Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, it's Bruce. Thanks for pulling up a shriff
Speaker 1: for another bonus episode of Table for Two. At the
Speaker 1: start of this year, I sat down with one of
Speaker 1: Hollywood's most stylish men, director Paul Figue. We didn't do
Speaker 1: a lightning round during our lunch, but I had so
Speaker 1: many questions for Paul that I jumped on a zoom
Speaker 1: with him a couple of days ago.
Speaker 2: He was in London.
Speaker 1: Promoting his new movie, Jackpot, and while we weren't face
Speaker 1: to face, we still had a little drink together. I
Speaker 1: hope you enjoy our conversation and we'll be back with
Speaker 1: the full interview next week.
Speaker 3: Hey, Bruce, how are you. What a beautiful surprise.
Speaker 2: And you're looking very dapper. Oh my god, what are
Speaker 2: we drinking?
Speaker 3: I invented a drink. Were doing a press screening of
Speaker 3: my movie Jackpot tonight, and so I invented a cocktail
Speaker 3: for it, called the Jackpot Tail, and it's gin in
Speaker 3: blue carousol and a pair brandy.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 4: Well, you know what, I'll have a little with you
Speaker 4: here in the morning, so sears to your movie tonight,
Speaker 4: My friend, this is exciting. Okay, as we sit here
Speaker 4: with mister Paulfi we are going to do.
Speaker 2: Our quick round.
Speaker 4: Okay, okay, ready, advice that changed your life? Oh god,
Speaker 4: I'll start small, I start small.
Speaker 3: I mean really yeah, thanks Bruce Jesus Christ. I've been
Speaker 3: given some really good advice in my life. I think
Speaker 3: it was probably I don't remember who gave it to me,
Speaker 3: but it was right what you know. I mean, honestly,
Speaker 3: I think it partly formulated it myself out of things
Speaker 3: that I learned when I was being very unsuccessful as
Speaker 3: a writer, trying to create things out of you know,
Speaker 3: completely out of the air, and thought it was cheating
Speaker 3: to write, you know, kind of things that happen in
Speaker 3: your life about people that you know, and then realize
Speaker 3: the best writing I've ever done was that. And you
Speaker 3: and all writers write from what they know. You can't,
Speaker 3: you know, if you're a sci fi writer, you're still
Speaker 3: writing about things that you've gone through. You just them
Speaker 3: in a bigger world. So I think, yeah, that kind
Speaker 3: of honesty is what you need in you're writing.
Speaker 4: I think that's really important for young writers to hear,
Speaker 4: or young you know, screenwriters to hear write what you know.
Speaker 2: When people veer off, it tends not to resonate.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and not did come from anything, because literally, when
Speaker 4: we talk about jackpot in a second, right, what you know?
Speaker 3: And then if you have put it in a bigger world,
Speaker 3: put it in a big commercial world.
Speaker 2: Okay. Biggest pet peeve.
Speaker 3: Oh Man, vodka martinis. Why because they're not real martini's.
Speaker 3: But martinis are supposed to be gin. Every Ready hates
Speaker 3: me when I say this because everybody loves vodka martini's.
Speaker 3: I love vodka, it's great, but a martini is all
Speaker 3: about gin, and it's really you know, the vermouth is
Speaker 3: in there to kind of soften the edges of the gin,
Speaker 3: but it's all about tasting the gin. And when you
Speaker 3: have a vodka martini, all you're tasting is vermouth and
Speaker 3: the lemon or the twist that you put into it,
Speaker 3: because you know, vodka tastes like really nice water. So yeah,
Speaker 3: what's the point. So you've got to learn to gin
Speaker 3: if you like martini. And my other pet peeve is
Speaker 3: when you ask for martini and the bartender says vodka
Speaker 3: or gin, it's like I said, a martini. If I
Speaker 3: asked it, very vodka martini, that's it. But if I
Speaker 3: say martini, it's gin. So there you are.
Speaker 2: That's the OG. The OG martini means gin G. Do
Speaker 2: you does gin?
Speaker 4: So is it like a dirty martini? Is that only
Speaker 4: with vodka? Or is that with gin too? You'd have
Speaker 4: a dirty gin martini.
Speaker 3: Anything that you call a martini should be with gin.
