WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 504 - Giovanni Ribisi

Episode Date: June 8, 2014

Actor Giovanni Ribisi takes a break from his press tour for "A Million Ways To Die In The West" to sit down with Marc and talk about child acting, The Method, Steven Spielberg, boot camp, Scientology, psychiatry and more. 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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Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley Construction.

Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5 p.m. in Rock City at torontorock.com. Lock the gate! This is WTF. Welcome to my show. Thank you for listening. If you're new here, feel free to pick up the free app and upgrade to premium, and there's about 450-some-odd shows you can stream into your brains. You can do that at WTFpod.com. The show's doing well. I'm so glad IFC's happy with the show. Whoa, something just fell off the wall. What the fuck?

What is that? See, now, what is that, see now, this is how I know, I'm perhaps not in a great mental space, and again, not complaining, but something just fell off the wall, it was the,

it was an animation cell of me on Dr. Katz, just out of nowhere, fell off the wall, why that happened right then, what does it mean, that my animated self, has fallen off the wall, during a monologue

where i was about to talk about not feeling great does that is that some sort of sign maybe what it's saying is to drop the pretense if there is any left get past it marin get past whatever this facade of what you think is the appealing part of you get let's go deeper if that's possible perhaps that's what it's saying or else it just fell off the wall i can put it up i can put it back later today on the show uh giovanni rabisi is on the show he's in that movie a million ways to die in the west and i got to talk to him for an hour i like the way that guy acts he's a great actor i was nervous about talking to him sometimes actors you don't know what's going to happen got nothing against actors

but you don't know but he seems to have a life i don't know i think he's a great actor so he'll be here in a minute but let's get let's get down to brass tacks since the animated me has fallen off the wall okay okay so here's what i need to know. I guess. I think I need to buy some shit. All right. Look, I'm not a millionaire. I'm not necessarily wealthy. I save money. I don't buy much, but I think maybe it's time to buy things. I almost went and bought a new car. Do I need a new car? No. Does anyone need a new car? Not usually, but maybe that would make me happy. But am I that guy? See, that's the problem. I'm the kind of guy, I feel happiest knowing that I have money that I'm not spending.

I think you call that a Jew. No, that's hacky. I'm the kind of guy that just, I'd rather just know I have money, so if I run out of money, I'll have money. Does that make sense? So maybe it's harder to run out of money. But now I'm thinking like, fuck it, man.

Okay, I'll tell you what I did. I got a little extravagant. I got a little extravagant and it made my life better i'm gonna be honest with you okay and i don't want you to judge me but uh i went to ikea and i bought um two sets of curtains for my bedroom two sets of curtains for my bedroom and a new shower curtain yeah i went crazy and do you know how fucking easy it was you guys knew about those curtains in my bedroom lafonda had shred them they were sad they were faded they were they were from when my my wife lived with me and it was just depressing

it looked like it looked like in an immobile old lady's home where you walk in and you're like, Grandma, someone's got to change Grandma's curtains. So I did that, and they're beautiful. And then I changed the shower curtain again. That had been there since my wife lived here. And I'm not the kind of guy that thinks that I'm holding on to stuff from that time or lending it any significance, but I'm starting to think that that's maybe what's been holding me back. Maybe

that's part of my problem. Maybe there's still some part of my heart that's hung up on that woman, so I changed the curtains. I was just laying in bed thinking like, oh my God, I love my curtains so much, and you know how much those curtains cost me? For the two sets of them, $20. Shower curtain was like $14. And it changed my fucking life. Now this isn't a commercial for Ikea. This is a commercial for maybe,

maybe sometimes it's nice to buy you something nice. And that wasn't even that nice. But now I'm like, I'm going to buy a car. Can't buy that at Ikea. They don't make any, you could assemble your car, those little wrenches. I bought a car at Ikea just sitting in your driveway, frustrated with directions and an Allen wrench.

There's something wrong with the carburetor. It's not running. Does that door, I think I put that door on the wrong side. Wait a minute. This is supposed to be the front of the car. God damn Ikea cars i don't know where uh deaf black cat is i'm not gonna call it i'm not gonna call it a a life on deaf black cat but i haven't seen him in about a week and it's that upsets me because he's my fucking spirit animal what the fuck do you do when your spirit animal splits i can't just get a new spirit animal i'm not that you know

i'm very monogamous when it comes to spirit animals i don't know how many more tickets are still available for the june 14th first annual 26th annual onion av club comedy festival in chicago but i'll be there i'm sure there are tickets left for the lawrence art center in lawrence kansas tuesday june 24th wednesday june 25th i'll be at the firebird sure there are tickets left for the Lawrence Arts Center in Lawrence, Kansas, Tuesday, June 24th. Wednesday, June 25th, I'll be at the Firebird in St. Louis. Thursday through Saturday, 26th through 28th, I'll be at the Comedy Attic in Bloomington. That's Indiana. On Friday, August 1st, I'll be at the Austin 360 Amphitheater with the Oddball Festival.

On Saturday, August 2nd, I'll be at the Jexa Energy Pavilion in Dallas with the Oddball Festival. august 2nd i'll be at the jexa energy pavilion in dallas with the oddball festival on sunday august 3rd i'll be at the cynthia woods mitchell pavilion in houston texas for the oddball festival on friday august 6th i'll be in mid florida credit union amphitheater in tampa i've been back to tampa lately last night i snapped on stage have not done that in a while. Snapped on stage. Full on. Full on. I've been doing sets at the Comedy Store. I did three sets there on Friday. Beautiful.

Had a great time. Last night, I was in the main room. Beautiful set. Then I go in the OR. I'm second up. Audience is still pretty fresh. They're just in. First guy goes up.

He does pretty good. But I get up there and there's some fucking chatter going on. Stage left. And I see it's some big doofus motherfucker and his dumb drunk wife. And another couple. I feel it immediately, man. I know what's going on. This guy doesn't give a fuck.

He's still settling in, kind of. But he's been there the whole time. They're not really paying attention to the show. They probably went out to dinner. They're a little drunky they're talking too loud i go can we stop that can we stop please uh and then i i keep talking and it's like only half a room at this point so it's distracting they keep talking real i'm like really shut the fuck up i don't want to lose my mind do you want to stay in this room like i'm not even going to indulge this shit and this guy goes uh he made some dumb joke that no one laughed at something about an inflatable girlfriend i don't fucking know and i'm like are you going to shut your fucking mouth or are you going to have to leave what's going to happen here because the beginning of the show and there's no worse a heckler than

some big dumb motherfucker that thinks he's funny and thinks that he has a right, that he's entitled to talk and fuck the show up. I was livid and I just unleashed. And I was being quite nice at the beginning of the set. And then it was sort of like, okay, now you see it. You just saw the monster. How's everybody doing? Everybody okay? How's that for you?

But they were on my team. They were on my side. And somehow or another, I pulled it back around. But it always sort of concerns me in that moment when that type of rage comes out so quickly. I just can't stand the lack of respect for stand-up sometimes. And I felt kind of bad because you feel kind of shaky after that. You feel sort of like you just did something wrong. But it felt so right the other comics seem to be happy it's all you don't see as much snapping as you used to because

there's a job security issue at a certain level you know people want to snap but you can't snap because you don't want people you know the club owners or whoever to go i don't know if you're going to come back because that was a little bit much, but I don't give a fuck. So I'd like to think I schooled that guy. But knowing that guy, whoever that guy is who engages people like that, he was just thrilled to have the attention no matter how it came at him. Fuck that. Let's talk to Giovanni Ribisi. And he's he's in that movie A Million Ways to Die in the West, which I'm yet to see.

