Speaker 1: Hello, friends, I'm back and if you're listening, he well,
Speaker 1: so are you.
Speaker 2: And it's a good thing that.
Speaker 1: We're both here today because guess what, I have an
Speaker 1: extra special episode of Off the Beat. Oh yeah, and
Speaker 1: it's your host, Brian Baumgartner. Now, if you follow at
Speaker 1: off the Beat on Instagram, like I have very politely
Speaker 1: asked you to many many times, or even if you
Speaker 1: follow me, you might already know what's going on here
Speaker 1: on social media. I asked all of you, my wonderful listeners,
Speaker 1: to send in your questions for a little mailbag episode
Speaker 1: of Off the Beat. That's right, ask me almost anything episode. Boy,
Speaker 1: you guys delivered. I got so many great questions. There's
Speaker 1: sadly no way that I could answer all of them.
Speaker 1: I do wish I could, truly, I'd love to get
Speaker 1: to all of them. For example, what a day? Four
Speaker 1: fifty asked? How are babies made? Now, this is an
Speaker 1: important question. It's very important for you all to know.
Speaker 1: I'd love to be the one to teach you. However,
Speaker 1: that would make this a very very different podcast. So
Speaker 1: I encourage you to ask your parents. Some of your
Speaker 1: other questions I just truly cannot answer. As in it's
Speaker 1: Sid asked how to stay sane? Sid, Listen, We're in
Speaker 1: the midst of a one hundred day actor strike that
Speaker 1: was preceded by a nine hundred and seventy four day
Speaker 1: writer strike. I wish that I could stay saying I
Speaker 1: wouldn't have chosen to be an actor. I don't know
Speaker 1: what I would have chosen to do, but truly, if
Speaker 1: you figure that one out, how to stay sane? Well,
Speaker 1: you have an open invitation to come on this podcast
Speaker 1: and tell each and every.
Speaker 2: One of us.
Speaker 1: Luckily, many of you ask questions that I actually can answer,
Speaker 1: so I'm excited to do just that. Let's start off
Speaker 1: with one from z f d A l WO eight.
Speaker 1: The question is hello, Brian Well, yes, hello, indeed one down.
Speaker 1: I am on a roll.
Speaker 3: Bubble and squeak. I love it, bubble and squeak, bubble
Speaker 3: and squeak. I could get every mon lift over from
Speaker 3: the nine before.
Speaker 1: A lot of you, when submitting questions, ask me some
Speaker 1: very thoughtful questions about me, about my career and my journey,
Speaker 1: like Amanda Bashuk, who asked, first or worst job you
Speaker 1: ever had?
Speaker 2: This is? This is? This is a good one.
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm going to start asking this in my interviews
Speaker 1: of other people. First job, ever, I was a host
Speaker 1: at a restaurant. I wasn't smart enough to be a server,
Speaker 1: I don't think, and I wasn't qualified enough to be
Speaker 1: a bartender. I was a host at a restaurant, The
Speaker 1: Black Forest, in a German restaurant that I believe to
Speaker 1: this day still exists in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I had a
Speaker 1: good time at the Black Forest in I would say
Speaker 1: my worst job I have referenced this before was an
Speaker 1: office job. I was a paralegal at a law firm.
Speaker 1: I think that there are high level paralegals that really
Speaker 1: deal within important things for lawyers. What I remember doing
Speaker 1: was counting pages. This is not a joke. I would
Speaker 1: count pages. So they worked on huge corporate cases and
Speaker 1: there would be documents that would be into evidence. And
Speaker 1: when you submit these documents into evidence, you have to
Speaker 1: make sure that the entire document is there. So they
Speaker 1: were numbered and I had to ensure that every page
Speaker 1: actually was there before they were sent to the I
Speaker 1: don't know the court or whatever. So yes, that I
Speaker 1: would say that was my worst job was counting pages
Speaker 1: as a low level paralegal in a law firm. This
Speaker 1: move asks do you have any regret concerning your choice
Speaker 1: of career, Like, have you ever dreamed about a football
Speaker 1: career or something else? Well, listen, if I could have
Speaker 1: had a football career, well, I.
Speaker 2: Don't know if I would have done that. I think
Speaker 2: I'm too off for that.
Speaker 1: What I wanted to be was the first basement for
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Braves. That's what I wanted to do. That
Speaker 1: was my dream when I was a kid. Some kids
Speaker 1: dream of being you know, firemen and women or I
Speaker 1: don't know. I wanted to be the first basement for
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Braze. It was a very very specific dream
Speaker 1: of mine. I think I needed to expand it. Maybe
Speaker 1: just professional baseball player. Maybe that would have been a
Speaker 1: little more attainable, but not really. No, I don't have
Speaker 1: any regrets. I feel incredibly lucky to be doing what
Speaker 1: I'm doing now and to have worked with the people
Speaker 1: on the projects that I have had the opportunity to
Speaker 1: work on thus far, and I hope for many many more.
Speaker 1: Have No, I have no regrets.
Speaker 2: I'm glad.
Speaker 1: In fact, I can say today in twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: I'm glad that I was not the first baseman for
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Braves. Thomas Lendon three asks a very insightful question,
Speaker 1: does your fame hold your life back?
Speaker 2: Thomas?
Speaker 1: I saw your question come across. We have a great
Speaker 1: team here at Off the Beat that actually selected these questions,
Speaker 1: and I knew this would be one that they were
Speaker 1: going to select. It's a difficult question because do I
Speaker 1: feel like it holds my life back? No, it just
Speaker 1: makes my life different. Eric McCormick, the great actor who
Speaker 1: has become my friend. Eric McCormick, I believe this was
Speaker 1: his quote, asked what was the downside for having will
Speaker 1: and grace end? And his answer was it's going to
Speaker 1: be harder for me to get reservations at restaurants.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I don't think that's true for him now. In fact,
Speaker 1: having worked on a project with him and having had
Speaker 1: him arrange some reservations, I think he still doesn't have
Speaker 1: trouble getting reservations. So there are some certain perks on
Speaker 1: the outside. There are also certain downsides, which I think
Speaker 1: is true for everybody, regardless of their line of work.
Speaker 1: I never want to complain about certain things that are
Speaker 1: not so fun about my chosen line of profession or
Speaker 1: fame or or whatever.
