WEBVTT - Catching Up With Friends with John Benjamin Hickey... (Compulsive Shower Guy) 0:00:01.639 --> 0:00:04.880 Hi, I'm Kristen Davis, and I want to know are 0:00:04.880 --> 0:00:09.119 you a Charlotte? This is very exciting, you guys. We 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.920 are in the sidebar part of Are You a Charlotte, 0:00:12.960 --> 0:00:15.800 which is catching up with friends, and here we have 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:18.040 the incredible John Benjaminicky. 0:00:18.720 --> 0:00:19.799 Yeah. 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:22.760 Now we are a little bit past his episode. I've 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:24.840 been trying to get him on. Okay, he's a hot ticket, 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:25.239 you guys. 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:26.160 I didn't realize. 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:28.880 I was so busy. Yeah, we were much desired. 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.400 Trying to figure out what I was doing that I 0:00:30.440 --> 0:00:31.720 could be so unavailable. 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:32.360 But here I am. 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:34.400 That's okay. It was important stuff. You told me at 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:36.879 the premiere what you're doing, and I totally understand. Yes, 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:38.640 it's okay, it's okay, but you're here now and that's 0:00:38.680 --> 0:00:42.240 all that matters. So John is in the first season, 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:43.839 which really surprised both of us. 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:44.559 Yeah, exactly. 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:47.080 We thought it was like later on in the run. 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:50.320 Absolutely, I would have probably said end of the second 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:52.080 maybe even the third third. 0:00:51.840 --> 0:00:55.200 Which I think of as our best season. If we 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:56.880 have to pick an overall season in. 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:58.720 My episode for your episode, that's. 0:00:58.560 --> 0:00:59.960 Why I'm saying I would put it in the bed 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:02.560 because it's such a good episode and it was written 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:05.960 by Michael Patrick King, which you can completely tell. Oh god, yes, 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.640 John plays the Catholic Guy. He has a real name, 0:01:08.720 --> 0:01:11.840 is called Thomas John Anderson, which is kind of funny 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:15.920 because John Benja three and he's playing Michael Patrick King 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:19.760 basically and his own episode, and he is called the 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.240 Catholic Guy. That's what we call him in the shorthand 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:25.759 to the friends. And he's opposite Cynthia and they are incredible. 0:01:25.800 --> 0:01:28.679 This episode was directed by Matthew Harrison. We don't have 0:01:28.720 --> 0:01:30.480 a ton of memories about him. We're really sorry, I 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:32.240 who it's apologized. 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.120 If I never remember the direct vivid memories of MPK 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:38.680 not directing me, but just he's such a brilliant, extraordinary 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:41.360 presence on set and his writing was so great that 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:43.479 I remember him and of course have known him all 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:46.760 these years after. But yeah, I don't remember the directors. 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:48.520 I know, but that's not because he didn't direct a 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:49.120 great episode. 0:01:49.160 --> 0:01:50.880 Absolutely, because that's an episode. 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:52.240 Good director disappears a little bit. 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:54.160 This is a good point. And you also direct, so 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:56.559 you know very well. You know very well, so tell 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:59.720 us your memories and your thoughts about the new It 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:00.880 was relatively new show. 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.000 Yeah, how is this a G rated program? 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:07.040 Okay, great, Well, what I vividly remember is being on 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:11.120 top of Cynthia, having being in the throes of passion 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:15.760 and having orgasm after or fake orgasm after orgasm, and 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:18.639 getting up and sharing. And you know a lot of 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:21.560 people have seen it in syndication and all that stuff's out, 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:25.360 but in the I guess the DVD or box set 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.280 or whatever you call it these days, you. 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:28.960 See all of those sex scenes. 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:34.240 So what I remember most vividly is being in bed 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:39.240 in flagrante with Cynthia Nixon. Thank goodness, I had known her. 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:42.560 We'd done a play together, which is the way you 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.760 get very intimate, very quickly, is by being on stage together. 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:48.800 And we had such a great time doing this play 0:02:48.840 --> 0:02:51.560 and such a great rapport and such great trust that 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:55.080 we immediately threw ourselves into it. And you know, this 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:57.440 was before Sex and the City was Sex and the City, 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:00.760 So going to that set and having to do such 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:02.800 a huge. 