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region. See app for details. It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5pm start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley Construction. Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5 p.m. in Rock City at torontorock.com. I could open up my shirt. Holy shit.

Iggy Pop did it shirtless. So that precedent has been set. Oh, good. Shirtless podcasting has happened. I have broadcasted from this chair naked before. That's happened. So there's... By yourself or were there... No, just by myself.

I've not crossed that line of actual nude podcasting. Giovanni Ribisi. No. Yes. I'm changing it. How can you change that amazing name? Giovanna Ribisi. How do you pronounce it?

Do you pronounce it with an Italian flair? I mean, I guess so. It's in between an English and an Italian dialect, I guess. Do you have? Giovanni. Giovanni. Giovanni. Like you say Joe and then Vanny.

Yeah. Does anyone say it like that? People say Vanny. Yeah. In your family, though, do you have Italian family members? Yeah. My father, he's Italian, Sicilian. Really?

Well, I mean, he's not from Sicily. My great-grandfather moved over to, it's not really interesting. It is. It's all this show's about. They moved over from Sicily, just outside of Palermo, over to San Jose. He didn't go through New York. No. He ended up up he just went to san jose california yeah farmers you know they come from sicilian farmers uh-huh i think he wanted to get away from certain things out there in sicily yeah i found and i had i actually don't know if i can if i would actually get into trouble

for even i don't know you know well mean, I found out that I actually have family that are in, you know, they're in jail and they were, you know. Mafia related? Yeah, you would expect. In Sicily. You've seen the movies. Sure. Like the real, the original mob, the black hand.

Yeah, but we're four generations away from that. So it's got to be okay. Yeah, it's okay. We'll see. It's bragging rights. Well, not really, but how do you brag? No, that's terrible. I mean, cinematically, it's okay. We'll see. It's bragging rights. Not really, but how do you brag? No, that's terrible. I mean, cinematically, it's bragging rights.

Sure. It seems like an interesting backstory. Sort of. It seems like the possibility for, you can manufacture an entire mythology for yourself. Yeah, exactly. I have, believe me, several times every day. Every morning, I wake up and, what am I? Who am I today?

Well, you do that, though, that though man i mean you get into some parts all right that's my job i forgot about that that is my job i feel like that's that's one of those things you wake up every day and you kind of realize oh my god that's what i do and that's a different facet of that and not only have you been doing it not only do you do it but you've been doing it like your whole fucking life yeah well well Well, you know, I mean, how do you avoid that? How do you avoid that when you're growing, you know, you're a young kid in the 70s with Star Wars and all that. How old are you?

I'll be 40 this year. 4-0. Just 40. I just, I turned 50 this year. Wow. You look like a good 50. Thank you very much. That's a strong 50.

I appreciate that. I don't know how that's possible. Yeah. I don't know. I don't have children know how that's possible. Yeah, I don't know. I don't have children. Maybe that's it. No, I don't know. I have a daughter. I have a beautiful daughter.

She's 17 years old in August. 17 years old? Yeah. So you had her when you were 23? 22, yeah. Really? 22, yeah. Was that on purpose?

Well, I mean, ultimately, of course. You go to the hospital and you're doing it with the intention. You know it's going to happen. You know it's going to happen. Yeah, exactly. But, yeah, she's just an incredible person. Yeah? Yeah.

Turned out okay? Turned out okay. Smart as a whip. Kick my ass. Are you still with her mom or is that behind you? No, no, no. No, no, no. No, kick my ass and everything. Are you still with her mom or is that behind you? No, no, no. No, no, no.

No, but we're good friends, you know. Oh, really? Yeah, I mean, you really don't have a choice in that situation. That's true. You have a kid. It's about the kid

and it's not about selfish, you know, whatever. Right, you have to figure out a way. Yeah. You have to figure out a way to be pleasant. Man, that's a country record right there.

You gotta figure out a way to be pleasant man that's a country record right there you got to figure out a way to love you oh damn it so you so your whole life was here yeah born and raised in los angeles i was born and raised i don't know if i know that many people that have that yeah i don't know i it's it's becoming more and more predominant i guess but um it's true there's a lot of uh uh uh people so it is this melting pot you know a lot of people and that's good i mean that's i guess the one cultural uh flag that we were pennant that we can wave around a little bit sort of not really i mean i guess new york is is a similar situation well new york seems to have like you know like born in new york it means something like yeah you're a new yorker born in la it's like who the fuck is born in la meaningless it's a ghost town if you're born in la and you

live in la you're a ghost you know what why do you live here why do you live what are you are you from here no i grew up in new mexico originally from jersey yeah and then uh but i lived in new york for years i had enough of it and i came out here because show business was out here and then they wouldn't have me so uh eventually i moved into my garage this is where i live now holly park this is this is the universe this is how it worked out for me neighborhood i have i have a lot of friends that are that are living out here moving out here what part of town did you grow up in i was born and raised in north hollywood i mean i was born in hollywood raised in north hollywood right and then i and and you know i was a different north hollywood when i was younger like 40 know, just running from gangbangers and things like that in the street. Really? Yeah,

sort of. I mean, you know, I don't know. And then there's, now there's no ho, you know, which is, it's a real estate term for like, we can make it more expensive here. Yeah, exactly. I'm not sure where North Hollywood is. So just over the hill on the other side, it's like just at the edge of the valley, right off the one. So you're 170. Yeah. You get off at Burbank Boulevard or Magnolia. Okay. Yeah.

And then you go deeper, Oxnard, Van Nuys and all that. That was a dicey neighborhood? Used to be. Yeah. I mean, yeah. It used to be. There was FFF, Fight for Freedom. That was the gang.

And break dancing was big. I was a little nine-year-old breaker. Yeah, you had your cardboard box. And my cardboard, my jumpsuit. I remember these guys, they came up to me. I was walking. My mother had gotten me for Christmas or my birthday. They're really close to each other, a breaking outfit.

And I think it was literally breaking. The movie came out, and so it was gray and light blue. Then I was walking down to the 7-Eleven, and these guys walked up to me and said, hey, are you a breaker? Yeah. And I was like, um, no, yeah, no, yeah. And they said, hey, break for me.

And it was literally like that scene in Fame when she's taking her shirt off, crying in the audition scene. I was like break dancing. You had no choice. I was break dancing, crying in front of these guys. And I did kind of the wave with my arms. And I pointed at one of them. They laughed. And then I kept walking.

And then they threw their peach at me. Oh, they were assholes after all. And they hit me. And they ruined my breaking outfit I kept walking, and then they threw their peach at me. Oh, they were assholes after a while. And they hit me, and they ruined my breaking outfit last time I wore it. Then my mother got me another outfit. My mother in her outfit, she got me a sleeveless, what's it called? Tank top? Tank top, no, sweatshirt. Okay.

And it was gray, sort of like tie-dye looking gray, and it said, just go for it, slanted cursive with an exclamation point at the end. What was your mom trying to do to you?

I don't know, man. What happened in that? I almost got beat up. I really almost got beat up for it. For what? For just go for it. For being a, for what?

Did someone say you? The bully. Yeah. You're a pussy. Yeah, exactly. What are you, a pussy? And I was like, no. And then fame again all over, taking the shirt off.

Over and over again. Those were the tough knocks. Yeah, exactly. But when you were growing up, I mean, was your, your dad was in show business? Mm-hmm. He was, my dad is a musician and that's where I learned how to, you know, we would have the Bama Jamas out in the backyard and all that. Oh, yeah? What's he play?

Well, not really in the backyard. But that's what they do in Alabama. Sure. He plays everything. He was in one of those one-hit wonder bands called People out of the Bay Area. Oh, really? They had a song called I Love You. It was a zombie's B-side

and they, you know, they did that and he's an amazing musician. He's really an erudite with that. Like a psychedelic hit though? Was it like a pop psychedelic thing?