Speaker 2: You call it.
Speaker 1: But most of the time I have to tell all
Speaker 1: of you it's about the approach and the timing. I mean,
Speaker 1: if I'm out to dinner with my family and we're
Speaker 1: sitting down and someone comes up and interrupts that meal
Speaker 1: and wants to take a picture, I mean, this is
Speaker 1: obviously not fun. This is not a positive thing. This
Speaker 1: would not be a positive thing I don't think for anybody.
Speaker 1: But most of the rest of the time, I feel
Speaker 1: like I signed up for it. It's a part of
Speaker 1: my chosen work and whatever the celebrity or fa that
Speaker 1: came along with it, and I choose to try to
Speaker 1: make every interaction that I have with so many of
Speaker 1: you and others positive. I live by this, and I
Speaker 1: think I've talked about this on the podcast before. I
Speaker 1: honestly believe it's just as easy to be nice as
Speaker 1: it is to be an asshole, So why not be
Speaker 1: nice and try an attempt to spread some love? And
Speaker 1: ultimately it's people who are very kind and appreciative of
Speaker 1: the projects that I've been a part of, whether it
Speaker 1: be this podcast or a television show, and so I'm
Speaker 1: grateful buy and large for the interactions and look, I
Speaker 1: have said this The greatest gift that I believe I
Speaker 1: was given from the Office is the human connection that
Speaker 1: I have been able to have with people who feel
Speaker 1: the need to tell me what that show has meant
Speaker 1: to them. And I do consider that a gift, and
Speaker 1: honestly am often overcome with emotion when those of you
Speaker 1: do come up and talk to me and tell me
Speaker 1: about your experiences with the show and how it maybe
Speaker 1: helped you through a bad time or relationship or medical issue,
Speaker 1: or if you were a service member serving overseas and
Speaker 1: the show helped. This is a gift that you all
Speaker 1: give to me. So thank you, by and large most
Speaker 1: of the time for coming up and saying hi and
Speaker 1: having such kind words.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: MAXI Byrne asks was there ever a role that you
Speaker 1: considered turning down after auditioning or offered a role, and
Speaker 1: if so, why did you turn it down?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: I don't know that I've talked about this specifically. There
Speaker 1: was a period of time after the Office where I
Speaker 1: had the opportunity to play a lot of.
Speaker 2: That were Kevin.
Speaker 1: Malone adjacent, very similar in terms of in terms of
Speaker 1: the type of role, and I decided that I did
Speaker 1: not want to do that. Now, let me be honest
Speaker 1: without naming anything specifically in this regard, most of them
Speaker 1: were not written by Greg Daniels and Mike Sure and
Speaker 1: Mindy Kayling and bj Novak and Paul Lieberstein and all
Speaker 1: of the great writers that we had, so they were
Speaker 1: never quite the same, which was part of it. But two, yeah,
Speaker 1: I did. I wanted to distance myself. I found myself
Speaker 1: saying yes almost instantly to a drama regardless of what
Speaker 1: I thought of it, just wanting to play a different
Speaker 1: type of character. And I found myself saying no to
Speaker 1: a lot of roles that were like Kevin Malone. To
Speaker 1: answer your question slightly more specifically, I didn't turn this
Speaker 1: role down. But when I was offered the role of
Speaker 1: skip Wick in Electric Jesus movie I shot, I don't know,
Speaker 1: three or four years ago. I was concerned about it
Speaker 1: because the movie was called Electric Jesus and I have
Speaker 1: my own relationship with spirituality and religion, and I wasn't
Speaker 1: quite sure. I wasn't quite sure if this was a
Speaker 1: movie that.
Speaker 2: I wanted to do.
Speaker 1: I knew the role after reading the script was incredibly
Speaker 1: interesting to me and something I definitely wanted to play,
Speaker 1: but I felt like I needed to be sure about
Speaker 1: the movie and the message that the director, who also
Speaker 1: was the writer, the message of the movie from him
Speaker 1: and how he saw that character within it. So that
Speaker 1: was that was something that was that was very important
Speaker 1: to me. And we had a long conversation Chris White
Speaker 1: and I about what he saw, his feelings about religion,
Speaker 1: his experience with organized religion and spirituality, and what he
Speaker 1: felt like the message was of this movie or what
Speaker 1: was his reason for making it. And you know, we talked.
Speaker 1: I don't know, we talked for a couple of hours,
Speaker 1: and after my conversation with him, I was very very
Speaker 1: sure that I did want to do the movie. So
Speaker 1: that doesn't that wasn't something that I turned down, which
Speaker 1: was your question. But you know, that was really important
Speaker 1: to me on that film, asking those questions and making
Speaker 1: sure that it was something.
Speaker 2: That I wanted to do.
Speaker 1: Tupac's White son, Oh Boy, asks if you could be
Speaker 1: a superhero in a movie, Yeah, who would you be?
Speaker 1: I like the bad guys? Is that wrong? I feel
Speaker 1: like the bad guys in the movies are way way
Speaker 1: way more complex and interesting at least to play. I
Speaker 1: don't know Superman, he has the most power. I do
Speaker 1: get asked periodically, like what would be the superpower that
Speaker 1: I would most want? Teleporting? The idea that I could
Speaker 1: teleport from place to place, that would be.
Speaker 2: That would be an amazing thing.
Speaker 1: But that has nothing to do with acting as a
Speaker 1: superhero in a movie. Look, I'm not supermany. Let's be clear.
Speaker 1: He has the most power. I think Batman's pretty complex,
Speaker 1: I would say, but you know, really, for me, I
Speaker 1: would rather be Lex Luthor or I don't know, the
Speaker 1: Joke or the Penguin than one of the superheroes. I
Speaker 1: don't know, call me crazy. I think they're they're more interesting.
Speaker 1: As a kid, you know, when we used to not
Speaker 1: watch screens all the time and we played Imagination Land,
Speaker 1: I was always the bad guy because I thought they.
Speaker 2: Were more interesting.
Speaker 1: On hid Trey Diez America asks which president do you
Speaker 1: see yourself portraying in a biopic? And why is he LBJ?
Speaker 1: Because you said so, my friend, because you said so,
Speaker 1: We're gonna go to a little fast round here some
Speaker 1: quick answers, hopefully to some questions. At least that's what
Speaker 1: my producers tell me.