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:05.480 Sex scene was really nerve racking. 0:03:06.080 --> 0:03:10.720 Nerve racking, So that's my biggest memory is just being 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:14.200 on top of Cynthia, and you know, and then the 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:18.080 casual after an hour or two, it becomes so casual, like, 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:19.400 what are you gonna have for lunch? I think I'm 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:22.320 gonna have that, you know, totally both yeah, naked, and 0:03:22.360 --> 0:03:25.480 I mean we all had We've talked about cook socks 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:28.320 and all that stuff. Yeah, right, right right, and I 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:30.040 guess I remember the cok sock as well. 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:32.320 There you go. Very memorable. I mean the thing about 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.080 Cynthia too, which is a theme in every guy that 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:37.320 I've ever spoken to who was opposite hers, that she 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:42.160 has no real fear or self consciousness about it. 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:45.160 Yeah, no she doesn't. But listen, this is the all 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:49.800 of your reputations precede you when actors go on your show. 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:53.720 And this was true twenty how many years ago, twenty. 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:57.680 Five years, twenty seven or six, unbelievable, And now you 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:00.800 get a job on that show and you're decided to 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.560 go there because of the way you guys treat people. 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:06.480 It's guesting on a show, even if you're in the 0:04:06.520 --> 0:04:11.200 first season or now, is being is like being forced 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:13.920 to go to somebody else's office Christmas party. You know, 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:16.800 there might be a little bit of a feeling of 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:20.880 nobody really understands why you're there, but you're there, and 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:24.200 so it's very important for the top of the call sheet. 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.440 To treat people, you know, this very very well. To 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:30.960 make people feel comfortable one of the biggest parts of 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:34.160 the job. And this was a show that did that 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:37.560 even then. And you know, Cynthia was amazing that way, 0:04:37.600 --> 0:04:41.919 because she's so free, such a great actress, and so 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.839 unintimidated and unintimidating. 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:49.960 Absolutely. I mean it's funny because she sometimes I would 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:52.159 be so worried if she had one of these scenes 0:04:52.200 --> 0:04:53.840 because I was like, she's not going to take care 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:56.080 of herself, and you know, not with you, because you're 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.200 a season pro. But like sometimes people just grab an 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.560 all crazy way and no one would say like stop, 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:03.920 and I think, like I should go, I should go, 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.039 and she'd be like delicate, delicate, you know, But she 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:09.760 didn't care. And that's so freeing when you're watching her. 0:05:09.880 --> 0:05:14.120 Yeah, yeah, really, she's really she's really fearless. We went 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:16.560 on to do another series together called The Big c 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:21.000 and had so many sex scenes. Like I think maybe 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:24.600 as many sex scenes as Cynthia has played over the years, 0:05:24.839 --> 0:05:26.680 I might be at the top of the list of 0:05:26.720 --> 0:05:27.839 the just the quantity. 0:05:28.040 --> 0:05:31.360 I love it, and I hope the quality. But you 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:32.159 did a lot. 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.320 Together, and oh my god, by the end of our 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:36.279 run on the Big Sea together, we were. 0:05:36.160 --> 0:05:39.240 Like amazing, like an old Mary com I know, really 0:05:39.279 --> 0:05:42.200 love that because you're so perfectly matched. You know, you 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:44.760 are so complex as an actor, which I think you 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:47.640 often like are more into your directing now and whatever. 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:49.480 But to me, whenever I watch you on film, you're 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.560 so complicated, and she also has so many layers, and 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:55.279 she kind of does it so effortlessly. Wish you as well, 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:58.480 because you've been doing it so long. It's very interesting 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:00.080 to watch. I could see why they would cast you 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.680 again opposite each other. It makes perfect sense. So way back, 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.280 take yourself way back. Do you remember, like, what were 0:06:06.320 --> 0:06:08.200 you doing? You've done this play with Cynthia. You were 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:09.560 on Broadway, you were doing yep. 