Yeah, it was kind of like that 1968 Right, right. One Hit Wonder song, you know, and And the zombies covered it? No, the zombies, they covered it.

It was a zombie song and they covered it. Yeah. And, you know, so I grew up, you know, he brought home a Dan Electro, I think when I was four years old or something like that. And then, you know, just music was all over. It was all over the house. And, yeah, he was in show business, you know, just music was all over. It was all over the house. And, yeah, he was in show business, you know. But, you know, Bay Area.

L.A. was plastic land. Oh, really? So, like, wait. But he lived down here, so he'd go up to San Francisco? No, no, no. I mean, he lived. He was from, you know, the Sicilians came over. San Jose.

Yeah, San Jose, Bay Area. So he was there during the the the beautiful 60s yeah the mind-blowing time yeah exactly but what did he do like production or he played studio musician he was he was the keyboardist in the band and so he stayed in the band for a while oh yeah he was yeah he was in the band they lasted a while oh yeah they played with that i think they played they played with everybody they played with everybody. They played with Janis Joplin. You know, he has all these stories about seeing Jimi Hendrix. Wow. And, yeah, I mean, he's just incredible.

He's still around, though? My dad, yeah, yeah, yeah. He still plays? We're really good friends. We see each other every day. Oh, yeah? Yeah, sometimes. He's more into electronic stuff now, you know, like things that you can do on your iPad.

And your parents are still together? No, they're not together. Oh, yeah. No, that's the thing, man. You don't stay married. It's hard, right? No, I mean, it's not like a thing that you try to do anymore. It's just like you get divorced.

Have you been divorced? I've been divorced. Yeah, yeah. I didn't know if you guys were married. Oh, yeah, yeah. So, yeah, yeah, divorced. I've been divorced twice, and I have no kids. It's the thing, man.

It's sad, though. It's what you do. It is sad. It's horrible. Horrible? It's horrible. though. It's what you do. It is sad. It's horrible. Horrible. It's horrible. So you married a second time? Oh, yeah.

Uh-huh. How long have you been married this time? I love my wife. I love my wife. Good. Two years. Yeah. Two years.

So that's good. You should be happy. Yeah. Yeah. If there's problems at two, it's not good. Yeah, right. But you waited a while. Yeah, I did.

Yeah, right. But you waited a while. Yeah, I did. Yeah, I did. I mean, I was never someone who was, you know, extremely, I don't know, I think I'm a relationship guy. Yeah, me too. I'm a relationship guy. It's nice to have somebody there to absorb whatever you're putting out for better or for worse. Yeah, exactly. Said in the most selfish way yeah absorb me yeah yeah please please absorb me i'm overflowing i need you need someone to absorb me i need some help here so when

when did you start uh what was the acting thing clearly your mother was supporting your your need to be uh theatrical yeah well no i mean she wasn't she you know i was four years old and i and i and i was like i was i was into uh you know i was it was the 70s and i was um living in los angeles and it was you know it was possible it was everywhere you know you can't go anywhere here without you know bumping it you're being industry town yeah um and uh and then, a friend of ours down the street got an agent three doors down, of course, you know, and if you would have looked the other way,

the person three doors down would have had an agent as well. And so, you know, that was my, after five years, you know, that was my thing where I was like, come on, they're doing it. And she really, she was really great where I was like, come on, they're doing it. And she was really great. She was really supportive and kind of incredible in that way. And it was on and off. And you're forced this sort of premature maturation of being in a professional world.

When did you first start working? I was nine or 10 years old, nine or 10 years old. I did a Unical. It was right when Union 76 turned into Unical and now they're just 76. And I did a Unical 76 commercial. That was your first gig. Yeah, that was my first.

And you were 10. Kids, you know, I don't know what it's like now, but, you know, it's not, there's not, there's less child actors. Right actors just because of what it is. And so we would have literally five auditions a day all over the city. Culver City, go back to Studio City. When you were 10. Yeah.

And my mother drove me around for all of that. She drove me around. I mean, we would get home at 8 o'clock at night. And it was something that I was driving her. I was definitely wanting to do it. Right. And you have brothers and sisters? I have a twin sister.

Right, that's twins. Right, right, right. And then I have a younger sister. Okay. Yeah. And you were the only actor at that time? And then I have a younger sister. Okay.

Yeah. And you were the only actor at that time? Yeah. And then, of course, it sort of seeped its way over to the other members of my family and my other siblings. And my sister, she was in a movie when we were 16. She was in a movie called Dazed and Confused. Yeah, I love that movie. Yeah, she's the redhead.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. What is that? He said, hey you need a you need a ride and she says no i got one she's in her car yeah yeah um and then um my younger sister is um just uh uh really like almost savantish savantish with uh with accents and and and dialects and voices so she was doing um voiceover for a while so when when do you first start doing legitimate you did a commercial and then like it picks up you just start doing everything yeah i remember i would the my first sort of thing was this tv show called the new leave it to beaver's not. So you did a couple of bit parts,

but this was the big payoff. It's not a porno. Yeah. It was a cable TV show. When cable was like, you know. Yeah. So they were doing this cable TV show, and I remember we had six auditions,

and it came down to me and this one other kid. Yeah. And then we were both sitting there in the audition all day going in and out and then we would go in and i would read well i would go in i would read then he would go in and he would read and right and that happened six times in and of itself and then and then came home and and playing out on the lawn and i remember you know my mother walking out and saying you didn't get the part you didn't get the part and i was it was awful and she was the one that would break the news to you every time yeah i mean she was just really

honest you know it was just it was a thing and you know it was it was it was in retrospect it was it was a good thing it was it was a life lesson it was not this sort of thing that we have in in our modern day youth culture of entitlement and all that. It was just kind of like, whoosh, that's what life is. You didn't get it, kid. Yeah. Suck it up. Yeah, but then they gave me the part of the friend on it.

And so that was the thing. Was that Eddie Haskell? Yeah, it was a similar character to the Eddie Haskell guy. And I didn't do it good. I didn't even know, well, who the fuck is Eddie Haskell, right? Who knows? I don't even know. I just don't.

He was a nice guy, though. The actual guy, Eddie Haskell, was on the show, and he was a really good guy. As an adult. Sweetheart, yeah. Yeah. And Jerry Mathers and everybody.

Right, right, right. And, you know, I don't know. It was just, you know, we shot at Universal Studios. Exciting. It was like a whole thing. Yeah. And I remember going from that into other television shows,

and then puberty struck, and I was just like, fuck this. I don't, you know, tie-dye jeans and the whole thing. I was really into music at the time, and I didn't want to do it anymore. You didn't want to do TV? No, I didn't want, you it anymore you didn't want to do uh tv tv no i didn't want you know i had done with acting i had a friend i had a friend who turned to me and i looked up to this guy he was like the cool guy yeah and i looked up to him and we he came down to visit me on a tv show that i did was doing called my two dads and he said uh you hate this, don't you? And I was like, I guess I do. I guess I do.

Yes, I hate this. And that sort of tripped me into this thing. And then finally, I don't know, am I boring you? I don't know. No, I love it. No, well, and then finally, there was another friend of mine two years later who told me about an actor by the name of Marlon Brando.

Sure. And you're like, what, 14, 13? 16. You're 16. And you had no. Yeah. And I saw Streetcar Named Desire and The Fugitive Kind, this great movie with Anna Magnani and Joanne Woodward and Marlon Brando. And it really just changed me. this great movie with Anna Magnani and Joanne Woodward and Marlon Brando.