Speaker 2: This is a rapid.
Speaker 1: Fire round of mailbag. The crazy Dude forty four says
Speaker 1: what's your favorite scary movie? Exorcist the original, that's the
Speaker 1: movie that scared me the most. My favorite is The
Speaker 1: Shining by far easily top ten movie for me all times.
Speaker 1: D D one one two nine asks favorite girl scout
Speaker 1: cookie thin mint d D. I'm a traditionalist. I also
Speaker 1: like those samoas. You know they try to do the
Speaker 1: new ones. Doesn't work for me. Just give me some
Speaker 1: thin mints, and if they were in the fridge, even better.
Speaker 1: Tony Santo Spirito asks what's your favorite adult beverage. It's whiskey,
Speaker 1: my friend, and if it's black market rye, it's even better.
Speaker 1: I'll take whiskey over just about anything else. I also,
Speaker 1: let's be honest, I do like the red wine as
Speaker 1: bigger and bolder as possible. Nice cab franc or Cabernet savignon,
Speaker 1: nice brunello from Italy. I should be drinking wine, right.
Speaker 1: Why am I not drinking doing this? I'm answering the
Speaker 1: questions I should also be drinking. No, it's the middle
Speaker 1: of the day and I'm being safe and responsible. M
Speaker 1: Y Souf Top five favorite songs, Oh boy, actually, top
Speaker 1: five favorite songs Your last meal on Earth. And if
Speaker 1: you could have a fast chain restaurant built into your home.
Speaker 2: What would it be?
Speaker 1: That one's easy in and out. If I could have
Speaker 1: an in and out at the house, that would be
Speaker 1: But then people there would be a line down my driveway.
Speaker 2: That wouldn't be great.
Speaker 1: But I think the point is what would I want?
Speaker 1: And it would definitely be that I'm going backwards. Last
Speaker 1: meal on Earth? Well, now I'm thinking about Gabernet Savignon.
Speaker 1: I would say, a nice big Napa cab with a
Speaker 1: beautiful steak, some very small cut up fingerling potatoes and
Speaker 1: broccoli on the side.
Speaker 2: That would be my last meal on Earth.
Speaker 1: And you can't talk to me about whether or not
Speaker 1: it's healthy or not, because guess what, it's my last
Speaker 1: meal on Earth.
Speaker 2: So I can have what I want to.
Speaker 1: And then finish it off with an with an in
Speaker 1: and out, and then it would definitely be my last
Speaker 1: my last meal on Earth. Top five My favorite songs.
Speaker 1: Oh Boy, here we go. I'm an enigma wrapped in
Speaker 1: a variety pack. I like a lot of different types
Speaker 1: of music. I like to say, oh, I always say,
Speaker 1: but this is not what I always I stole this
Speaker 1: from someone, but now I say it very regularly. By
Speaker 1: the way, I did not win on Jeopardy. In case
Speaker 1: you missed it, I was on Jeopardy. I didn't win
Speaker 1: on Jeopardy. And here, my friends, is the reason why
Speaker 1: a great person once said to me that I don't
Speaker 1: remember who it was said that your brain has the
Speaker 1: capabilities of remembering one of three categories. You can't do
Speaker 1: more than that. One are sports facts, teams, statistics, just
Speaker 1: sports information.
Speaker 2: That's the one that I have.
Speaker 1: The second is songs, song lyrics, song titles, albums, artists.
Speaker 1: I love music, but I'm not good at that. It
Speaker 1: could be a really recognizable song that I could be
Speaker 1: singing along too, and someone would be like, who sang?
Speaker 1: And I don't even I can't even pull it. And
Speaker 1: then the third is useless trivia. See that's why I
Speaker 1: didn't win at Jeopardy. I don't have the useless trivia.
Speaker 1: And by the way, over three rounds, no sports categories,
Speaker 1: absolutely none. I think it was rigged against me. Don't
Speaker 1: tell anyone I said that, but I think it must
Speaker 1: have been because they all knew I liked it. Anyone
Speaker 1: who says that Jeopardy, by the way, that there's a
Speaker 1: way to cheat. There's no way to cheat.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I was once the captain of Family Feud and we won,
Speaker 1: and it was me and Oscar at the end and
Speaker 1: we won the big money. Much less serious over at
Speaker 1: Family Feud. By the way, Jeopardy they're very serious over
Speaker 1: there on Jeopardy. They don't mess around. They'll take you
Speaker 1: to court if they think that you were messing around.
Speaker 1: They told us, anyway.
Speaker 2: What was it?
Speaker 1: Top five favorite songs? So this is for me because
Speaker 1: I like a lot of different things, no particular order.
Speaker 1: As you may know, Willie Nelson is the person I've
Speaker 1: seen in concert the most, and I would say is
Speaker 1: my number one favorite person. I'm gonna give two for him,
Speaker 1: but it just counts as one always on my mind.
Speaker 1: And of course Georgia that's song one, which is the
Speaker 1: two and one Bob Dylan, Like a rolling Stone, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think for me, the songs that pop into my
Speaker 1: head are the ones where if it comes on, I'm
Speaker 1: going to try my best to sing it because it
Speaker 1: just it transports me and it makes me feel differently.
Speaker 1: So like a rolling Stone is on there, Purple Rain,
Speaker 1: Prince that's got to be on there. Greatest Concert I
Speaker 1: ever saw By the way, Prince, all due respect to
Speaker 1: Taylor Swift, Prince, you can't you can't beat it. Don't
Speaker 1: Stop Believing. But I think that one for me is
Speaker 1: about the Pranos. I'll be honest, which everyone knows is
Speaker 1: my favorite television show. I was never on Don't Stop
Speaker 1: Believing because it obviously ends The Sopranos. I got to
Speaker 1: put that on my list. Bohemian Rhapsody Queen the craziest,
Speaker 1: most courageous, bold insane song ever do. I think that
Speaker 1: was five. But I can't leave off Lennon's Imagine.
Speaker 2: Because it makes me cry always. So there you go.
Speaker 1: There's my top six or seven favorite songs of all time.