Speaker 3: The only exception of the rule, and I will let
Speaker 3: this happen, is an espresso martini, which which yes, when
Speaker 3: we went through the nineties in the two thousands where
Speaker 3: every barhead their martini menu and it was like anything
Speaker 3: they dumped into a martini glass like this was considered
Speaker 3: a martini. No, I'm sorry, it's not the glass, it's
Speaker 3: the drink society. So I'm a cranky old man when
Speaker 3: it comes to this stuff.
Speaker 2: No, you're not cranky.
Speaker 4: You are a perfectionist when it comes to your drinks,
Speaker 4: your cocktails, your style.
Speaker 2: You know how you want You're a man who knows
Speaker 2: how you know you want to live. And it's very
Speaker 2: clear person you text most.
Speaker 3: It should be my wife, but it's it's a tie
Speaker 3: between my wife and and my producing partner Laura Fisher.
Speaker 3: So yeah, because you know one I'm working with and
Speaker 3: one I'm living with. So h But I think if
Speaker 3: I had to tip the scales. I think it probably
Speaker 3: I'm texting my wife. More problem is my wife is
Speaker 3: a terrible texter because she'll text me something like I
Speaker 3: need to know this now, right back, right away, here
Speaker 3: it is, and then she never writes me back, so like,
Speaker 3: did you get that? Oh yeah, I got it? Well
Speaker 3: let me know you got it. Put a K or
Speaker 3: something or a smiley face.
Speaker 2: Let me tell you. That's Brian Lord all the way?
Speaker 2: Where to go?
Speaker 4: Like I thought we were in a conversation. Do you
Speaker 4: feel when you test with you?
Speaker 2: Like with like?
Speaker 4: So I have a thing about text So if you
Speaker 4: text me and then I text you back, but it's
Speaker 4: like an open it's like a tennis match. There's a
Speaker 4: final text that should come through. And most like especially
Speaker 4: if people don't hear what they want to hear, they
Speaker 4: just disappear.
Speaker 2: You're like, yeah, where'd you go?
Speaker 3: I know I am. I'll admit I am guilty of that.
Speaker 3: If somebody writes me a text that I I don't like,
Speaker 3: I just won't. I'll just ghost them, which I hope.
Speaker 3: I know. It's terrible. That's really bad. That's your pet,
Speaker 3: peeve is what I do?
Speaker 2: Right? It is exactly. So, okay. Three things you would
Speaker 2: bring to a desert island?
Speaker 3: Mmm? Everything I own? No, I would bring. I would
Speaker 3: bring a bottle of jit because I'm a big lush.
Speaker 3: I would bring a guitar because you know, why would
Speaker 3: you not? And uh, boy, for the last thing, what
Speaker 3: would I bring? Because there's so many things I love?
Speaker 3: I would bring a hat a cowboy.
Speaker 4: Hated to protect, right, okay protect?
Speaker 3: And I look good in a cowboy yet I'm just
Speaker 3: I'm I'm just not gonna pull pull punch.
Speaker 4: There's not a thing you don't look good, and that
Speaker 4: has been established. It's in Hollywood forever. Bless you were
Speaker 4: growing up, what was your dream car?
Speaker 3: My dream car was a t R seven, which was
Speaker 3: I forget even who made it, but they would you're
Speaker 3: too young. It was it was a wedge shaped car.
Speaker 3: It was a sports car, but it was shaped like
Speaker 3: a wedge and I just remember thinking it was the
Speaker 3: coolest thing ever and I really wanted one of those.
Speaker 2: Did you ever get one?
Speaker 3: No? No, no, I mean I stually look around now
Speaker 3: that I uh that I need a car, I guess.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it might be time to sort of forget that.
Speaker 2: You know, you've earned it. Let's just say I got
Speaker 2: a final one. The biggest career regret. Is there a
Speaker 2: regret that you have in your career a movie you
Speaker 2: didn't do?
Speaker 3: There is, but I can't say, Okay, yeah, it was
Speaker 3: something that was offered to me to get me, keep
Speaker 3: me from going to another studio to do something else.
Speaker 3: But I didn't get it at the time because I
Speaker 3: didn't quite see what it was supposed to be. And
Speaker 3: then it turned out to be this giant But I can't.
Speaker 3: I can't say what it is because then it'll it'll
Speaker 3: start a whole thing.
Speaker 4: So I'm going to tell you when we are at
Speaker 4: a bar having our martinis.
Speaker 2: Jim, you're telling me.
