WEBVTT - Taran Killam 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.440 The after after parties at s n L. Well, I've 0:00:03.440 --> 0:00:05.720 been lucky enough to go to a few. Yeah, And 0:00:05.800 --> 0:00:09.000 I think it was probably good that I never never 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:10.680 was a cast member on that show. I don't know 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:13.480 that I could have done twenty of them, just the 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:16.720 stamina wise, I mean definitely, like when you start out, 0:00:16.800 --> 0:00:18.200 you want to go to as many as you can 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:21.200 possibly can, and then you kind of grow out of 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:22.960 them quickly. By the time I got there. I don't 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.800 think Bill Hater even went to like the first after 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:28.120 party and it was like, what, you're crazy, man, this 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:32.120 is the best job ever. We're never gonna die. Uh. 0:00:32.200 --> 0:00:35.720 And then like halfway through season two, Bill was right. 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:46.160 It was right. Hi, I am Taran kill him, and 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.879 I am so excited to talk to my brand new 0:00:49.920 --> 0:01:02.040 friend Brian all about me. Hello there, everybody, and welcome 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:06.560 back too off the beat. I'm your host, Brian baum Gartner, 0:01:06.800 --> 0:01:11.160 my guest today. Well, you just heard Arn kill him. 0:01:11.200 --> 0:01:16.240 An actor who has lived many, many lives. If you 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:20.199 consider yourself a film buff, you'll probably recognize him from 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:24.320 twelve years a slave. If you were a Disney or 0:01:24.400 --> 0:01:28.360 a Nickelodeon kid, you might remember when he was still 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:33.039 just a teenage heartthrob. You might recognize him from on 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:37.000 stage in Hamilton's as King George the Third, or if 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:39.440 you're big into comedy you will know him for sure 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:43.120 from his time on SNL or his new Amazon show 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:49.040 The NFL Pylon. What can this guy not do? Okay, 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:51.960 he can sing, he can act, he can rap. Yes, 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:55.600 this is true. He's wrapped with many people, including both 0:01:55.760 --> 0:02:01.240 Snoop Dogg and Rob Wriggle. And on top of that, 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:05.840 he is a master impersonator, which actually helped him get 0:02:06.000 --> 0:02:09.080 one of his first big breaks. So yeah, it's safe 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:13.600 to say, Taren, well, he is skilled at the art 0:02:14.200 --> 0:02:17.800 of entertaining and that's exactly what he's come here to 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.519 do today. Well that and talk about the off the 0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:24.400 beat moments in his life. Of course, with all that said, 0:02:24.520 --> 0:02:28.440 I am very excited to bring on Well the great 0:02:28.720 --> 0:02:38.440 and Powerful Taran kill him. Bubble and Squeak. I love it, 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:44.800 Bubble and Squeak on Bubble and Squeaker cooking at every 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:59.920 month left over from the night before. What's up? Karen Brian? 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.680 How are you buddy? How good? How are you good? Good? 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:07.320 I am in a hotel room in Atlanta, Georgia, so 0:03:07.440 --> 0:03:11.720 not the ideal not the ideal lighting situation at least understood. 0:03:11.919 --> 0:03:14.440 I didn't. It was either going to be hotel room 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:20.920 in Atlanta or like leftover Halloween mood lighting. Yes, speaking 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:23.440 of which I do have to comment on the art 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:27.679 behind me. Yes, is it? Is it an open pomegranate 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.919 that I'm looking at? It is congratulations? Yeah, I'm a 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:39.800 big Yeah, I don't. It seems weirdly disturbing to me. 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:42.720 I'll be honest with you. Yeah. Yeah, there it's a 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:49.640 it's a gruesome the the amount of magnification upon said pomegranate, Yes, 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:54.240 too intense, it is. I I have named the piece 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:59.400 of art gruesome Fruit. So, by the way, not a 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:02.280 terrible tie. It's for a horror movie. No, it's not 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:07.400 dart writing Brian copyright me. Um, I think that's all 0:04:07.400 --> 0:04:11.280 I have to do, right, That's how the guilds work, 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:16.200 that is. How are you doing? I'm very well, thank you. Yeah, 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:18.560 