Speaker 1: Chris Lee Photography. Second favorite food to cook after chili, Well,
Speaker 1: this is easy because it really probably is my first
Speaker 1: favorite thing to cook. I am fortunate enough weatherwise that
Speaker 1: I live in southern California, so grilling season goes all
Speaker 1: year long, and if I'm home, I would say that
Speaker 1: I'm at the grill four nights a week. Yeah, four
Speaker 1: ish nights a week, depending that's on average. I love
Speaker 1: to grill, and it doesn't matter what it is. Vegetables, meat,
Speaker 1: the beef, chicken, sausages. I love to grill, and this
Speaker 1: is not really intended to be a plug. I do
Speaker 1: have a grilling cookbook.
Speaker 2: I mean, what are these these?
Speaker 1: It's just a master at transitions today. A grilling cookbook,
Speaker 1: seriously good barbecue cookbook that's coming out this spring, just
Speaker 1: in time for next grilling season.
Speaker 2: Check it out.
Speaker 1: I'm compiling recipes right now.
Speaker 2: I hope you saw.
Speaker 1: If you have a great barbecue recipe, get it to me.
Speaker 1: It's the deadline is rapidly approaching or passed, but try
Speaker 1: it out. You can find I'm sure the link on
Speaker 1: my Instagram to get your recipe if it's not too
Speaker 1: late into the book. But yeah, I love to grill.
Speaker 1: And I will say this also because I haven't talked
Speaker 1: about this. During COVID, there was a big movement for baking,
Speaker 1: and I was never a baker and I still am.
Speaker 1: Not spoiler alert, but I started doing the pizza thing
Speaker 1: and making my own dough, experimenting with that, with doing it,
Speaker 1: letting it sit multiple days. So I really did enjoy
Speaker 1: the therapeutic nature of that. I mean, it takes a
Speaker 1: long time. You got a plan ahead, and usually I
Speaker 1: am not great at planning ahead. But if you haven't
Speaker 1: gotten into the dough making for pizza craze, I know
Speaker 1: my old co worker Jenna Fisher's she's on the baking
Speaker 1: train there. I was doing the pizza dough. I really
Speaker 1: do enjoy that as well. And that ends our rapid fire,
Speaker 1: our rapid fire questions. I didn't rapid fire it very
Speaker 1: well at all. Sorry, producers, don't fire me. But let's
Speaker 1: take a break. I'll catch my breath and we'll be
Speaker 1: back after this.
Speaker 2: Here we are.
Speaker 1: We're back, and we've come to another very popular category
Speaker 1: of questions.
Speaker 2: Yes, chili.
Speaker 1: Now I get a chili comment or a question regardless
Speaker 1: of what I post. So if I post asking for
Speaker 1: any questions, well I'm no doubt going to get some
Speaker 1: chili questions because your mind's they go straight to beans.
Speaker 1: I'm ed seven three five two four says who has
Speaker 1: made the best chili you have ever tasted?
Speaker 2: Besides yourself?
Speaker 1: Well, I've told this story before, but I don't think
Speaker 1: on here. I'm here in my office and I actually
Speaker 1: have the seriously good chili cookbook written by yours truly,
Speaker 1: one hundred and seventy seven of the best recipes in
Speaker 1: the world. Page eighty six in this Bible of Chili Recipes.
Speaker 1: I was at the World Championship Chili cook Off, where
Speaker 1: I just was last month, by the way, but this
Speaker 1: is back a couple of years ago one of the
Speaker 1: inspirations for this book. I was there. I was asked
Speaker 1: to judge. I went to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and
Speaker 1: there was a smoked white chicken chili that mister Chuck
Speaker 1: Edwards made. That was transformative because I thought of chili
Speaker 1: as why do you need a bunch of recipes. It's
Speaker 1: either mild, medium, or hot. And his chili opened up
Speaker 1: for me what chili could be. It's a white bean
Speaker 1: chicken chili.
Speaker 2: But it was just delicious.
Speaker 1: And so when I decided, and I had the International
Speaker 1: Chili Society who puts on the World Championship Chili cook Off,
Speaker 1: when they agreed to let me use or include some
Speaker 1: World champion recipes, I said, I ain't doing it unless
Speaker 1: this guy, Chuck Edwards allows me to put his chili
Speaker 1: in here, because I need it in here. So I
Speaker 1: make a lot of them. But I was asked for
Speaker 1: the best, and that that for me will I will
Speaker 1: never forget that chili, and I will also never stop
Speaker 1: making it. So there you go, stars for css Y
Speaker 1: who actually made the chili. Now, I assume you're referring
Speaker 1: to the chili that was featured in the office episode
Speaker 1: Casual Friday that I spilled all over the floor, or
Speaker 1: rather Kevin spilled all over the floor that was the
Speaker 1: prop department. And let me be honest, it was not homemade.
Speaker 1: It was it was it was not home. It was chili,
Speaker 1: but it was not hot, and it would not have
Speaker 1: been a that I would have wanted to eat. Let
Speaker 1: me just put it that way. But they made so
Speaker 1: much of it, and we had so much more because,
Speaker 1: as I'm sure you all know, we did it in
Speaker 1: one take or there was a lot left over. So
Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of people got to enjoy chili,
Speaker 1: the stuff that didn't end up on the floor for
Speaker 1: days or weeks to come.
Speaker 2: I did not. Now.
Speaker 1: I also had a ton of requests here for my
Speaker 1: chili recipe. As you know, Kevin's is to undercook the onions.
Speaker 1: Actually mine is to undercook the onions as well. Well.
Speaker 1: My secret recipe is not secret, it's here in my
Speaker 1: seriously good Chili cookbook. I'm gonna drop a link to
Speaker 1: the recipe in the notes for this episode of Off
Speaker 1: the Beat, so you all can give it a try,
Speaker 1: and then you're gonna love it so much you're gonna
Speaker 1: need Chuck Edwards and everyone else's in the book. So
Speaker 1: I will include recipe. I mean, I'm not saying, I'm
Speaker 1: just saying it's the best you've ever had. It's not
Speaker 1: a brag, it's if it's true, it's true. Now, there's
Speaker 1: some other secrets that I've I've never told anyone before.
Speaker 1: This is some top secret stuff. Okay, I'm I'm finally
Speaker 1: going to get to reveal this for you today. It's
Speaker 1: a two part question.
