1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:05,560 Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: Thing from My Heart. Radio actor, author, producer, playwright and 3 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:18,479 Speaker 1: game show host. Today's guest, Assif Monvy is nothing if 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:21,919 Speaker 1: not versatile. You'll recognize the actor from his roles in 5 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:26,319 Speaker 1: Blue Bloods, A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, and 6 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a long term correspondent. 7 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:34,400 Speaker 1: He currently stars in Evil on Paramount Plus and host 8 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:37,839 Speaker 1: the CW panel show What I Lie to You. But 9 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,240 Speaker 1: there's more than meets the eye with this multifaceted performer. 10 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: Nvy trained in Shakespeare, Ibsen and Chekhov, and his theater 11 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 1: credits include both work on Broadway and the Pulitzer Prize 12 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: winning play Disgraced. In the late nineties, Assif Manvi wrote 13 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,920 Speaker 1: and starred in the off Broadway one man show Sachina's Restaurant, 14 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,040 Speaker 1: which earned him an Obie Award. MV shared with me 15 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: how his level of adaptability came to be. Born in Mumbai, 16 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: India and raised in Bradford, England, he lived in Bahrain 17 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: for the first years of his life, separated from his parents. 18 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: I wanted to know what those formative years were like 19 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: for him. My grandmother and my grandfather lived in Bahrain, 20 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: which is right off the coast of Saudi Arabia and 21 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 1: a little island, one of the wealthiest places in the world. 22 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: My great grandfather had gone to Bahrain in the like 23 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 1: early nine hundreds and started a business there, and my 24 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,679 Speaker 1: grandfather had a huge toy store in the capital city 25 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: of Bahrain. So my grandparents lived there part of the year. 26 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,000 Speaker 1: So I went and lived with them in Bahrain when 27 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: I was a year and a half old. How long 28 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,600 Speaker 1: until I was three? So was it over a year? 29 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: Was I? Yeah? It's interesting like the times at that time, 30 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:59,000 Speaker 1: because they sent me on a plane by myself to 31 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,560 Speaker 1: Bahrain from London. And I was like, Dad, did you not? 32 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: I asked my dad recently actually about this. I was like, 33 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: we're not concerned, and and and he I think he 34 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:10,400 Speaker 1: was just like at that time, we just didn't really 35 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: worry about it. We didn't We didn't think about what 36 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,440 Speaker 1: kind of psychological impact that would have on you, or 37 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: even the danger of it. We just sort of gave 38 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 1: you to the airline. The stewardess was very nice, she said, 39 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: we'll take care of him. We didn't really think about it, 40 00:02:25,520 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: you know. Yeah, it was sort of that. It was 41 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: it was like it was like the stewardess was really 42 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: nice and she was going to take care of you, 43 00:02:32,120 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: and and we put you on the plane. I met you, Yeah, 44 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: and my grandmother met me on the other side. You know, Um, 45 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: this is like it's been a pre and nine eleven world. 46 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:43,360 Speaker 1: There was more of that, and now post nine eleven, 47 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,560 Speaker 1: of course it's it's a different world. But do you 48 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:48,000 Speaker 1: recall it all what it was like when you reunited 49 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 1: with them. Yeah, it's actually one of my very earliest 50 00:02:52,200 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: memories is returning to London Heathrow with my and mother 51 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,840 Speaker 1: and like it's it's just a memory of shadows, and 52 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: I seem to remember my mother wearing a white sorry 53 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: and she's got her arms reached out. But the crazy 54 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: part of it is I didn't reckon. I didn't know 55 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 1: who she was, so in the year and a half 56 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,880 Speaker 1: that I was gone, I had forgotten about her and 57 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: and I sort of acclimated myself to this other life. 58 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,639 Speaker 1: And now I was back and she was like, I'm 59 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: your mom, And I just remember like that feeling of 60 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:35,119 Speaker 1: holding onto my grandmother's arm and just being like, what's 61 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: going on here? You know, like, who are these who 62 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: are these strangers? But then my grandparents stayed with me 63 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:43,880 Speaker 1: and my parents, they stayed with us for the next 64 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:46,839 Speaker 1: six months or so for the transition, for the transition 65 00:03:46,880 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: back into the into the UK. Are both your parents 66 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: alive now? My mother is not alive, my father is 67 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: alive yet either one of them articulate to in your 68 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: adult life their feelings about that period, with how difficult 69 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: it was for them. My mother talked about it a lot. 70 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: It was hard for her to talk about, you know, 71 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,520 Speaker 1: it was it was she was a young girl who 72 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: didn't have a great deal of agency around it. I 73 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: think it was her father's decision to have me go 74 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,279 Speaker 1: back and live with him and my grandmother, and and 75 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: because he just wanted my parents to get on their 76 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: feet a little bit more settled. And I think, you know, 77 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: in India, kids are raised in large, communal families, so 78 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 1: that kind of idea, you know, the grandparents and uncles 79 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:35,159 Speaker 1: and aunts and everybody sort of raises At least my 80 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 1: my mother came from that kind of family where everybody 81 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,719 Speaker 1: lived together and it was very communal and people raised 82 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: each other. So there was very much that sense of like, oh, 83 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,840 Speaker 1: you know, we'll send him over there. And and so 84 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:48,120 Speaker 1: my mother did talk about it later in life of 85 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: how difficult it was for her in that time, when 86 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: you know, she's working, she's doing this job at this 87 00:04:55,000 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: television factory where she's on a conveyor belt with like 88 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:03,479 Speaker 1: you know, vis in this foreign land and her child 89 00:05:03,560 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: is halfway across the world. I think it was really 90 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,600 Speaker 1: really difficult for her, And and and she couldn't talk 91 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:11,359 Speaker 1: about it that much. It was the one thing in 92 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 1: her life that I think it was the first thing 93 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: she would have changed in her life. I think had 94 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:19,160 Speaker 1: she been able to What's interesting, how I wonder if 95 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 1: there's a commonality here. I find it very often the 96 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: people who are asked to grow up quickly, even if 97 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: only to negotiate one condition like that, you know, the 98 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,279 Speaker 1: transfer at a very early age to the grandparents and 99 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: come back and things like that, and you have to 100 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: manage your feelings about that. That gives people, I find 101 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:42,679 Speaker 1: who are performers and actors a bit of an edge. 102 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: Not everyone has this, not everyone has it to the 103 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: same degree, but it gives them kind of a confidence 104 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 1: and a kind of command because they've gotten through things 105 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: from an early age that we're difficult to get through. 