenplay, the full script from Joel back in LA. Yeah. And I've read the script three times and I'm off book and I'm acting like a psycho. And so I get a call back with one other guy named Jay Keithius, real sweet guy. We go in, we do it.

And Lance gave me the part. And I was like number six on the call sheet behind Amy Madigan and Toby Jones and Emma Roberts. Yeah. And so my first movie was just because I talked to the filmmaker and said something genuine. And I made like 12 grand and moved to LA like a month later. Nice story. It was crazy. Yeah.

It's still crazy. I still text them once a year just like, thank you for giving me my break. You didn't have to do that. Thank you so much. That's a great turn of events. It's nuts. So you come out here and then what happens? Dicked around, had a year where I booked a lot of stuff.

No more standup? No, I was doing stand-up this whole time. I was doing the belly room, and I was doing different bars and stuff. Actually, I used to watch you in the main room. Yeah. I would sneak in because I wouldn't pay to watch the other comedy because I'm like, well, I already performed. Yeah, just sneak in the back door there.

Yeah, and I would watch guys like you, and I got to watch Chris Tucker once. I fell in love with Brody Stevens. I would go in the OG room and watch Brody. And that whole group of guys I just have such affection for because they were always on the same lineups together. It felt like they were their own show. Brody and who? Brody and –

Like Barris? I'm trying to think of – I know Barris a little bit because he's from Saginaw, my hometown. Oh, yeah. And by the way, I definitely, this isn't Christian. I got into the comedy store one time where I just walked up to the door in the OG room. In the original room? The OR? Yeah.

Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. And I walk up to the room with my buddy Dave Sorandino, this musician buddy of mine. And he goes, how much are tickets? Because we're both broke. It was like 2015 or something.

And I go, I got this. And I walk up to the guy at the ticket booth and I go, Don told me to drop by. He said he'd get me in. He goes, Don Barris? I go, yeah, we're both from Saginaw. I was at Kimmel the other night and he told me to come by. So he's looking at me really skeptical. And by the way, he did say that, but he said that to an audience of people that were at

the Jimmy Kimmel live show. Right. But I said it as if he was telling me personally. So he has this big begrudging moment of not wanting to let me in. He eventually lets me in. We're front row watching Joe Rogan and all these guys. I do the standup stuff. I leave for two years because I run out of money. 2011, I just, I couldn't get a job. By the way, I applied to 60 jobs in Hollywood. I couldn't get a job serving sub sandwiches at Subway, but I was doing a guest star on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. So there was a weird imbalance of not knowing how to stay out. So you were actually getting little gigs, but not enough to sustain. Not enough, a month or two at a time, and then it wasn't enough. And I left for two years,

went back to my hometown of Saginaw worked at a bowling alley in a butcher shop oh my god after being on tv on tv and people are coming up to me going hey I saw you on it's always sunny what do you why are you giving me my bowling shoes oh my god and uh and did you did you feel like you needed to punish yourself oh yeah I was getting I was getting stoned like four or five days a week. I was overeating, eating to excess. I was just self-hatred. What do you make of that, though? You really thought you had no choice but to come home after you're working?

I didn't have any friends out here. I'd only been here a year. I booked like five jobs in a year. But you went back and got a job at a bowling alley? Yeah, and like a grocery mart butcher shop. But you don't feel that that was self-sabotage on some level what no not at all i didn't have anywhere to stay i didn't know i was sleeping on someone's floor so you had no resources my buddy matt ryan is like you can sleep on my

floor for a couple weeks and i'm like this isn't sustainable so you really just were broke and you didn't have connections with legit and i was young and dumb and i needed to be humbled i needed to learn some real shit what'd you learn working at the bowling alley getting high and eating i learned that that's not the right route you know it's uh it's i think we all have that that moment um but uh but eventually my brother-in-law joey he lent me 600 bucks and said, move to Chicago, get back into your comedy scene and work a job there. So I got a 40-hour a week job at Starbucks. I had an hour and a half commute in the morning and at night to get to Rosemont from, you know, Logan Square or wherever I was staying. No shit.