Speaker 2: Here we go.
Speaker 1: Brandon seal Knew asked, how does one attain so much
Speaker 1: handsomeness and life is shit at it? How do you
Speaker 1: not age? Like, don't be shy. Drop the skincare. Let
Speaker 1: me just say this, it's just oh natural baby, combined
Speaker 1: with a lot, a lot of plastic surgery.
Speaker 2: So there you go.
Speaker 1: Those are my tips for how to stay handsome and
Speaker 1: my skincare routine. Get surgery off.
Speaker 2: And no, don't to that. Actually, maybe I should write
Speaker 2: it in a book. There's a new book idea for you.
Speaker 1: Well, now that I've covered my first two passions, acting
Speaker 1: and of course skincare. There are plenty of questions submitted
Speaker 1: about one of my other passions, sports raw B number seven.
Speaker 1: How long have you been playing golf? What do you
Speaker 1: normally shoot, and what's your favorite club in the bag.
Speaker 1: I didn't start playing golf as a kid raw B
Speaker 1: number seven, And actually my raw number is about seven.
Speaker 1: My handicap is it fluctuates between a six something and
Speaker 1: a forty seven. No, that's my handicap I'm referring to
Speaker 1: when I say my number. You know, I want my
Speaker 1: first number to be a seven, meaning in the seventies.
Speaker 1: It's usually not. For a while, it felt like no
Speaker 1: matter what I did, it was an eighty one. I
Speaker 1: haven't been playing so well recently, we'll see. I love
Speaker 1: the game, as you all know. My favorite club in
Speaker 1: the bag sixty degree wedge. Yeah, I hit it from
Speaker 1: almost anywhere around the greens, and I would say, if
Speaker 1: I had a best shot, it would be one hundred
Speaker 1: yards an end. Most of the time that sixty degree
Speaker 1: wedge is in my hand. Funk twenty four asks what
Speaker 1: are you using on a par three two oh five
Speaker 1: yard center pin? If you say no, there's no wind
Speaker 1: and there's no uphill downhill elevation change. I'd be using
Speaker 1: my hybrid twenty four. I think that's right. That's what
Speaker 1: I would use, and I wouldn't step on it.
Speaker 2: As they say.
Speaker 1: If I got to wind at my back at all
Speaker 1: and I can play it to the front easily, then
Speaker 1: I'll hit a six iron. But I appreciate your specificity.
Speaker 1: Phil in m N. Phil in Minnesota says, resolve this issue.
Speaker 1: We see you show up for Roger cheering for the Jets,
Speaker 1: So where is your long standing loyalty to Title Town USA?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 1: As many of you know, guest of the program here
Speaker 1: and good friend of us on off the beat is
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers. And I was there at the Jets' first
Speaker 1: game against the Bills. I have talked about it on
Speaker 1: Dan Patrick's program and maybe a little bit. Here is
Speaker 1: the most exciting open for a sporting event that I've
Speaker 1: ever seen in my entire life, bar none. Twelve years
Speaker 1: since the playoffs, twenty two years, since nine to eleven.
Speaker 1: On nine to eleven, fifty five years. I believe that
Speaker 1: my math is right. Since their last Super Bowl victory
Speaker 1: I won, and only super Bowl victory the anticipation was incredible,
Speaker 1: and I feel very lucky that I was there, and
Speaker 1: of course was completely heartbroken at what transpired in that game.
Speaker 1: But of course I still love the Packers. And burn
Speaker 1: Berner asks, what Packers game are you going to this year?
Speaker 1: I was just there. I was just there in Las
Speaker 1: Vegas for the Packers Raiders game before their bye week.
Speaker 1: I really was disappointed at the end of that game.
Speaker 1: It was a great game and by the way, the Raiders,
Speaker 1: hats off to the Raiders. That stadium there is incredible.
Speaker 1: Do you ever have an opportunity to go see a
Speaker 1: game there at Allegiant Field? Do it because it's fun.
Speaker 1: It's fun, it's beautiful, it's Vegas. But the Raiders fans
Speaker 1: are loud, the visiting fans obviously Packers they're loud. It
Speaker 1: was a really fun game. I was very, very disappointed
Speaker 1: the Packers couldn't win, but my love is still there.
Speaker 1: I still bleed the green and gold. Now I just
Speaker 1: have just got some green and black in there as well.
Speaker 2: We'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: The Jets, by the way, they're looking good, so we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens. It's going to be a very exciting
Speaker 1: last back half of the season. B Geittman asks, when
Speaker 1: are you coming to Lambeau for a game? I'd love
Speaker 1: to see you there. Look, I had a lot of
Speaker 1: questions about when I'm coming to Green Bay this year.
Speaker 2: As I just said, I was.
Speaker 1: Able to see my beloved Green and Gold in Vegas
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure when I
Speaker 1: will be out. I hope to make it out there,
Speaker 1: you know. I always love to go to Lambo when
Speaker 1: it's cold. Most people are the opposite, and I don't
Speaker 1: like cold weather, but man, there's just nothing like it.
Speaker 1: The frozen tundra and you really can see and feel
Speaker 1: that home field advantage.
Speaker 2: I love that.
Speaker 1: So I'm hoping to get out once the weather turns
Speaker 1: and see a game this year. But I'm very glad
Speaker 1: I got to see a game already. Stash Mountain asks
Speaker 1: how do you feel about the conference realignment and expanded
Speaker 1: playoff in college football? Well, first off, about the extended playoff,
Speaker 1: it's about time. There are some people that think that
Speaker 1: it's going to destroy the regular season because every game
Speaker 1: won't be as important. I don't think that's true because
Speaker 1: I think there will be enough incentive to be ranked higher.
Speaker 1: Even if you believe you're going to get into the playoff,
Speaker 1: that you're still going to be playing. The game's hard.
Speaker 1: The game this last weekend, Penn State and Ohio State,
Speaker 1: I know, had huge college football playoff implications, and people
Speaker 1: talked about how that game wouldn't be as important. But look,
Speaker 1: I think that the higher you end up, the better
Speaker 1: it's going to be for you. And I think it's
Speaker 1: going to give some more teams, some different teams. And
Speaker 1: I say this as a fan of the University of Georgia,
Speaker 1: more teams an opportunity to just be in it. And
Speaker 1: I think that's good. Do I think it's going to
Speaker 1: alter tremendously who ends up winning the national championship. No,
Speaker 1: but hopefully we'll have a surprise here and there and
Speaker 1: some more people involved. So I'm excited about that conference realignment.