My my wife and I were actually for the first 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:22.240 time you heard about the pandemic. Yeah, so for the 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:26.359 first time since the pandemic. Um, my wife and I 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:29.359 were invited to like, you know, grown up Halloween parties 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.440 without our kids and we went to two over the 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:39.240 weekend and we've aged out. We showed up, We showed up, 0:04:39.279 --> 0:04:41.640 we got a drink, We like made a beeline for 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:45.120 people we knew, We said hi, and then literally did 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.320 not know what to do with ourselves. We're like, I 0:04:47.320 --> 0:04:51.680 I miss home. Now I have to ask you a question. 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.800 Did you dress up? We did? We did. I was 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:57.920 sort of like, uh, we both kind of went classic. 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.200 She was like a vampress and I was a wolfman. 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:05.640 All right, I mean that's a that's a d I 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.200 will say my daughter's friends came over to hang like 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:12.440 Friday night to do a little like early Halloween party, 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:14.520 and one of her friends showed up in an FBI 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:18.200 jacket with a with a warrant to search mar Lago. 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.240 This is a This is a thirteen year old child 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:26.440 who is hipper, funnier, more clever than any costume I 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:31.040 have ever or will everwhere. Well you, I mean, obviously 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.919 we're going to talk about your career and your variety 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:38.039 of elaborate costumes. You've had lots of lots of dressing. 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:41.320 See that's my thing. I don't dress up. I feel 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:44.640 like I dress up. I fulfill that itch. At other times, 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.920 and when it comes to Halloween, No, it's just me. 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:51.320 And other times you just mean like within your career, 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:56.320 there's there's enough dress up, there's dress up. Yeah, yeah, 0:05:56.400 --> 0:06:00.200 I mean I I did. I was in I did 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:04.680 put on makeup and get my hair done yesterday on Halloween, 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:09.560 and I wasn't gonna go home and do it different. Yeah. 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:12.160 Do you know what you did? Do it? You did? 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:16.320 You got Yeah, you got your voucher. Yeah. Um, all right, 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:19.520 I want to go back. You're a California boy, Yes, sir. 0:06:19.839 --> 0:06:22.960 Your parents this is fascinating to me. Your parents both 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:28.200 dabbled in the entertainment industry. Your mom singer songwriter with 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.920 the Charlie Daniels band. Question, how many times have you 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:35.919 heard Devil went Down to Georgia? I mean even just recently, 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:38.280 many times? Because I feel like that's on a lot 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.680 of Halloween playlists a lot of times. A lot of 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:46.520 times she toured as a as a background singer, UM 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:50.760 for Charlie Daniels. Uh, two or three summers before I 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:54.159 was born, something like that. So I am from Georgia. 0:06:54.440 --> 0:06:57.240 So I feel like that song is like, I don't know, 0:06:57.279 --> 0:06:59.120 it's one of those things when you're young you're like 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:04.200 they said, pere job. It was Charlie Daniels and like 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:10.080 Ray Charles right right, that's exactly, Um, your dad part 0:07:10.120 --> 0:07:12.440 of a theater group. How how much do you think 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:16.760 their influence are you know, their participation in the arts 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:21.280 and performing that influence you as a kid, massively, massively. 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:26.240 They were like we we attended Manhattan Beach Community Church, 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:30.080 you know, the first decade of my life. Um, and 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:34.239 they would do the sort of community church plays there. 0:07:35.040 --> 0:07:38.560 So you know, I was in theaters, I was watching rehearsals. 