It was crazy. But I took classes. In the summer, I took classes at IO. Like two of the women there, Vanessa Bayer and Cecily Strong, got SNL in the fall. Right. So it was very inspiring where I was like, holy, the woman who sold me my tickets two months ago is on SNL, you know. So that's crazy. And I made it back to LA.

But you were doing, in terms of a trajectory towards success, you were on it you just you just didn't have enough of a network of people to sustain you and life skills i was still very immature and uh and not the dude i am now and you were what boozy and fucked up oh just like it was just like me and my buddy peter ends like like slamming cans of beer and walking around hollywood like yelling at people in line uh trying to get into clubs and stuff. Like we were just idiots, Midwest Neanderthals, you know. Yeah. We didn't know, we didn't have life skills. Oh, yeah.

And so we paid the price for that. I definitely did. So you paid, you did your penance in a bowling alley and then a Starbucks. I got gout working at the bowling alley. How do you get gout? Why, are they connected? No, I was in, they're connected based on behavior. I was eating like hot dogs and nachos and pizza and beer every night working at the bowling alley.

Yeah. And I just had this absurd appetite for garbage, and I contracted gout when I was 25. And now it's under control, but I couldn't walk for weeks. That's like uric acid in your feet? That's exactly what that is. It builds up and crystallizes in your bones and oh it's fucking terrible it sucks man so okay so you did then you did time your time got back starbucks siberia 600 bucks i talk about it like i was in a war i was slinging

uh 20 january 2013 i moved back to la yeah and i've been back ever since worked oh i worked the door at flappers in burbank that was a big deal for me doing stand-up because they would let me get on stage right right and you know there were nights where i'd be doing a set and bill burr damon wayans or someone drops in sure it's like you get to watch a big moment yeah for me it was that's what you were doing working the door flappers yeah doing bringer shows me well too i was kind of still like trying to get my shit together and they were like you know i remember i had a panic attack while working one time because it was tough for me because i wanted to be where those comics were yeah and they're all killing it and i'm working the door

and nobody knows all the work i did it was a doorman no i look back and i'm finally now but in the moment there were times where I was like, fuck man, I felt like crap. Well, yeah. How could they not be looking down at me? How could they like, I'm just some of them did.

I remember who they were too. I won't say their names, but there are people who treated me really well. Yeah. And there are people who did not. And, uh, and what do you do with that information?

I try to humanize them and treat them well when I see them, but I'm, I'm not like outwardly trying to kick it with them. Do you pray for them? Absolutely. I pray for you all the time, man. You do? You're on my prayer list.

You've been on there for like three years. Oh, thank you. I think it's working out. I think maybe you're the reason. I doubt I'll take, I'm not taking credit for that one, but I pray for people that when I see something in them and I want them to succeed,

because in the past more so you're better at now but like there were times where I've heard you'd be really like darkly self-deprecating in my head I'm like god I love Mark I hope Mark loves Mark I'm getting there sounds like you are too yeah yeah I think so but once again surrounding yourself with people like Lynn me surrounding myself with the buddies I mentioned that's that's of healing, right? Yeah, and also, sadly, but I think honestly, I think having some success helps. It definitely does. Then you have new problems or different problems.

Well, no, but I mean just with the self-esteem issue. Like, you know, you commit your life to something and it's a long road. And when something happens, when you find success in it and it's undeniable that you earned it it's hard not to be like i i worked on you know i worked hard and i deserve this and you know and it does feel good right you know those nights like the sag awards those i was there the night you were uh nominated for i was there for itania yeah that was i remember that night being

so magical man it's great night everyone's walking walking around on commercial breaks talking to each other, and they're giddy to meet each other. Yeah, because it's like it's the community. It's not the agents. I saw De Niro sitting alone. No one was bothering him, which is probably a rarity for him, so I effed it up.

But I walked up to De Niro and just said, hey, I just want to say hello. My name's Paul Hauser. I'm a huge fan of your work. King of Comedy is one of my favorites. And he shook his hand. And he did the... Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah yeah that thing uh but uh i had a cool moment with um bradley whitford walked by me

and i just said to him i go i go billy madison and he goes hey man and walks away but i i vowed that every time i run into him from here on out, I'm going to say Billy Madison. He's always good for you. That movie's amazing. He's always good for a moment, that Bradley Woodford. He's all right. He's a funny guy. He's prickly. I like his work, but I wonder if, I think he would hate me,

but we'd probably have fun working together. So you come back after Siberia and Starbucks, and you're doing stand-up. You're at Flappers. Yeah, I was doing stand-up, working at Flappers. and you're doing stand-up, you're at Flappers. Yeah, I was doing stand-up, working at Flappers. I worked at Five Guys, the burger joint in Studio City.

