WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 1086 - Brad Pitt & Leonardo DiCaprio

Episode Date: January 6, 2020

During a victory lap for their movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio put movie stardom on hold for an hour to have a chat with Marc. They talk about their early days as ...show business outsiders, the moment they knew their lives would never be the same, the times they've known a movie they're in is going to tank, why they don't want to direct and why they love to produce. This episode is sponsored by SimpliSafe and Everything's Gonna Be Okay on Freeform. 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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Starting point is 00:00:29 It's hockey season and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goal tenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are Yes, we deliver those. Goal tenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are groceries, and we deliver those too.
Starting point is 00:00:48 Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. Lock the gates! all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fuck nicks what's happening it's 2020 my name is mark maron this is my podcast wt WTF. Welcome to it. It's the new year. This is really, I believe, probably the official first show of the new year in the sense that
Starting point is 00:01:30 we're all back from vacation, right? I mean, it got a little crazy, that vacation. It gets a little between Thanksgiving and like today. I don't even, it gets to a point where I don't even know what fucking day it is. I don't know what meals I've eaten. I'm not sure, you know, what I should be looking for on television. I don't know when it's time to wake up, when it's time to go to bed. It gets a little foggy. Not sure what I, yesterday I had no fucking idea. I had no idea, like on Saturday, I didn't know it was Saturday. What day is today? It's Monday, right? Fuck, man.
Starting point is 00:02:01 I'm not saying I'm happy vacation is over but i kind of am things get weird things get they slow down the garbage pickup gets weird i don't know i'm focusing on minutiae here but um yeah so here we are this is it back to work big show today i let's let's not go crazy all right let's not go crazy today i have uh leonardo dicaprio andrio and Brad Pitt on the show. I talked to them in a green room at the Arclight Theater in Hollywood, California. That was where it could go down. It's a package deal, Pitt and DiCaprio. We took the package off-site.
Starting point is 00:02:39 I had to go off-site with the equipment. I'll get into that in a minute. I have some emails here, and this is on the up note. This is the good stuff. There is hope. There is personal growth. There are leaves to be turned over. And I hope you're all heading into the new year with some, I don't know if I would say optimism, but with some clarity is nice. I got this email from somebody. Thanks for getting me into rehab. Mr. Marin, my name is Matt and I'm an addict with almost four months clean. I'm currently watching season four of Marin in a sober house in the suburbs of Kansas City. Not that I would
Starting point is 00:03:16 expect you to remember, but we actually met a few years back when you played the Midland Theater here. I was working at the grocery store across the street. We talked briefly before and then again after the show. I hadn't listened to the podcast in a while, but I happened to pick out the episode where you talked about getting 20 years and told your story. It's not like I checked myself in right then. I did carry your story around with me for a while after that, though. Your openness about working the program made it easier for me to buy in, and I haven't looked back since. So thank you. I hope this might make its way to you and that maybe I'll see you here again at some point. Matt, Matt, congratulations, man. Congratulations. That's a big deal. And I hear about this stuff a lot and I'm just so, I, yeah, there's so many
Starting point is 00:04:01 things that are out of our control. And if drinking is one of those things that's out of your control, and if I can be of any assistance in helping you, you know, even get a day reprieve off a problem, fucking drinking or weed or crank or dope or whatever it is. If I can help you get a day so you can get a little bit of clarity, I feel humbled and happy to do that. Now, I will not have watched the Golden Globes, so I can't comment on them. But I do know that the guys I'm about to talk to that you're going to hear me talk to are both nominated for them for Best Actor and Best best supporting actor i believe for once upon a time in hollywood now the way this unfolded folks uh you know we get pitched people we get opportunities we work with a uh booking agency and uh i've i've talked to brad pitt here and there he's a fan of mine i and i'm i'm flattered and honored uh you know because i have a great deal of respect for the for that dude's uh craft and his performances and his talent and it's nice when somebody that you respect uh likes your shit but you know he's sort of oddly uh a little obsessed
Starting point is 00:05:18 with my uh tv show with marin not with glow with marin from IFC, which is on Netflix here in America all four seasons, but it will be taken off Netflix in a few days, I think on the 12th or 13th. I don't know why, just the way life works. But the last time I saw him, he'd watched the entire series twice. So it's kind of exciting when I get to see him again and what he has to say when we meet at this time.
Starting point is 00:05:44 Now, I've never met Leonardo DiCaprio. I was excited. Now, here's the deal. I think this might be the last one I do like this because the anxiety level is high. And I know that some of you heard me make a big deal out of some of the problems I had with my equipment during the John Turturro episode, but you didn't really hear them because my producer, Brendan McDonald's a genius, but I do get a tremendous amount of anxiety and I'm already anxious going into these conversations, even though I've done a thousand plus of them, I never really know what's going to happen. And it causes me some anxiety. You know, I'm excited, but I don't really know. I would say 99.9, I would say 98% of the time heading into a talk, I'm anxious.
Starting point is 00:06:29 I'm nervous. I don't know, you know, what's going to happen. I have to, I meditate on how to approach it. You know, how am I going to, you know, what's the through line in my mind? You know, what can I lock into to start the conversation? I don't know these things and it doesn't and hasn't gotten any better after a thousand, however many episodes. So when I go out with the equipment and this is, I bring it, I usually have it with me, uh, in case I have to do intros or the ads from the road. And sometimes obviously you've heard me
Starting point is 00:07:01 do, um, you know, interviews on the road but you know i then that's one other level of anxiety is function you know working that equipment will the mics hold up will the wires work well will they can i get the levels right so i and i'm not a sound engineer so that causes another level of anxiety and okay i'll cop to it. There were a couple of issues. It's interesting. When they walk in, and you'll hear it, they're all jacked up because they just got done doing a panel in front of a bunch of people. And I know what that feels like.
Starting point is 00:07:35 I've been in the room that I recorded. I've been in the room three times for SAG panels for GLOW. I've been in that room waiting to go out and do one of these things but they walk in and they're kind of lit up and uh it's uh it's pretty you know it's pretty exciting man so all right so i'm sitting there and you hear commotion there's always commotion around uh big movie stars because there's a buzz and a hum. There's usually several people, maybe a dozen people, personal security, publicists, people who work at the place. There's just a, all of a sudden there's just sort of like, you feel the entire frequency
Starting point is 00:08:14 of the building changes. But here's the thing, you know, it's weird. It's weird that like, I've done so many of these things and I'm sitting in this room and people become people very quickly to me. And I think what's important to know about me and about this process is the one thing in this life that keeps me upbeat, engaged, hopeful, and interested is talking to people. It's talking to the people I talk to on this show and in my life. No matter what they do, that's not the thing. They're all people, but just doing it, no matter how much dread I have or how much anxiety I'm experiencing in any given moment, if I'm engaged in a conversation, it dissipates. I lose myself in the conversation conversation and I know there are people in my head but I gotta be honest with you folks I'm not you know I don't have anybody up on a pedestal
Starting point is 00:09:09 and I'm not a starstruck person but uh these guys are shiny fuckers they are shiny fuckers man that's a natural gift I mean granted I've grown up most of my life seeing Brad Pitt in movies and doing amazing work and the same with DiCaprio and I again I have a lot of respect for these guys but when they walk in I mean they they feel like movie stars and that's just that is a natural goddamn gift I I did the work in my brain to separate them from you like I just these are people and I'm going to separate them from their work I'm just going to they're going to be in front of me and they're going to be regular people but you know they're just fucking movie stars and they're both great actors and it
Starting point is 00:09:55 was very exciting amidst all the chaos in my brain there were moments where I just uh I I was just trying to be just trying to be normal folks just trying to be normal, folks. Just trying to be cool. The other tricky thing is that I had an hour. So I got to the Arclight an hour early to sit around, think, look at my four notes, think about the movies, think about where do I want to go, how is it going to work. And then I know I got an hour, and then you're out. An hour, and you're out. And then that know I got an hour and then you're out an hour and you're out. And then there, then that's it.