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.440 I was surrounded by the idea of like putting on 0:07:41.480 --> 0:07:45.560 a show before I could even kind of conceive of 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.440 it or or an you know self analyze what that 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:52.440 meant and what that what that required. And then my 0:07:52.600 --> 0:07:55.760 mother took me and my my two younger siblings to 0:07:55.880 --> 0:07:58.840 a commercial agent because she thought we were cute and 0:07:58.880 --> 0:08:01.040 precocious enough that maybe that would be a thing we 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.800 would do well at. And of the three of us, 0:08:03.800 --> 0:08:05.880 I think I was the only one that was willing 0:08:05.920 --> 0:08:08.160 to go into a room full of strangers and be like, Hi, 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:14.040 you know, I'll talk about milkshakes. Um. So so absolutely, 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:18.960 I mean, incredibly influential and encouraging, you know that that 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:22.600 was It was like unconditional support before I was really 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.960 even asking for it. Um. But it wasn't until like 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:29.480 middle school for me and like getting involved in theater 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:34.360 drama with my peers, with my own group, where it 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:37.200 became a sort of a self passion where I was like, oh, no, 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:40.720 I I do like this, and I I can excel 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:44.400 at this too, but I'm I also enjoy the process, 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.480 and to me, I'm sure you agree. Just if you 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:52.760 enjoy doing it, the end results don't become as um precious, 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:56.800 you know, right. So it started out it sounds like 0:08:57.000 --> 0:09:00.400 as I don't know, hobby, maybe the wrong, but like 0:09:00.440 --> 0:09:02.800 an activity, I think it's fair. Yeah. It was like 0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:07.800 recreational pastime. Yeah, absolutely, and and just always around like 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:11.480 you know, I was. I was in productions at the 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.839 church from the age of four or five, um, because 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:16.480 it was fun to go hang out with kids. And 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:23.600 I think my parents, having five children, needed extracurriculars to like, 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:27.600 you know, find a moment to breathe. Um. So yeah, 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:29.959 so it started that way. But in my own sort 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:33.560 of history for myself, in my heart, in my mind, 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.319 it was around six or seventh grade when I really 0:09:36.320 --> 0:09:38.640 started going like, oh, I love this, you know, and 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.800 maybe maybe slightly earlier, just I remember seeing Tim Burton's Batman, 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:48.320 the First Batman in like eighty nine and going, I 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:51.000 love the way that movie makes me feel. That movie 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:54.240 makes me feel like things that I only thought were 0:09:54.280 --> 0:09:58.840 pretend before could be real. And that's I want to 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:02.520 do that. That sounds awesome. Well, it sounds like right 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:04.600 about this time, you were twelve years old, you made 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:09.240 your first film appearance. Yes, Naked Gun thirty three and 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:13.920 a third, the Final Insult. What do you remember about 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.680 being cast on that? I was just through this commercial 0:10:16.720 --> 0:10:20.160 agent this, you know, I think we'd moved on from 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:22.920 from the first one and then and then they're like, um, 0:10:23.559 --> 0:10:25.760 the thing I was it was like Cunningham was the 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:28.920 first commercial agency I was with, and then moved to 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:32.600 a sort of more boutique agency off senset called the 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.240 Sanders Agency, and I think that that's who this was through. 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:38.480 And yeah, it was just an audition and you know, 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:40.440 you have to you have to get your vouchers, you 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:44.760 have to become taft heartly before you can become SAG eligible. 