And it really just changed me. And I started studying acting. And then I fell in love with acting, but really movies, you know, in a way that was different from just wanting, you know, the L.A. thing. So previous to that, so you do, this happens in the middle of shooting My Two Dads. We were done with My Two Dads, yeah. So you did like 30 episodes of My Two Dads. I guess so, yeah. And then this guy, you've hit the wall as a 16-year-old child actor.

Yeah, trying to grow my hair out. You know, heavy metal was big, and I'm a guitar player at that time, and all I wanted to do was shred. Who were your bands? Van Halen, you know, of course, which I think is still, I still. He can really play. Yeah, yeah. And I mean, when I was 13, it was like, you know, it was like Yngwie Malmsteen.

Oh, really? Oh, yeah. It was like. Top notch noodlers. Yeah, noodlers. Yeah. Math guitar. Exactly.

Exactly. Math guitar. Yngwie Malmsteen. Yeah. And then who else? Paul Gilbert was another were you a zappa fan huge zappa fan really so you're a full-on guitar nerd i mean that was like you know steve vice yeah yeah yeah but at that time you were like you know fuck this because i imagine

that being on a sitcom especially if you're listening to music that's elevated at some point even as a kid you got to be like this is this is bullshit yeah yeah i mean that was the thing i i think i think so i think it was hanging out with with people that that you know there was also another thing that was starting to happen which was the independent the second or the third wave of independent films and and and you know quentin tarantino and uh and all of that you know, the Lemleys opened up. Right. And you start to, there's this sort of confluence of me, you know,

discovering Marlon Brando and then Robert De Niro. And I remember Cape Fear came out and that was really huge. So you locked into the idea of this. And there was like this, yeah, confluence of going, oh, there's something deeper than just, you know, gee, Wally, I don't know, Beef. Yeah, right. Obviously. So then I'll hit you at once

and you locked into the method thing that fascinated you? Yeah, I mean, I think that that was definitely a part of it. Because you feel like that kind of actor to me. Well, you know, I don't know. And I think it's now, I don't know, I don't really know that's fallen so out of fashion because I think the way it's been such a misinterpretation of what that acting technique really is, which is really just sort of founded and just try to be as committed as you can. Who'd you study with?

A guy named Milton Gonzalez. Uh-huh. Yeah, Milton Gonzalez, who's no longer around. This is at 16. You were like, I'm going to lay into this. 16, yeah into this 16 yeah and you know and then was he a big guy like was he you know like a respected guy like he was one of the one of the dudes like who was in your class yeah he was uh there were a lot of people he did have a master class that i weaseled my way into uh prematurely but i did on saturday mornings for the people that were working.

You saw a lot of character actors in there. There were a lot of people that worked with him. People I would know? Yeah, I think, I don't really remember, but I think George Clooney was there at one point, I think. Do you remember seeing people going like, shit? I remember seeing actors that I didn't really necessarily know, but I was really blown away. Like, it was stuff.

Oh, Jeffrey Tambor was there. Oh, my God. Who really is an amazing person and an amazing actor. I interviewed him. Oh, yeah. He gave me a run for my money. He did, yeah. He's a smart guy.

Well, we did it live. I don't usually do them live, so we did a one-on-one live. And he just fucked with me for a half an hour before he let me like- Wait, so live versus editing? No, like in front of an audience. Oh, right. So we were at South by Southwest, and I got this opportunity. And he was just sort of like, he just fucked with me for a half an hour, and I just took it.

And then finally, once he let it once we figured out how we were going to go at it yeah he just sort of eased up but he was he was amazing like some of those you know before everyone knows him as a comedic actor now but like and justice for all are you kidding holy shit incredible yeah it was fucking crazy man yeah really really an incredible actor and and um an incredible teacher as well. He taught when Milton wouldn't teach, he would step in. So I try to talk to actors about this because I do a little acting myself, but I come from stand-up. So you obviously had a knack for it.

You were a bonafide child actor that was able to deliver jokes. Yeah, I didn't have a knack, but I think i i wanted i had an icon and i and i wanted what does that mean well i i had i had an aspiration okay and and and i had to work i wasn't talented but before before you found brando you were you were also you know that school of thought it was you were doing tv were you just doing that without any training just with directors yeah i mean i was what i was 10 years old, 11 years old. Yeah. And so it was directors.

I remember there was one director who came up to me and it was sort of an acting lesson where he tried to hypnotize me. I was 10 years old. And it was this thing with Rosanna Arquette and Judge Reinhold. And they weren't getting along. So I was kind of like stuck in the middle of the whole thing. They weren't getting along in real life? Yeah.

Yeah. And it was violent it was like it was like but it was the late 80s early 90s you know it was when you could do that because you were so passionate about yeah um and uh and so then the director i had to i think i was i had to do a dying scene or something to that effect and he came up to me and started whispering in my ear all these things and putting images in my mind it was it was it was creepy i'm not gonna make i won't make two bones about it was it was definitely strange but it was something that i thought oh what is he doing and why is he doing this and is he trying to get me to do something that i don't know about you know what's that thing that i don't know was this was a film? It was a TV movie. I forget the name.

Oh, I think it was called Promised a Miracle. Uh-huh. So you're in between two fighting actors in real life. Yeah. I mean, it was heavy. You know, it was heavy. And he just came up to you and he started to, he was trying to give you like sense memory stuff? Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, yeah. You know, close your eyes. But you're a kid and you know what it is. And you're like, what is this? Yeah. And then there's another part of me that's like, shut up. Come on, you know. Right, but you're open-minded enough to go like, is this some weird magic?

Make you wonder about it. Yeah, exactly. Make you wonder about it. So once you walk into Brando and you go into, what's his name, Casales? Casales, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very curious to me, craft, when people talk about acting. Because I think a lot of people who are great actors have a knack for it they they have a natural presence i mean there is a certain gift to it but when it comes down to training so you walk into this class expecting to be delivered the uh the the grail of

of of method acting what were some of the first things you learned there well i walked in and there i mean there was a lot i but i i won't don't get me wrong i was definitely not talented i didn't have i didn't have uh it wasn't it didn't come to me naturally i it was something that i had to work on it and and i and and it's it's interesting because you do you you know that malcolm mc McDowell thing where you're, you know, the 10,000 hours and all that. I mean, and this is something that I try, the younger generation, I really, you know, there's such a different mentality, such an escape from spiritualism

and, you know, just being technology. The new generation. Yeah. But there is something to you know i remember we would do on one scene i think we would work uh you know 40 or 50 hours yeah on 10 minutes really yeah so that we like for six months like how often were you going to the class with three four months yeah you so i was going three days a week i was doing another tv show at the time which one was that um family album that was it i don't know any of these i

know the wonder yeah you were what a friend on the wonder yeah and um and um and so and but yeah so we would do you know i was doing a tv a TV show. I was doing, you know, 40 hours a week. It was three scenes, different scenes simultaneously, and auditioning at the same time. And it was, you know, you're just living and breathing it. And literally, you go to sleep, and then you go home, and you watch movies and study movies and do, you know. And that was, I think, for years, for six, seven, you know, I was at the Playhouse for 12 years, I think.