106 00:05:57,120 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: And your acting, in your performances, you have an authority 107 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: to you. You could play the head of the FBI 108 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: that runs into and says, okay, man, here's you know 109 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:06,600 Speaker 1: you You could do any of these things. You can 110 00:06:06,680 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: kiss the girl, you can go say all right, men, 111 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: code zero and we're going in. There's a lot of 112 00:06:12,760 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: things you can do. And I always wonder if that 113 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: ephemeral quality that people have, like when people say to me, 114 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,400 Speaker 1: I'll play parts, and I'll play some really really tough, 115 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:25,640 Speaker 1: mean character. They always want to hire me to play 116 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,320 Speaker 1: the guy that straightens people out. And what I say 117 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,919 Speaker 1: is I say, it's acting. I say, if I don't 118 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:34,920 Speaker 1: do it, I get fired. So I go in there 119 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 1: and it's acting, meaning it has nothing to do with 120 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 1: me and who I am. I just but but I 121 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:43,360 Speaker 1: have inside me the confidence to jump off that cliff 122 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,760 Speaker 1: and make those choices that are stronger choices because of 123 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: a certain conditions of my own life, you know what 124 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: I mean. Your life wasn't all candy canes and unicorns, 125 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: you know what I mean? And and maybe that empowers you. Yeah, 126 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: I mean I think that there was a certain level 127 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,600 Speaker 1: of probably some of the stuff that I dealt with, 128 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 1: you know, growing up sort of a lot forced me sometimes, 129 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: I think, to access my imagination. And you know, I 130 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: was a very imaginative child that was creating like little 131 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,239 Speaker 1: uh we have the old cassette tapes and I would 132 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: I would do like radio plays when I was like 133 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: seven or eight years old, you know, and they were 134 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: sort of like Monty Python esque, sort of like these 135 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: little you know, and and so I was very there 136 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: was a lot of escapism for me as a kid, 137 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 1: you know, like escaping out of the sort of the 138 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: depression of living in the north of England. My parents 139 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:39,320 Speaker 1: were struggling and they were very loving and they were 140 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: a very loving home. But the circumstances I lived in, 141 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: and I think also as an immigrant and a brown 142 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: kid in a white world at that time, there was 143 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:54,600 Speaker 1: an adaptability that I had to find. I had to 144 00:07:54,640 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: be able to fit in. I had to be able 145 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: to like figure out how to adapt quickly and charm 146 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: you and and yeah, and use whatever your humor or 147 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: whatever I could. And I think that also, I mean, 148 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:11,960 Speaker 1: I think I had a proclivity towards performing. Maybe you 149 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,000 Speaker 1: did too. From very I think that was part of 150 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: my d n a, you know, like I just but 151 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 1: I think that it was probably helped along by this 152 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: idea that like I, I knew I was sort of 153 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:28,000 Speaker 1: adaptable and mutable, and I felt like I had to be, 154 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,200 Speaker 1: you know, to survive. There was a lot of racism 155 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:33,000 Speaker 1: when I was a kid in the north of England. 156 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: No I want to talk about that. So when you 157 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: get there, you come, and you're there for some brief window, 158 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: you leave and go to Bahrain, and you come back. 159 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: Describe Bradford at that time, you see and you yourself described, 160 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 1: I'm a brown kid in a white world. What was 161 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,679 Speaker 1: it like for you there? It was you know, my 162 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 1: dad had a corner shop what in New York you'd 163 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,480 Speaker 1: call it a bodega, and my mom was helped him 164 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: in the store. She was also a house way, you know. 165 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: And and and it was sort of a lower middle 166 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:09,280 Speaker 1: class life. It was a time when politically in England, 167 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:13,440 Speaker 1: the National Front was very powerful at that time, which 168 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: was this very anti immigrant sort of political party run 169 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,280 Speaker 1: by this guy named Enoch Powell. And so there was 170 00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:25,800 Speaker 1: a lot of of racism in the community and in 171 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: the culture, and in and in the rhetoric. And I 172 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:33,640 Speaker 1: do remember getting chased home by a band of kids 173 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 1: after school and getting you know, let's go packy bashing 174 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:40,280 Speaker 1: and all that. So I would get off the bus 175 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:43,440 Speaker 1: and and run and and and the kids would they 176 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,000 Speaker 1: would chase me and they and I would get caught 177 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:47,959 Speaker 1: in an alleyway and you have like four kids, you 178 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,160 Speaker 1: know what I mean, English kids, and and and that 179 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: was a semi regular sort of occurrence, you know, not 180 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: say that everyone was like that, but there was that 181 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:58,720 Speaker 1: that went on. And then I went to boarding school, 182 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: which the whole other level of insanity when I was 183 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: a little bit older, when I was thirteen. But it's 184 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: interesting because I looked back on it now with a 185 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:15,120 Speaker 1: certain fondness for the place and the time. But it 186 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: was also like a weird hard you know. It wasn't 187 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 1: it wasn't like the It was. It was a rough 188 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: kind of upbringing. You know, when you finally leave and 189 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:32,560 Speaker 1: your father wants to go over to the United States. Uh, 190 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:34,680 Speaker 1: he was in the He wanted to get involved in 191 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 1: some kind of textiles work, textile research. Well he was 192 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,640 Speaker 1: doing he was doing that in Bradford, but then he 193 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: started his own business. Then he left and opened this 194 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:44,320 Speaker 1: corner shop and then he had like a little business 195 00:10:44,360 --> 00:10:47,120 Speaker 1: and then he wanted to come to America and just uh, 196 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:50,760 Speaker 1: you know, he was he wanted to open up a business. 197 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: I don't want to make it all about race, but 198 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,880 Speaker 1: when you leave Bradford and you have a you know, 199 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,200 Speaker 1: whatever amount of that you have to deal with on 200 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: a day to day base us and then to come 201 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,960 Speaker 1: to Tampa, Florida, I'm not assuming Tampa was the East 202 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:07,439 Speaker 1: Village of New York in terms of its enlightenment. What 203 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,320 Speaker 1: was that like that transition? Why Tampa Because my father 204 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: had a college roommate who lived in Tampa, and my 205 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:19,080 Speaker 1: dad was originally wanting to move to Canada. And he 206 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: had always talked about going to Canada. This was the 207 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: eighties thatchers England. It was bad unemployment. My dad had 208 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: a small business. He was like, we were doing okay, 209 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:30,959 Speaker 1: but he always sort of talked about going to Canada. 210 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:32,720 Speaker 1: And then he ran. And then he called up his 211 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: buddy of his who he went to school within India, 212 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:39,439 Speaker 1: and this guy said, I'm living in Tampa and Florida 213 00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:42,880 Speaker 1: is the future. Man, you gotta come, you gotta come. 214 00:11:43,679 --> 00:11:49,800 Speaker 1: He was like the city of right. So you know, 215 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: I had grown up watching American movies, you know, Hollywood movies. 216 00:11:54,320 --> 00:11:57,480 Speaker 1: That was my like escape as a kid. And so 217 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 1: for me, the idea of living in America, I just 218 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: thought my life was going to be like the movies, 219 00:12:03,080 --> 00:12:04,800 Speaker 1: you know, it was gonna be. And then I get 220 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:09,079 Speaker 1: to America and and so Tampa, Florida was my I mean, 221 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:10,960 Speaker 1: I visited America when I was a kid. I'd gone 222 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: to Disney World and all that, you know, but but 223 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:17,840 Speaker 1: Tampa was like my introduction to what America was. And 224 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: it was very I went to high school. I was 225 00:12:21,559 --> 00:12:24,320 Speaker 1: dropped right in the middle of this high school, and 226 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:29,560 Speaker 1: I just remember how white it was and and and 227 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:31,839 Speaker 1: what was amazing was there were no Indian kids, Like 228 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:36,199 Speaker 1: like Bradford had a large Indo Pakistani community. There was 229 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: a lot of it did there was a lot of 230 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:42,240 Speaker 1: racial strife, but there was a large community there in Tampa, Florida. 