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:48.760 And Naked Gun is the thing I think is the 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:51.880 job that got me taft heartly that like made me 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:58.000 union eligible, and then doing a re enactor reenaction moment 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:04.120 in an Unsolved Mysteries episode got me my card. Yeah, 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:07.199 but the Naked Gun was so exciting and fun. The 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:11.720 director of that movie directed Tommy Boy, Like his next 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:15.359 film was Tommy Boy, which is like a cool factoid 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:17.679 for me. Had I but known, I would have been 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:20.240 much more of a kiss up one of my favorite 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:24.120 same same. We just showed it to our daughters and 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:27.080 it holds up and they were laughing throughout. You know, 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:30.000 it's just it's it's timeless, it's it's one of the 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.559 best comedies ever, I think. But it was fun to 0:11:32.640 --> 0:11:35.720 like be on set and my role was in a 0:11:35.800 --> 0:11:39.679 parody of Jurassic Park, so like they'd kind of recreated 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:42.520 a Jurassic Park set and that was cool. And I 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.720 had a stand in who was like twelve years older 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.720 than me, like a full adult man who just happened 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:50.560 to be short enough to be my stand in, and 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:53.800 that was very exciting, and I was like, are we brothers? 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:57.360 Now we best friends? We ended up not being Unfortunately 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:02.760 he's he ghosted me. I mean, it's so so interesting 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:07.320 because you started so early started performing. Did you feel 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:11.760 a specific affinity for comedy at this point or was 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:15.800 it was it just about performing or finding whatever job 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:20.959 you could get, or you know, yeah, I I loved comedy. 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:25.120 I always as a as an audience member, always skewed 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:29.240 towards comedies. You know, the works of Jim Carey were 0:12:29.280 --> 0:12:33.720 incredibly influential to me and and inspiring. But in terms 0:12:33.760 --> 0:12:37.160 of like what I could do, I definitely came at it, 0:12:37.840 --> 0:12:40.320 you know, in the first third of my life or career, 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:43.840 just from trying to do as many different things as possible. 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.319 You know, I really love musical theater, I really love drama, 0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.360 I love Shakespeare, I love I love a good mystery 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.839 and thriller. And so the sort of goal or or 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:59.320 career path into comedy was not decided until I was 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:03.080 I was kind of a college that's when that. Yeah, 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:06.560 I mean I saw some of your your earlier roles 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:13.640 not decidedly not comedic, judging Amy, Touched by an Angel, Roswell. 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:18.920 You start booking at a number of pretty big shows 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:22.640 at that time. Was this difficult for you to continue 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:26.160 to go to school where you schools where you set schooling? 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.760 Were you good? Question? And and and there was a 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:32.160 moment in time where like kind of coming out. I 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.559 went to a performing arts high school here in Los Angeles, 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.080 and as I was finishing school, I was auditioning a 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:39.960 lot more and I was getting these guest roles and 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:42.920 doing well. But then was accepted to u c l 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.280 A for Musical theater and the agency I was with 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:49.560 actually disbanded, like they close shop, they just sort of 0:13:49.559 --> 0:13:52.199 shut down. And I was like, that's great. I'm just 0:13:52.200 --> 0:13:55.280 gonna focus on school. I'm gonna be a college student. 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.680 I'm gonna be here for four years. I'll train and 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:00.880 then hopefully pick things back up once once I graduate. 