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.600 I want to say I done a play a playwrights 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:14.440 rising It's called on the Bum with Cynthia, which is 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:17.200 one of the great experiences of both of our lives. 0:06:17.320 --> 0:06:18.479 I think she would say the same. 0:06:18.560 --> 0:06:21.080 It's just an amazing group of actors, a very large 0:06:21.120 --> 0:06:25.920 cast and all of off Broadway's finest Campbell, Scott and yeah, 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:30.080 just incredible people. And Cynthia and I really had a 0:06:30.080 --> 0:06:33.200 great bond. I do remember that her mother sent me 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.719 a note. Cynthia was very and if her mom liked 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:37.920 an actor she was playing opposite. 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.880 You really rose in the ranks. You rose in her eyes. 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:43.760 I'm still very proud of that. 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:50.960 Yeah, and so I feel like I knew going in 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.280 that that I was going to be well taken care of. 0:06:56.040 --> 0:07:00.719 I don't remember. I don't think I auditioned for the part. 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.680 I think I was offered the part, which so perfect, Yeah, 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:04.920 which was very rare back then. 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:06.640 I auditioned for everything happily. 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.320 Would audition again if it was a role like what's 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:10.640 his name, Paul Thomas Anderson. 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:14.239 That's a director, Thomas J and N Anderson. 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:18.760 But I don't remember auditioning for it. 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.720 But would that have been Sir Jessica's relationship with you? 0:07:22.760 --> 0:07:25.880 Maybe, yes, we were. We were close back then, but 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:31.120 we got really close. Maybe in seasons three, four and 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.520 five we were. We got closer as friends then in 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:36.480 the beginning, I don't think we were quite that close. 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:40.160 We knew each other, but not that well. To be 0:07:40.240 --> 0:07:42.760 completely honest, I don't know. I don't know. 0:07:42.880 --> 0:07:44.440 I think it was because you were so perfect for 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:44.960 that part. 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:48.360 I guess uh, and and you know, but there's a 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:52.280 there's a fear in that because if you haven't auditioned, 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:56.800 you're going in and you're thinking, I hope they I 0:07:56.840 --> 0:07:59.080 think they've made the right decision, and I hope I 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.720 don't show up and they're like, oh, that's not what 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.720 we wanted, because if you have auditioned, then they've seen 0:08:04.880 --> 0:08:09.880 what you're what you're bringing. So I went in cold, 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:11.560 and when you're having to do nude scenes, you want 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:15.120 to be very warm. You want to be warm warmed 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:18.480 up pretty quickly. And I think it was one day. 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:21.600 Maybe you're kidding, Yeah, maybe, Oh my god. 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.680 You're so tremendous. It's crazy to think you would have 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:26.760 done that in one day because you're so mad. You 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:29.320 get so angry when she tries to tell you not 0:08:29.440 --> 0:08:30.000 to shower. 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:35.520 I'm on the rain, complete Catholic meltdown. Oh excuse me. 0:08:35.920 --> 0:08:38.319 I'm so sorry that you think I'm not going to 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:39.640 go to hell for having sex. 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.280 Yeah, yeah, that fixes it. You're like, that fixes it 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.080 right away. It's so good. 0:08:44.200 --> 0:08:50.080 And I vividly remember MPK and the wonderful director saying 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:51.840 go further, because you know, I was a theater actor 0:08:51.880 --> 0:08:54.000 and I was like, oh boy, that was probably really 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:57.120 over the top, and Michael's like, no, get madd go further, 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:02.439 really lose your on her and loving it and having 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:05.760 a ball. And at that point we had simulated sex 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:12.000 and orgasm so many times together that we could do anything. 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:16.400 Absolutely, absolutely, so for me, when I think back on 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:18.600 the first season, this is what's been so interesting to 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:20.840 rewatch it. First of all, I thought the first season 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.000 that we weren't together. When I watch it back, I'm like, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:24.880 all the pieces are there. We might not have been 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:28.800 completely structurally together the writing, but like the acting and 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:31.600 everything is so great, so much better. Yeah, that I remember, 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:35.679 But we definitely did the whole first season without anything airing, right, 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.520 which is kind of wonderful in a way because you're 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:42.679 just being creative without any outside input, but