231 00:12:42,360 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: I was the only I think it was, one of 232 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: two Indian kids in my high school. And the other 233 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: Indian kid wouldn't talk to me because he saw me 234 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:51,880 Speaker 1: as a liability. So he was like, I'm not gonna 235 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:54,360 Speaker 1: having to do with this new guy. You think you 236 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: and I are plotting plotting, right, exactly. He was like 237 00:12:57,400 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: he was kind of popular. It was in the band, 238 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 1: and you know what I mean. He wouldn't talk to me. 239 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:05,400 Speaker 1: And I remember in the cafeteria all the black kids 240 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,520 Speaker 1: would sit on on one side and all the white 241 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: kids would sit on the other side. Not because that 242 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: was the way it was supposed, that was just the 243 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: way it divided up. And it was like there was 244 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: no interaction, Like none of my sort of middle class 245 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: white friends hung out with any of the black kids. 246 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 1: So it was really interesting. But I got into um. 247 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,560 Speaker 1: I found my little drama click in high school and 248 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:34,680 Speaker 1: that's what really saved me. And who mentored you into that, 249 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:39,839 Speaker 1: who emboldened you, who comes to you and or or 250 00:13:39,880 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: what is inside of you It says I want to 251 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: hit the drama club or whatever. The first rung on 252 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:49,839 Speaker 1: the ladder is well my really, honestly, I give credit 253 00:13:49,880 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: to my mother. So I had been in this very 254 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,640 Speaker 1: private English school when I was in England, and they 255 00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:58,280 Speaker 1: didn't have drama class, but they had art. So I 256 00:13:58,320 --> 00:14:01,040 Speaker 1: took art. But my mother they knew that there was 257 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: always a little bit of I had sort of taken 258 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:05,839 Speaker 1: these after school drama classes and stuff. I used to 259 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,160 Speaker 1: be part of this like children's theater group. So my 260 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:10,559 Speaker 1: mother knew that I enjoyed performing. And when I got 261 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,439 Speaker 1: to Tampa, you know, you go for the orientation to 262 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,440 Speaker 1: high in high school and they have these electives which 263 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:17,959 Speaker 1: we didn't have in England. You know, it was all 264 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:21,400 Speaker 1: very My school was very math science, you know, biology, English, 265 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: you know, and so they had these electives and you 266 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:26,840 Speaker 1: could take classes like psychology, which I was like, that 267 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: was very very progressive, you know, and so on. There 268 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:35,440 Speaker 1: was a drama and I checked off art because I thought, well, 269 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: that's I've done that before. And and my mom looked 270 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: at me and she said, are you sure you want 271 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: to do art? Because they have drama here, unlike your 272 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,560 Speaker 1: school in England, they actually have a drama class. Wouldn't 273 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,640 Speaker 1: you rather do drama? I didn't even occur to me 274 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: that that was a thing that you could do in school, 275 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: and so I said, yeah, maybe I should do that, 276 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:55,760 Speaker 1: and so we scratched our art and we put in 277 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: drama and that's how I ended up a sixth period 278 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: doing drama class. And when you were there doing the 279 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: drama class, what starts to take you It was the 280 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:06,680 Speaker 1: more you do with the more it deepens the more 281 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: you like it. Yeah, I think it was always it 282 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:11,240 Speaker 1: was just always in me and I and I had, 283 00:15:11,360 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: like I said, I've been doing sort of like I 284 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: was part of a children's theater company when I was 285 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: in England after school kind of thing. But just that 286 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:23,800 Speaker 1: became like my tribe, my sort of sanity, you know, 287 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:27,400 Speaker 1: like it just sort of it was where I it was. Yeah. 288 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,080 Speaker 1: I mean I think in my life, acting has always 289 00:15:31,080 --> 00:15:33,080 Speaker 1: been like a savior for me, you know, you know, 290 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: it saved me from the sort of stuff that I 291 00:15:36,520 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: dealt with in my childhood. Then landing in a new country, America, 292 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: What do I make of this place that's all new, 293 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,080 Speaker 1: these people, you know, like I was this little English 294 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: kid in America who's also I was also brown, you know, 295 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 1: and then suddenly there I wasn't drama class, and these 296 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: kids in drama class sort of like I felt like 297 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: this was my pep, these are my people, you know, 298 00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: and and and so I again it was it was 299 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: sort of like it saved me through that period of 300 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: transition coming to America and the first gig you get, 301 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,600 Speaker 1: I think professional as you're working at Disney World, Is 302 00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:11,840 Speaker 1: that correct? Yeah? So I ended up at us F 303 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:16,640 Speaker 1: University South Florida in doing theater, and uh, and I was, 304 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: you know, my we still were not citizens of this country. 305 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,320 Speaker 1: We were still on a green card, so I couldn't 306 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,280 Speaker 1: get the in state tuition. And my parents were struggling, 307 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:28,400 Speaker 1: and they were, you know, and so I was paying 308 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:31,320 Speaker 1: some ridiculous amount, like I was paying it myself as 309 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: a four hundred dollars a semester or some credit for 310 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: for So I was taken like I was going very 311 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: slowly through the curriculum. And I and I auditioned a 312 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 1: bunch of my friends and they were opening up the 313 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:46,920 Speaker 1: MGM Studios in Orlando, which was part of like the 314 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: Disney complex over there, and a bunch of my friends 315 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,280 Speaker 1: and drama class said, Hey, we're gonna go an audition. 316 00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 1: You know, they're looking for like improv actors. There's a 317 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:00,120 Speaker 1: comedy troupe. Great, I'll go. They wanted a monologue and 318 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: I and I had been working on this Eric Bagoshen 319 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:06,480 Speaker 1: monologue in act in my scene study class Sex Drugs 320 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,120 Speaker 1: and rock and Roll, Sex Drugs and rock and Roll, 321 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:11,119 Speaker 1: the short order, fry Cook, what do you what do 322 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:12,879 Speaker 1: you want? Come here? Come? You know that guy who's 323 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 1: the New Yorker guy? And so I had been working 324 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,919 Speaker 1: on this monologue and so we all drove out to 325 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,600 Speaker 1: this audition was a big open call in the Hyatt 326 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 1: Regency in Orlando, and uh, and I auditioned and got 327 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 1: the job. And this was eighty nine right. They're paying 328 00:17:30,240 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 1: me four hundred and sixty dollars a week. You know, 329 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:35,440 Speaker 1: there was there was housing, and it was more money 330 00:17:35,480 --> 00:17:37,439 Speaker 1: than I'd ever seen in my life. And I did 331 00:17:37,480 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: a soap proper, same thing, four hundred of the day, 332 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,439 Speaker 1: and I was I was Rockefeller, right, and I was 333 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: like four hundred sixty bucks a week. I was like, 334 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:47,640 Speaker 1: this is crazy, Like I can go make a bunch 335 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: of money and come back, finish my education, go finish school, 336 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: you know, get my degree. And so I said, okay, 337 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:57,120 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go do this. And I joined what was 338 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:04,520 Speaker 1: called Streetmosphere, which was a street improvisational comedy troupe. We're 339 00:18:04,520 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 1: working there. Down the street was the Mickey Mouse Club, 340 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 1: and there were the kids who later became Justin timber 341 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: Lake and Christina Aguilera. They used to come and watch us. 342 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:16,119 Speaker 1: We used to have our rehearsal and in the and 343 00:18:16,160 --> 00:18:18,480 Speaker 1: these little kids these twelve year olds would stand in 344 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: the corner watching us, and it was Justin and Christina 345 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,920 Speaker 1: and Brittany and all those kids that later became big, 346 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 1: huge superstars. And I was working with like some really 347 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:31,520 Speaker 1: funny people. It was great. More Collins was there. I 348 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: remember she went on to Mad TV and other people 349 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 1: that went on have comedy careers. We were just doing 350 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:39,119 Speaker 1: improv and then we'd go out on the street on 351 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:41,720 Speaker 1: the lot and we would just play improv games with people. 