I was still just kind of schlepping and moving and doing my thing, and then I did that show Kingdom, which... For like two, three years, right? Yeah, and if, I mean, season one, I got to tell you, season one, I was on as a co-star. Okay, so this is actually a great story. Yeah. I was living in a two-bedroom apartment with four or five people in the spring of 2014 say korea north hollywood okay north hollywood yeah korea town would have been better than where we're living um i i am living with these people broke really. I'm working at five guys at the time,

and I'm making like eight bucks an hour busting my ass. I mean, those people work really hard. They're scrubbing down like fryers and then cleaning bathrooms and taking the trash out and then having to work, deal with customers. And by the way, a ton of the customers were in the industry. So then I'm like, once again, feeling small in the presence of them. And it's everywhere.

You look outside, there's a million billboards telling you you're not in something. Yeah, yeah. So it's just. That guy. It was tough. Because you had tasted it. And I already tasted it. I had worked with DeVito.

I had worked with Jennifer Cohn. So I, crying in the bathroom one morning, I sat on the floor of my bathroom crying and I said to God, I go, if you want me to be a preacher or a teacher or a missionary you want to do just Holy Spirit lead me there I'll do it if you want me to leave Hollywood I will do it this is me saying I will move out of this because I have so much in me and it's I said the word it's dying on the vine I said those are the words I remember saying to God I walk out I passed my roommate Chloe Lanier this opera, amazing extravagant actress who's now killing it. She looks at me and she goes, good luck on your audition. I go, I'm not going

to book it. And she goes, just because you said that, you probably will. And I go into the audition and I go in to read for this role of this bully in the show. And they go, oh, we thought you were reading for the guy who gets bullied and i go they told me i was reading for this other guy they go would you like to read the sides for this other character the victim so i go out and i read it for like 40 minutes i come back in 40 minutes later and i just bring everything from the bathroom into the casting room and i cry and i like throw stuff and i like i emptied everything in my bag and put it around the room as props of stuff to throw so i wasn't throwing their stuff.

Yeah. And after the scene was done, they looked at me just like eyes wide like holy cow. And as I was moving into a new apartment like a week later, I found out I got the show and it was supposed to be two episodes. I had all of eight, nine lines. Yeah. But I showed up and I'm like, well, how did I get the part? By being a psycho and doing a bunch of work. So I showed up to set and gave a whole backstory of having PTSD and being on the autism spectrum.

And I was like punching myself in the femur. Yeah. Giving myself Charlie horses and flicking my ear and doing all this weird actor stuff to get into the character and I was improvising. So like after the first two episodes, the writers and producers were like, we're going to keep writing you into the character and I was improvising. So like after the first two episodes, the writers and producers were like, we're going to keep writing you into the show.

So that first season I did seven episodes at like $1,200 an episode, but I'm doing monologues and I'm like killing people and I'm like pulling my pants down and showing my bare ass on TV for $1,200 an episode. And then eventually my manager, or now manager, he was my agent at the time, this guy Brian, he goes, if you're bringing this guy back, you got to actually pay him.

And so he re-upped and got me a much bigger paycheck and I was able to quit my day job. And this March will be five years I've been acting without a day job. Yeah, now you're in a huge fucking movie. Crazy. The second huge fucking movie. Crazy. So you were gainfully employed for a few years on that show. Yeah, it was getting me by, yeah.

And then you did a couple other smaller movies. Yeah, some indie stuff. And then I believe I did Super Troopers, NBC Superstore, and this pilot back-to-back in the fall of 2016. So that was the best I had ever done. I was like in a moment. After the end of the- After the end of Kingdom.