also scary, 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:45.280 kind of like not auditioning for a part because you 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:47.720 have no idea how people are going to respond, absolutely, 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:49.680 and I remember having a lot of anxiety about that 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:51.719 and talking to each other like a people going to 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:54.560 freak out, which some people did right, And then it 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.079 went well and it got bigger and bigger. Like third 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.760 season is when I consider us to have gotten kind 0:09:59.760 --> 0:10:02.280 of popular. That's what I felt at least, But do 0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:04.720 you remember, like what was your feeling being on the 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:06.440 show and then having people see it. 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:11.439 As you describe the only way I can really articulate 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:16.400 it is very niche Like my family in Texas didn't 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:20.760 have HBO, so and I was probably relieved because there 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:25.080 was so much sex going on that that I probably 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:27.679 had some relief in that. But I remember it being 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:31.720 very blue, you know, blue as in a little more 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.160 than R rated for the time, especially now it's like, 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:41.360 you know, but it felt way out in Queen's Yes, 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:44.640 and I mean that in the metaphoric sense as well. 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:48.200 It seemed like to be way over there. HBO was 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:52.480 so the wild wild West. Yeah. 0:10:52.520 --> 0:10:56.640 And I it's interesting because I'm good pals with Darren 0:10:56.760 --> 0:10:59.560 Star because my partner Jeffrey Richmond and he created this 0:10:59.600 --> 0:11:02.559 beautiful show called Uncoupled Together, and I've spent time with 0:11:02.640 --> 0:11:05.920 Darren through the years. But he talks about that first 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:10.200 season and he's very articulate about like none of us 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:14.600 knew really what we had or what you guys had 0:11:14.640 --> 0:11:17.959 worked together before, of course, and he and Sarah had 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:21.679 never worked together. And then Michael coming in and doing 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:25.280 such an amazing job kind of helping the show explode, 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.360 and Darren gives him such a major props for that. 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:32.200 Yeah so, but everybody to a person never really talked 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.439 to MPK about it or like, wow, I wonder if this. 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:36.679 Is ever going to. 0:11:38.120 --> 0:11:44.800 Catch more than just a specific population's imagination, because it 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:50.000 was really out there. So that's that's basically my memory exact. 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:54.839 It wasn't TV, baby, it was HBO, and TV was 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:57.840 a completely different thing, and now, of course everything is 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:01.760 kind of melded together, and Sex and the City was 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:03.520 the pioneer of that. 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:06.920 Thank you. That's so nice, really is so tell me 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:08.920 you when I saw you at the premiere, which was 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:11.320 so nice to see there at our crazy, crazy party 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:12.120 that they threw for us. 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:14.400 It's insane. I've never seen more people in my life. 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:16.640 And let me just say too that, like I live 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:18.679 right down the street from where the party was, so 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:20.480 we threw on a pair of jeans, like let's just 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:22.920 go say hi. I mean because Sex and the City 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:25.079 and just like that have been such a part of 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:27.959 my life, our lives of Yeah, yeah, so long, I 0:12:28.559 --> 0:12:31.079 don't think of it as a big deal. This party 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:35.960 was so fucking packed and so packed with young people. 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:39.120 I know, young young people who were just so happy 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.280 to be there were so maybe it did my heart 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:44.080 so good. It is so means so much to so 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:47.160 many people, not just us old folks. 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.000 Absolutely absolutely, And also we didn't this was the first 0:12:50.040 --> 0:12:52.640 time that they had thrown this type of an event, 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:54.120 fir Us. We used to it in the olden days, 0:12:54.120 --> 0:12:56.600 which I'm sure you came yea of those huge parties 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:59.120 with the pr and that bed in front of like 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:03.160 Lincoln Zentner. Do you remember this, like insane level parties. 