Starting point is 00:10:25 And then I'm sitting there alone with my recorder, wrapping up cords. That's the thing. That's the beautiful moment at the end of this that you don't get to see folks is that after all the excitement in hoopla and all of the, the entourages leave, the security people leave, the security people leave, the movie stars leave. It's just me in a room wrapping up cords, unplugging stuff and filling a bag up and walking out by myself to the parking lot, hoping that whatever is in the machine isn't fucked up. So there you go. That's the inside scoop.
Starting point is 00:11:06 Now let's go there to that room at the Arclight where I talked to Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. As I said before, they're both nominated for Golden Globes and SAG Awards for their roles in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And by the time this is airing, one or both of them may have won the Golden Globes, which were last night. They're both strong contenders for Oscar nominations as well.
Starting point is 00:11:30 And I got to sit there and panic in front of them. So enjoy. You can get anything you need with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get snowballs on Uber Eats. But meatballs and mozzarella balls. Yes, we can deliver that. Uber Eats. But meatballs and mozzarella balls, yes, we can deliver that. Uber Eats, get almost, almost anything.
Starting point is 00:11:48 Order now. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. Be honest. When was the last time you thought about your current business insurance policy? If your existing business insurance policy is renewing on autopilot each year without checking out Zensurance, you're probably spending more than you need. That's why you need to switch to low-cost coverage from Zensurance before your the heavy lifting to find a policy, covering only what you need,
Starting point is 00:12:12 and policies start at only $19 per month. So if your policy is renewing soon, go to Zensurance and fill out a quote. Zensurance, mind your business. business. Mr. Mark Maron. How are you, buddy? This is the coolest shit. Relax, fellas. Relax.
Starting point is 00:12:42 We're with the great Mark Maron. How are we going to... You're so nice about me. Dude, I'm a fan. He really is. I'm a fan. I remember him talking about you on the movie. You were going off about my show. I love this show.
Starting point is 00:12:57 Yeah, it's going to be... It's leaving Netflix. And where's it going? I don't know. I just know on January 12th... Just into the ethers? It's gone? It's over, yeah. I've seen it three 12th it's gone. It's over, yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:05 I've seen it three times, the entire series. It's my happy place. It is. To see you miserable makes me not feel so bad. That's what it's all about. I'm carrying the burden for others. You really are. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:13:19 But I just love how you, I think I told you this when I bumped into you, how you'll suffer some minor injustice in the world from another. Yeah. Have it out with them. Yeah. You suffer no fools. Yeah. And then you invite them back to listen to your new turntable or something.
Starting point is 00:13:35 Like, we're equal now. We're all humans again. Yeah, yeah. Well, I think that's an attempt, I don't know if you have that problem, where I'll act like an asshole and then uh and then you kind of claw your way back into someone's life and hopefully they'll forgive you for it see i thought you were justified yes yes i did i did i thought you were speaking for all of us and then you and then everything's okay everything's okay usually until it comes back later so what okay let me make sure i guess this is how we do it we speak into the mic like I guess is this is this
Starting point is 00:14:05 Curse in the correct distance. Yeah, I think I think this is good You never know who's gonna fuck up with a mic man. Some people can't do it. Oh Well, I'm I'm not comfortable with it. Are you yeah, I'm fine. I think we just hold it like a mic You look like a tort singer I'll tell you what comfortable there was a big problem with was a big problem with, and I'm not being mean, but John Turturro talks a lot with his hands, so there was a lot of this happening. Right, right.
Starting point is 00:14:31 He's Italian. Yeah, so if you listen to that one, you get a lot of back and forth. But when you have the comfort of the garage, aren't they sad? Aren't they hanging? Yeah, of course, man. They're on booms. It's when you're on mobile here. You guys couldn't make it out to the garage.
Starting point is 00:14:42 That anything could happen. Yeah. I know. It's a little sad. So here. You guys couldn't make it out to the garage. That anything could happen. Yeah. I know. I was a little sad. So what just went on in there? We did a little Q&A. Yeah, for the movie. For the old film.
Starting point is 00:14:53 And Quentin was in there? That's where they screen it. Quentin's in there. He's in there still, just talking to himself? It's great to do with Quentin. He does all the heavy lifting. He carries the load. He'll just keep going he will keep going so i guess what i i don't it's always hard to figure
Starting point is 00:15:11 out where to start when i'm talking to two dudes two guys but the last time i saw you as opposed to one dude oh okay you had two dudes you meant two women no no with two huge careers and i gotta like somehow wrangle it up here. But the last time I saw you was at that Art Basel thing, right? The art, the Paramount. No, yeah. I saw you at the flea thing. Yeah, it was at the art thing.
Starting point is 00:15:33 At the art thing, because my ex, my now ex, had an exhibit. Oh, it's your ex? She was so sweet. You were outside barking for her, bringing people in to see her art. I love her. I thought it was very sweet. I still have a lot of respect for her, and I love her, but I'm out. Okay, let me ask you this.
Starting point is 00:15:51 What did you think of her art? I liked it. I liked it a lot. Okay. Because there's something about abstraction that either it's going to work or it's not. I mean, you're an abstract guy, right? You like abstract art. I like a lot of art.
Starting point is 00:16:03 So does my man here. Well, that's what I was going to talk to you about because i met the first time i met you guys or what met you you were hanging out with thomas house ago that's right he's your buddy he's a giant sculptor that's right big sculpture that's the one so you do you you both collect art yes and your dad was like a comic guy yes right my last gasp was where well he was a comic guy. Yes. Up at Last Gasp? Well, he was a comic book distributor around Los Angeles, and he used to take me in his station wagon called the Pussmobile. Oh, dear. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:16:35 Why? It was a broken down, yellow, messed up station wagon. We used to go to Golden Apple and Heidi Ho. Basically, every weekend of my life was trucking around to comic book stores and head shops selling Duran Duran posters and the Freak, Fabulous Freak Brothers and Cherry Pop Tart and all these- Art Crumb stuff? All Art Crumbs.
Starting point is 00:16:58 My dad's actually friends with Art Crumb and Robert Williams. Right. I know. I interviewed Robert. Oh yeah. He's amazing. That's like one of his best friends. Really?
Starting point is 00:17:06 So he's kind of a Z-Lig of the counter-hippie culture. So I grew up going to the Doodah Parade, hanging out with all these underground artists. That was to make a little cash. You know what I mean? Because although my future college funds was a box of underground comic books, that didn't exactly pay the bills. But that was literally my college fund, like every number one comic book.