Speaker 1: I don't know what it's all crazy town to me.
Speaker 1: I mean that the PAC twelve is no longer exists,
Speaker 1: that you've got sixteen, eighteen, twenty teams in these mega conferences.
Speaker 1: You know, I am I would say a traditionalist in
Speaker 1: a way. I mean, look, things like the playoff, things
Speaker 1: that make sense. I'm in favor of but I do
Speaker 1: think whereas the expanded playoff is going to give more
Speaker 1: teams an opportunity, I think that the conference realignment and
Speaker 1: expanding these conferences, I think there's going to end up
Speaker 1: being another tier in college football and there's ultimately going
Speaker 1: to be fewer schools that have a chance, and I
Speaker 1: think that's unfortunate.
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 1: I'm hoping that it will that there'll be something left
Speaker 1: there for the bowl games. I don't know, in a
Speaker 1: lesser tier conference or our new league that will be born,
Speaker 1: so there will be more than just Division One.
Speaker 2: Maybe there'll be a Division one A and one B.
Speaker 1: I don't know, but I think that these mega conferences
Speaker 1: are not good, certainly not good for the fans and
Speaker 1: not good for the schools that aren't in them.
Speaker 2: So we'll see.
Speaker 1: D Hoppy twenty six says, will you tell the Clemson
Speaker 1: FaceTime story?
Speaker 2: I don't know the Clemson FaceTime story. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't know what story we're referring to.
Speaker 1: I'm so sorry, but I will tell you. I was
Speaker 1: asked when Joshua Brooks, the athletic director of the University
Speaker 1: of Georgia, was named the athletic director. Someone in the
Speaker 1: department asked me to send a video A cameo I
Speaker 1: believe to Joshua congratulating him. I guess he was a
Speaker 1: big fan of the Office and I had lost touch
Speaker 1: with the athletic department at the University of Georgia for
Speaker 1: a long time. I've been gone from Georgia for a
Speaker 1: long time. Man, he brought me back into the Fray
Speaker 1: in a big way. He's been so kind, reaching out
Speaker 1: to me and inviting me to games and inviting me
Speaker 1: to sit with him, and was with him the SEC
Speaker 1: Championship game last year. And actually we'll see him this
Speaker 1: weekend in Jacksonville. So I don't know about Clemson, but
Speaker 1: I'm very glad that I got re reintroduced and realigned
Speaker 1: with the University of Georgia athletic program, that's for sure.
Speaker 1: Ray Mitton asks, are you still in a fantasy football
Speaker 1: league with other cast members from the Office. How is
Speaker 1: your team doing? Who is in first place now? And
Speaker 1: who drafted Joe Burrow? Well, look, I am still in
Speaker 1: the Office Fantasy football league. I believe if this is
Speaker 1: year eighteen or nineteen.
Speaker 2: Of the league.
Speaker 1: I am pulling up my stats as we speak. This
Speaker 1: is real time here on off the beat. I'm not
Speaker 1: doing great. Let me be honest about that. I've had
Speaker 1: some injuries. It's been a little ugly. I will be clear.
Speaker 1: Lee Kirk a director on the Office, you had to
Speaker 1: have worked on the Office in order to be in
Speaker 1: the Office Fantasy Football League also, incidentally, husband to Jenni
Speaker 1: Fisher is in first place, only one loss.
Speaker 2: I am down.
Speaker 1: I will report mister Krazinsky, having an uncharacteristic positive year,
Speaker 1: is in third, so Krazinsky making a run reign there
Speaker 1: in sixth place, I'm in tenth, tenth out of twelve.
Speaker 1: My point total is high, but I'm down. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: sorry to be honest. I don't know who has Joe Burrow.
Speaker 1: I did not draft, even though I love him, think
Speaker 1: he's an absolute top quarterback. I thought the calf was
Speaker 1: going to be a problem for him. But I'm in
Speaker 1: tenth place in the Office Fantasy Football League.
Speaker 2: So what do I know?
Speaker 1: Speaking of the Office, Well, of course, everybody's got questions
Speaker 1: about the Office, especially with a little blurb from one
Speaker 1: publication that was listed online in the last few weeks.
Speaker 1: Stick around and come back. I will answer your office
Speaker 1: questions and more well, here we go. Let's finish it
Speaker 1: off with some office questions, shall we. Mister fantasy two
Speaker 1: four seven asked, Okay, did you really make all those
Speaker 1: shots in a row in the basketball episode or was
Speaker 1: it a double?
Speaker 2: Was it a double?
Speaker 1: Who looks like me? Nobody? If that was you, you
Speaker 1: got some game. Well, thank you, mister fantasy guy two
Speaker 1: four to seven. You're damn right I do. You're damn right.
Speaker 1: I can shoot the JAYH. No, it was me, and
Speaker 1: it was unedited, and it was thirteen in a row.
Speaker 1: Check the DVD extended. They had to cut baskets that
Speaker 1: I made because they only had twenty two minutes of
Speaker 1: airtime on NBC at the time.
Speaker 2: And uh and yeah, they didn't.
Speaker 1: Have time to show them all. But thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Fifteen feet free throw line around the arc, thirteen in
Speaker 1: a row. How many people have done that on network TV.
Speaker 1: I don't even think Steph has done that. He's probably
Speaker 1: dunked a few, but thirteen in a row for yours, truly?
Speaker 1: Gladyso asks, what is this is one thing you and
Speaker 1: Kevin Malone have in common?
Speaker 2: Well, our basketball skills, obviously.
Speaker 1: I think in the beginning Kevin and I were pretty
Speaker 1: far apart. But that was the good thing about our writers.
Speaker 1: They wanted to try to bring some of who we
Speaker 1: are as people into the characters that we were playing. So,
Speaker 1: you know I had an affinity for poker and maybe
Speaker 1: some gambling. Well that suddenly showed up for Kevin as well.
Speaker 1: I will say this, I know I've said it before.
Speaker 1: I'm not a drummer, so let me be clear. Kevin
Speaker 1: is a way.