It was kind of coming to an end. And while I was shooting this pilot in Vancouver- With Civil Shepard? No, that was me just doing a bit. I didn't work with Civil Shepard. I was working with all these amazing people. This guy, Jake Jake Robinson this girl Chelsea Gilligan people that like like we said with those friends that are

there for you those kind of people yeah so I'm thinking oh if I got to work with these people for the rest of my life on this show and it's a hit yeah I got it made some surrounded by people are dope yeah and then while I'm there I get the audition for I Tanya and I immediately say to my reps I go I'm not gonna get this are you gonna give this to Jonah or josh gad or somebody and they're like going for it it's a lot of amazing people are involved try it out and i and i think it was 13 pages i had to memorize and i went in and just gave everything i possibly had yeah getting that part was kind of what kicked open the door yeah and then black klansman happened and then

late night i did a movie with emma thompson and john lisco called late night right and uh yeah mindy kaling who's freaking the best but this this movie is like this is your movie pal richard jewell it's hard to believe yeah it's a very odd you know he's made some interesting choices over the last few years clint eastwood, in terms of like, why this guy? Why this movie? Why this, yeah. But heroic stories, kind of, right? Heroic, well, American Sniper and Sully, yeah.

But American Sniper is a difficult movie. It's a difficult character. It's a morally tricky movie. Oh, yeah. And I think, you know, unlike Sully, you know, Sully was okay. But I liked American Sniper. A lot of people, I think, had problems with it. But I liked it.

And, you know, his politics are a little peculiar, a little libertarian, a little, you know. Sure. But, you know, so why Richard Jewell, you know. And I don't know what the criticism has been. I haven't read any. I don't really. I don't read a the criticism has been. I haven't read any. I don't really, I don't read a lot of that stuff. But my impression was of the film,

obviously a critique of the media, obviously a critique of authority, obviously a critique of politics to a degree, but ultimately a human story about a guy who got, you know, railroaded, you know, but a guy who, you know,ed you know and and and but a guy who you know just because he was quirky and passionate and and and sort of obsessed with the thing and sort of self a little delusional you know became a suspect very much so and also you know something i've been talking about on the

the um press tour has been he had a a blind respect for authority and was sort of tribalistic and it hurt him yeah and i think all the groups whether tribalistic how tribalistic in like believing that this group could do no wrong and then even when they law enforcement yeah tribalism pisses me off so much i despise it and i think our we're living in a divisionary culture where we're so divided because of tribalism. Oh, for sure. But I thought it's really a story about a guy who was not fragile, but it's sort of like the victim of bullying in a weird way. Very much so. In a very big way.

Maybe a coming of age story, actually, because there's that moment of, like, loss of innocence, or, like, at some point Santa Claus isn't real, the FBI isn't real, you know, like... Yeah, but also, you know, you definitely had a... I don't want to ruin anything for anybody, because I'm not sure when we're putting this up, and I'm sure it's, like, the weekend it comes out,

but I just, like, how do you approach something where, you know, what was the audition process like for that? Didn't audition. Oh, he wanted you. I just got a how do you approach something where, you know, what was the audition process like for that? Didn't audition. Oh, he wanted you. I just got a call while I was in Thailand doing the Spike Lee thing. And they said, Clint wants you for this movie. And I was like, are you sure? Yeah.

And they said, you know, he's convinced based off some footage from Kingdom, Itania, and Black Klansman, he thinks you're the guy. And it just the fact that you look like the son of a gun. Yeah. So I was like, okay. And I, at the time I had a TV deal in place to do a mini series.

And so there, I was like, is the movie happening? Is this an offer? They're like, it's not an offer. It's a verbal offer. Clinton has to get the movie from Disney.