Starting point is 00:17:36 Underground comic book. None of the Marvel or DC stuff, which actually went up. Worth a lot of money. Only the original art, the crumb art, has really skyrocketedrocketed now do you have that stuff i do have a couple i picked up a couple luckily but the art stuff he's finally he is the the man from the underground art scene that has like hit the marketplace and actually become right you know and you know and robert williams is very bitter about it all about I collect Robert Williams, too. That man is a god to me.
Starting point is 00:18:08 He's great. He will hear nothing but wonderful things. No, no, I think he's great. But that's one of the weird chips on his shoulder is that, you know, he never got established art success. Well, he was with Tony Schiaffarazzi in New York for a while. That's right. I remember. It's the whole L.A. underground art scene.
Starting point is 00:18:22 Trying to make it to New York is a very tough transition. You know what I mean? Right. But that's also, it seems like those guys get stuck in that kind of like comic art, outsider art, graphic art trip. Whereas guys like House Ago, that's fine art shit, right? That's big time. Yeah, when it lands that way, sure. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:18:42 And do you have a couple of those huge pieces? I, in fact, indeed, I do. that way, sure. Yeah. And do you have a couple of those huge pieces? In fact, indeed, I do. And I like them. Well, what kind of art do you gravitate to the most, though? Ooh, I wouldn't know how to describe that. Yeah, I don't even say... Collection? I mean, even the word collection kind of bothers me.
Starting point is 00:19:00 Yeah. It makes me go... Yeah, right. Right, right. You're not buying it as an investment no no never um just certain things that that move me and i like to be around each day and might inspire my kids or something yeah i don't know some of thomas's stuff is can could scare them as well but yeah do you do it do you are you do you do sculptures anything? I have been on my own. Really? Yeah, just like, I mean, because what we do is such a collaborative sport.
Starting point is 00:19:28 Sure. I found that for the better, you know, for the worse sometimes, you know, I've seen performances improved, enhanced, like on this one. Yeah. Or I've seen them, you know, take a beating. Right. And to do something that just you and on your own and very solitary, I find very meditative.
Starting point is 00:19:45 Well, yeah, that's well, that's the weird thing. I mean, because you guys both see what you do as art, right? Yeah, I hope so. We're not quite allowed. I guess I guess we're allowed to say that. Well, certainly entertainers. But are we are we allowed to say I think we can say that that you're an artist. All right. Of course you can. Okay. But it's something you work towards, right? I mean, like, do you remember your first jobs? Of course.
Starting point is 00:20:10 Oh, God, yes. It was TV, right? Both of you. Both of us were television. I mean... Yeah. Did that help out in knowing this guy part, this part in this movie?
Starting point is 00:20:20 The whole TV world? I think for sure. I mean, I think the truth is what was so great about quentin's script was the sort of outsider approach that he took to the industry to guys that were certainly my character being on the brink of extinction right as the hippie cultural movement is coming into play and he's like a remnant of old hat Hollywood sort of cowboy television and he hasn't made that transition and as a byproduct you know Cliff my psychiatrist security guard houseman is suffering yeah the consequences you and of course Roman Polanski moves in next door
Starting point is 00:20:59 and that you know symbolizes everything that we aren't. Right, sure. And are trying to be. Right. Just that approach right away, I think, you know, we've been doing this for a long time. We've been very, you know, fortunate to be successful in what we do. But we remember those days. I remember looking up to all these actors that were doing it. Like who when you were coming? Like when you started out. What were your first TV gigs?
Starting point is 00:21:24 I can't remember. I did a year, one season of Parenthood, which was a spinoff of the movie Parenthood with Steve Martin, and I played Joaquin Phoenix's role in the television version of Parenthood. So I actually studied Joaquin Phoenix's performance in that to get my first job did you then i do that today exactly and then i did growing pains which he was i did a whole season of growing pains he was on a few episodes and then i guest starred on with growing pains with him growing pains i worked with hillary swank on my season but i never worked with you
Starting point is 00:22:03 and were you guys like at that point you obviously you wanted to be actors and you wanted to be movie actors but were you studying to be that were you doing actively working with people training other than other than um drama class at school no really no i was yeah i came out from the ozarks and i needed some i need a little bit of polishing. And so I finally got a – yeah, I can say Ozarks now because now there's a show. People have some idea of what that might be. But is that a great idea, that show? Yeah, it's not so far off.
Starting point is 00:22:38 They just left out the Bible Belt portion of it. Right. portion of right but the uh um and i got my i went on my first audition and uh i'm pretty excited about it's for a film and i came back and this this agent who was who was trying me trying me on as they did then i said how did i do and she said you ever thought about acting classes i'd been in them for six months you know know? Yeah. And who were you studying with? A guy named Roy London. He was fantastic. Oh, this guy.
Starting point is 00:23:08 He's not with us anymore. Yeah, he really set me in a great direction. A lot of people studied with that guy. Yeah, a few people. Huh. And you just studied in high school? Yeah, but then after a while, I started studying with Larry Moss, who's an amazing coach, too.
Starting point is 00:23:24 And that was was do you do you guys use guys now or do you you're done with it i talk to larry all the time you do i talk to leo and he talks to larry for me a few pointers like what kind of questions you ask him no he just pushes the they you need them they he kind of just drives me to make decisions. It's, you know, like I said, I only got into movies because, you know, I was really lucky that that television show had me locked in for the season. It was really the late great Alan Thicke and those producers that said, you know what? Let the kid off the last few episodes to go work with De Niro. And they didn't need to do that. Right.
Starting point is 00:24:02 off the last few episodes to go work with De Niro. And they didn't need to do that. Right. You know, I, and immediately I had like this elitist approach about movies. And then Alan was like, you know, we love you. I was like, oh my God. Yes, sir. He wrote him. I was like, I am so incredibly thankful that you let me have that opportunity.
Starting point is 00:24:20 And you did like, what'd you do? 21 Jump Street too? I did that too. Yeah. A very special episode dealing with suicide. Yes. I think it was even billed as a very special episode of 21 Jump Street. It was just one?
Starting point is 00:24:31 And maybe I had two lines. Uh-huh. And it was only one episode of that? Oh, me? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. A guest star.
Starting point is 00:24:38 And then I guest starred on like the last year of 30-something. I had one line. It was either yes or no. I can't remember. One word, actually. So you were really at it a while. What was your first movie? I did a movie in former Yugoslavia.
Starting point is 00:24:54 Oh, nice. Big budget film. Yeah. First time on a plane. Really? First passport. Got to go out of the country. Really? and you were
Starting point is 00:25:05 like how old i was 38 no i was like i was like i don't know early 20s first time on a plane yeah you drove out here you drove to la yeah oh yeah from oklahoma missouri missouri yeah that's where you're from yeah oklahoma via southern Missouri. And what, in a truck? No, a little Datsun. A little beat-up Datsun with the front. Like a V210? Close. No, a little better.