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:06.439 But this was not a premiere exactly, so we didn't 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:08.719 exactly know how to dress. We didn't really know what 0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:10.600 we were doing, and we didn't really know who they 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:14.000 invent invited. And they kept talking about activations which were 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:17.520 still just like what you tell me, you're not knowing 0:13:17.559 --> 0:13:20.400 it has to do with social media, and I don't 0:13:20.480 --> 0:13:25.120 totally understand it, but in that party was a Hot 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:28.520 Fella's activation, and that's why those guys were their dresses 0:13:28.559 --> 0:13:31.240 hot fellas. And I believe that, yes, Mario's Bakery and 0:13:31.679 --> 0:13:33.280 just like that, and maybe there was bread there. I 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:35.200 don't know. I never saw any bread, but maybe there 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:37.240 was bread. I'm not sure. I'm not sure, but that 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:40.520 was an activation and then there was maybe another activation. 0:13:40.800 --> 0:13:42.920 I don't know, but like there were just a lot 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.040 of people there, and I mean very cool people were 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.120 there who later texted me on Instagram that they'd been 0:13:48.160 --> 0:13:50.320 there because I couldn't find anybody. We were in that 0:13:50.400 --> 0:13:52.120 corner and we were like trapped in that corner. 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:54.880 I mean, if you wanted to bread a hot cross 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:59.760 bun for one of those about twenty five. 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.640 But it was so nice to see amazing, It was amazing. 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:07.480 Also you bring up, you know, the bakery, and you 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:10.600 have such chemistry with such people who have. 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:11.440 Been in my life. 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.360 Mario and Evan, I mean have known Evan since, you know, 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:18.760 he made this massive uh took New York by storm 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.040 with his show Time under Fire, which was about his 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.240 sickness and yes, and he was just always been one 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.240 of my favorite actors and favorite people. And Canton, of 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.720 course I've known Mario Cantone replaced Nathan Lane in Love 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.800 Valor Compassion, which is the first Broadway play I did, Wow, 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:37.880 and he and I were instant best buddies, and it 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:40.840 remains one of my favorite people on the planet. And 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:43.240 how hard it must be to go to work with 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:44.960 Mario every day because he's not funny. 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:46.160 He doesn't know how to do. 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.840 It's so painful, Paul. I mean, the one challenge is 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.120 that Michael loves to give him like a lot of props, 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:54.520 and that's not really Mario's I was like, please let 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:56.560 me sing. I just want to say, I don't really 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:59.120 want to do you a microphone exactly, give you a microphone, 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.880 not a loaf of bread. But he's he's growing and expanding, 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:04.960 you know, every season. 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:07.080 Credit because he's not I mean, he's a great actor, 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:08.760 but it was he hasn't done a lot of tell it. 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:11.000 It wasn't his thing when we hired him. He was 0:15:11.120 --> 0:15:12.920 and he was only supposed to do a few episodes, 0:15:12.960 --> 0:15:14.480 as he told us when he came on the podcast, 0:15:14.600 --> 0:15:16.640 which is also what I love. And it's amazing because 0:15:16.680 --> 0:15:18.560 as much as I know you, I don't even know 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.520 all your connections. I just know that you're part of 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:21.000 the family. 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:24.120 Well that yeah, when you're on a show in New York, 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.160 and when it's an as iconic a show as this 0:15:27.360 --> 0:15:29.200 New York show as this is, and there are very 0:15:29.200 --> 0:15:30.040 few who that are. 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.320 You really do attract. 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:34.960 That's one of the great things about shooting in New 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:38.560 York City, man, is you get Fanny Sternhagen, Mary and 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.360 Selda's you know, you get you get the greatest character 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:42.320 actors in New York. 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:57.720 So when John Benjaminski who plays Thomas, John Anderson many 0:15:57.840 --> 0:16:00.200 so many names in Oh Come All, Ye Faithful, Well 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:02.600 that's the episode just to refresher, but it was maybe 0:16:02.680 --> 0:16:06.200 like three four episodes. We recapped it ago and is 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:09.160 the one where Carrie and Miranda go to a church 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:13.520 because Carrie wants to see Big and his mother because 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:14.920 she wants to hang out with him on Sunday. And 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:16.600 he says, no, I go to church every Sunday with 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:19.080 my mother, which She's just like what, And so she 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:21.160 wants to go. So they wear these huge hats because 0:16:21.160 --> 0:16:25.040 they're going to hide up in the balcony of a 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:27.120 beautiful big church. I should know which one it is. 