352 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:44,639 Speaker 1: So it actually ended up for me weirdly being like 353 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,680 Speaker 1: a comedy grad school where I just got to work 354 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:51,040 Speaker 1: with all these really funny people, get paid and and 355 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,439 Speaker 1: I was there for a year, and then I went 356 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,400 Speaker 1: and worked at Universal Studios down the street when they opened, 357 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: and I did that whole theme park thing for about 358 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 1: a couple of years. I got cast in this show 359 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:05,399 Speaker 1: called The Phantom of the Opera Horror Makeup Show, and 360 00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,440 Speaker 1: it was this stage show where they basically had an 361 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:10,280 Speaker 1: audience come in and they would do a kind of 362 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,080 Speaker 1: thing where they teach you how to do horror makeup 363 00:19:13,119 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: in movies, right, But the whole setup of it was 364 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 1: there was a host and a guest and the guy 365 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: was the makeup artist. And what I realized was what 366 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: they had actually done was take an episode of The 367 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: David Letterman Show and just completely recreated on stage. So 368 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,840 Speaker 1: the host was David Letterman and the guest was a 369 00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,399 Speaker 1: guy named Mark James, who was a very famous Hollywood 370 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 1: makeup artist, and these two guys just had on all 371 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,399 Speaker 1: the jokes. If you go back and watch The Letterman, 372 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:47,919 Speaker 1: that's all the jokes of the same it's it's the 373 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:51,760 Speaker 1: transcript of his episode of interviewing this makeup artist that 374 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 1: they put on stage, and we would do it five 375 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 1: times a day for a different audience, and it was great. 376 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:03,119 Speaker 1: When did you go to New York? Early ninety one, 377 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: I was dating a girl in Florida and she said, 378 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,639 Speaker 1: I'm moving to New York because I want to do theater. 379 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: And I had nothing to do because I was sort 380 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:15,320 Speaker 1: of like hanging out in Florida, and I was like, 381 00:20:15,359 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 1: I want to go to New York. You were doing 382 00:20:17,200 --> 00:20:21,000 Speaker 1: staged versions of Letterman sketch exactly exactly for me. It 383 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,240 Speaker 1: was the next time. I was like, I'm probably gonna 384 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:25,000 Speaker 1: either go to New York or l A. And And 385 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,000 Speaker 1: at the time she was going to New York and 386 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:28,639 Speaker 1: I said, I'll come with you, and so I just 387 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:36,239 Speaker 1: followed it. In New York, actor Assaf mndy Mondy and 388 00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:39,760 Speaker 1: I share a mutual love and respect for our former 389 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: acting teacher Win Hammon, whom I had the honor to 390 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 1: speak with in two thousand eighteen. Give us two examples 391 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: who came through your doors who you just excited you. 392 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: You knew they had it. They went on to become 393 00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:57,640 Speaker 1: great actor. Michael Douglas. He said, you asked me if 394 00:20:57,640 --> 00:20:59,960 Speaker 1: it was all right, if I could call your mother 395 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 1: there and tell her how good you are. I knew 396 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: his mother, and he was good. He was, he was 397 00:21:07,119 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: very good. Right. What about a woman? What's an actress 398 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: who came through your doors? Alison Janny? Alison Janny probbly talented. Yeah, 399 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: you just give a role. She can do it all. 400 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:21,240 Speaker 1: She can do it all. You'll hear us if MV 401 00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:24,760 Speaker 1: discuss his work with Win Handman later in this episode. 402 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: To hear more of my conversation with the legendary acting coach, 403 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,600 Speaker 1: go to Here's the Thing dot Org after the break 404 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,159 Speaker 1: as if MONVI tells us how a chance encounter with 405 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:40,479 Speaker 1: Sam Shepard and John Malkovich changed the course of his career. 406 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:55,120 Speaker 1: I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the thing asif. 407 00:21:55,359 --> 00:21:58,520 Speaker 1: Nvy and I have many things in common, including our 408 00:21:58,640 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 1: love of theater and phil him and we were both 409 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: students of the late great acting teacher Win Handman. Handman 410 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:08,080 Speaker 1: was the director of the American Place Theater in New 411 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 1: York City and helped hone the craft of actors like 412 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:16,359 Speaker 1: Christopher Walking, Alison Janny, and Mnvy himself. What I loved 413 00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:19,120 Speaker 1: about working with Whin was that he took you where 414 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 1: you were. I mean, everybody was at a certain level, 415 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 1: but within that like you saw people who were more 416 00:22:24,280 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 1: accomplished and had better skills certain things than some people 417 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 1: who are Like I remember there was this one actress 418 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:33,320 Speaker 1: because she was a dancer, and this was indicative of 419 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,199 Speaker 1: the way Wind sort of worked where he gave her 420 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,439 Speaker 1: a scene and he said, look, you're a dancer, so 421 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,800 Speaker 1: why don't you just use the physicality of the scene, 422 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 1: use your body, use the thing that you are comfortable 423 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:49,400 Speaker 1: with to access the character. You know, and I love 424 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,360 Speaker 1: that about him because he took what you were bringing 425 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:57,480 Speaker 1: and used that to help you find the character, whatever 426 00:22:57,480 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: it was. If you're a dancer of your singer, if 427 00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,199 Speaker 1: you're fun, if you were more of a dramatic you know. 428 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,480 Speaker 1: And and so it was. And he also was really 429 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:11,320 Speaker 1: great about like just saying, you know, trust the text 430 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:13,880 Speaker 1: and and and remember, Like a big thing he would 431 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,720 Speaker 1: give actors all the time was like just the stillness 432 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,400 Speaker 1: of like just standing there and letting the text do 433 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,359 Speaker 1: the world. You don't have to work so hard all 434 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:26,040 Speaker 1: the time, you know, and and and but I loved Win. 435 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:29,679 Speaker 1: And he actually made my career really because I auditioned 436 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:31,600 Speaker 1: for Win again. The same girl that I followed up 437 00:23:31,600 --> 00:23:34,680 Speaker 1: to New York came home one day. We were living together, 438 00:23:34,720 --> 00:23:35,920 Speaker 1: and she came home one day and she said, I'm 439 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:38,719 Speaker 1: auditioning for this guy named Win Handon and I had 440 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,439 Speaker 1: heard about him. And it's funny because I actually, I 441 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: think two weeks after I arrived in New York, I 442 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:46,760 Speaker 1: walked down forty Street and in front of me, I 443 00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:52,760 Speaker 1: see Sam Shepherd and John Malkovich, right, Malkovich and Sam 444 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: Shephard walking down the street. And I'm from Florida, you know, 445 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: Like I'm like, holy shit, Like what the fund is? 446 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:01,840 Speaker 1: You know? I I was so excited to see these 447 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: two guys. I followed them, and I said, where are 448 00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: they coming out of? What building did they just leave? 