0:14:01.880 --> 0:14:04.760 But a show I had done on Nickelodeon, The Amanda Show, 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:10.080 called back halfway through my freshman year at college and 0:14:10.120 --> 0:14:13.160 they're like, we want to do more episodes with you, 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:17.120 which was very flattering, very exciting. UM, and I said, well, 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:19.120 I don't have an agent. I've sort of stopped. I'm 0:14:19.160 --> 0:14:22.640 just kind of going to school. And the producers were like, 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:25.120 we'll help you get all that, and they did. They're like, 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:27.280 they got me an agent, they got me, they got 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.760 me a manager, and which I've never had before. UM, 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.360 so that's sort of like relaunched it. And then by 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:36.480 the end of that freshman year sort of as a fluke, 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:39.920 I've gotten I was allowed to audition for Mad TV, 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.520 the sketch show that was on Fox, and got it. 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:48.520 It's still funny that that happened to me because I 0:14:48.560 --> 0:14:52.560 had not taken an improv sketch stand up class, like 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:57.720 no training. Um, but just was loud and obnoxious and 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.560 a good mimic I think you know, um and and yeah. 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:05.080 So that that is when I became like comedian Taran 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:07.880 kill him. Okay, so I gotta I gotta ask you 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:12.160 about that. So for first off, isn't it crazy? My 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:14.400 manager and I we still have a joke about this, 0:15:14.560 --> 0:15:17.760 right that all if you're if you're having trouble getting 0:15:17.760 --> 0:15:20.160 a job, all you need to do is book a vacation, 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:26.800 right like book something that was likely nonrefundable, or you 0:15:26.840 --> 0:15:30.760 have or you have dozens of people counting on you, 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:34.040 you know, plan a wedding. You're gonna get a job. Um. 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:38.520 So that that's fascinating to me. Where you consciously say 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:40.920 I'm gonna take a little break, I'm gonna go to 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:45.400 U C l A, I'm gonna train, and then everything 0:15:45.920 --> 0:15:48.840 starts hitting for you. And now I read here that 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:53.680 first off the Amanda Show, you almost missed your graduation. Yeah, 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.960 yeah I did. Technically I was. I did. I wasn't 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:01.080 allowed to walk because I had to miss the rehearsal. 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:04.280 Like I booked that job initially and it was very exciting, 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:10.640 and the shoot dates overlapped with the graduation rehearsal Loxa, 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.560 which is the name of my high school at that time. 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:16.520 Graduation took place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which is 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:19.080 where the officers used to happen before they build the 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:23.200 Dolby Place, which is really cool, really fancy, nice, nice honor. 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:26.280 But the school was saying that it was the theater's 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.040 policy that you had to be present for the rehearsal 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:31.480 and if you weren't there for the rehearsal, you were 0:16:31.520 --> 0:16:33.920 not allowed to walk on the stage. And I was like, 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:37.200 oh shoot. So I went to I said to the Amandage. 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:39.920 I was like, I can't do this job. I'm sorry, 0:16:40.040 --> 0:16:42.960 I'm gonna miss out on my graduation and they were 0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:46.840 so they'll they said, we'll do everything we can to 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:49.400 make sure you're there for the show to do you know, 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:51.800 we can, we'll show you the dates ahead of time 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.800 and if they can reschedule. And they were so accommodating, 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:57.880 and the high school for which I was being trained 0:16:57.920 --> 0:17:01.200 to be a professional actor was not that I Eventually 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:03.280 I was like, you know what I'm gonna They're they're 0:17:03.320 --> 0:17:07.560 paying me money. So what happened was true to their word. 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:11.119 The producers um shot me out early the day of 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:14.800 my graduation, sent me in a limousine downtown l A 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:16.920 to the Dorothy Chandler. But then I had to sit 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:20.040 in the audience for my high school graduation and all 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:26.320 my classmates walking stupid. It all worked out, all right. 0:17:26.600 --> 0:17:30.200 You and this guy by the name of Keenan Thompson 0:17:30.600 --> 0:17:35.480 I here had the same manager. Mad TV calls for Keenan. 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:40.400 You get pitched. You did twenty three impressions during your audition. 