Speaker 2: Better drummer than Brian ever was.
Speaker 1: I got some help, but I also had some tutoring
Speaker 1: as we got into later seasons. I was playing it,
Speaker 1: but it was a struggle, that's for sure. Tiny dunder
Speaker 1: Mifflin asks, Hi, Hi, did you come up with Kevin's
Speaker 1: voice or was that the writer's idea? Tiny dunder Mifflin,
Speaker 1: It's hard for me to answer this question because it was.
Speaker 1: I guess it was a combination of what the writers
Speaker 1: were writing for. I think that through our co creation
Speaker 1: of Kevin Malone as a character, the writers began to
Speaker 1: lean much more into his let's just call it childlike
Speaker 1: sensibility in terms of his sense of humor and attitude
Speaker 1: and behavior. I think he was originally intended to be
Speaker 1: more of a Wallflower. I think that's what you call it.
Speaker 1: More of a Toby. I think I think he was
Speaker 1: intended originally to be more. You know, the original character
Speaker 1: description was the only thing remarkable about Kevin is he
Speaker 1: is remarkably unremarkable. And I think there was plenty in
Speaker 1: the end remarkable about Kevin. I don't know if there
Speaker 1: was about Toby. So the writers fell in love with
Speaker 1: his childlike sensibility and way of speaking, and I certainly
Speaker 1: leaned into that as well. Andrew Smoky Pickles fifty two said,
Speaker 1: if you had to recast someone as Kevin Malone other
Speaker 1: than you and Ashton Kocher.
Speaker 2: Who would it be.
Speaker 1: Well, I guess I would tell you the truth or
Speaker 1: the last three people who had the opportunity to play
Speaker 1: Kevin Malone. Alison Jones gave me a piece of paper
Speaker 1: at one point in time. Obviously, Ben Silverman, Greg Daniels,
Speaker 1: Ken kwappas director had a short list that I was chosen,
Speaker 1: and the other two names Jorge Garcia of Lost Fame
Speaker 1: and Others and Eric stone Street, Emmy winning actor from
Speaker 1: Modern Family. So look, if those were the other two
Speaker 1: guys on Greg and Ken and Ben's and Alison's list well,
Speaker 1: they'll be on mine as well.
Speaker 2: Give it to Jorge or to Eric. Well, as long as.
Speaker 1: We're in the fantasy casting question section, it seems like
Speaker 1: a lot of you guys are really really interested in
Speaker 1: Kevin's love life. Emily wore three in if you could
Speaker 1: invite any actress to play Kevin's love interest in an
Speaker 1: office reboot, who would it be? And how do you
Speaker 1: see the storyline unfolding?
Speaker 2: Wow? Great question.
Speaker 1: Well, you know who I hope would do it, Hillary Swank.
Speaker 1: That's who I hope would do it. I think that
Speaker 1: would be good for all of us.
Speaker 2: That's all I'll say about that.
Speaker 1: D marsh fourteen says, if Kevin ended up dating anyone
Speaker 1: on the show, who would it have been?
Speaker 2: And why? You know?
Speaker 1: I dressed this a little bit in my the previous
Speaker 1: iteration of the podcast. Not only did I want, I
Speaker 1: actually pitched the writers to have Aaron and Kevin end
Speaker 1: up together because I I thought that was a genius
Speaker 1: combination of characters. I describe Ellie Kemper's portrayal of Aaron
Speaker 1: as like a little hummingbird that just never stopped moving,
Speaker 1: total energy and positivity and light, and Kevin.
Speaker 2: Was like a rooted tree with a little bit.
Speaker 1: Of a childlike sensibility, and she had a childlike sensibility.
Speaker 1: So I thought that two of them together was perfect.
Speaker 1: Ellie agreed on my podcast just for the record, she
Speaker 1: agreed the writers didn't lie. They had they sort of
Speaker 1: had the thing with Andy kind of worked out there,
Speaker 1: and they wanted to explore the situation with her parents.
Speaker 1: I understood all of that. It's just that's what I wanted,
Speaker 1: and you asked the question, so I answered it.
Speaker 2: Oh, I got defens him about that.
Speaker 1: One more Kevin related item. I want to settle once
Speaker 1: and for all before we move on. Haint Blue Creative,
Speaker 1: please define the numeric.
Speaker 2: Value of akeleven.
Speaker 1: This is what is perfect about a coleven. It is
Speaker 1: exactly what you wanted to be. Let's move on a
Speaker 1: few questions about the show the Office in general, Jar
Speaker 1: Blue twelve. What did you look forward to the most
Speaker 1: when filming the Office episodes? Filming special episodes like holiday ones,
Speaker 1: or something else that you enjoyed. You know, I wasn't
Speaker 1: as a big a fan of the Halloween episodes as
Speaker 1: a lot of people. They were traditionally difficult in terms
Speaker 1: of hair and makeup and costume. I think the longest
Speaker 1: costume that I was in was Michael Moore costume, which
Speaker 1: I was very itchy, the facial hair, very very itchy
Speaker 1: and uncomfortable. The Christmas episodes I loved. They were a
Speaker 1: ton of work. They were longer, very long days, fourteen
Speaker 1: sixteen hour days trying to get it finished, especially with
Speaker 1: the big parties and stuff. When I'm told now that
Speaker 1: people go home or there with family and what they
Speaker 1: do over Christmas time, much like I watch I don't
Speaker 1: know the Grinch or the Christmas Story that they watch
Speaker 1: the Office Christmas episodes. It's very odd. That's just cool.
Speaker 1: There's just there's no way, there's no.
Speaker 2: Way about it. That's awesome.
Speaker 1: And so the Christmas episodes for me are some of
Speaker 1: the most special episodes and ones that I have the
Speaker 1: fondest memories of now, benin O two, what are your
Speaker 1: top three favorite episodes you shot in the office? Me
Speaker 1: and my brothers love you guys, well, I love you guys,
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Top three episodes. I'm gonna go
Speaker 1: Stress Relief, I'm gonna go Niagara, and I'm going to
Speaker 1: go Goodbye Michael. Those are the ones I don't know
Speaker 1: if They're my favorite episodes, all of them in the end,
Speaker 1: but those are the ones that I treasure and guess
Speaker 1: what I got it two from one times three. There
Speaker 1: were all two part episodes, so that's actually six episodes.