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.440 And then he comes out and she's across the street 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.880 and her joggers looking so cool with her cigarette, and 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.160 his mom is played by this incredible woman, incredible actress 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:40.160 and teacher named Mary and Sildas who was Hiickey's teacher 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:41.000 at Juli are. 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.400 Yes As she was so many many, Kevin Klein, Patti Lapone, 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.320 from group one to I was Group eighteen to probably 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:52.360 group thirty five. Marian there ushering us into our careers 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:55.360 and our lives as actors. And there was no greater teacher, 0:16:55.480 --> 0:17:00.080 no greater actor, no greater person of the theater in 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:03.200 the history of the twentieth century than Mary. 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:06.040 Yes, her presence, I mean she doesn't have a lot 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:08.280 to do in our episode, but just her presence standing 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:09.400 there is so powerful. 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:11.920 Absolutely, absolutely, it was real cool. 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:14.920 And you were saying earlier she was so perfect as 0:17:14.960 --> 0:17:18.480 BIG's mom because she's kind of a big person herself. 0:17:18.520 --> 0:17:21.800 Big presence, Yeah, intimidating and kind of aloof to where 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.240 you can't read her. It makes such perfect sense for 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.439 his character that he has a mom like that that 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:29.480 he kind of caters to. You know, it's super interesting. 0:17:29.680 --> 0:17:32.680 I did a production of The Crucible on Broadway and 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:36.120 with his credit it was Yeah, Laurea Lenny Liams an amazing, 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:39.760 amazing production and Brian the great actor Brian Murray was 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:41.760 in it. Who is Marian's best friend. And Marian came 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:43.800 to see the show and I said, oh God, I 0:17:43.800 --> 0:17:46.359 hope Marian likes it. And he said, well, if she doesn't, 0:17:46.480 --> 0:17:48.520 you're never going to know. I was like, what a 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:51.680 great thing, because she's such a gracious, warm human being. 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:55.280 She gives great backstage. You know, she's not there to 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:59.160 tear anybody down. She's Yeah, she's the greatest, the greatest. 0:17:59.440 --> 0:18:02.000 So you also said when I saw you at the party, 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:03.840 and I was I just looked at you. I didn't 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:05.320 even say anything, I don't think, and You're like, I'm 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:07.400 coming on the podcast. I was like, thank god, because 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.240 I've just been waiting. I'd just been waiting ran you'd come. 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.920 And you said, I have so many memories of Cynthia 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:16.400 Michael and I think you said Sarah too, So even 0:18:16.400 --> 0:18:18.960 though you weren't super close, do you remember those early days, 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:20.159 because she remembers. 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:26.640 Yeah, I just remember how lucky I felt. She had 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:30.280 done a play at Lincoln Center, and she, even though 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:33.280 she doesn't remember anything, she remembers meeting me, which is 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:37.320 a terribly flattering more than I do. She met me 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:39.359 on the stairs of Lincoln Center, and I think it 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:41.120 was what was what year? 0:18:41.200 --> 0:18:44.520 Was the first season we filmed? In ninety seven. I 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:45.840 didn't come on til ninety eight. 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:52.200 Yeah, yeah, wow, Yeah, So we were really good pals 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:58.000 by then. I think I remember being very glad that 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.119 my stuff was with Cynthia because I had become the 0:19:01.280 --> 0:19:05.080 kind of friend with Sarah at that point that that 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:06.120 I would have been. 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:06.760 Uh. 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:09.800 I think I would have been more intimidated by taking 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:10.920 my clothes off in front. 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:12.520 I mean, that would be weird, and she would too. 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:14.280 I mean she has we both know, and I'm sure 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:18.800 you've said many times she's an incredibly shy, discreet person 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:23.480 that she is not Carrie Bradshaw, which is a testament 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:25.600 to her just brilliant acting. 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:28.520 Chops absolutely and in my mind just sidebar because you 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:31.040 know her so well. I believe that that's one of 0:19:31.080 --> 0:19:34.440