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:43.600 I mean, you have twenty three people at this point 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:48.639 that you can do. Yeah, it's again the mimicry thing, 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.399 like you know, my party trick was too good in 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:54.399 whatever movie was in theaters, and then come back and 0:17:54.480 --> 0:17:58.159 kind of recreate it, satirize it. So at that point, 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:02.040 like the WB network was a huge thing, so all 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.840 the Dawson's Creek people, all the Buffy the Vampire Slayer people, 0:18:06.520 --> 0:18:10.680 cruel intentions, your varsity blues, like that was sort of 0:18:10.720 --> 0:18:15.040 my wheelhouse and knowing you know, if Matt TV was 0:18:15.040 --> 0:18:18.040 gonna hire a nineteen year old kid, they probably want 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:22.040 to capitalize on a more youth oriented point of view. 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.000 It was those. But then you know you're thrown in 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:27.800 a bono from you two or um at that point, 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:31.440 Jimmy fallon, Like I did a follon for them, But yeah, 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:36.560 for my like official audition, it's it's so kind of 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:42.560 like juvenile but charming upon reflection. But I like made cards. 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:45.840 I made, I like did craft cards with like name 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:48.200 titles as if you know, there was a lower third 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:50.199 on the screen. But I was gonna be in an office, 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.280 so I made twenty three different cards and I wore 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:55.280 them around my neck and I would just take one 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:57.119 off and then do the impression, and take one off 0:18:57.160 --> 0:18:59.600 and do the impression, and so like it and it 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:01.720 and it helped it. It did help it, I think 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:05.679 because it required me to do less work. But the 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:08.639 best part always like even then I was so embarrassed 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:11.560 because the audition ends and then I got to take 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:15.720 a solid thirty seconds to collect all these paper cards 0:19:15.760 --> 0:19:18.440 like these. He's a file eleven pieces of paper that 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:23.080 have scattered all over the floor of this office at 0:19:23.119 --> 0:19:27.159 at Fox Studios. Um. But yeah, but it worked, it worked. 0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.560 It was. It was a very very fortunate, lucky thing 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:52.639 and and an incredible learning experience for me. I talked 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:58.720 to Kevin Pollock, who he's actually an amazing impressionist. Yes, 0:19:59.040 --> 0:20:02.679 I mean his walking his phenomenal. His walking is really good, 0:20:03.000 --> 0:20:06.000 he said. He also says like he helped Dana come 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:11.720 up with his George Herbert Walker Bush. He's yeah, Kevin 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.639 was at one of those Halloween parties I was at. Okay. 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:18.720 He talked to me about just finding that one hook. 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:21.439 Is that how you operate as well? Are you looking 0:20:21.480 --> 0:20:26.199 for one characteristic or speech pattern or what do you? Sometimes? Yeah, 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:30.320 sometimes of physical affectation helps it, you know what I mean, 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:36.040 like a mouth shape or I I squinted, you know, like, um, 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:40.160 it usually starts outward in for me, for you, okay, 0:20:40.359 --> 0:20:44.040 or if there is a melody to it, if there 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:49.080 is a sound or or a certain rhythm of speech, 0:20:49.280 --> 0:20:53.040 that's that's another way in for me. Like when when 0:20:53.040 --> 0:20:55.320 I started doing bread Pitt again. It was that thing 0:20:55.400 --> 0:20:58.520 where I'd seen the movies and then just quoting it 0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:02.360 with friends, people be bold enjoying, going like, oh my god, 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:05.640 yeah you sound like him, um with with no jokes 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:09.800 at that point. But um like for Brad Pitt, I 0:21:09.880 --> 0:21:14.040 really really loved and still love seven And there's this, 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:16.879 there's a speech he does with Morgan Freeman at the 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:22.280 bar and he goes, you know what, um, I don't 0:21:22.280 --> 0:21:24.520 think you're quitting because you believe that. I think you 0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:27.080 want to believe that. Because you're quitting. You want me 0:21:27.119 --> 0:21:29.120 to agree with you and say, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:31.720 it's funked it's all funked up. We should all live 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:34.880 in fucking lord Cabins. But I don't agree with you. 