Starting point is 00:25:32 Don't tell me it was a Datsun 210. No, it was a 300SX at that point. But the bumper's hanging off, you know, and you're loaded up where you can just see forward. Yeah. And you just, like, you finished college out there? I didn't finish i did four years yeah i didn't didn't officially finish you just split you're gonna act done yeah
Starting point is 00:25:53 but when you're gonna go when you're growing up in missouri were you did you know you were gonna did you do acting there hell no there's no acting there wasn't then no what what was it what it was Springfield yeah yeah and you grew up it like literally in the Ozarks yeah are you folks still there yeah family brothers sister they'll live on the same street really yeah do you still go to the Ozarks for the summers do you go visit yeah oh that's good. Yeah. Do you bring all of your kids to the Ozarks? We would, yes. Oh, that's nice. But fortunately, California is more of a draw.
Starting point is 00:26:32 Oh, so they come. So they like to come here. That's all right. That's good. That's good. So you drove out here. Okay, so Yugoslavia. What was that?
Starting point is 00:26:41 What movie was that? It's called Dark Side of the Sun. About a kid with a skin disease who can't go out in the sun or something. Really? Yeah. And then decides, you know, living a week is worth living in the sun.
Starting point is 00:26:57 It's worth living, then not living at all in the, I don't know, something like that. So he goes out into the sun? Yeah, and he dies. And he dies. That's amazing. That's an amazing plot line. I remember Powder,
Starting point is 00:27:10 but this is totally... What about the one which... This would have been this D version of Powder. But wasn't Travolta in a bubble movie? Oh, yes, he was. Couldn't leave the bubble? Damn fine movie. Damn fine movie. And your first movie was Boy's Wife?
Starting point is 00:27:26 No, actually, no, no. It was my first. I did a small part in Critters 3. Yeah. Which we shot at a Smart and Final in Santa Monica. Move your hand up on that thing. So you're not holding the connection. Oh, I'm sorry.
Starting point is 00:27:42 Where's the buzz coming from, man? Where's the buzz? from man where's the buzz move your foot no you're on it there you go still a panic no no it's kind of gone good man was that awkward when i got all freaked out no not really there is i kind of expect you to get all they'll cut this out it'll be all great no i kind of expect you to get all We'll cut this out It'll be all great No I kind of expect you to get all Freaked out a little bit I'm like kind of waiting for it Yeah
Starting point is 00:28:09 Dude I just want to see you Lose your shit I was with fucking Totoro man And the hand thing was one thing And then I looked down And the fucking thing wasn't recording So he
Starting point is 00:28:20 He saw it We'd done like a half an hour man And I was like Oh fuck And Totoro's sitting there Watching me spin out So he saw it. We'd done like a half an hour, man. And I was like, oh, fuck. And Jotaro's sitting there watching me spin out. Like, I literally just wanted to quit. Like, I was done.
Starting point is 00:28:34 And he goes, how much did we lose? And I said, like, 25 minutes. He goes, I remember it. Oh, wow. Oh, that's awesome. It was like a script. Like, he literally recaptured the whole thing. Wow.
Starting point is 00:28:46 But that made me wonder. I can't go backwards. No, I don't know how. But I am here just to see you lose your shit. Well, maybe it'll happen. Okay. It almost happened before. Hey, hey, ooh, that mic's really hot.
Starting point is 00:28:59 Why is that mic different than the rest? Fucking fuck. This whole thing's going to be a disaster. It's digressing. That's what you've been waiting for. I'm going down fast, guys. It's not happening. Hello.
Starting point is 00:29:12 Check, check. This one sounds weird now. Wow. Hello. What's happening? I don't like it. Is there an actual home base that you're talking about? Oh, here we go. Here we go. Did that all work out for you? That talking about? Oh, here we go. Here we go.
Starting point is 00:29:26 Did that all work out for you? Yeah, I enjoyed that. Okay, I think we're good now. Jesus Christ. That was fucking terrible. It was fucking terrible. So what were we just talking about? Movies?
Starting point is 00:29:40 We were talking about our earliest movies. Yes. So I did a guest part on critters three oh yeah yeah yeah what was that critters what was that like critters three at a smart and final in santa monica and then i but i think my first role in an actual movie was sarah gilbert and drew barry moore and it was called Poison Ivy. And I had a whole monologue insulting Sarah Gilbert. Nice.
Starting point is 00:30:10 And I messed up my lines. I think I was 12 or 13 years old. Yeah. Screwed up my lines. Then they just said, all right, kid, just walk in and look at her and say, problems. And I said, just problems? And I walked in and I said, problems. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:30:22 That was my line. And then they cut that out of the movie. So I'm not in the movie at all. My first role, I'm actually not in at all. They completely edited me out. Now, like how much does the effect, because you guys both worked with Alejandro in- In Arrito. In Arrito.
Starting point is 00:30:37 You did Babel with him, right? And you did The Revenant. Now that guy seems to be, in terms of like, you both work with great directors, but in terms of being part of something Quentin, too. But in terms of being something that like if you look at the scripts and look at the vision of it as being like, holy fuck, this is a real piece of art with that guy, like rank up there with that. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Where you don't even know how it's all going to work out in the scope of it. Oh, there was no way to foresee what he was going to do out there.
Starting point is 00:31:07 I mean, the script was one thing, and it was kind of this linear story of a guy surviving out in the wilderness, you know, a great sort of revenge story. But, I mean, what he did cinematically with that movie just blows me away. And there was a point where he wanted to sort of continue that idea of a singular shot like he had done with Birdman throughout the course of that entire wilderness. Until we got to the point that we realized there are two characters that go in opposite directions.
Starting point is 00:31:42 Yeah, right. opposite directions yeah right and then he quickly sort of improvised with chivo the great cinematographer on trying to keep this linear sort of one shot snake idea but then cut back and forth but at one time he was like no no i'm gonna do one shot all the way through and then he realized there's thousands of miles between us and they'd have to do a puff of smoke and fly over here back and forth but what they did on that movie and in those conditions i don't know how they pulled it off it was incredible and and your thing with him that that scene on the bus where that bullet comes through like the window right isn't that that yeah that's right but when you read that script did you see how all those stories were going to fit together i mean
Starting point is 00:32:24 when you get a project like that, do you just trust the guy? Yeah, I mean, yeah, you trust him by his previous work. And also, there was something in the way it was constructed. It was the end scene for me that made me want to do it because only going through that whole journey that he realized how close he came to losing everything and right that's when you know the adrenaline's gone he could just and just break down from it all i was i was moved
Starting point is 00:32:51 by that but i didn't know the depths again it's what he was saying you don't know what he's got in his mind you just know it's yeah you really bank on he's reaching the filmmaker i mean because i mean after having read so many great screenplays that have been turned to dog shit in the wrong hands, you actually realize that the filmmaker is the one that elevates material and brings things to it that you could have never foreseen. You know, we're seeing it through their eyes. Do you have movies where either of you think, like, you don't know how it got away from whoever it got away from, but it wasn't you? Where you watch the final thing and you're like, what the fuck happened here? Yes.
Starting point is 00:33:32 It's that horrible feeling when you're screening with others and the lights come up and everyone looks at you to say something. And you know. You just know. You're like, oh, fuck. Oh, fuck. Do you remember any of the lines that anyone told you after well you know if they ever come up and they say I really like the music who did the music yeah did that that music was amazing then you know you know it's a dead giveaway I have a couple I went to a premiere I won't mention the name of the film but I just remember my friend looking at me and going,
Starting point is 00:34:07 not my cup of tea. Not my cup of tea. You don't know what it was about it? Was it his cup of tea? Everything about it. You know it's a turd, though. You feel it. You just feel it.
