Speaker 1: You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. Mama Maya acknowledges
Speaker 1: the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast
Speaker 1: is recorded on.
Speaker 2: I'm just really grateful, Like it's just getting a job
Speaker 2: as an actor is like winning the lottery. So getting
Speaker 2: one that resonates with people and that I would watch
Speaker 2: and be entertained by myself is I don't know, winning
Speaker 2: the triple lottery or something. So I would be happy
Speaker 2: to shake Ron's hand and serve him mistake if he showed.
Speaker 3: Up for Mama Maya.
Speaker 1: I'm kateline Brook and you're listening to No Filter. There
Speaker 1: are some roles that transcend the actors who portray them,
Speaker 1: Characters who are so well acted, so funny or groundbreaking,
Speaker 1: who brings something new and exciting to our screens that
Speaker 1: they become in the process iconic. Nick Offerman and Meghan
Speaker 1: Malally are both screen icons for so many people all
Speaker 1: around the world. Nick will always be Ron Swanson from
Speaker 1: Parks and Reck.
Speaker 4: Shut up and look at me.
Speaker 5: Welcome Divisions of Nature. This room has several paintings in it.
Speaker 5: Some are big, some are small. People did them and
Speaker 5: they are here now. Please do not misinterpret the fact
Speaker 5: that I am talking right now as genuine interest in
Speaker 5: art and attempt to discuss it with me further. End
Speaker 5: of speech.
Speaker 1: Megan Malally will always be Karen Walker from Will and
Speaker 1: Grace booked Jack.
Speaker 6: There goes my world, There goes my everything. Just stop worrying.
Speaker 3: Just a maid, Just a maid, Just like saying.
Speaker 6: That Pradas or just shoes or Vodcas, just a morning beverage.
Speaker 1: But there's a shadow side to being so well known
Speaker 1: for one thing you've done as an artist. It can
Speaker 1: eclipse all of the other incredible work you do and
Speaker 1: the art that you create. And that's the thing about
Speaker 1: Nick and Meghan. They are true artists in love and
Speaker 1: in life and in their work. Nick and Meghan met
Speaker 1: on stage twenty five years ago and have been married
Speaker 1: for over two decades. No small feat in Hollywood, in fact,
Speaker 1: nearly impossible, And in these years they have independently produced
Speaker 1: some incredible work. Meghan has graced Broadway stages and is
Speaker 1: one half of a very cool indie band called Nancy
Speaker 1: and Bee. Nick has played searing roles in the Last
Speaker 1: of US and Civil War. Together. They've written a book
Speaker 1: about their marriage and life together called The Greatest Love
Speaker 1: Story Ever Told. And soon they're coming to Australia to
Speaker 1: perform together on stage again in a show they've called
Speaker 1: unscripted and unfiltered. So it's fitting that they'd sit down
Speaker 1: with the executive producer of this show, Naima Brown, for
Speaker 1: a No Filter chat. And you can't say it, but
Speaker 1: Nick apparently joined the call shirtless, much to naim A
Speaker 1: is delight.
Speaker 3: I am so happy to see you both. Nick.
Speaker 7: I feel like, you know, maybe we should all take
Speaker 7: our shirts off and have a really unfiltered conversation.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, let's make Sitney vivid.
Speaker 7: Let's make Sydney vivid. Megan Molalley, Nick Offerman, welcome to
Speaker 7: No Filter. It is my greatest joy to have you
Speaker 7: here with us today. Thank you.
Speaker 3: We're so happy to be here now.
Speaker 7: Yours is a marriage and a partnership that is really
Speaker 7: forged in creativity. You met a couple decades ago on
Speaker 7: stage together working together in a play. Since that time,
Speaker 7: you have collaborated in so many different ways, and I
Speaker 7: really wanted to begin by asking you each to introduce
Speaker 7: or describe each other creatively. What is it that you
Speaker 7: most admire about each other as an artist? What's your
Speaker 7: favorite work? That each other has done. Nick, I'll start
Speaker 7: with you, tell me what kind of artist Megan is.
Speaker 2: Wow, this is the best question I've ever had in
Speaker 2: an interview.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: I You know, it would be easy to list what
Speaker 2: Mother Nature has has showered Meghan with by way of gifts.
Speaker 2: Physical beauty, incredible singing voice, ridiculous comedy chops, great intelligence,
Speaker 2: incredible taste.
Speaker 4: In all things with one obvious exception. But I won't.