Milton Gonzalez, I was there, you know. Yeah. And it's something that I knew that I specifically, maybe more than others, had to work at. I remember there was a guy, the first class that I had, there was a guy who was running columbia studios at the time and he they would have guests come in um uh um who is uh quincy jones came in and i remember he told a story of an amazing story uh about miles davis talking to a saxophone player i don't remember who it was. It wasn't Coltrane, but it was somebody. And he said, you know,

do you ever try to play the wrong notes? Do you ever try to play the wrong notes to try to go as far out as possible to do the wrong thing, what's tasteless, what's bad, and then try to find your way back from that? And I thought, oh, that's so interesting, you know, to do something wrong

and then to figure out what might be uh beautiful about it or or or provocative about it uh-huh and that spoke to you somehow yeah i think so i mean i think that you know in a general sense i mean it was quincy jones it was coming from his mouth he spoke for three hours i think so out of going against the grain and and and pushing the envelope in probably an uncomfortable direction that you know to have that kind of courage to do that finding your way back might be the most amazing thing you ever do yeah right thank god i mean i definitely have jobs that i that i needed to find my way back from. But in terms of being, like I guess scene study,

the idea is to be present, right? And to be, like when you put together characters, some of them go a little far away from you, but generally I can see you in them and the ones that I've seen. But emotionally, you've taken some fairly phenomenal risks on camera.

To get the courage to do that, I imagine that it's just a repetition of being present with your emotions in the moment yeah yeah or am i over reading into it i don't know i think it's over reading you know i mean honestly there's a there are things that people that i've done you know and people come up to me and ask me about it and and i was not i mean it wasn't the furthest thing from being present. You know, I don't know. I had to. Oh, really?

I don't know. You know, yeah. I mean, I don't even know, you know, and it depends. When you were dying and saving Sergeant Private Ryan. Saving Ryan's private. Yeah, when you were dying and saving Ryan's private, please tell me you were not thinking about what you were going to eat later. No, no. No, no, specifically in that there were, I remember there were some bees around or wasps and the blood that was on my body was glucose based.

And so it was pouring out of these holes out of this prosthetic piece that I had to wear on my chest. Yeah. And there were tons of bees around me and I was worried about being stung. And that's what I was thinking about. But there, there are in film, and this is one of the things that I love about movies is that, that there are so many other factors that go into a, an actor's performance, you know, the overall arc and the scenes and then down to the moment where it's the lighting and the editing and the, the director and the director's sense. And you can have one guy, uh, perform one performance in a singular moment and have 50 people direct it. And it'll be, you'll have 50

different renditions of it. Right. You know, of course. And that's, that's, that's what's great about it. I mean, it really is, you know, I mean, an editor is a performer is part of the performance of an actor. Yeah. It makes all the difference in the world, putting that coverage together. You don't know what take they're going to use. Yeah, exactly. But when you say the difference between generations in terms of the new generation of actor, sort of obsessed and shallow, technological,

and that there was a sense of spiritualism, was that about acting, or what do you refer to exactly? Yeah, I mean, I guess there you know, there's just a different set of values, you know, and I guess there's this notion, you know, globalization and even that word is almost falling out of vogue, but I think it's more prevalent and more relevant than ever now, you know, especially with these quick sort of you know the sociology and social networking and all that um you know i don't know i think i think that you know i grew up and

and and my my parents were were were of the hippie generation and it was all about who am i and what right and and um let's alter our minds to try to find something about that. And where did they land? Because they landed in the church of Scientology, right? North Hollywood. Yeah, I know. I know. Yeah.

Oh, you mean Scientology? Yeah. Yeah. My parents were both in our Scientologists and were both, I guess, what you would consider a clerical within the church. But they came to it later. I was born into Scientology, while they were working there. But they came to it later? Like they came to it in the 70s?

Yeah, I think early 70s. Oh, yeah? Like maybe late 60s. I don't know, actually. But that's where they met. Oh, really? Yeah, yeah. Because as a guy that does some spiritual searching myself

and looks for practical solutions, in your life, in. Because I, like, you know, as a guy that does some spiritual searching myself and looks for practical solutions, you know, in your life, in terms of spirituality, where does that play? How does that work for you? I mean, what are the things that get you through the day that are directly related to that? Well, there's a lot of people that ask me about Scientology. And at the end of the day, Scientology is a personal thing. Right. And the way I personally view it is as a pragmatic philosophy. And meaning that it's not necessarily a set of beliefs that you go around and try to invest belief into and hope or whatever.

It's really something that's sort of day-to-day and practical. And you would go, for instance, it's almost set up like a university or a college. You go and do courses that apply to specific fields of life. And that's it. I think that to that extent or degree, if it is that, then the thing that I would usually say is if you're curious about it, then you should probably look at it for yourself. Right. Because, you know, as a Scientologist, you come under a lot of criticism and attack, and you are the, you know, the object of derision. Right.

the, you know, the object of derision. Right. And then on top of that, there's the, you know, being an actor and having a modicum of success with that, then it just, you know... Compounds it. It's exponential. Right. So whatever, you know, I mean...

But these are these workshops you've gone to all your life, basically, like at different times? Yeah, and it is that. I mean, it does astound me i do have to say the all of what circumambulates um scientology what people say who who aren't who don't know about it really i mean the you know who haven't ever read anything from hubbard with you know percentages of your income and and i've heard people say the their guns in the closet inside the organization and all this crazy stuff or this being harassed and all that and it's really

i mean just speaking and again from my personal experience it's it's not true i mean it really is it comes down to reading a book and applying it to your life and if it helps then great i mean it's really that simple it really is because i was i i mean i was always wondered because i've met there was one time where i did a part a small part in a movie and you know i had like a brief uh a brief scene with somebody who i believe is a scientologist but you know i don't need to say who it was but like i but I felt that he was looking at me as if I was a problem. And then I did some, not any real research,

but it seems that in some of the ways that within the literature of Scientology, that you sort of have to protect yourself from people that are insanely negative. So like- Let me say one thing i am personally one of the most negative persons i have ever met in my life i get it i mean am i wrong though because i got paranoid i mean people anybody yeah my scientologist friends and my

people my friends that are not scientists they they it's the thing that it's there it's known about me i'm not i'm not and and no i you know i again it's not that it's it's really i mean at the at the end of the day you know you're you are who you are before you're a buddhist or a you know a christian or a scientologist or whatever and uh and so people have interpretations of things or whatever that is. And that's that person. It's not Scientology behind them. Right. But I guess the weird thing, I guess the thing that's tricky for people is that, you know, you hear whatever's true or what isn't true.

There are certain political dynamics and certain, you know, business dynamics and certain cult-like dynamics that people hear about and i guess like any other religion there's different cliques and there's different ways that people use it but some things might be going on it's just not going on with you yeah i don't know i mean there you know what in in all walks of life you know i think that you have uh you know in so many that you know i think i've i've met uh people who uh practice uh buddhism you know who had some skeletons in the closet sure and it's not i it the the attribution towards the denomination really i mean specifically my that's this is why i say if you're curious about it or you know you're you actually then i'm afraid to read the book well that's the thing that's interesting

i love that you just said that because i don't know what page it happens on nothing happens yeah no i mean it's really it's really i i don't know what you know there's uh yeah i mean it's just it's just literature it's just it's and again it's a it's a it's a it's really i i don't know what you know there's uh yeah i mean it's just it's just literature it's just it's and again it's a it's a it's a it's just it's a practical philosophy has there ever been a point in your life where you're like i'm done with this shit um no it's it's not it's because it's not for me something that that is as regular as that okay and and. And it's almost like, here's what it is. It's, you know, if you were to read somebody that you, like a guy that you respect and had some things to say about sociology

or about studying, you know, subjects, whatever, or about marriage or about communication and all that. or about marriage or about communication and all that. And there were interesting, smart things that you could use in your life. Sure. And that's really what it is. So, for instance, I don't know if you've studied philosophy before. A little bit. Yeah.

Sure. I'm a curious guy. Yeah. So if you had, totally different, but Aristotle might say something that might say something that, you know, that applies to your life. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or whatever. And that sticks with you. And you're able to use that.