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.480 I do not. Thanks for the drink, and just like 0:21:38.520 --> 0:21:43.840 the rhythm of the Buddhaud but like and then twelve Monkeys, 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:46.360 he's much more frenetic, and that he's much more physical 0:21:46.520 --> 0:21:48.520 and he does always touch his face. He's always kind 0:21:48.560 --> 0:21:51.360 of licking his lips and his lips moist and there's 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:54.080 a little like bounce, you know, a little shake to 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:56.200 the head, a little like I can't even I don't 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:59.919 even have the energy to be this cool. And then 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:03.680 in Twelve Monkeys he does a lot of that. You know, 0:22:03.720 --> 0:22:06.880 I'm like, cham yeah, there's like a lot of these 0:22:06.920 --> 0:22:09.360 like on them on a pia sounds. So I started 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:13.120 just button ing like Lou, great to meet you, very 0:22:13.119 --> 0:22:16.920 happy to meet you. And that's that's just sort of 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:20.719 how that how that one in particular developed and and 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:23.360 it just always brought me great joy because he's just 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:28.800 undeniably the most handsome, cool, most unique performers in terms 0:22:28.840 --> 0:22:31.520 of the types of roles he chooses. But at the 0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:38.119 same time, he has a very um limited vocal range. 0:22:38.119 --> 0:22:40.760 He always sounds like himself, you know what I mean. 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:44.439 He's not like Tom Hardy, who's always gonna make some 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:53.679 big vocal swing, always bred right right. I see, that's jenious. 0:22:54.040 --> 0:22:58.560 I love that. I also love that for you. Physicality 0:22:58.720 --> 0:23:01.040 is so important for you. For me in terms of 0:23:01.080 --> 0:23:03.800 creating a character, I always said that is equally as 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:08.600 as important how the character moves, how how they hold 0:23:08.640 --> 0:23:12.400 their body, where their holds are lets you know so much. Yeah, 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:15.240 like I find it. I don't get as self critical 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:19.480 when I start with the physical, right, like a bad example, 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:22.040 someone who walks with a limb. You know what I mean. 0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:24.160 You can feel you're feeling, and it's very real, it's 0:23:24.200 --> 0:23:28.720 very tangible, as opposed to journaling from the point of 0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:31.640 view of somebody or you know, all these internal exercises 0:23:31.920 --> 0:23:36.240 people do. If I start there, it feels false to me, 0:23:36.440 --> 0:23:38.680 like it like I I can get in my head, 0:23:38.680 --> 0:23:40.720 I'm like, what am I? Why am I writing that? What? 0:23:40.920 --> 0:23:43.160 You know, these things didn't happen, This wasn't really I'm 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:46.000 making this up. But if you go in physical and 0:23:46.040 --> 0:23:49.080 you start to feel that, then the thoughts behind it 0:23:49.119 --> 0:23:52.560 become a little bit more, become validated in a way 0:23:52.560 --> 0:23:54.600 to me, I just as I've always found that to 0:23:54.680 --> 0:24:00.760 be more helpful. You know. Yeah, and and shoes are 0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:05.080 really important to me, just because different shoes, different types 0:24:05.080 --> 0:24:08.760 of shoes ground you to the ground in a different 0:24:08.760 --> 0:24:15.240 way and literally creates different body postures, right like, And 0:24:15.280 --> 0:24:16.880 this isn't a job. I'm not even making a joke 0:24:16.960 --> 0:24:20.160 right now, I'm wearing I'm wearing cowboy boots. I appear 0:24:20.240 --> 0:24:22.919 to be a different person when I'm walking down the 0:24:22.960 --> 0:24:27.119 street in these shoes. As my second favorite type of 0:24:27.119 --> 0:24:30.600 shoes a flip flop. You know, it's the dude in 0:24:30.680 --> 0:24:34.840 the Big Lebowski versus put Jeff Bridges in boots and 0:24:34.880 --> 0:24:39.240 he immediately becomes somebody else, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:24:39.400 --> 0:24:42.160 So even if you know, I try, it doesn't always happen. 0:24:42.280 --> 0:24:44.960 I'm not gonna be totally high maintenance about it. But 0:24:45.000 --> 0:24:47.679 even like if I'm off camera or something and I'm 0:24:47.720 --> 0:24:50.439 trying to be there for somebody else, having the shoes 0:24:50.840 --> 0:24:53.560 is always important for me. Absolutely puts my body in 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:56.960 a specific position and the way that it affects others too. 0:24:56.960 --> 0:24:58.800 That so, I mean, I've never thought of that, but 0:24:58.920 --> 0:25:02.440 it immediately makes sense to me. Because if you enter 0:25:02.480 --> 0:25:05.520 a room in cowboy boots, people here, you coming in 0:25:05.560 --> 0:25:08.240