Starting point is 00:34:24 And it's the first time you see it. All the work, everything that went into it. And you know it's just feel it and it's not it's the first time you see it all the work everything that went into it and you know it's just a turd it smells so bad nothing's nothing's landing do you know it from like you know right when the promotion starts right when the posters it doesn't take long you just feel it when you're sitting in that you know in the cinema and you're going oh my god it's gonna be bad oh my god this is bad this is so bad you've been at it like 10 more years or so than him so you've got like a lot more movies i've been at it a little bit long but we kind of hit the same time i had i had further ground to make up to get to where leo started from i think but it doesn't seem like you guys have to do this where where you know you read
Starting point is 00:34:59 a script and you know like you know this is gonna stink but it's only four weeks and it's good it's gonna yeah it's gonna get me the right whatever you don't you don't have to do that no we've been pretty fortunate we're pretty fortunate now very lucky fellas had to do it before yeah but yeah yeah you felt that before i just flashed on when we did the first screening of Seven. Yeah. No, the premiere. We had the premiere of Seven. No one had seen it.
Starting point is 00:35:29 Yeah. And this is the serial killer. Yeah, I know. Great movie. Yeah, yeah. And the movie ended. Yeah. Was this in New York?
Starting point is 00:35:40 Yes, it was in New York. I think I was there. Were you there? I think I was there. Okay, if you remember, the movie ends, and they just flick on the lights. And I look at people, and they just kind of slowly get up from their seat, and no one's talking. And then they just kind of disappear from the screen. And I remember looking at Fincher going, oh, my God, what the fuck did we do?
Starting point is 00:36:02 What happened? What's going on? I thought this shit was great and i had a different memory of it i remember people liking it but yeah i guess that would be it's kind of now now as you're describing i remember that but that's i think that's what i talked to ed norton he sort of said that happened with with fight club too oh we had a great one we had the best we had the best screening ever we were we had it at Venice Film Festival and they do this midnight screening yeah for some reason or not we thought it'd be a good idea to
Starting point is 00:36:29 smoke a joint beforehand that's right yeah yeah and uh and we go in and you know they have this they put you up in a balcony you sit next to the the fest the guy who runs the festival right you know everyone's looking at you they clap you sit You sit down. It's very formal. Yeah. And then the movie starts. And the first joke comes up, and it's crickets. It's dead silence. And another joke, and it's just dead silent. Oh, no. And this thing is not translating.
Starting point is 00:37:01 You know, it's in subtitles. It is not translating at all. And the more that happened, the funnier it got to Edward and I. And we just started laughing. So we're the assholes in the back laughing at our own jokes. The only ones. And then at some point, it gets to the Helena Bonham Carter's line when she says, I haven't been fucked like that since grade school.
Starting point is 00:37:23 And I watched the festival guy who had been squirming yeah you know the whole 30 minutes yeah just get up and he leaves he doesn't say he doesn't say a word he just gets up and leaves which makes us laugh even more so that's beautiful we had a good time do you remember like the moment where you just sort of you realized your life was never going to be the same again? Oh, oh yeah. Yeah. It was a film called Titanic. That was it.
Starting point is 00:37:54 Yeah, that was it. That was it. And after that? I just remember, you know, I was off on location doing movies. Yeah. You know, right away. And then, you know know i was in my early 20s already and i was always i never bothered to look for a house so i stayed in my mom's guest
Starting point is 00:38:12 room into my early 20s and then and then the movie started to come out or the buzz of it or whatever and i just remember four suvs outside my house one day. Yeah. And I went to like the liquor store to get a soda and there were the SUVs and then they just kept following me. Yeah. Every day of my life. Right. And it was, I was like, okay, this, this life will no longer be the same. To this day. Probably more like Ford Explorers.
Starting point is 00:38:43 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. Blacked out windows. And that, that happens to this day. Probably more like Ford Explorers. Yeah. Yeah. Something like that. Blacked out windows. And that happens to this day? No, it doesn't. Not anymore. It doesn't?
Starting point is 00:38:52 No, no, no. It doesn't. Not as much anymore. No. No. Thank God. Did you do something? Usually there's like this time when you have a movie coming out or you're starting to do
Starting point is 00:39:02 promotion where they're sort of sort of on you a lot more yeah but you know i i get to i've been able to escape a lot more which is great and walk around and you do be outside and things like that you don't do you wear i'm a little disgruntled with you now that you're what you have them wait you have them waiting oh Oh, man. Really? Oh, man. Yeah. But maybe... What? I'm just like trash mag fodder. I'm like... I don't know.
Starting point is 00:39:33 My... Because of... I don't know. Because of my disaster of a personal life, probably. You had a very exciting personal life. But you've gotten into confrontation with him before? Oh yeah. And there's nothing you can fucking do about those guys.
Starting point is 00:39:49 There's nothing you can do about it. Like Lil' Kim said, the paparazzi's gonna get you one way or another. It's been my motto. I figure there's just nothing you can do about it. But you've never had to go out with a fake nose or anything? We've tried all that stuff. And it's all a failure.
Starting point is 00:40:06 They always find out. You do? Oh, yeah. Fake noses? No, I got some good getaways that I will not reveal here because they're still in play. In terms of just being able to disappear? Do you have a stunt double that you work with? No. None of that works. None of that works.
Starting point is 00:40:22 I've had so many people say, let me wear your hat. I'll jump out. It just doesn't work. None of that stuff no I've had so many people say let me wear your hat I'll jump out it just doesn't none of that stuff works no good no good I don't remember who I was talking to
Starting point is 00:40:30 maybe it was Galifianakis was telling me about Downey had a nose or something made and he there's the Mel Gibson brilliant mask that Kazu made him
Starting point is 00:40:38 yeah this brilliant rubber mask but then they photographed that too oh and then they put put him in the magazine with Mel Gibson with the fake. With the mask.
Starting point is 00:40:47 Yeah. And that ruins that? That ruins that? He got a lot of mileage off it, though. He did? For a few years, yeah. Oh, really? He did really well?
Starting point is 00:40:54 He did a lot among the people? Yeah, and it was just enough. It was real enough, but off enough to make someone just want to walk the other way. You know? There was something wrong. So he just looked a bit creepy. So it was like, that looks like Mel Gibson. Oh, it's not though.
Starting point is 00:41:09 What's wrong with that guy? Just make you step aside and not investigate. So with this, can I ask you, because I've seen the last two movies that you do. I watched Ad Astra. How'd you do with that one? I liked it because I didn't know. I'm not a space guy in general.
Starting point is 00:41:26 You know what I mean? I entered it cranky. Strange. Cranky. But then I realized... How was your movie? Well, I entered it cranky. Did it soften you in any way? Or just make you crankier?
Starting point is 00:41:41 No, no, because I thought like, well, this guy's really gone above and beyond to work out his dad's stuff yeah i just got to make a phone call or drive to new mexico this fucker went to outer space to get some closure like when i realized that was like just really a movie about like this guy i hope this guy works it out with his old man because life might be better. It was so clearly a movie about, I got to deal with my dad. It wasn't that space had nothing to do with anything.