Sure. And that's what it is. It's a tool. Yeah. And that's it. And it really is. There's nothing, nothing's going to jump out and worm itself into your mind. And you're not going to be hypnotized by by a bunch of words

but there are different like in like i'm not in i'm not in any way defensive or prodding and if i no please do i i don't have i have nothing on talking about it absolutely but but only because like um but like you're saying is that you know you grew up in it so you have a different you have your relationship with it is relatively passive uh right i mean because it seems to me that within any belief system there are fanatics and there are people that are a lot more committed i mean i know fanatics with the fucking iphone you know that are like i mean you know what i mean i mean i guess it definitely is a different thing but i don't know i mean there are certain things no yeah but like there's different levels of like you know i guess i just say i'm coming from a a place of ignorance in that you know there are different levels of belief there

is a mythology to it as well that you either can take or leave correct um no yeah i don't know i know i not for me right for me yeah um i guess there are you guess there are people who work for the church, and there are people that don't, and there are people that attend classes and do courses, and there's also another factor where there's counseling and all that. There's counseling and all that. And I guess, I mean, different levels of belief. I don't know. I mean, you know, if something is for you personally, if it's, you know, this black box sitting here, it's a black box. Sure. And that's what it is.

Yeah. You know, I guess you can believe in that, you know. Or not. You can have different levels of that. Right. What you're saying is that there are practical tools, but then there you know the the the mythology of aliens right i okay i this is another thing that the whole 10 thing the whole thing i have never ever heard of aliens in scientology and i've been a scientologist all my life and i've done a lot of courses and a lot i have never heard of aliens in scientology no No? Never. No Thetans? No, please.

Well, that's not an alien. Okay. No, the concept of a Thetan comes from this notion of what's called Theta. Okay. And the idea of a Thetan is essentially the person. Right, right. It's the Scientology term for spirit. Okay.

Yeah. Yeah, so it's just different language, really, about some of the same things that all religions deal with. Exactly. I get it. You got it. I'm upset. I'm all set.

You've demystified the whole thing for me. It's just people. It's just people doing a thing. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it really is. It started with a book called Dianetics. Yep. 1950, and that had some things to say about the mind.

And they're really interesting. I mean, it's really. What did you think of that movie, you know, with Philip Seymour Hoffman? I thought Joaquin Phoenix was an amazing performance in that movie. Yeah. But as I don't, I mean, I think. The master. Yeah, Paul Thomas Anderson.

I think they were trying to say that it wasn't about Scientology, but come on, I mean, it was, you know, it was what it was. And I don't know. I think it was based on a book that somebody wrote who had a problem with Scientology. Uh-huh. And it's from that perspective. Yeah. That's what it was.

That's where you see it? Yeah. Well, L. Ron Hubbard was just a guy. Yeah. And he had his own struggles. Of course. And that's documented within Scientology literature as well. Sure.

Yeah, of course. Absolutely, yeah. Again, it just comes back to he had some interesting things to say that work for me on a personal level. Yeah, and that's it. And that's it. And is there any way that, like, does any of it apply to your acting? Yeah, I don't know what is the idea the idea of clear what is that idea so um well there's a 500 page book on on the idea of clear called dianetics and if you i, it would be hard to sit down and talk about that.

You can't summarize it for me? No, no. God damn it. I don't think I can. Come on, Giovanni. I'm relying on you to just make it simple so I can just process it. And because in my mind, if you're really clear,

that would free you up to do something. You read books, right? Yeah. Yeah, I can see. I think I might even have Dianetics around. Well, what are you doing? I have a lot of books. If you want to know what...

That's the other thing. I mean, if you really do want to know what the idea... You can disagree with it. Right. But that's okay. You're right. I mean, I got to take some time and just get in it. Yeah. I mean, I think that there some time and just get in it. Yeah.

I mean, I think that there's probably a synopsis in the book. You know, and I am, you know, I'm just, you know, I'm curious because I fall victim to generalizations about it. I don't know about it. I don't know that I've ever talked to somebody who was in it. And I'm a Jew. I mean, that's as strange to some people as anything else. Yeah, sure. I mean, I guess so, yeah. But. Yeah. Yeah. in it and i'm a jew i mean that's as strange to some people as as as anything else yeah sure but yeah so yeah i mean you know i think i'm past that thing you know i grew up with people yelling literally yelling at me because i was standing outside uh one of the organizations

one day right thing and uh a guy rode by on his bicycle and he, you know, do you do that? And then he started screaming at me. I know I was just, it was just the most random thing. And then of course, you know, obviously certain movies like The Master and, you know, whatever, culture. And again, it comes back to me and looking at something and going god i

just i just that's not my experience with it with scientology it it you know it's a personal thing right and you feel like but you feel spiritually grounded in general there you have that faith in your life uh no no no absolutely not but that's not because i mean no i think that's just sort of a natural thing with anybody possibly um and and i i mean i i wouldn't associate i wouldn't that that's a different conversation than psychology it is your existential discontent yeah right it's a different conversation like i said i'm the most negative person i've ever met no so what when you say you work with you know you've worked with a lot of directors and obviously that one guy spoke in your head when you were a kid and you know

but but you know they're like the one performance performance that killed me that I found to be like that I can't get out of my fucking head is The Gift. Oh, yeah. That was a Sam Raimi director. Sam Raimi. Yeah. And that that character of the guy who like finally loosens his abuse memory and the rage of that fucking thing. I mean, you know, that was years ago. I mean, I mean, about how old were you when you did that role?

25, I think. 25 years old. And that was a fucking mind-blowing role. Oh, yeah. Thanks, yeah. Now, when you do something like that, when you invest those emotions in a character like that, does it, and maybe this is a naive question, does it fuck your head up? It can. And, you know, because you do have to, or at the time I was thinking about things, I was, yeah, and you're dealing with such a difficult subject matter.

Right. You know, and violent. Yeah. And I don't know. I look at that and I go, you know, maybe I could have, maybe I went too overboard with certain things and could have been a little bit more refined in the approach. But there was this sort of thing of just being precipitous about it

and just wanting to be completely raw, you know, and as just sort of an experiment, really. Is that the rawest you've ever gotten? No, man. What are you talking about? No, I don't know. I don't know if that's the rawest I've ever gotten. And then there was another movie I did right after that with Cate Blanchett called Heaven. And that was a whole different thing.

That was a lot more, I guess, reserved. And that was hard. I guess reserved and that was hard that was just on a practical level because you know learning Italian being in Italy and having to speak Italian with you know

with an Italian accent and all that and there were just everything had but that was probably for me one of the more difficult things and psychologically you know uh not on the screen but just sort of back at the hotel room how'd you how did you approach that i mean did you get a dialect dialect coach yeah and i remember i mean i i don't i got it was

i it was i don't even remember it was it was it was really uh it was it was hard hard. I begged, I begged, I begged to be in the movie, and I stalked the director. Who directed it? Tom Tickfer. And I remember I was doing a press junket for a movie, and then I went to, I flew down to Torino, where I knew the movie took place, just to sort of, and I didn't have the part,

but I just went down there. And coincidentally, I had an email, movie took place just to sort of and i didn't have the part but i just went down there and coincidentally i had an email and i said i'm in torino i'm in the i'm in a hotel yeah i'm in torino to the director and he and i then i really actually didn't know that he was there and he and he said oh i'm in the lobby or something like that maybe he was on the phone and and and then i just came downstairs. And it was a total coincidence. And then after several weeks, he said, okay, fine.