Cause Disney bought Fox and Clinton works at Warner brothers. So I'm like a couple of days go by and the people on the miniseries are like, are you doing this show? We got to close your deal. And I'm like, well, I can't do both because if Clinton happens. So I passed on the most money I've ever been offered in my entire life at the verbal offer from Clint's producer over the phone. And then three weeks later, I was on the Warner Brothers lot meeting Clint and he's like give it some time we're just figuring a few things out but it's it's gonna happen okay okay mr. Eastwood dude yeah I would have turned down a job just to meet you theoretically this is

cool regardless already paid off yeah man and was it daunting to like cuz I don't know how you commit you know how, how you stay in the, you know, what kind of work did you do to lock into that thing? It's your movie, dude. You're in every scene of the fucking movie. Yeah, it was terrifying, dude. It was like the whole time I'm like. And also, like, I just don't know how everyone feels when that happens. You know, they respect and

trust clint but there's no way i was here he works very quickly and he's not going to give you a lot of direction you know he that was a scary part too he was like you know everyone's like you're going to get one or two takes at most so my whole thing was just commitment of like there's a certain type of acting that i fight to do and i don't get i don't perfect it but i have done it a couple times really well and the type of acting is where you do things that you know are making you look funny or weird or ugly or strange or they're just they're things you wouldn't like people seeing you do you know yeah picking your nose is would be the the lazy version of that yeah so when i approach a character like sean eckhart or richard jewell

it's like i'm gonna do every take i'm gonna do the version that is so not self-aware that is just so ingrained in as much of what i deem to be reality as possible that um that i get a little lost and i might not remember what i did in the take, which happens to me all the time. Yeah. Where I'll do it, and Rockwell will be giggling, and he's like, I love that line you had. And I'm like, what? I don't know what I said. Yeah. Because you're just kind of in it.

And the way I grew up. There was improvising? A ton. Oh, really? A ton. There's stuff in the movie that we just made up in the moment. Oh, wow. But the way my siblings and I grew up is we did characters all the time with great commitment to make each other laugh. We'd impersonate our teachers and principals, even our parents, to each other in secret.

And it was all about the commitment and the idiosyncrasies, right? Right. So when I go to play a character in a drama, it's no different than me doing the SNL character I did in 2012 trying to make a tape. Well, it's interesting because... It's the same thing. Yeah, it's also interesting that I noticed that. Like in another movie, this guy would have been a comic character, but like in this movie, he's just sort of, like I said before,

he's the only guy that doesn't see himself in the way that everyone else does. Right. Because he's locked into it. But because I, Tonya, was shot with a comedy lens a bit, that everyone else does right and yeah because he's locked into it but but like because itania was shot with this with a comedy lens a bit certainly it was more intentionality yeah yeah and this is not this guy's not a comic character he's an empathetic character and he's like almost like annoying that you know the balance between you know being empathetic yeah and not you obviously it's historically been you know it's a it's of a fact that he didn't do it so you know that going

in but you're still engaged in this story and and you know and what would make him a suspect are the things where you what are the contextual you know clues and things that fucking you know like i i could get choked up thinking about you you know, that moment where you, I don't even want to, I'm not going to place it in the movie so people, I don't want to spoil anything. But when you're in that booth at that restaurant with Sam and you get that information, you know, how you played that, you know, with the emotions and the food and the, you know, I mean, dude, that was fucking crazy thanks man that means yeah that means the world to me i mean so much was being said there even even sam the way like he reacted to it when he comes over like it was so genuine you know that that character given you know how wrought he was and who he is inside and i could see that, you know, in order for you to do that, you would have had to have some distance from that part of yourself that lived in that.

Because that was something that, you know, seemed familiar to you. Yeah, I think it was, yeah, it's also... Around food and feelings and being hard on yourself. Yes, 100%. And I knew I wanted to cry while eating the donut because I've done some version of that in my life genuinely I also think you know

it's that feeling of am I really safe there's kind of that bit of him being like is this really real you know but you know it's uh I feel like that with this right now I got listen I was in London with my parents doing

this disney movie and i walk out of a movie theater i turn my phone on because i'm leaving the movie yeah and the first thing that pops up is an email from my publicist and they go you're booked for mark maron's wtf and um and i kind of read it and you know a microcosm of that scene i kind of laugh a little and kind of smirk. And then I look at it and it resonates with me that this is someone I pray for, who I'm a fan of. I watch his stuff and I've been listening to his show for forever. Yeah. And, oh, sorry.

And, you know, now I get to, you know, talk to him. It's, it's, it's just, it's one of those things where you can't believe how sort of in the moment for Richard Jewel, it's relief. For me, it's just like I already got the free car. Why is it a... I already got a free watch. Why is it a Rolex? You know what I mean?