Starting point is 00:42:16 He could have stayed home and done a year of therapy. Right, right. Or call him. That's fair. But there were problems. The one thing I never understood, what was his ship doing that was causing all the trouble? Did they even explain that?
Starting point is 00:42:29 I'm not going to explain it to you. Oh, you know, though. No, I can't explain it either. That sounds like Inception for me. What happened? I have no idea. Right? You don't, do you?
Starting point is 00:42:43 Sometimes you just, I mean, you're just focused on your character, man. Of course. You know? Of course. No, actually, I do get involved in that. But when it came to Chris Nolan and his mind and how that was all pieced together, everyone was trying to constantly put that puzzle together. Did anyone ever succeed?
Starting point is 00:42:59 I can't remember if it made sense ultimately. Did it? Yeah, it depends on the eye of the beholder, I guess. My producer has a weird question I i gotta ask you about this movie is that he's he's if for somebody and he told me this he said the only thing i'm hung up on man you gotta ask him he said he said he wanted me to ask you if your character actually got the part in uh the great escape and was fired no was that a fantasy that you were thinking no it was a fantasy it was uh it was well we actually had this whole section that actually quentin was
Starting point is 00:43:33 talking earlier about the fact that he had a four and a half hour cut yeah and the the the movie that you see i mean this is all from the mind of quentin tarantino and there's so many other sections that i think he had to take out to sort of drive this story along but there was this great moment with Al Pacino and I spent like three weeks with Al Pacino at Musso and Frank's one-on-one doing this sort of whole history of Rick Dalton's career what he has been through the state of the movie industry the state of our culture right this sort of i could have been somebody could have been a contender almost got you know the great escape but i was the third guy on the list had you know mcqueen dropped out and this and this i could have been that guy yeah so we kind of put it in to the timothy oliphant scene where we start talking about our careers and then there's this kind of flash right of Rick yeah as that as as McQueen and how Rick Dalton would have played
Starting point is 00:44:32 the McQueen but it wasn't an actual which was the star-breaking turn from and it's not right Leo describes as a moment it's like a 10-minute scene and it's fantastic I do hope it makes the because it's the bane of his existence. He's walking around and everyone knows him as the guy who almost got the Great Escape. And he gives this very sobering soliloquy on how it was never going to happen. And stop calling me that. No, when you entered working on this part, I mean, it's the actual heartbreak of show business is what you're playing, right?
Starting point is 00:45:09 Basically, yeah. And it's not something that you haven't seen before in other people. I mean, we're surrounded by it all the time. That's what Brad and I were just talking about in the Q&A just now is how, you know, although we've been incredibly fortunate and have had a you
Starting point is 00:45:26 know sort of long successful career we know this world we know i've grown up around actors that almost got this role or almost got that role we knew we knew the dynamic of of these relationships i mean i've had guys over the years that have been my psych like i said my psychiatrist my security guard you're on location in africa for eight months right they got your back the hard days they're there for you and they really do carry the load so even though quentin gave us this amazing manuscript on our history detailed from you know the figment of his own i mean right from his imagination. Yeah. We implicitly knew this dynamic in Hollywood and this sort of relationship that these two guys had.
Starting point is 00:46:09 And I think it was weirdly like the first day on set, we just kind of clicked. And I keep telling this story, but it's true. I remember we were driving onto the Lancer lot and Brad just improvised this line and and he goes you know hey realizing i have a hangover realizing i've gotten this bad news that my career is essentially over and he just goes hey you're rick fucking dalton and as soon as he said that i was like oh that's us man no matter what the hell's going down that's my number one fan right there you're
Starting point is 00:46:46 rick fucking dalton and i'm like yep you got it and i go and have a disastrous day on set regardless but that's true though because i even noticed that when i was a doorman at the comedy store is that there is this weird kind of people have satellite people that kind of walk around as the extension of their ego. There's an ego support system. And you see it all the time in this town. And then you have this, like, at the center is this completely delusional person. Completely delusional, yeah. That really thinks they're really doing amazing things.
Starting point is 00:47:22 Oh, shit. I was just calling it friendship. But you're so right friendship with a paycheck and like cliff says hey ain't got it so bad you know i gotta go fix her antenna today but you know he's he's not so bad huh rick i mean that was the thing that i had to like figure out about rick dalton yeah what uh god what not only what a pessimist but what a whiner he was and and and i think that quentin always had this thing that i didn't quite understand that he's really feeling sorry for himself you and he meets the girl the little girl who's like oh that was and there was another scene
Starting point is 00:47:57 that was cut out about hey you know yeah aren't we lucky to do what we do and rick just doesn't realize that he just realized he's all he obsessively thinks about is what could have been he could have been a contender he could have been this guy and the whole industry sucks and the world sucks and he's goddamn hippies yeah and when when you went into it how what were you thinking like who were you playing like did you know the guy well he he no i mean well you told me you got that line from somebody who said it to you. Oh, this guy. Yes, when I first started. This guy.
Starting point is 00:48:28 I had this guy. I was bitching and moaning like in the mid-90s. And I had this guy, total freeloader, you know. I would just always see him walking back and forth wearing my clothes, using my dryer, you know what I mean, and eating the food. But he was there for me, man. And one day he had said that to me i was i was bitching and moaning this is like mid 90s hey man don't forget your brat fucking pit and you know what it soothed me it soothed me
Starting point is 00:48:58 you gotta have those guys so no but there was just a there's just an ease to you know i i mean i'm certainly striving for you know an ease in in life and there was an ease to this this character yeah that you know just didn't didn't sweat the small shit well i think that it seems like uh like in both these these roles they were kind of uh like even in Ad Astra that you were able to kind of – there was a control to it that I had not seen before, that you'd seem like you were – this guy was sort of zen and the Ad Astra guy was just sort of repressed, but you were able to quiet down. Well, this one – yeah, this one was more –
Starting point is 00:49:39 I think Cliff was just a guy who accepted his cards and was all right with it. And it was going to be okay. Everything was okay. It wasn't really against me. The world isn't against me. Right, right. Even if I get shit on this day, I'll deal with it and I'll clean it up. And you can fight.
Starting point is 00:49:56 Andy, well, yes, yes. That's that. You can definitely handle yourself. So this is the first time you work with Quentin, though, right? No, second. What was the first one? Inglourious Basterds. Oh, that's right.
Starting point is 00:50:09 That was huge. Yeah, that was great. Oh, that's right. That was huge. Do your homework, don't you, Mark? I got a list here somewhere. Is it important? Yeah, you were great in that.
Starting point is 00:50:20 Oh, thanks. You're Brad fucking Pitt. Yes, thanks, man. Thanks, man. So you guys knew how he worked. Yeah. You were used to the process. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:50:29 Is he different than any other director? I mean, these guys, he's bigger. Oh, he's different. He's different. He's amazing. And does he let you riff a lot? Yes, yes. Yes and no.