You can do this role. And it was a whole other thing. Yeah. And did the relationship that you had built with Cate Blanchett and The Gift, did that help your relationship on that movie? No. the gift did that help your relationship on that movie no i mean there was something really uh um there was a lot solitude you know or or uh i was kind of in my own bubble on the gift you know really so you're really doing the method thing kind of locked down the method thing i guess i don't know i don't know i don't know what thing it was is it was the rabisi thing it was was it to maintain the emotional disposition of that character?

Yeah, and just to sort of try to, you know, I don't know. There's a certain sort of fabric there, I guess. I don't want to sound like a pretentious douchebag, but there's a certain sort of, you know, sort of, I guess, an essence or something that you focus on, you know. Because you get deep in it man and saving private ryan too i mean that character like what was it like to uh to to deal with that because that crew were you guys close did you build a a unity well i was friends and i had already done

several movies with um adam goldberg yeah uh who's a terrific actor and an incredible director um and uh i'd like to talk to him i feel like you should yeah i feel like we we tweeted at each other or something oh you didn't i don't i've got i'd like to get in touch with you these are things now that you feel now that you don't even yeah i don't feel like you tweeted i well i feel like that we've we've like somehow or another like i know i think he wants to do the show or i you know he reached out i'm sure yeah yeah how's he doing you guys would go it'd be gangbusters he's doing great he just finished a movie um that he directed that he wrote

called no way jose are you in that um no but i was gonna i was gonna be involved in it um behind the camera sort of helping get things made and then and then but he went off and made the movie and uh and i think it's going to be great. I don't know. I think they're editing right now. Oh, man, I've got to get in touch with him. Yeah. So you knew Adam, but what about the other guys?

Yeah, and then Vin Diesel and Barry Pepper and Jeremy Davies. Yeah. And I think the starkest memories of that film aren't necessarily, The starkest memories of that film aren't necessarily, you know, it's the boot camp experience that we talked about so much and we were asked about so much. But it was this thing where I remember being, I remember we were Hampstead Heath. We were living in this field behind this grove of trees. And they had everything. They were trying to make it as authentic as possible with the canvas tents.

And it did nothing but rain. And I remember being, I think we were like 10 days in and we had to go get our work permits and you know i hadn't slept at three days and my fingers were bleeding and they were pruned and i was starving and smoking two packs a day oh god you're you're doing you know running 10 miles a day and you have 40 pounds of rucksack on your back and this was at spielberg's behest that you guys go through this yeah i mean i think this was the second time it was done the first time it was uh on that on on on a movie called platoon i could be off about that yeah you know

but it was a guy and he um a guy named dale die uh uh he was a colonel and but in for some reason we were calling him captain dale die um and he he kind of had a business out of this you know he's an actor too yeah he's he's a great actor and he's a he's a he's a great person um uh um and so i think he you know he was doing military uh boot camp you know and he had all different you know for all different epochs and right you know right right the roman army and then also whatever. Oh, really? That was just to get you guys into the place.

Yeah. And I remember it was definitely, it was a challenge. And I remember, so we had to call each other by our character names. And then there was, at the end of the day, there was, I think, a half hour or one hour where we would all sit by the campfire. And we wouldn't have to call each other by our character names. And we'd just talk. And it was kind of like this counseling or whatever. Like a group therapy thing?

Yeah, it was incredible. It was really this sort of bonding experience. Interesting. But I remember we got picked up. They said, you need to do your paperwork. And they had weighed and up them. And we had to get into a car. And there was a guy who had been on the first five days of the whole thing.

And he disappeared. And by that point, you haven't slept you don't even know who's coming or going and uh and he suddenly was there and like oh what are you doing here and uh and then uh he said you should you have to come with me uh-huh so we go around these bushes and we start walking and he starts walking faster and suddenly he starts whispering to us and he says, you know, this is, this is abusive. This is horrible. I've talked to production about this and this is, we are going to cease, stop doing this.

You guys are actors and this and that. We were like confused by it. Cause I think at that point we, invested sort of like a commit. We were committed to it. Right. And we wanted to see it through. Right. This sort of extreme life, this sort of.

Who was this person that was. I forget. He was like a PA or something. Oh, really? And he was going through the first five days with us. And then suddenly we come to a clearing after the bushes and there's two parked Mercedes there with drivers for us. Right.

And it was like, what? What the fuck is this? And suddenly you're coming back to, you know, you're being stripped of your identity the whole day. You're coming back. And then I remember getting in the back of the car, just sort of like being told what to do and get in the back of the car and uh and uh there was a woman in the passenger side of the front seat and i and it was this most startling thing that you know we hadn't seen a woman in in 10 days yeah and i remember jeremy and i looked at

and we had the same thought. We looked at each other and then we talked about it later, of course. And then, of course, you know, you go back and you eat McDonald's. What was the thought? That it was just like, holy shit, that's a girl.

I mean, it really does become that primal. That sort of feral sort of thing. Like, oh, oh, go, go. No, and then we had to go to go to the mall some you know uh british sort of suburb suburban mall get our picture taken and then we snuck in mcdonald's uh even though we were told specifically go there take a picture and come back and then and then and and that's what that was and And then, and, but, but by the end of it, you know, that's, I think that's the idea. I remember hearing about bootcamp and I don't want to pretend like I know anything about

that because we had two weeks and bootcamp is I think three months and, and, and. But you felt the effect of it stripping away. Yeah. The idea that, that you strip away this identity of whoever you are to become something or to be able to be something that is part of a bigger whole. Right. You know, that can go and accomplish something or whatever that is. So it was effective? Yeah.

I mean, I don't know how effective. I don't know. Well, no. It was effective for the movie, and it was an experience that whether it was, you know, I mean, it was amazing. It was something that changed all of us forever, I think. And working with Spielberg, was that a highlight of your life? Oh, my God, yeah. Yeah.

He's absolutely one of my favorite filmmakers. I was working with another director who said, well, he's Mozart and the rest of us are all Salieri's. Uh-huh. And it's amazing. Let's talk about having preconceived notions about somebody or something. This was his third movie that he was doing that year. Right.

And I think he had Amistad and Jurassic Park before Saving Private Ryan. And we were two weeks ahead of schedule on that battle sequence, which was- Taking the beach? Yeah. Yeah. So that was seven pages or seven and a half pages in the original draft or the shooting draft of the script. And usually, you know, one page in a script is a minute long. Right.

And I remember, I think that sequence is like 27 minutes or something like that is one of the most insane yeah and he 20 minutes of cinema ever and he but he and you you have you know i think we had three weeks blocked out for it or four weeks yeah and he was i remember hearing he was two weeks ahead of schedule usually on something like that you're you're double you're halfway through making it that you're you're double you're halfway through making it and you're you're four weeks behind right you know on something but um he's just he's he's you know he's just uh an amazing person and filmmaker and it's just coursing through his body his blood you know and how did he deal with you as an actor? Like, what was his engagement? It wasn't this precious notion that people, I think, you know, he talks about just hiring people who know how to do their job.

Right. Who are right for their job. Right. I don't think he, rightfully, I don't think he wanted to get into what somebody's motivation was. Right. I think he says, you know, in order to tell this story, we need to be here, and you need to be looking there, and you need to say this and this whole thing. And you have to work that out, and I agree with that.

I think that's, you know, he lets people do their jobs. Have you dealt with directors that don't do that? There are directors that will literally come up to your your face and move your chin uh you know 15 degrees to the right and then hold it there and you know and it becomes you know yeah i've worked with people like that keep it there yeah yeah and you're just supposed to say your line. You know, to each his own. And I must say that I have a certain amount of respect for that guy as well,

especially if they're making good movies. Right, sure. I guess as long as it's not intrusive and makes you mad. Yeah, right. Yeah, exactly. So now, given that you can go to the depths of darkness and now you know now you're in this this huge comedy and you've done two comedies with mcfarlane yeah uh do you approach it differently is it a relief do you do you like getting laughs i i i love seth mcfarlane um he um he's just someone that I feel like I connect with and that I can relate to.