I already got a free watch. Why is it a Rolex? You know what I mean? So getting to work with Clint Eastwood, getting to talk to you, getting to visit Saturday Night Live or something, these are the things that I have to take moments where I just kind of thank God and might have to walk out of the room

because it overwhelms me. Yeah, yeah, sure. Well, it's a very, if anything that you can get from a life of faith, the ability to experience gratitude is important. For sure, yeah. And it sounds like that's what you're doing. Yeah.

And I mean, if you have those that have like a weird intimate relationship with God where you kind of put a lot into it the way you would like a girlfriend or a boyfriend or husband or wife. God does things where there are things that align that are a little too like someone's writing your story. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that's happened to me a few times where I've just been overwhelmed by the culmination and the fact that I can map things that if I told you in length how they happened, they'd be hard to believe because they're a little too... Well, I think that your journey and sort of like your desire to... It sounds to me that despite whatever issues you've had with yourself and how you treat yourself that you know you've always treated other people with a certain amount of respect and

kindness and i think that goes a long way i try to man i try to yeah i just try i just try to remember that we're all man we're all broken and that's the other thing is i'm i'm i'm not gonna preach religion to people but I will give love and hopefully that has some impact on people compassion is tough dude it can be tough and you can't let the world harden you you know and especially if you know

if something happened where this all went away tomorrow you know like something happened I would then look at it from a perspective of you got to believe life goes on too you know like something happened I I would then look at it from a perspective of you got to believe life goes on too you know this is kind of this is all kind of fragile is what I'm trying to get at I guess is like I'm enjoying the moment it's meant a lot to me I'm trying not to cry when I do every interview so yeah but uh I had that problem too there was a it was a period there where like you

know when the podcast sort of put me on the map where I'd go speak at things and I couldn't, I was just crying. Tracy Letts said that he cries when he hears his own voice sometimes, like when he's speaking in public and stuff. Yeah. So, I mean, it's, I don't know. I guess at the end of the day, you know,

if the movie gets nominated for an award or it makes a lot of money or, you know, that's all well and good, but at the end of the day, moments like this, gets nominated for an award or it makes a lot of money or you know that's all all well and good but at the end of the day moments like this last night i was dancing with sam rockwell at his after party at the gotham awards oh nice those moments mean more than anything man yeah well that those like getting to dance with one of my heroes and be silly and have drinks with him and you know olivia wilde and those folks like that's those those memories mean mean a lot

to me that's great man and i'm certainly honored that you came and i and i if it was a great talk i didn't know what to expect and i'm glad that it meant so much to you because i think it was a great conversation that we're having and also i think this is just a beginning pal i really think that uh like i i think you did an oscarworthy performance. I think you really did something. It was really something else, that movie. Yeah, this is an honor. You and Colbert are like my Carson and Letterman men. Have you done Colbert? Those are the guys I want to do.

No, not yet. I'm sure I will someday. You're going to do it. You'll do it for this movie. Those are the guys that... You and Colbert are the guys that I'm like, ah, I could disagree with you, and I'd still be lapping it up.

So thank you for what you give to the world. So one down, buddy. One down, one to go. Hosting SNL is maybe the other one, if there was one. I wonder if that's... Someday. I think it's going to happen. Yeah, someday.

If it's the right... I think if there's enough steam behind something. I think they like to bring on... Maybe this movie, maybe the next one. Yeah, I think they like to bring on people when they next one? Yeah, I think they like to bring on people when they have a real steamy moment where there's a lot of hype, you know?

Yeah, yeah. So whatever that'll be, that might be the, the opening. Oh, that'd be great. Oh man,

Chris Farley was one of my heroes growing up. Yeah. So, so I would love to go on there and just bring some of that physical humor and just break through walls

and tables and stuff. I would go all out, man. Oh, I hope it happens, buddy. We'll see. Thanks.

God bless you, dude. Nice guy. Good story. And, uh, he prays for me, which I appreciate.

I actually do. Uh, the film Richard Jewell opens nationwide tomorrow, December 13th. And Paul's amazing in it, and the film is very good. I enjoyed it. Now, I will play the blues for you. so so Boomer lives! new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus

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