Speaker 1: So I cheated the system, but somehow I still won.
Speaker 1: I work at Walmart ten twelve. What's your favorite memory
Speaker 1: from the Office. Well, some of the episodes I just
Speaker 1: mentioned memories came flooded back as I just as I
Speaker 1: just said them. But mostly it's about my favorite memories
Speaker 1: now are about the moments when we weren't shooting, going
Speaker 1: to the Golden Globes or the Emmy Awards, or being
Speaker 1: at someone's house early on, watching the episodes, wondering if
Speaker 1: we were ever going to get to do them again,
Speaker 1: believing we were done after six episodes or twelve episodes,
Speaker 1: and then being back for two hundred whatever. Yeah, those
Speaker 1: are those are my favorite memories now. And you know
Speaker 1: when when my text goes off and it's from our
Speaker 1: our group text chain, yeah, the memories are right there. Man,
Speaker 1: feels like so long ago. And also just yesterday. Emily
Speaker 1: Jones fifteen, who was someone you wished made a guest
Speaker 1: appearance on the Office Wow, that's a great question. We
Speaker 1: had so many, really, so many great guest appearances. Oh,
Speaker 1: it just popped into my head. I was told we
Speaker 1: made the first network television joke about Barack Obama when
Speaker 1: he became president, when Michael said to Stanley, Barack Obama's president.
Speaker 1: So I'm gonna say Barack Obama. That would have been
Speaker 1: pretty cool. We made the first joke, so we we
Speaker 1: should have let him on and say hi, alec Olsen
Speaker 1: five on The Office deep Dive. You always ask your
Speaker 1: guests why they think The Office now is more popular
Speaker 1: than ever, But I've always wondered what your answer is,
Speaker 1: Why do you think the show still holds up? Because
Speaker 1: it makes you feel good and it's funny. Thank you,
Speaker 1: by the way for being a longtime listener if you
Speaker 1: heard all those interviews. But I think that's I think
Speaker 1: that's the answer for me. It's funny, and it holds
Speaker 1: up and it makes you feel good. Ultimately, it wasn't
Speaker 1: an accident that we ended in Oral History of the
Speaker 1: Office with that quote, there's beauty and ordinary things. Isn't
Speaker 1: that kind of the point. I think it's a celebration
Speaker 1: of ordinary people doing ordinary things, but given value and
Speaker 1: wait and told you may be ordinary, but you're important
Speaker 1: and deserve to be celebrated and focused on on a
Speaker 1: television show. You don't have to just beautiful to be
Speaker 1: focused on. That's why I think it is because it
Speaker 1: makes people feel good to Biac Maniac says, could you
Speaker 1: have played Kevin for another five seasons? I'm glad that
Speaker 1: we ended where we did because we told a complete story.
Speaker 1: But sure I missed the guy. You know, I missed
Speaker 1: the guy. And Gregory Seewald asks, well, I guess we've
Speaker 1: saved the real question for last. Any comment on those
Speaker 1: rumors of an Office reboot. Look, there was a story
Speaker 1: a few weeks ago in one publication that indicated that
Speaker 1: an Office reboot was eminently going to be announced as
Speaker 1: soon as the writer's strike was over. I probably would
Speaker 1: not have answered this question. I would have told my
Speaker 1: producers no. However, Greg Daniels just yesterday did an interview
Speaker 1: an indicted that the announcement that there was an Office
Speaker 1: reboot by this publication and that it was going to
Speaker 1: be announced after the writer's strike was settled, might have
Speaker 1: been a little premature, but he showed appreciation for there
Speaker 1: being so much interest in it. I too appreciate how
Speaker 1: interested people seem to be in this. I have no
Speaker 1: idea if there will be an Office reboot. But more
Speaker 1: than that, I don't know what an Office reboot means.
Speaker 1: And what I really think is the people who are
Speaker 1: writing articles about it doesn't know what that means.
Speaker 2: Either. Is a reboot a reunion? Is it a reimagination?
Speaker 1: Is it a continuation of the story.
Speaker 2: I don't know what they think it means.
Speaker 1: But you know what, whatever Greg Daniels decides to do
Speaker 1: and whatever story he wants to tell, I have full
Speaker 1: belief in that. But as to whether there is an
Speaker 1: imminent Office reboot coming, well, no one's called me yet,
Speaker 1: so we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2: I'll be hanging on just like the rest of you.
Speaker 1: Thank you for all of your questions, everybody. I could
Speaker 1: have kept answering your questions for another five seasons. That
Speaker 1: was very fun. Hopefully you didn't get tired of the
Speaker 1: sound of my voice. I need somebody else in next
Speaker 1: week so we don't have to just listen to me.
Speaker 1: But I got to wrap things up here. I did
Speaker 1: want to get to one more thought provoking question from HB.
Speaker 1: Cely One, Why ask many words when.
Speaker 2: Few word do trick well.
Speaker 1: I could have asked less words, but then I would
Speaker 1: have gotten a lot less questions from you. That's a sacrifice.
Speaker 1: I'm willing to make one more question here, Spooky Kangaroo
Speaker 1: Rats thirty three.
Speaker 2: Did you have a good day today? Spooky? I did
Speaker 2: have a good day.
Speaker 1: I had a fantastic day because I enjoyed doing this
Speaker 1: with all of you.
Speaker 2: Thank you for your thoughtful, your.
Speaker 1: Fun, your interesting questions. I've said this before, these mailbag episodes.
Speaker 1: They make me feel like I get to know many
Speaker 1: of you a little bit better as listeners because nobody's
Speaker 1: ever interviewing me here. Hopefully you get to know me
Speaker 1: and at least what I'm thinking a little bit better
Speaker 1: as well. You're the best. Thank you. I hope you
Speaker 1: enjoyed this little ask me almost anything copyright. I hope
Speaker 1: you have a good day too, and until next time,
Speaker 1: take care Off. The Beat is hosted an executive produced
Speaker 1: by me Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer Lang Lee.
Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes,
Speaker 1: Hannah Harris, and Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan,
Speaker 1: Papa Zachary and our intern is Ali Amir Sahim. Our
Speaker 1: theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one and
Speaker 1: only Creed Bratt