And he's, and talk about, you know, again, also, you know, somebody that I have respect for who's wearing so many different hats so masterfully. Yeah. so masterfully. And this was also just that thing where it's like, holy shit, a Western going to Santa Fe. Yeah. I agree. And being able to do that,

to make a Western out there on the Bonanza Creek Ranch. Yeah. It's amazing. It was really great. It was a good time? Yeah. I didn't see Ted in the theaters, yeah it's amazing it was really it was really great it's a good time yeah you know the first like i didn't see ted in the theaters and it's been on cable and i picked it up like i i locked in because like i was like not put off but i'm like it's about a bear but then i

start watching it and i spent a lot of time in boston yeah i love that that tone yeah like i lived there for years yeah and like i watched half of it you know i was like holy shit it's hilarious yeah i think it's really funny yeah it's also um uh alex sulkin and wellesley wild who are i just talked about it i just thought oh you did oh great yeah yeah it's great um uh there you know and i've worked with them on other pro and they're just they're it's the whole team they're they're it's really good storytelling it's not just you know what people

sometimes people say fart jokes and things like that there's layers you know to their but you like doing comedy yeah I mean

I think I like doing I don't know if I have a caveat in that way as far as genres right you know but I do like

to try to do things that for me personally on a subjective or existential level might be challenging and uh some you know things that i haven't necessarily or for me that i that i don't feel comfortable in right um and um and it's it's totally selfish it's not it has nothing to do with you know a fucking career move or anything like you only make decisions it doesn't matter if it's comedy or drama or whatever it's just selfish. It has nothing to do with, you know, a fucking career move or anything like that. You only make decisions. It doesn't matter if it's comedy or drama or whatever. It's just a matter of whether you're interested in the material.

Yeah, and it has a lot to do with the people that are involved, which is so important because you go and you, not only are you sort of identifying yourself with that person or that cinematographer or whoever it is the the other actor or whatever it's um it's it's living with them uh for months yeah for months and in in in what sometimes is is extremity is is you know relatively speaking sure i mean especially if you got to go to boot camp sure yeah exactly yeah all right one let's see one last question that like i don't know

if you can field it but i just it just it just uh it just snapped into my head back to uh the the scientology thing quickly what is the fundamental problem with psychiatry um it goes back to, I think, the history of psychiatry. I think that, and I do personally have, I mean, there's psychiatry and there's psychology. When you were performing things like lobotomies on people and saying that's helping them by sticking a spike through their eyeball into their brain and moving it around violently. Right. Or electric shock treatment. Sure. Or even, and this is my own personal belief that I share with Scientology, I should say,

that Scientology hasn't necessarily influenced me on, but pharmaceutical companies and pushing drugs and having chemists and, you know, I mean, I've read so many books on what they do to market a drug. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the effects of certain drugs. And it's not the entirety of the practice of psychiatry and psychology. Right.

Um, I think at the end of the day, Hubbard would say, Hey, if it helps you great. Uh, you know, I think it's just, it's, it's more or less against certain practices that are specific, um, in altering the, the personality or destroying the mind. Yeah. I mean, I don't, you know, I don't see, I see somebody who might have a problem. Right. And they, whether it's, you know, extreme problems.

And these are things that Scientology doesn't deal with and won't make that pretense. Right. But, you know, schizophrenia. Right. Or certain things like that where I remember, okay, I have a personal familial example where my uncle in the 1950s was caught in the back of a pickup truck with another man.

was caught in the back of a pickup truck with another man. And my grandfather, who I never met, this is my mother's side of the family, grabbed him and dragged him down to a whorehouse and made him fuck a hooker. Right. And after that, he tried to commit suicide. And I guess it was state law in Florida at the time that if you tried to commit suicide and i guess it was state law in florida at the time that if you tried to commit suicide you had you had to have electric shock treatment

and i go how do you i what i i don't and and and he and i i through my mother you know she she would tell me things that he would talk about i think it was several times and this just this did not help this person this did not you know take those feelings away i mean you kill so much you know sure that's that's more specifically about it it's again it's another large topic and hard to answer within right but the basic feeling is is that you should be able to uh at least apply your own um tools or whatever to overcome these what might be thought of as as you know not necessarily uh psychological things that need to be treated per se no i i think that i think that sometimes things need to be treated okay somebody experiences

a loss in their life and then they have they're going through a hard time yeah and then their doctor within 10 minutes of meeting the person this is the average of of how long it takes for somebody to be prescribed at one point it was prozac and then that fell out of fashion and then you know sure um adderall um and within 10 minutes the person's taking psychotropic drugs right and there's definitely a part of me that goes well what's the difference the only difference for me personally are you know chemists sitting in a laboratory for years pouring over uh doing experiments and clinical trials with the drugs to make sure that whatever, they're timed out. But as far as difference from cocaine or heroin or other, but a lot of them have the same chemical makeup.

different way to to to deal uh or to have this that this person experienced a loss and suddenly they have uh a chemical imbalance right no i understand what you're saying i don't and and then you go what oh these are multi-billion dollar industries i mean that are looking for pfizer is 32 right and they're looking for a way in they're looking for new customers so there's marketing there right and you when you go oh i've run businesses before sure and and i it's a different it's a different i get it i get it because like look i'm a guy that's got nervous problems i got anxiety i got you know other issues but i don't i don't like the idea of medication there's some part of me that thinks like well maybe there's a way to uh to look at things differently to to

apply a different discipline to make different choices that'll perhaps you know make it uh manageable yeah i mean i i i do have to say um and i just i don't want to sound like i'm making a generality yes some i think we all go through that. We experience emotions. It's life. It's livingness. Right. And I think that the people, a lot of people that I've talked to who say, oh, well, you know, but sometimes people just can't deal with that. I feel like there's a similar sort of thing where it's a justification where that same person has had a drug problem before and they're trying to find another way to serve that addiction. I don't know.

That was a specific instance. No, I know what you're saying. I mean, whatever. And again, that's a personal view, and I don't have any criticism for somebody who has the exact opposite view. But psychologically, generally, you feel pretty good other than being negative all the time. No, that's the point.

I don't feel. But I guess to a greater or lesser degree, there's than being negative no that's the point i don't feel but i guess to a greater less agree there's a part of me that's okay with that i'm not gonna go uh uh you know take lithium yeah you have some self-acceptance around it i don't know well you do great work and i and i appreciate you coming here that's a that's a part is that okay good there we go yeah thank you yeah is it i's a full part. Is that it? Okay, good. There we go. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. I enjoyed talking to you, man.

Was that an awkward closer? No, no, no. Well, we can say at least he does good work. No, that's not true. I think that it's interesting that there's this, look, we all find some way to, whatever we ground ourselves in is what it is. It doesn't forego any other problems or that life is difficult

or that we're negative or anything else. That's just the part of it. Yeah, I mean, yeah. And you bring it to your work. I mean, fuck. I mean, there's gotta be. I would say that. That was a big thing.

And I guess that's one of the things, again, falling out of fashion is, funnel that into your creativity. Right. Or whatever. Fight the fight. No, no. It's absolutely right, man.

You all right? Yeah. Thanks, man. Well, that's it. Interesting guy. Diplomatic around some touchy subject matter. Didn't want to press him. Wasn't what the interview was about.

Pow! I just shit my pants. Justcoffee.com. Bobcat Goldthwait's movie is out. People are digging that. I don't know what that book is. I'm a little out of sorts because of that. Boomer lives! We'll be right back. can't get a nice rank on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice?

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