Speaker 2: I won't rely on the easy laurels of all of
Speaker 2: those attributes because early on, when when I met Meghan
Speaker 2: and began living with her and saw her work in
Speaker 2: her various different mediums, what struck me the most about
Speaker 2: her was her incredible work ethic. Now, you know, if
Speaker 2: you were given the gifts that she was born with,
Speaker 2: I would assume I'd rest easy on my laurels and
Speaker 2: just let people feed me caviar all day. But Megan
Speaker 2: works harder than anyone I've ever seen. Whether she's preparing
Speaker 2: an evening of songs with her band or she's rehearsing
Speaker 2: like a comedy scene.
Speaker 4: She works every spare minute. She keeps working on things.
Speaker 2: You know, when she used to do will and grace,
Speaker 2: she would go into her secret laboratory and work those
Speaker 2: scenes until each one played like an incredible piece of music.
Speaker 2: And so that's my favorite thing about her talents. And
Speaker 2: so we both agree, of all the many great things
Speaker 2: that she's worked at, her performance in the movie from
Speaker 2: a couple of years ago called Dix the Musical is
Speaker 2: the greatest achant known to mankind in the field of entertainment.
Speaker 7: I have this sense he could go on and on
Speaker 7: for even longer. Nick talking about the incredible Megan and
Speaker 7: it's I have to say, I.
Speaker 6: Mean, I wish you had lunch first, because I'm not
Speaker 6: gonna be able to top that.
Speaker 7: Those are hard, that's a hard act to follow. But
Speaker 7: why don't you give it a crack, Meghan?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Well, Nick also has so many natural talents. I don't
Speaker 6: know who he thinks he's kidding, trying to pretend otherwise,
Speaker 6: But you know, I think one of the things that's
Speaker 6: so great about Nick too is from the first time
Speaker 6: I met him, he was so different from not just
Speaker 6: other actors, but any men i'd met, because he's so
Speaker 6: centered and secure himself and kind of knew who he was.
Speaker 6: And I think he brings that to his acting and
Speaker 6: he's always like the most popular. I have people, you know,
Speaker 6: like I'll go do a job somewhere and I'll have
Speaker 6: people from the crew coming up to me saying, I
Speaker 6: worked with your husban been on a different project, you know,
Speaker 6: eleven years ago, And I'll never forget how he knew
Speaker 6: every single person on the crew, and he knew all
Speaker 6: of their first and last names, and how many kids
Speaker 6: they have, and you know, all of that stuff. And
Speaker 6: I do think I know that that's that is a
Speaker 6: huge thing. Like I don't know if you understand, but
Speaker 6: a lot of actors don't really pay attention to They
Speaker 6: only pay attention to maybe the other actors and the director,
Speaker 6: but not to everyone. And I think Nick is very
Speaker 6: beloved by all, including me, in addition to his incredible
Speaker 6: gifts as an actor. And he's got that face, he's
Speaker 6: got those eyebrows, let's face.
Speaker 7: It, he's also.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm so it's so delightful.
Speaker 7: I'm so happy to have started and kind of anchored
Speaker 7: this conversation there, because I'm really curious when you are
Speaker 7: in a marriage that is also a creative partnership, but
Speaker 7: then it's also a marriage, and those come with all
Speaker 7: kinds of different things do you have to create And
Speaker 7: over the years, maybe have you gotten better at creating
Speaker 7: boundaries or a kind of separation of church and state,
Speaker 7: you know, when you're creating something together, like your vivid production,
Speaker 7: but then there's still dishes to be done, whatever those
Speaker 7: dishes might be. Metaphorically, how do you kind of tie
Speaker 7: together all the different strands of your relationship.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, I'll jump in and say that we've
Speaker 2: been pretty lucky that organically, you know, it's not like
Speaker 2: we're both working at Wall Street or something where we
Speaker 2: just have a daily, consistent grind and we're like you
Speaker 2: drop the kids off the pool, and you know that
Speaker 2: we have some kind of conflict in that direction because
Speaker 2: we're lucky enough to have different, organic, sporadic jobs. So
Speaker 2: it's you know, one of us will work for a
Speaker 2: few months, one of us will work for a weekend,
Speaker 2: and then we'll switch.
Speaker 4: One of us will work in Europe, one.
Speaker 2: Of us will work at home, and so generally we
Speaker 2: do a good job of just kind of handing off
Speaker 2: and passing the baton back and forth. And sometimes when
Speaker 2: we do something together and collaborate on a show, then
Speaker 2: we have to be a little more conscientious about you know,
Speaker 2: when do we clock out, because we're working on it
Speaker 2: at home in our living space, when do we get
Speaker 2: off the clock and say, okay, let's let's change our
Speaker 2: hats and just watch some TV now.
Speaker 3: A bit like severance, hey, kind of walking walking you're
Speaker 3: Inny and your outing.
Speaker 6: Exactly exactly.