449 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:09,840 Speaker 1: And I looked over and it was the American Place 450 00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,640 Speaker 1: Theater that they which was Wins Theater that they had 451 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: just walked down for. And they went down and they 452 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 1: were in the middle of rehearsing a show, and I 453 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: thought to myself, that's the place I want to I 454 00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:24,760 Speaker 1: want to work a place where Malkovich and Sam Shepard 455 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,879 Speaker 1: walk out of on a Tuesday afternoon, you know. Anyway, 456 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:29,679 Speaker 1: So when she said win Hammon, I said, oh, I 457 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,239 Speaker 1: know who he is, and I want to study with him. 458 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:34,520 Speaker 1: And I went in and I had written these monologues 459 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:38,479 Speaker 1: because I wanted to do a solo show and I 460 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:40,760 Speaker 1: was doing a little bit of stand up before that, 461 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: which I didn't really love. But I started writing characters 462 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: and I brought in these characters into the audition for 463 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: his class. I got into his class, and then I 464 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 1: would bring in these characters and he helped me develop 465 00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,440 Speaker 1: my one man show, Sakinas Restaurant, which then years later, 466 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:01,840 Speaker 1: how did that evolve? So that evolve basically me coming 467 00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:07,080 Speaker 1: in twice a week into Winds class and writing stuff 468 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,639 Speaker 1: and bringing it in and performing it. And when just 469 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:14,240 Speaker 1: given me direction. I remember when I've written this character 470 00:25:14,760 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: that was based on my dad, he was talking to 471 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:21,600 Speaker 1: his daughter and he was kind of brating her about 472 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: the outfit that she was wearing. She was about to 473 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:25,199 Speaker 1: go out with her friends, and he was sort of 474 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:28,400 Speaker 1: talking about and it was about the culture and the 475 00:25:28,440 --> 00:25:31,960 Speaker 1: immigrant and he was an immigrant father. And and I 476 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,520 Speaker 1: remember when saying to me, like this, this monologue is fine, 477 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: He's like, but it needs some dramatic tension. He put 478 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:41,879 Speaker 1: a phone next to me and he said, Okay, so 479 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,439 Speaker 1: you you're in your restaurant and the phone keeps ringing, 480 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:48,760 Speaker 1: and you're trying to have this very like private emotional 481 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: conversation with your daughter, but the phone keeps ringing and 482 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: you have to keep picking up the phone to answer 483 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:58,159 Speaker 1: because customers are calling to make reservations. And so he 484 00:25:58,200 --> 00:25:59,920 Speaker 1: did that, and I'd be in the middle of the model. 485 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,159 Speaker 1: Then he would go the phones were go, go answer 486 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,760 Speaker 1: the phone, answer the phone, and I answer, and then 487 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,120 Speaker 1: he would pretend to be the customer on the other line, Hello, 488 00:26:07,720 --> 00:26:10,480 Speaker 1: I'd like a table for three tonight, you know, And 489 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,679 Speaker 1: then I have to be polite on the phone, and 490 00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: he'd be like Okay, hang up, now go back to 491 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:15,719 Speaker 1: your daughter. Where were you? You You forgot what you wor? 492 00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:18,199 Speaker 1: So now what we were? What we you know? And 493 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:21,240 Speaker 1: so we would do this and it was it sort 494 00:26:21,280 --> 00:26:25,720 Speaker 1: of taught me how to write for the stage as 495 00:26:25,720 --> 00:26:28,240 Speaker 1: well as just working on my own stuff, you know, 496 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:32,360 Speaker 1: and and and over the course of several years we 497 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:35,040 Speaker 1: kind of worked on different characters and developed it. And 498 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 1: then I ended up working with the director who helped 499 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:40,520 Speaker 1: me shape the whole show and put it together. And 500 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: then when came and saw it. I did it at 501 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,720 Speaker 1: the West Bank Downstairs Theater and then he said, okay, 502 00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: let's get this up at the American Place Theater. And 503 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,639 Speaker 1: then he did. He put it up at the American 504 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: Place Theater. And this is the story I told that 505 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:59,240 Speaker 1: his memorial. So I'm doing the show. This is the 506 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:01,719 Speaker 1: New York Times comes to review it. We get this 507 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: love letter in the New York Times. And it was 508 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: the greatest day of my life. It was like I 509 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,720 Speaker 1: woke up that morning, there's a love letter in the Times. 510 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:12,800 Speaker 1: So the show, you know, we're selling tickets. It's a 511 00:27:12,800 --> 00:27:16,560 Speaker 1: small theater, less than a hundred seats, and we've been 512 00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:19,720 Speaker 1: running for about a month. And I get an offer 513 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,640 Speaker 1: to go do another play at the Manhattan Theater Club. 514 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,840 Speaker 1: And it was a play by Terence McNally called Corpus 515 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,119 Speaker 1: Christie and it was about the gay Jesus and it 516 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:33,520 Speaker 1: was getting all of this attention in the media. People 517 00:27:33,560 --> 00:27:35,879 Speaker 1: were really up in arms about the Christian Right was 518 00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: protesting the theater. Terence McNally was, you know, and it 519 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:43,240 Speaker 1: was a kind of a sexy group of young actors 520 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:45,360 Speaker 1: who were going to be in this thing, and they 521 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: wanted me to play one of the disciples. My agents 522 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,360 Speaker 1: called me in and they said, listen, you you got 523 00:27:52,400 --> 00:27:55,719 Speaker 1: the review, You've run the show for four weeks. Now 524 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: you've got this other thing. Let's go do it. You 525 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: know it's gonna be a big It's the cover of 526 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,280 Speaker 1: Time magazine. It's gonna be you know, it's gonna be huge. 527 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 1: And I called when and I said when, you know, 528 00:28:07,200 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: everyone's telling me I should close my show and go 529 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:13,600 Speaker 1: do this other play. And I remember he just said, 530 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,320 Speaker 1: are you crazy? This is your show, this is the 531 00:28:18,320 --> 00:28:20,960 Speaker 1: show that you wrote, that you created. It's you, it's 532 00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:24,600 Speaker 1: all you. You're doing seven characters, Like, why would you 533 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: close that to go be part of an ensemble with 534 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,840 Speaker 1: a bunch of other guys, you know, with a small 535 00:28:30,960 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: part or whatever. I said, well, you know it's gonna 536 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:35,880 Speaker 1: be sexy. It's gonna be on the cover of Time magazine. 537 00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:39,080 Speaker 1: Reporters are outside, and he said, don't worry about that. 538 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,840 Speaker 1: He said, I'm telling you right now, this will be 539 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:43,880 Speaker 1: the biggest mistake of your life if you do this. 540 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: And I remember him saying that to me, and he 541 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: said to me, he said, look, Austin, if here's what 542 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: I'll do, I will keep And I still get emotional 543 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,200 Speaker 1: when I think about this, because nobody does this in 544 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: our business. The show had been running since June. It 545 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: was July. He said, I will keep you open until 546 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: January of next year. Whether I'm making money or I'm 547 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,080 Speaker 1: not making money. I guarantee I will keep you open. 548 00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 1: I won't close you. And he goes, you won't get 549 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:14,480 Speaker 1: that guarantee from those guys. He goes, I will keep 550 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:16,320 Speaker 1: you open. And he did, and and the other show 551 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:21,040 Speaker 1: closed in two weeks. Terence McNally closed in two weeks. Yeah, 552 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,720 Speaker 1: he closed in two weeks. The New York Times killed it. 553 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: And there's nothing about nothing against that show. They all 554 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: you know, it was had great Michael Hall was in it, 555 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: like a lot of great actors were in it. But 556 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:32,360 Speaker 1: for me, in that moment, it would have been the 557 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 1: wrong decision. And when made that promise to me, and 558 00:29:35,920 --> 00:29:37,840 Speaker 1: I couldn't. I went to my agents and I said, look, 559 00:29:37,840 --> 00:29:40,720 Speaker 1: he's gonna keep me open for six months, Like how 560 00:29:40,720 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: am I? You know he's not gonna And he did 561 00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:45,640 Speaker 1: and he kept his word. And what happened in those 562 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 1: six months were that word got around that there was 563 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:52,920 Speaker 1: this young Indian kid who was doing this play about 564 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 1: an Indian family and this Indian restaurant, and no one 565 00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:57,640 Speaker 1: had done that on the New York stage. There was 566 00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:01,680 Speaker 1: no shows that were about a South Asian immigrant family 567 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,040 Speaker 1: written and performed by South Asians. And people got word 568 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:06,520 Speaker 1: of it, and the word of mouth start to spreading. 569 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: People started coming from all over Long Island and New 570 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 1: Jersey and upstairs, you know, from all over the borrows. 