Starting point is 00:50:39 I mean, there's certain dialogue sequences that he has sort of stuck in his mind. And he's a writer director right he's got yeah so he's got certain cadence and almost a way of saying the line that he has envisioned his head but then there's other times that were like in a lot of the um you know the the trailer stuff for example where he lets you riff he lets you improvise and a lot of stuff with Brad and myself, we just, we improvise a lot of that too. So it's both. Yeah, he's keeping a watchful eye on it. But his, I do, I've found that his stuff,
Starting point is 00:51:13 there's a very specific music to it. I only found that with the Coen brothers as well, that if you start- They're real tight with that shit, right? If you start, well, they're not militant about it. I'm just saying if the actor starts interjecting uhs and uhs and does and yeah right
Starting point is 00:51:25 clever little bits that he thinks is interesting yeah it usually it usually fucks up the rhythm the music to it yeah yeah yeah
Starting point is 00:51:32 on the other hand he'll throw out lines he's a writer so he'll throw out lines or give us room to play and you know honestly like with directors like him
Starting point is 00:51:41 and Scorsese when you get these guys that are true cinephiles, and I mean, world class, like put them on Jeopardy type of cinephiles. Sure, of course. Like name the editor of an obscure 32 French film,
Starting point is 00:51:55 not him, the one that got fired. They'll know that name. Right, yeah. And I think, you know, Marty's seen every film ever made up until 1980, but then Quentin's got this crazy catalog of not only music, but television and kung fu movies and B films and out of print stuff that, you know, these guys watched movies all day long.
Starting point is 00:52:18 Yeah. I mean, they are absolute experts at this subject matter. So for me, like when, for example, I knew this era of cinema, but I didn't know all the type of films that he was referring to, and I didn't know the cowboy television shows, Dead or Alive, and all these. I mean, I watched some of them, Gunsmoke, The Rifleman. We saw repeats.
Starting point is 00:52:39 I mean, you're at the same age as me. It was before my time, but I remember repeats. So I had to get acclimated to this era of cinema the era of television at that time guys that almost made it but didn't quite make the television to movie transition and so he gave me this long list of
Starting point is 00:52:56 actors to sort of navigate and there was this one guy Ralph Meeker that just like I cued into and I was like that's the guy. He's not as bad as the other guys. He's got some great stuff in him, but he just never got that shot. He never got the chance to show it.
Starting point is 00:53:15 And so that's who I cued into. And I just sort of obsessively watched his work. So the meltdown in the trailer, that was, you improvised that, I imagine, right? And then when you're playing that, was it in your mind mind were you just a boozer did you have deeper mental problems that what'd you put in place or do you even think about that well i i definitely knew that rick was a full-fledged alcoholic right that was kind of he wrote in the subtext of the script right and then i you know i added a bunch of stuff that had to do with a guy that was having a full
Starting point is 00:53:48 mental breakdown, I think. And what would come with that. He's dealing with his own mortality in a lot of ways. And what do you do to... This is just a dumb actor's question, I guess, for both of you. I try to act occasionally. What do you do in terms of putting...
Starting point is 00:54:04 What is wrong with this fucking... It's got to be a chord. Let's just start it again. Don't worry about it. God damn it. All right, so... Just got my admissions work. Thanks, man.
Starting point is 00:54:18 Thank you. God damn it. To stay in the fucking character, what do you put in place? How do you put it all in place? Are you fully formed in it? And then the cameras stop and you can have a donut. And then it's like you're ready to go.
Starting point is 00:54:35 And then you just remember the guy? You know, very selfishly, for me, I'm just obsessively thinking about what I'm doing all day long. And what was so amazing about getting to see like the final product is to you know brad and i met every couple weeks and we're like did a scene a random scene together and then maybe we'd have a week before you shot and then so he had this whole other dynamic and storyline that he was doing i had finished my lancer stuff right popped in and out but then this what was so cool was being able to see like the finished product and see what brad had created and not even realizing what he was doing when he was doing it with me this sort of you know almost like this
Starting point is 00:55:17 steve mcqueen zen i mean something that was so amazing that he pulled off and i didn't even i wasn't even aware of it i wasn't even aware of it. I wasn't, like, aware of it when we were doing our scenes. Well, you were supposed to be self-obsessed. So, you know, you're not meant to. So, you mean you had no idea what his whole other life looked like? But, I mean, we all went off and did our separate stories. And Margot, too.
Starting point is 00:55:38 And it was really fun to see it all, you know, come together. And how do you, like, how do you hold on to it? I don't, man. I'm not, you know, you hear those stories like, man, he couldn't let go of the character. You know, for three months
Starting point is 00:55:49 he was still like, you know, living under the bridge. Yeah, right. And eating. I'm, man, they say rap, I am done. But even in between scenes,
Starting point is 00:55:59 though, like you're not sitting in your character, so you just kind of like lock into a tone or an emotional... No, you do stay in the, you stay in the, you do stay in the mode into a tone or no you do you stay in them you
Starting point is 00:56:05 stay in the you do stay in the mode the tone yeah you stay from the beginning of shooting to the end you do stay in a um i don't know what to call it a padded cell yeah the mindset now i i want to talk to you both about uh producing before we run out of time because you're both doing things. But neither one of you want to direct, really? I have no desire. You? Not really. Huh. Why?
Starting point is 00:56:31 It's a time suck, man. Jesus Christ. Six months to a year. Two years at least. Two years just to start. And you're relying on so many variables. I mean, the planets really have to align. I'd rather do that, you know, spend the time in the studio or with friends.
Starting point is 00:56:49 Yeah. But on the other hand, I do think there's so many good people doing it right now. I really don't have anything to add. Huh. What about you? Yeah, maybe if there was a story that I felt like only I could tell. Yeah. But it's very interesting.
Starting point is 00:57:02 I felt like only I could tell. Yeah. But it's very interesting. Like, you know, you're talking about trying to create a performance. You're kind of selfishly just focused on you all day long and creating these moments with the other actors. Right. Just thinking about this story, I can't imagine what it would be like to be a director
Starting point is 00:57:21 who has a hundred different departments coming up to me every day saying what color should this be you know what kind of cuts do you like to like this one that one what shot like i would be like what leave me alone i have one i just want to have this to focus on right it's yeah it's a compartmentalization of the human mind and focus that I may be able to do at some point but for now I mean let the guys like Bradley Cooper do it because
Starting point is 00:57:53 he's doing a great job you guys are friends right yeah and that movie was something he really did something yeah he did it he's got it he's got the goods and good act. He did act in it. Well, that's the thing that killed me is at the end where you realize that he's actually doing a Sam Elliott impression.
Starting point is 00:58:11 That moment where you realize he did steal the guy's personality. I'm like, holy fuck. He put that whole thing into place. You didn't know why he was talking like that until he cops to it. And you're like, holy fuck. The whole accent was Sam Elliott the whole whole time he stole his whole personality anyways so you both seem to like produce different you know different you seem to take some real risks with artistic stuff you know in terms of the kind of movies you're getting behind and you have like a a kind of socio-political angle that
Starting point is 00:58:46 you're sociopathic political no i think it's great but i did want to ask you why did what how'd you get involved with that jane that jim jones documentary did you do that yeah we did that um we did that that was crazy yeah it was an insane insane story i mean like for some reason there's been a lot of documentaries that we've been gravitating towards. I mean, this really is the era of documentaries. Sure, yeah. And for the, you know,
Starting point is 00:59:11 I just did one with my father called Struggle, which he's in, which is about the whole underground art scene and this guru to sort of Crum and Robert Williams called Stanislav Zukalski and his whole crazy journey to california and la becoming this obscure it's kind of like a searching for sugarman but as a sculptor was this your dad's idea it's been my it's been my father and my idea for almost 20 years now and we pitched
Starting point is 00:59:38 it you know 15 times over the years but now in this era which is fantastic we're talking about the whole transition of of where our industry is going you know yeah i came into netflix and i'm like so there's this sculptor you know everything was bombed during world war ii his whole life's work disappeared and he ends up living in obscurity in the valley and then has a resurgence and it's his life story and ted's like great let's do it great i'm like what what just happened and they greenlit the thing yeah and so it's just been so exciting to be able to see all these you know really cool stories getting finance quite simply it's amazing years ago i mean because these things used to be have to go into theaters amongst hundreds of others, never get the play time.