Speaker 7: That's a bit Ana And you've collaborated on so many
Speaker 7: different kinds of things together. You've written one of my
Speaker 7: favorite books, the greatest love story ever told, a bit
Speaker 7: of a it's so great, it is so fantastic. The
Speaker 7: the photography, which I know, Megan, you aren't directed, and
Speaker 7: you know you were the vision and visionary behind just
Speaker 7: the tactile object of the book itself, and it's masterful.
Speaker 3: I will pop links in the show notes.
Speaker 7: It's obviously it's got all of your humor, both of you,
Speaker 7: and a bit of a memoir of your marriage. But
Speaker 7: it's also I think you know, our roadmap for how
Speaker 7: to for people who want to have an empathetic, creative,
Speaker 7: humor filled partnership with somebody. You've also got your podcast
Speaker 7: in Bed with Nick and Meghan, and obviously the production
Speaker 7: that you're bringing to Australia soon I'm curious to know
Speaker 7: how you resolve creative differences when you are in that
Speaker 7: collaborative space together. And Megan, I'll start with you.
Speaker 6: Sometimes I just have to trick Nick into doing things
Speaker 6: like our book. Our book is a good example, because
Speaker 6: we would wrap it up for the day and I'd
Speaker 6: be like, hey, let's do a chapter of our book
Speaker 6: and it could be like you know, and then so
Speaker 6: we recorded the book so by chapter by chapter, so
Speaker 6: family is, you know, career, whatever. Each subject was a
Speaker 6: different chapter, and so I would just say, oh, it'll
Speaker 6: be fun, and he would be resistant.
Speaker 3: I feel like they're.
Speaker 6: They're forgetting what. But I feel like there have been
Speaker 6: a lot of some other times when you are a
Speaker 6: little resistant, and I just kind of sweet talk and
Speaker 6: then trustful once he does it, and once he's doing it,
Speaker 6: he loves it and it's fun.
Speaker 2: I mean, there are many things you like Meghan has.
Speaker 2: There are things if I'm not as experienced or as practiced,
Speaker 2: then then I don't want to do those things. And
Speaker 2: Meghan is a great and gentle teacher and life coach.
Speaker 2: And a good example of that is I am. I'm
Speaker 2: a pretty mediocre singer, but Meghan encouraged me to practice
Speaker 2: and strengthen my voice, and now I'm a slightly less
Speaker 2: mediocre singer, but I have a confidence now to sing
Speaker 2: in front of an audience. And so there are many
Speaker 2: things like that. I mean, we have a real student
Speaker 2: teacher dynamic that I think I would be a fool
Speaker 2: not to be crazy about.
Speaker 7: After this short break, Nick and Meghan talked to us
Speaker 7: about how they maintain curiosity about each other after so
Speaker 7: many years together and how they feel about the characters
Speaker 7: that shut them into the stratosphere. Ron Swanson and Karen
Speaker 7: Walker stay with us. You've been married for over twenty years,
Speaker 7: which is no small feat that takes a lot of
Speaker 7: work and a lot of presence and clarity. And again,
Speaker 7: given the depth and breadth of your many collaborations, and
Speaker 7: that you're so entwined in each other's lives in ways
Speaker 7: that lots of couples aren't. Really, I'm very curious to
Speaker 7: know what you're still discovering about each other and if
Speaker 7: that has to be a kind of deliberate act to
Speaker 7: maintain a kind of curiosity about each other at this
Speaker 7: time and phase, after so many wonderful years Already in
Speaker 7: the camp.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think it's been pretty easy really. I mean,
Speaker 6: we don't have children. We have dogs, if that makes
Speaker 6: a difference. We don't have children, but we've always, i think,
Speaker 6: just liked each other, which I know that sounds kind
Speaker 6: of obvious, but I'm not sure that every married couple does,
Speaker 6: or maybe they do. But I think we've been really
Speaker 6: lucky in being we're both very romantic, but we're also
Speaker 6: really good friends. And so I think that recently we
Speaker 6: kind of looked at each other within the law, like
Speaker 6: six months or so, and just sided that we thought
Speaker 6: our relationship was better now than it ever happened. What
Speaker 6: do you attribute to right twenty five years. Well, I'm
Speaker 6: not really sure. Maybe, I mean, we do we've gotten
Speaker 6: a lot better at communicating. We're always pretty good at communicating.
Speaker 4: But what do you think, Conny, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, we had the good fortune to, you know,
Speaker 2: to ride through these two and a half decades together.
Speaker 2: As you know, as good listeners, we understand the simple
Speaker 2: truth that if you make a promise to a person
Speaker 2: that you're going to spend the rest of your lives together,
Speaker 2: you can either make it difficult or when things do
Speaker 2: get difficult. If we have disagreements, if we if we
Speaker 2: shake our fists at each other, we can say, okay,
Speaker 2: well listen, we're I still want to be live in
Speaker 2: this house with you tomorrow, So I can either compromise
Speaker 2: and find a resolution here. And so I think we
Speaker 2: just have the wherewithal to be open and keep growing.