571 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,360 Speaker 1: We have bus loads of people coming to see the 572 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:19,959 Speaker 1: play because there would never been a play about the 573 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:24,320 Speaker 1: South Asians, Indians, Pakistani's, Bangladesh's, even other immigrants. They've never 574 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:26,560 Speaker 1: seen this play before. They've never you know, and so 575 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:29,560 Speaker 1: it's such a specific thing. So we stayed open, our 576 00:30:29,600 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: audiences grew, we want to oh b Awards, and I 577 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:34,440 Speaker 1: got a movie out of it. So you know what 578 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:36,400 Speaker 1: I mean, We all, I think we all have a 579 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: similar thing where there's a fork in the road. Yeah. 580 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 1: And and what I always tell people is, if the 581 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:48,560 Speaker 1: circumstances present themselves, they may come to me and say, oh, 582 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: what what should I do? And I'll say, I suggest 583 00:30:52,200 --> 00:30:56,720 Speaker 1: that because your instincts have gotten you here thus far, 584 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:01,560 Speaker 1: you stick with those instincts. The business will always ask 585 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: you at some point, or typically we'll ask you at 586 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,680 Speaker 1: some point to abandon your instincts. I'll never forget. I 587 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:09,440 Speaker 1: got to a place where I did a show off 588 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,560 Speaker 1: Broadway and we had a love letter from the Times, 589 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:14,640 Speaker 1: and they were going to move the show to Broadway, 590 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,320 Speaker 1: and instead I was offered my first million dollar pay 591 00:31:17,400 --> 00:31:19,920 Speaker 1: day in the movie business. And my agent looked at me. 592 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,680 Speaker 1: My my agent was like, come on, your schmuck. They're 593 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,760 Speaker 1: offering you a million dollars here, and it's it's like, 594 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,200 Speaker 1: you know, of course, we're gonna tank the Broadway production 595 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:34,000 Speaker 1: of this precious little dark comedy. This was prelude to 596 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,360 Speaker 1: a kiss, and I'm gonna go off and do this movie, 597 00:31:37,920 --> 00:31:40,680 Speaker 1: And I wrote in my memory, I said, that's when 598 00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: I knew I had made the mistake that changed my career, 599 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: because once I allowed people to push me into a 600 00:31:47,920 --> 00:31:50,920 Speaker 1: corner where it was about chasing money, and it was 601 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:53,800 Speaker 1: about a type of movie start and where people are like, 602 00:31:54,440 --> 00:31:56,120 Speaker 1: you know, we're just gonna keep throwing it against the 603 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:58,880 Speaker 1: wall till something sticks. Who cares if you've got to 604 00:31:58,920 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 1: spend the next two years doing four movies that are 605 00:32:01,560 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 1: complete steaming piles of ship and you're never gonna have 606 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:09,360 Speaker 1: any creative nutrition for the next two years. You're playing 607 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,360 Speaker 1: a different game. Now you have been asked to come 608 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:14,560 Speaker 1: and play a different game. And I look back at 609 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:16,440 Speaker 1: that time of my life just like you with your play, 610 00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: and I go, I made the wrong choice, and I 611 00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:22,240 Speaker 1: made the wrong choice. So you did Disgraced and Link 612 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,640 Speaker 1: he said, they want they won the Poetzer Prize. Man. 613 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,240 Speaker 1: That was another one of those things that So I 614 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 1: had actor who wrote Disgraced, who is one of my 615 00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:39,600 Speaker 1: close friends to this day. He is a brilliant writer. 616 00:32:39,760 --> 00:32:44,560 Speaker 1: And and you know, I read the first draft of it. 617 00:32:44,640 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 1: He sent it to me. I was at the Daily 618 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,360 Speaker 1: Show and and he sent it to me, and he said, 619 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:49,560 Speaker 1: I want you to read this thing. I'm going to 620 00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: do a reading of it. And I read this play 621 00:32:52,320 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: that he had written, and I thought it was one 622 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: of the most dangerous things that I had ever read. 623 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 1: And I was like, you can't do like, you can't, 624 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: you can't do this play? What are you what are 625 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: you nuts? And he was like, no, no, I'm gonna, 626 00:33:05,520 --> 00:33:06,800 Speaker 1: I'm gonna, I'm gonna do it. And I was I 627 00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:11,600 Speaker 1: was like, I was so terrified and excited to do 628 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:13,360 Speaker 1: this reading of this play. I didn't know that there 629 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:14,880 Speaker 1: was gonna be a production or anything. I was just like, 630 00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:16,640 Speaker 1: even just the reading, I was like, this is this 631 00:33:16,800 --> 00:33:19,680 Speaker 1: character is saying things and doing things that is just 632 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:24,040 Speaker 1: we haven't seen this perspective at anywhere. It was post 633 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:26,320 Speaker 1: nine eleven. He had written this character that was a 634 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: a Pakistani lawyer who who sounded who was speaking the 635 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:36,600 Speaker 1: words of the conservative right. It was a self hating 636 00:33:36,680 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: Muslim um and it was one of the most amazing roles. 637 00:33:42,400 --> 00:33:45,000 Speaker 1: So ultimately we ended up doing it at Lincoln Center 638 00:33:45,720 --> 00:33:49,120 Speaker 1: and uh and I got and it won the Pulitzer 639 00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:54,360 Speaker 1: there and it was one of the most other than 640 00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:58,320 Speaker 1: Sakina's restaurant. It was maybe the other most satisfying theatrical 641 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:01,080 Speaker 1: experience I've ever had in my life, just playing that role, 642 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:03,760 Speaker 1: because there were no roles written like that. It was 643 00:34:03,840 --> 00:34:07,280 Speaker 1: it was a complex brown man living in a post 644 00:34:07,400 --> 00:34:12,480 Speaker 1: nine eleven America, dealing with really complicated issues of identity. 645 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,880 Speaker 1: And I add wrote it beautifully and dangerously. And you know, 646 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:19,800 Speaker 1: he's gone on to become a very successful American playwright, 647 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:22,640 Speaker 1: and that was I think his first real play that 648 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:24,880 Speaker 1: got a lot of attention. And then I was supposed 649 00:34:24,920 --> 00:34:26,480 Speaker 1: to do it on Broadway and it was one of 650 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 1: the great heartbreaks of my career. I had signed on 651 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,000 Speaker 1: to do this HBO series. It was called The Brink, 652 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:37,040 Speaker 1: Tim Robbins and Jack Black and Yeah, and we did 653 00:34:37,080 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 1: it and it was great and I love all the 654 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:41,520 Speaker 1: people involved with that. But I had signed on to 655 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 1: do it and we couldn't make the dates work, and 656 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:48,520 Speaker 1: we couldn't the producers of the Broadway production, and so 657 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:50,440 Speaker 1: I had to bow out of the Broadway show. And 658 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:52,719 Speaker 1: it was one of the great heartbreaks for me of 659 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:55,680 Speaker 1: career wise, because I would have given anything to have 660 00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:58,680 Speaker 1: done it on Broadway. Remember, like the debates that we 661 00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:01,080 Speaker 1: would have with the audience. You know you're doing something 662 00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,520 Speaker 1: amazing when you walk out of the theater and the 663 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:08,320 Speaker 1: audience all feels like they saw something different. Like you 664 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,120 Speaker 1: have a family. If people come up to me and 665 00:35:10,160 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: they go, when know your character was the villain, they go, 666 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:14,480 Speaker 1: no, no no, no, no. The and the husband would argue 667 00:35:14,520 --> 00:35:16,759 Speaker 1: with this, No, no, she was the villain. No are 668 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:19,560 Speaker 1: you kidding me? Like, no, the other this guy was. 669 00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: It was the debate of like of like, who was 670 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:24,279 Speaker 1: the bad guy in this play? And I remember like 671 00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 1: it being and I had said it to me when 672 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 1: we were rehearsing. He said, I want the audience to 673 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:33,279 Speaker 1: constantly shift allegiances and to never know, like once they 674 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,040 Speaker 1: decide that one person is bad, it shifts and they go, oh, 675 00:35:36,080 --> 00:35:38,760 Speaker 1: wait a minute, no, this person is actually the person 676 00:35:38,840 --> 00:35:40,640 Speaker 1: I agree with. Oh no, that person is the person 677 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:43,040 Speaker 1: I agree. When you're dealing with that kind of writing, 678 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:51,279 Speaker 1: it's really rich and amazing. Actor Asaf Mundy. If you're 679 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,880 Speaker 1: enjoying this conversation, be sure to subscribe to Here's the 680 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:58,920 Speaker 1: Thing on the I Heart radio app, Apple podcasts, or 681 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 1: wherever you your podcasts. When we come back, ass Off 682 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:06,879 Speaker 1: MV shares how becoming a father later in life has 683 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:20,640 Speaker 1: changed him. Really, I'm Alec Baldwin and this is Here's 684 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:24,880 Speaker 1: the Thing from My Heart Radio. After starring on Broadway 685 00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:28,680 Speaker 1: and winning an Obie ass Off, Monvy showcased his comedic 686 00:36:28,800 --> 00:36:32,560 Speaker 1: Chops as a daily show correspondent for almost a decade. 687 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,560 Speaker 1: It was the result of an audition he almost dismissed. 688 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,960 Speaker 1: August nine, two thousand and six, I get a call 689 00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:44,879 Speaker 1: from my manager. She says, the Daily Show is auditioning. 