Starting point is 01:00:27 Right. They have to win an Academy Award for you to see them. Right. They have to be world acclaimed. Now, you know, it's a draw to the consumer. And millions and millions of people watch these documentaries as opposed to having to go through the theatrical system. That's pretty fucking and they're immediately educational yeah and like you learned something but you did the 11th hour a long
Starting point is 01:00:50 time ago already that's true yeah but way more people would have seen it if it would have been on a streaming service much like before the flood that's the one where i kind of traveled around the world for three years to every location on earth for climate change i mean that you know that was in that that came in the modern are you going to be able to stop it what the climate change oh boy yeah yeah it's it's uh we're having a tough go of it right now pal tough go is anybody taking care of s clay wilson s clay wilson's amazing yeah i don't know the specifics of it but but you did but he's amazing. He is.
Starting point is 01:01:26 He is. Because he's had some trouble. Yes. He fell down. Yeah, I know. I know. Between S. Clay Wilson and climate change. I'm just concerned.
Starting point is 01:01:33 About S. Clay Wilson. Somebody take care of everybody. But you did. Oh, wait. You did Richard Jewell, too? Yes, we did Richard Jewell, yeah. Now, how does something like that happen? Clint is just sort of like, hey, you want to help me out with this?
Starting point is 01:01:45 No, no. The story, usually you get the rights to these stories, books, articles. Oh, so your company did that? You start working with producers. And then you hope for the right director that can get involved or the right actor to get involved to green light the project. And then it's a go from there. So you put that together. You were really part of it.
Starting point is 01:02:04 Your company was. I mean, very intricately. All the the financing i talked to how the line producing you know ad the lot guy it's really the great it's really getting access to the acquisition of right cool ideas that we get to be one of my favorite films of the year and one of my favorite performances of the year he's amazing he's amazing um Walter Houser yeah what a what a gem and then and Rockwell and Kathy Bates too yeah they were great it just you know some some pop and some yeah I'm later and it's like this one's getting a little love right yes I just think I think it's one of the greats of the year.
Starting point is 01:02:46 I adore this film. I adore these performances. Richard Jewell, oh my God. I can't disassociate him from Jewell. And that Clint is still doing it, man. Still doing it and doing it strong. Have you worked with him? I haven't.
Starting point is 01:03:02 I did. J. Edgar Hoover. He's amazing. He's amazing. He's amazing. Shoots quick, right? He does shoot quick. He does shoot quick. And he eats salmon and spinach at every meal, and he's just like a Superman.
Starting point is 01:03:17 Wow. Now, your production company, you did Moonlight, right? Yep. And you did Vice. Yep. And you did The Big Short and Selma, 12 Years a Slave. Amazing. Wow, that's a great...
Starting point is 01:03:29 A lot of Oscar winners, Oscar contenders. How do you decide? We follow filmmakers that we really respect. Yeah. And for a while there, before streaming, there was this period where big-budget tentpole films, action films were getting made and then films under 10 million if you wanted to do something risky and there was this whole
Starting point is 01:03:50 gap in between yeah and i found at that time in the early aughts that we were i mean we first got in just trying to help some of these you know these people we believed and get their film to the finish line right and it Because there was this empty space, these films that weren't getting made. Yeah. And that kind of, I think that really opened up with us. We've still yet to make a dime. Oh, really?
Starting point is 01:04:13 We're like, remember Walter Cronkite's CBS? They had to make 1% to keep the lights on. Right, yeah. In fact, news was much better then because of it. Yeah. Yeah, we're kind of like that. Seriously? Even with those big movies? Yeah. What does it take to, i don't know i don't know it just hasn't um not my
Starting point is 01:04:31 uh forte what do you got on the docket coming up a film called blonde yeah which is for netflix marilyn monroe andrew dominic um directed and the big series with um called underground braille world it's going to be cool yeah and uh you know so on and so forth and is that really and the big series called Underground Railroad that's going to be cool, and so on and so forth. And is that really, like, do you see both of you guys, I mean, obviously you're still vital actors, but do you see producing as a way to sort of like, well, I don't know. I like it because we get to still, you know, we're still,
Starting point is 01:05:00 we can be storytellers. We get to be a part of stories that we're not necessarily right for. Right, yeah, yeah, yeah. We can be in, but we get to put those out in the world. I'm sure Leo feels the same. I feel the same.
Starting point is 01:05:10 I feel pretty proud of the stuff that we get to put out that may not be there if we, you know, hadn't got behind it in some way. All right.
Starting point is 01:05:17 Or our team. Yeah, yeah. Us or our team. What are you guys working on? What am I doing now? Yeah, with production or acting? Acting, I'm doing a
Starting point is 01:05:27 film in supposed to be in march we'll see yeah uh called killers of the flower moon about the osage indian murders in oklahoma in the 20s it was j edgar hoover's one of his first cases and it had to do with these oil rights that the Osage were able to acquire and became the richest per capita people on earth and then were systematically murdered. So true story. All true. Yeah. Horrendous. Who's directing that?
Starting point is 01:05:57 Scorsese. Wow. And De Niro is going to be in it as well. That's everybody. Are you acting in something? Looking at doing something this summer with Chazelle on the silent movie era. Oh as well. That's everybody. Are you acting in something? Looking at doing something this summer with Chazelle on the silent movie era. Oh, cool.
Starting point is 01:06:09 Oh, wow. That's a great script. Yeah, it's cool. Great. What's it about? It's just the end of the silent movie era when talkies took over and it was the Wild West at that time
Starting point is 01:06:21 and people who were at the top of that industry were suddenly just put aside. They didn't play anymore. Yeah, I know. Sunset Boulevard, right? Yeah. Thanks, fellas. Thank you.
Starting point is 01:06:34 Thank you, man. That was fun. I'm glad I was able to freak out for you a little bit. I hope the sound remains intact. I have no idea what's going to happen. I'm shutting it off right now. Okay. There you go.
Starting point is 01:06:49 Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, with a nice little shout-out to S. Clay Wilson at the end. He doesn't get many of those, and I don't think he's conscious enough to hear it, even if he could. But it just popped into my head because Leonardo's pop is an underground comic guy. Anyway, we'll see how they both did at the Golden Globes. That's going to be information that you've gotten that I haven't gotten as of this recording. Obviously, they're both in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And you should see it if you haven't. It's really a great movie.
Starting point is 01:07:18 And now I'll play some garage-y, surf-y thing i think Thank you. Boomer lives. 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.
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