Speaker 3: I'm telling you this story because you know all the
Speaker 3: people involved, and.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, this is exciting. So what is your
Speaker 2: idea of a good time?
Speaker 3: My idea of a good time is being with friends
Speaker 3: and having great food and great drinks, which sounds pedestrian,
Speaker 3: but it's just I look forward to like if somebody,
Speaker 3: especially if somebody I like, only into restaurants with people,
Speaker 3: that's really fun for me. But I really like when
Speaker 3: somebody's like, Hey, we're gonna cook and come over. We're
Speaker 3: gonna have martiniz. That just happened last night. I went
Speaker 3: to my friend Paul and Eric, who live in London
Speaker 3: here invited Laurie and I and our other friends George
Speaker 3: and Trish over for dinner. Eric's a master PATISSERII. When
Speaker 3: you have a patisserie and you're a chef, you're a patisar.
Speaker 3: I don't know what why not he's a pastry chef.
Speaker 3: I was trying to be fancy and the head is over.
Speaker 3: He cooked this amazing meal. They had amazing champagne and
Speaker 3: wine and you know, and we were having jin and
Speaker 3: soda and martinis and and fun conversation and just lots
Speaker 3: of jokes and just happy times. And I love it
Speaker 3: because you can really relax. And also I like about
Speaker 3: eating somebody's house is if we get loud, I'm not
Speaker 3: I'm always really concerned about being loud in loud places
Speaker 3: and trying to ruining other people's good time if we're
Speaker 3: too noisy, and so I'm trying to pull everybody down
Speaker 3: a little bit. So when you're somebody's house, like you
Speaker 3: just go nuts. And it's it's such a nice feeling.
Speaker 2: Right now, that's true.
Speaker 4: You could just be loud, especially, you know when we
Speaker 4: like to have a couple of cocktails.
Speaker 3: We like that exactly.
Speaker 2: So what is it then, what would be your guilty pleasure?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's so fun. I try not to
Speaker 3: be guilty about too much stuff. I think over the years,
Speaker 3: there was stuff I'd be like, oh, I would never
Speaker 3: admit to that. Now I'm just like things like I
Speaker 3: just like, you know, pop music and stuff like that.
Speaker 3: I love country music. There's music that I was always
Speaker 3: felt like, Oh, you're not supposed to admit you like that,
Speaker 3: likes you know, some popular song or some you know,
Speaker 3: thing that's really commercal. And I realized I cut myself
Speaker 3: out of a lot of fun, you know, like I mean,
Speaker 3: you know, the small example, but like you know, in
Speaker 3: the nineties or whatever, you're like, oh, Britney Spears, Oh
Speaker 3: that's so poppy. We don't like that. I love Britney
Speaker 3: Spears music now, like I'll put on like a Britney
Speaker 3: Spears playlist. I'm like, why did I not give myself
Speaker 3: the gift of how much fun this is to dance
Speaker 3: to and listen to? Because I was trying to be
Speaker 3: so oh I'm counter culture and you know I'm not
Speaker 3: going to be manipulated by you know, commercialism and all
Speaker 3: that stuff. It's that weird thing you get when you're young,
Speaker 3: where you're you know, young as an artist, especially of like, oh,
Speaker 3: I reject stuff. I think the only thing I enjoy
Speaker 3: still is is reality TV, just because I don't because
Speaker 3: I know too much about how show business made and
Speaker 3: I know if there's cameras in your face, you're not
Speaker 3: acting real. So the only reality TV that I think
Speaker 3: is really true reality TV was candid Camera because people
Speaker 3: didn't know that there is.
Speaker 4: Yes completely And I would say the same thing happened
Speaker 4: with me with Lady Gaga way back when she was
Speaker 4: the first hit.
Speaker 2: I was like, oh please, and now I mean, I.
Speaker 3: Mean, who's who's greater. Yeah, there's a reason why people
Speaker 3: like stuff, you know, well a lot of people like it,
Speaker 3: and so we're just like, I'm tired of I get
Speaker 3: tired of being like the grumpy guy. Like you know,
Speaker 3: I don't like.
Speaker 4: That you're not Grumpany actor or actress that you haven't
Speaker 4: worked with that you'd like.