690 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:47,640 Speaker 1: They want to see you. And I thought this was 691 00:36:47,640 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 1: going to be some stupid thing where I go down 692 00:36:49,719 --> 00:36:52,320 Speaker 1: there and I, you know, pretend to be the voice 693 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,279 Speaker 1: of Saddam Hussein and some stupid thing or something, you 694 00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:57,319 Speaker 1: know whatever. So they called me and I and I 695 00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:01,799 Speaker 1: remember that day. I was happened to be writing a 696 00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:03,960 Speaker 1: letter to my ex girlfriend, who I just found out 697 00:37:04,040 --> 00:37:06,399 Speaker 1: had gotten engaged. And I was having one of those 698 00:37:06,480 --> 00:37:08,799 Speaker 1: days where I was like sitting there writing a letter 699 00:37:08,840 --> 00:37:11,239 Speaker 1: to her because I realized we were never going to 700 00:37:11,320 --> 00:37:13,479 Speaker 1: get back together. And so that's the day I'm having. 701 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:17,040 Speaker 1: I get this call. I said, can I not go today? 702 00:37:17,040 --> 00:37:19,160 Speaker 1: Can they see me tomorrow? Because I'm I'm in kind 703 00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:21,239 Speaker 1: of an emotional state today. I don't feel much like. 704 00:37:21,840 --> 00:37:23,880 Speaker 1: She said, no, no, it's today. Three o'clock is the 705 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,839 Speaker 1: cut off. Either you go today or it's done. And 706 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:29,560 Speaker 1: I said, okay, fine, I put on a suit and tie. 707 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:33,080 Speaker 1: I walked down to the Daily Show and I I 708 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:35,239 Speaker 1: go in and and and the girl there says, you know, 709 00:37:35,520 --> 00:37:37,880 Speaker 1: here the sides, and she gives me you know, and 710 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:40,279 Speaker 1: I and I, you know, I had this kind of 711 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:42,680 Speaker 1: cockiness where I was like, I've been on Broadway, I've 712 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:45,600 Speaker 1: done TV movie, you know, like this is of course 713 00:37:45,600 --> 00:37:49,040 Speaker 1: the show, right, yeah, of course. So I said, okay, 714 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,480 Speaker 1: and so and so I'm looking over all this stuff 715 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:53,640 Speaker 1: I gotta say and and she comes in and she says, 716 00:37:54,120 --> 00:37:56,719 Speaker 1: John's ready to see you. And I said, oh, you know, 717 00:37:56,760 --> 00:37:58,160 Speaker 1: can I have a few more minutes to work on 718 00:37:58,160 --> 00:38:00,000 Speaker 1: this machine? She goes, no, no, it's on the telepromt. 719 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:02,040 Speaker 1: Do you don't need to memorize it? And I remember 720 00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:05,160 Speaker 1: just being like, oh, fucking, this is teleprompted? What is this? 721 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,200 Speaker 1: This is? This is for amateurs, you know. So I 722 00:38:08,239 --> 00:38:10,960 Speaker 1: go in there and I didn't know what I was doing. 723 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:15,000 Speaker 1: I meet John Stewart. He's lovely, very friendly. I remember 724 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:16,799 Speaker 1: he said, have you ever performed in front of a 725 00:38:16,840 --> 00:38:19,719 Speaker 1: live audience before and I said, I looked at him 726 00:38:19,760 --> 00:38:21,840 Speaker 1: and I said, dude, I've been on Broadway and he 727 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:27,000 Speaker 1: was like, okay, all right, Mr Broadway and that's Mr Broadway, Yeah, 728 00:38:27,120 --> 00:38:31,000 Speaker 1: Mr Broadway. And I just did my best Stephen Colbert impression. 729 00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:33,759 Speaker 1: That's all I knew to do, and I read it 730 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:36,480 Speaker 1: off the thing I get done. John turns to me, 731 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:40,000 Speaker 1: he says, that was great, Welcome to the Daily Show, 732 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:43,799 Speaker 1: and he shook my hand, and I was on the 733 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:48,520 Speaker 1: show that very evening. Jesus. And the crazy thing is, 734 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:52,120 Speaker 1: and it so happened that Bruce Springsteen came to see 735 00:38:52,120 --> 00:38:54,040 Speaker 1: the show that night and he was sitting in the 736 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:59,359 Speaker 1: audience and he came backstage after the show to say 737 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:01,640 Speaker 1: hi to John On and I got to meet him 738 00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:03,759 Speaker 1: and he congratulated me and he said, who it was 739 00:39:03,760 --> 00:39:07,399 Speaker 1: your first time. You're really good. And so my day 740 00:39:07,440 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 1: went from like writing this letter and sitting there like 741 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:15,080 Speaker 1: in this kind of you know, funk, to being on 742 00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:18,600 Speaker 1: The Daily Show meeting Bruce Springston, best of luck in 743 00:39:18,640 --> 00:39:21,360 Speaker 1: your future. Mary. At the end of the day, it's Mary, 744 00:39:21,440 --> 00:39:24,400 Speaker 1: who yeah, exactly. So it was one of those crazy 745 00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:28,560 Speaker 1: things where my day just and then John, you know, 746 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:31,080 Speaker 1: said look, this is a one off, but I want 747 00:39:31,080 --> 00:39:33,520 Speaker 1: you back. I'm going to call you back. And so 748 00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 1: he just kept calling me back for about four or 749 00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,040 Speaker 1: five months, which is sort of like where he was 750 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:40,960 Speaker 1: kind of, I think, really kind of auditioning me. And 751 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:42,759 Speaker 1: then after about a few months he offered me a 752 00:39:42,800 --> 00:39:44,799 Speaker 1: contract to be on the show. And then that was 753 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:47,719 Speaker 1: just again talk about getting to work with some of 754 00:39:47,760 --> 00:39:51,520 Speaker 1: the funniest, smartest people in the business. You know, I got. 755 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:54,759 Speaker 1: I got to work with some great kind of on 756 00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,120 Speaker 1: an island of his own really even yeah, and and 757 00:39:57,160 --> 00:39:59,799 Speaker 1: also just the writers on that show and all the 758 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,800 Speaker 1: with Oliver and Sam and you know, all those guys 759 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:07,040 Speaker 1: and the writers and the producers and and and many 760 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:08,839 Speaker 1: of them I still speak to you today, and I'm 761 00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:10,560 Speaker 1: still friends with and and they are some of the 762 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:14,239 Speaker 1: funniest people and smartest people in the business. But I 763 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:16,960 Speaker 1: loved about Stewart. What I love was he had this 764 00:40:17,040 --> 00:40:19,480 Speaker 1: kind of energy feel to him, which was the audience 765 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,239 Speaker 1: is screaming, and the audience is cheering. I remember that 766 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,360 Speaker 1: studio was somewhat smaller, and it wasn't a very big crowd, 767 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:28,839 Speaker 1: and everyone's screaming and cheering for him, and he'd sit 768 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:30,759 Speaker 1: there at the desk with almost this demeanor like can 769 00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:33,959 Speaker 1: I talk now? Yeah? Can I get Like he wasn't 770 00:40:34,000 --> 00:40:36,960 Speaker 1: there to get bathed in love and take a bow 771 00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:40,080 Speaker 1: and yes, everyone, it's me. He almost had this funny 772 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:42,239 Speaker 1: attitude like, you know, are you finished? Can we get 773 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:45,239 Speaker 1: on with my monologue now? Please? I mean I thought 774 00:40:45,280 --> 00:40:49,640 Speaker 1: he just played it perfectly. Now beyond acres of TV 775 00:40:49,800 --> 00:40:54,560 Speaker 1: shows and films, and but you worked with Merchant Ivory. Yeah, 776 00:40:55,000 --> 00:40:56,800 Speaker 1: I met with Merchant and Ivory in New York, like 777 00:40:56,840 --> 00:40:59,480 Speaker 1: in the eighties, I'll never forget. In the old days, 778 00:41:00,040 --> 00:41:03,200 Speaker 1: you'd sit in a casting call and every actor in 779 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,279 Speaker 1: Manhattan that was your competition was in a folding chair 780 00:41:06,320 --> 00:41:11,160 Speaker 1: down that road. Here's Kevin Bacon, and here's this guy, 781 00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:13,160 Speaker 1: and here's this guy, and you're all in a row 782 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:17,120 Speaker 1: to get to audition for eight men out for John Sales. 783 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:19,680 Speaker 1: You know, you would have cut your hand off to 784 00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:22,440 Speaker 1: be in a John Sales movie back then, and all 785 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:24,600 Speaker 1: this kind of stuff. And you worked with Merchant every 786 00:41:24,640 --> 00:41:27,600 Speaker 1: what was that experience? Like? It was amazing? You know, 787 00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:29,600 Speaker 1: that was the movie that I got after seeking his 788 00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:32,400 Speaker 1: restaurant when that New York Times review came out. It's 789 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,880 Speaker 1: Smile Merchant came to see the show the next The 790 00:41:35,920 --> 00:41:40,319 Speaker 1: following week, I wonderfully get cast in a great film 791 00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:42,880 Speaker 1: from a play. Yeah, well, he came to see it 792 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:45,400 Speaker 1: and he shook my hand after the show, and you know, 793 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:49,920 Speaker 1: It's Smile was this god. You know, especially as a 794 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,080 Speaker 1: young South Asian actor. This guy had made it in 795 00:41:53,080 --> 00:41:55,719 Speaker 1: a way that very few people in Hollywood had made it, 796 00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:59,480 Speaker 1: you know, of my background, and he was in so 797 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:01,760 Speaker 1: I remember he came up to me and he said, hello, 798 00:42:01,800 --> 00:42:04,160 Speaker 1: my name is a Smiling Merchant, and I would like 799 00:42:04,239 --> 00:42:08,640 Speaker 1: to take you out to dinner. And I said, yeah, terrific, 800 00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:11,719 Speaker 1: and then he took me to a restaurant. So a 801 00:42:11,760 --> 00:42:13,839 Speaker 1: couple of weeks later he called. You know, he kept 802 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:15,920 Speaker 1: in touch and called me and he said, I want 803 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:17,160 Speaker 1: to take you this. And he took me to this 804 00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:19,719 Speaker 1: restaurant that he claimed that he owned, yet nobody knew 805 00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:26,120 Speaker 1: him there secret all the restaurants I owned, to keep 806 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:28,480 Speaker 1: it a secret. Yeah exactly. So we went there and 807 00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:30,320 Speaker 1: he didn't even love the Raider's Day. We kept getting 808 00:42:30,320 --> 00:42:33,359 Speaker 1: it wrong and then and everybody's like I own this place, 809 00:42:33,400 --> 00:42:36,920 Speaker 1: you know. Anyway, He gave me this book called The 810 00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:39,600 Speaker 1: Mystic Massure and he said, I'm making this into a 811 00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:41,239 Speaker 1: film and I want you to play the lead. And 812 00:42:41,239 --> 00:42:44,800 Speaker 1: now imagine this is me having done nothing. I've done 813 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:48,319 Speaker 1: no like movies. At this point, I don't comes guest 814 00:42:48,360 --> 00:42:50,640 Speaker 1: spots on Law and Order and you know, and let 815 00:42:50,640 --> 00:42:54,120 Speaker 1: me schedule here. Yeah, and he said, I want you 816 00:42:54,120 --> 00:42:55,719 Speaker 1: to play the lead in this movie. We're gonna shoot 817 00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:58,799 Speaker 1: it in Trinidad, and it's going to be amazing and 818 00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:02,239 Speaker 1: the legendary actor Owned Puri is going to be in it, 819 00:43:02,480 --> 00:43:06,319 Speaker 1: one of the great character actors of Indian cinema. And 820 00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:10,560 Speaker 1: he said, uh, it's based on this vs. Nightball novel 821 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:14,160 Speaker 1: and uh, I want you to play the main character. 