Speaker 2: And I think one thing that really keeps me invested
Speaker 2: is that Megan has not yet allowed me to perform
Speaker 2: the full sex act upon her.
Speaker 4: And so that's kind of a carrot that's dangling.
Speaker 7: John.
Speaker 2: I mean, another twenty five years and I could strugge
Speaker 2: how you go.
Speaker 3: We're rooting for you.
Speaker 7: I want to ask when you've become so iconic and
Speaker 7: beloved to so many audiences across the world for kind
Speaker 7: of one big role that you've played. And yet I
Speaker 7: imagine you get most of your creative fulfillment, especially these days,
Speaker 7: from all of the other incredible things that you both
Speaker 7: do together and separately. And as time passes, does that
Speaker 7: become a burden or something you celebrate with grace? Megan,
Speaker 7: I'll start with you. I'm curious to know what your
Speaker 7: relationship to Karen Walker is now.
Speaker 6: Oh well, I'm grateful to have been able to play
Speaker 6: that role, and it was such a fun part to play,
Speaker 6: of course, and so well written, and they really let
Speaker 6: me bring you know, it was very collaborative, I would say,
Speaker 6: in the way that the part was created, because it
Speaker 6: wasn't written that way at the very beginning. It evolved.
Speaker 6: So it was really really amazing to be able to
Speaker 6: do that. And I sometimes see little clips of it
Speaker 6: and I'm like, wow, how did I do that? But now,
Speaker 6: you know, as the years go on, I always I'm
Speaker 6: not sure that acting was ever like my number one
Speaker 6: thing I wanted to do, Like I always loved singing
Speaker 6: and music. So but that aside, I've I've put less
Speaker 6: emphasis on acting maybe and more emphasis on other things
Speaker 6: like I have a band called Nancy and Beth that
Speaker 6: I love, and I'm starting an interior design company with
Speaker 6: my friend and I love that.
Speaker 3: It's so fun to do.
Speaker 6: And you know, I think I have another a project,
Speaker 6: like a long term project I'm working on that is
Speaker 6: more of a podcast situation, but like a written podcast scripted.
Speaker 6: But yeah, so I think that I want. I like
Speaker 6: things where I feel that I can have more autonomy.
Speaker 6: And that movie that Nick mentioned, Dick's The Musical, I
Speaker 6: felt like it was so collaborative and I was really
Speaker 6: treated as an equal, and you know, you'd be surprised,
Speaker 6: but that's not always the case. So I think things
Speaker 6: where I have a little more autonomy are the things
Speaker 6: I'm a little more drawn to right now.
Speaker 3: Nick, what's your relationship to ron sponson these days?
Speaker 2: You know, I'll always be incredibly grateful for that role.
Speaker 2: I mean, it took me from obscurity to putting me
Speaker 2: sort of on the map and led to so many
Speaker 2: other opportunities, from acting roles to writing books and touring
Speaker 2: as a humorist, and so.
Speaker 4: You know, there are much worse problems.
Speaker 2: To have than to be like associated with one huge,
Speaker 2: overarching role. I'm very grateful that the world allows me
Speaker 2: to play other things and continue to to sort of
Speaker 2: discover and flex whatever muscles I can come across as
Speaker 2: an actor.
Speaker 4: But ultimately, you know, I'm just really grateful.
Speaker 2: Like it's just getting a job as an actor is
Speaker 2: like winning the lottery. So getting one that resonates with
Speaker 2: people and that I would watch and be entertained by
Speaker 2: myself is I don't know, winning the triple lottery or something,
Speaker 2: So I would I would be happy to shake Ron's
Speaker 2: hand and then serve him mistake.
Speaker 4: If he showed up?
Speaker 3: Aren't Nick and Meghan wonderful?
Speaker 7: Look If Parks and Recreation and Will and Grace are
Speaker 7: the only exposure you've had to them, you are really
Speaker 7: in for a treat when you start to explore the
Speaker 7: great breadth of their work. And Nick and Meghan will
Speaker 7: be performing together in Australia in June. Will pop all
Speaker 7: the links that you need to book tickets and other
Speaker 7: little bits and bobs in the show notes. The executive
Speaker 7: producer of No Filter is me Naima Brown.
Speaker 3: Our senior producer is Grace Rufrey. Sound design is by
Speaker 3: Jacob Brown and Kate ling Brook. Will be back in
Speaker 3: your ears on Monday. Thank you for listening.