Speaker 3: To Oh, there's so many. There's so many, Bruce, I know,
Speaker 3: and I hate to single anybody out. I mean I'll
Speaker 3: just go back to like old wish lists, and like
Speaker 3: I've always want to work with John Lawrence. I think
Speaker 3: she's great and I actually got to have dinner with
Speaker 3: her years ago and we really had so much fun.
Speaker 3: And when I see her occasional, she's like, hey when
Speaker 3: we do when we do a movie together, and I'm
Speaker 3: like dying to figure one out. So hopefully that will
Speaker 3: happen someday.
Speaker 2: I mean next level.
Speaker 4: I love her, Okay, So you know our final question
Speaker 4: is would you kill for the jackpot?
Speaker 3: Like in my movie Jackpot opening August fifteenth.
Speaker 4: Right, that's like right, I forgot to plug it in
Speaker 4: full No, no, sorry, but.
Speaker 2: Like and I kept thinking to myself, would I kill
Speaker 2: for the Jackpot?
Speaker 3: You know, Well, it's an interesting it was in the
Speaker 3: by the rule, I don't think I would, but but
Speaker 3: by the rules of our movie, it's that you almost
Speaker 3: have to put it through that because of like, if
Speaker 3: anything goes and you could kill somebody with however you
Speaker 3: wanted to, I think or people might consider it meaning guns.
Speaker 3: But at my movie, the only rule in the lotteries
Speaker 3: you can't use a gun, which means you got to
Speaker 3: kill somebody up close, so you got to look at
Speaker 3: the face, struggle and do it. And I don't know.
Speaker 3: I could never do that. I can't kill like a fly.
Speaker 3: I feel bad. I'm always scooping up spiders that take
Speaker 3: him outside. As my wife yaels of me to kill it.
Speaker 4: I mean, I would say, I mean, And it was
Speaker 4: you you incorporate with Jackpot. It's so great because there's
Speaker 4: such like high level tension, there's such humor, there's like
Speaker 4: so many things going on at the same time, and
Speaker 4: with the ethical.
Speaker 2: Question of like what would you do? I don't know.
Speaker 4: That was a pretty high Jackpot. I think I might
Speaker 4: just take somebody out rebellion.
Speaker 3: I know it might be worthy because you know, no no,
Speaker 3: no concept. But would you feel guilty of the rest
Speaker 3: of your life? That's the question?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think you know, like anything, you don't think
Speaker 4: you would and it probably would destroy your psyche for
Speaker 4: the rest of your life, probably.
Speaker 3: Exactly as you're floating on your yacht.
Speaker 4: Yeah, as you're on your yacht right covered and remind
Speaker 4: us again, what's the cocktail for tonight's premiere.
Speaker 3: The cocktail is called it's called the Jackpot tail, and
Speaker 3: so it's Jackpot tail. So like you got the pun.
Speaker 3: If I have to explain the pun, then I've told
Speaker 3: a bad joke and it's delicious. It's I'll tell you
Speaker 3: right now. It's two ounces of gin arting stalls, brilliant
Speaker 3: London dry gin. There you go, half ounce of blue Carousau,
Speaker 3: which is your orange, you know, Carousow, but with the
Speaker 3: blues get the blue color of the of the gray Latto,
Speaker 3: and a half ounce of pear brandy.
Speaker 4: I am going to try my best to recreate that
Speaker 4: when I get into the city tonight. Congratulations, so good
Speaker 4: to see you again, and we'll break some bread in
Speaker 4: La And congratulations on tonight, and thank you for doing
Speaker 4: our speed round on Table for two today.
Speaker 3: I appreciate my pleasure, Bruce, thank you so much. You're
Speaker 3: the best. Truly.
Speaker 1: Table for two with Bruce Bosi is produced by iHeartRadio
Speaker 1: seven three seven Park and Airmail. Our executive producers are
Speaker 1: Bruce Bosi and Nathan King. Our supervising producer and editor
Speaker 1: is Dylan Fagan. Table for two is researched and written
Speaker 1: by Jack Sullivan. Our sound engineers are mel B Klein,
Speaker 1: Jess Krainich, and Jesse Funk. Our music supervisor is Randall
Speaker 1: Poster our talent booking is done by Jane Sarkin. Table
Speaker 1: for two's social media manager is Gracie Wiener. Special thanks
Speaker 1: to Amy Sugarman, Uni Scherer, Kevin Yvane, Bobby Bauer, Alison
Speaker 1: Kanter Graber. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.