822 00:43:15,040 --> 00:43:16,879 Speaker 1: And you know what was I gonna do? I went 823 00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:20,000 Speaker 1: home and I read the book in like literally an afternoon. 824 00:43:20,120 --> 00:43:24,440 Speaker 1: I devoured the book and then I called his office 825 00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:27,800 Speaker 1: and I said, yes, I'm doing it. I'm very excited. 826 00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:30,719 Speaker 1: Was it a good experience? It was. It was a 827 00:43:30,760 --> 00:43:34,400 Speaker 1: tremendous experience. We went to Trinidad, we shot this movie. 828 00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:37,719 Speaker 1: It was chaos. The way a Smile worked was he 829 00:43:37,760 --> 00:43:40,040 Speaker 1: would find a beautiful location and then just say we're 830 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:42,799 Speaker 1: gonna shoot a scene here. And I was and of 831 00:43:42,840 --> 00:43:45,600 Speaker 1: course I'm this young actor coming from theater and you know, 832 00:43:45,640 --> 00:43:48,719 Speaker 1: and I'm sort of mary. I'm holding my script like this, 833 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:50,280 Speaker 1: you know. And he would say, it is a beautiful 834 00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:52,719 Speaker 1: we shoot a scene right here. We're going to shoot it. 835 00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:55,719 Speaker 1: And I said, okay, smile, I said, you know what. 836 00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:57,640 Speaker 1: He said, You're going to get on your bicycle and 837 00:43:57,640 --> 00:43:59,920 Speaker 1: you're gonna ride down. They're gonna get a beautiful shot 838 00:44:00,040 --> 00:44:03,000 Speaker 1: of this beautiful trees and this thing. And so I 839 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:05,080 Speaker 1: said to him, and of course I'm this is my 840 00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:08,120 Speaker 1: first movie, and I'm trying. I'm using all of my craft, 841 00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:10,120 Speaker 1: you know, like everything I know about being an actor. 842 00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:12,000 Speaker 1: And I said to him, I said it, smiles, Okay, 843 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:13,880 Speaker 1: this is great. This is not in the script, by 844 00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:16,000 Speaker 1: the way, the scene it's not. It's nowhere in the scream. 845 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:17,879 Speaker 1: He said. Don't worry about the script. He said, don't 846 00:44:17,920 --> 00:44:19,480 Speaker 1: worry about it. It's just I would go to and 847 00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:22,279 Speaker 1: I said, okay, script is a mere suggestion. Yeah, And 848 00:44:22,680 --> 00:44:24,400 Speaker 1: I said to me, I said, small, just tell me this. 849 00:44:24,560 --> 00:44:28,400 Speaker 1: I said, tell me this. Where am I coming from? 850 00:44:28,719 --> 00:44:31,160 Speaker 1: Just tell me where I'm coming from? He said, you're 851 00:44:31,239 --> 00:44:34,839 Speaker 1: coming from your house. I said, okay, great, I said great, great, 852 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:37,399 Speaker 1: And where am I going? Just so I know that 853 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:40,839 Speaker 1: for my motivation, He said, you are going. And there's 854 00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:42,560 Speaker 1: a character the owned POORI played in the movie called 855 00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:45,400 Speaker 1: rom Logan. He said, you're going to rom Logan's shop. 856 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:48,960 Speaker 1: That's where you're going. And I said okay, And then 857 00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:51,239 Speaker 1: I looked at him and I said it smile. In 858 00:44:51,320 --> 00:44:56,239 Speaker 1: this movie, it has been well established that rom Logan's 859 00:44:56,320 --> 00:45:01,960 Speaker 1: shop is across the street from my house. And he said, 860 00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:06,680 Speaker 1: you are taking the cynic rout. Just get on the 861 00:45:06,719 --> 00:45:12,080 Speaker 1: bike and ride it. It was always very like running 862 00:45:12,120 --> 00:45:14,360 Speaker 1: and gunning like. There was one scene where he wanted 863 00:45:14,400 --> 00:45:16,800 Speaker 1: me and s Jeeb Bosker, who was another actor in 864 00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:19,400 Speaker 1: the film. He wanted us to be under this hatch 865 00:45:19,480 --> 00:45:21,799 Speaker 1: roof during the scene and above us he wanted these 866 00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:24,479 Speaker 1: chickens and he wanted these chickens just to be hanging 867 00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:26,160 Speaker 1: out above the roof. And he thought it was very 868 00:45:26,160 --> 00:45:29,200 Speaker 1: funny to have these chickens. But the chickens wouldn't stay 869 00:45:29,400 --> 00:45:32,319 Speaker 1: on the roof. They kept running away. So he got 870 00:45:32,360 --> 00:45:36,719 Speaker 1: the guy, one of the kids on the set. He 871 00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:39,959 Speaker 1: got him with a staple gun. Oh god, he got 872 00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:42,799 Speaker 1: a string. He tied the string to the chickens, and 873 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:45,840 Speaker 1: then he stapled the string to the roof, and the 874 00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:48,080 Speaker 1: chickens were like kicking and they were trying to get out, 875 00:45:48,120 --> 00:45:49,920 Speaker 1: but they couldn't get away, and he got a shot. 876 00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:53,440 Speaker 1: He got a shot. Now, I just want to finish 877 00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:57,120 Speaker 1: by saying that the thing I'm most grateful for or 878 00:45:57,480 --> 00:46:00,319 Speaker 1: or I'm the most admiring of, is that why you 879 00:46:00,440 --> 00:46:05,600 Speaker 1: had the opportunity to access great material, when you have 880 00:46:05,719 --> 00:46:08,520 Speaker 1: that opportunity to present it to you, you didn't squander 881 00:46:08,560 --> 00:46:11,719 Speaker 1: that opportunity. And that's really really really amazing to me 882 00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:14,919 Speaker 1: and really impressive, because when that material comes your way, 883 00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:17,600 Speaker 1: you don't know when it's gonna come again. Like when 884 00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:20,080 Speaker 1: like when Wynn said to you, don't pass this up 885 00:46:20,360 --> 00:46:22,680 Speaker 1: and go off and do this, and then Corpus Christie 886 00:46:22,719 --> 00:46:24,880 Speaker 1: dies in two weeks. You know he knew, which is 887 00:46:24,920 --> 00:46:27,560 Speaker 1: that when you have something good in front of you, 888 00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:29,600 Speaker 1: that other stuff is gonna take care of itself. Where 889 00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:32,400 Speaker 1: we want to believe that now you've done all this 890 00:46:32,520 --> 00:46:34,719 Speaker 1: important work and all this great dramatic work, and you've 891 00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:37,040 Speaker 1: driven it right off a cliff by hosting a game show. 892 00:46:37,880 --> 00:46:41,360 Speaker 1: Um uh, you and I have that profound thing in common. 893 00:46:41,600 --> 00:46:44,040 Speaker 1: And then add to that the fact that you had 894 00:46:44,120 --> 00:46:48,760 Speaker 1: children at the age of fifty four, that yeah, I'm 895 00:46:48,880 --> 00:46:54,000 Speaker 1: sixty four and we've had six kids in eight years. Man, Wow, 896 00:46:54,360 --> 00:46:56,319 Speaker 1: you've just got You've got a flock of him and I, 897 00:46:56,440 --> 00:47:00,560 Speaker 1: you know, we had him, and and honestly after say, 898 00:47:01,000 --> 00:47:03,040 Speaker 1: he's the greatest thing that happened to me. Like he 899 00:47:03,719 --> 00:47:08,239 Speaker 1: gave me a kind of talk about an access to 900 00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:11,560 Speaker 1: like humanity and just like as you know, as an 901 00:47:11,680 --> 00:47:14,920 Speaker 1: artist and just filling up your just your being. You know, 902 00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:17,040 Speaker 1: there's certain things in life which you don't know that 903 00:47:17,080 --> 00:47:20,160 Speaker 1: you need until you get them, and then you go, oh, 904 00:47:20,200 --> 00:47:23,480 Speaker 1: this is what my soul has been craving. And now 905 00:47:24,160 --> 00:47:29,719 Speaker 1: he is one of the funniest, smartest little guys. And 906 00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:33,439 Speaker 1: he just helped. And I realized that, like, oh, I'm 907 00:47:33,480 --> 00:47:35,080 Speaker 1: glad I did it now. I'm not one of those 908 00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:37,320 Speaker 1: people that says I wish I'd done it ten years ago, 909 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:40,440 Speaker 1: because because I'm mentally ready for it now, you know 910 00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:42,040 Speaker 1: what I mean. Like I like when I was like 911 00:47:42,080 --> 00:47:43,880 Speaker 1: in my thirties, I wouldn't have been able to do this. 912 00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:45,440 Speaker 1: I would have sucked it up. I would have just 913 00:47:45,520 --> 00:47:48,560 Speaker 1: been like too much of a mess trying to do 914 00:47:48,600 --> 00:47:50,439 Speaker 1: other you know, like like I feel like I'm gonna 915 00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:54,000 Speaker 1: place in my career now where I'm feeling I'm feeling 916 00:47:54,040 --> 00:47:56,480 Speaker 1: more settled. I feel like, Okay, you know, I can 917 00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:58,840 Speaker 1: do this. I can pay attention to him in a 918 00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:01,120 Speaker 1: way that I couldn't have if I had done it 919 00:48:01,280 --> 00:48:04,480 Speaker 1: much earlier. And what you also are is a man 920 00:48:04,600 --> 00:48:07,239 Speaker 1: that can keep his family home. You don't have to 921 00:48:07,239 --> 00:48:10,040 Speaker 1: send your kid to Bahrain to live with his grandparents. 922 00:48:10,160 --> 00:48:12,840 Speaker 1: It's true. Yeah, it's true. You have a home, and 923 00:48:12,880 --> 00:48:15,480 Speaker 1: you've got a steady amount of work, and you've got 924 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:17,359 Speaker 1: the respect of people in the business, and things are 925 00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:21,240 Speaker 1: good to go, and your family is together, and yeah, 926 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:28,040 Speaker 1: well listen, this was really a joy. Thank you, my 927 00:48:28,200 --> 00:48:33,120 Speaker 1: thanks to Assaf Munvey. This episode was recorded at CDM 928 00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:36,800 Speaker 1: Studios in New York City. We're produced by Kathleen Russo, 929 00:48:37,200 --> 00:48:40,880 Speaker 1: Zach McNeese, and Maureen Hoban. Our engineer is Frank Imperial. 930 00:48:41,239 --> 00:48:45,240 Speaker 1: Our social media manager is Daniel Gingrich. I'm Alec Baldwin. 931 00:48:45,320 --> 00:48:48,640 Speaker 1: Here's the thing is brought to you by My Heart Radio. 932 00:49:00,920 --> 00:49:06,080 Speaker 1: Oh up me BA need to