Speaker 1: Hey, this is exciting My guests today. Well, first off,
Speaker 1: there's two of them, so it's double the fun. They
Speaker 1: are naturally very funny people. They're also very kind and
Speaker 1: warm people, and I really enjoyed chatting with them. It's
Speaker 1: funny because, you know, I interviewed my wife a few
Speaker 1: weeks back, and that was a really rare occasion for us.
Speaker 1: But this couple that I talked to today, they seem
Speaker 1: to love being interviewed and they do it really well,
Speaker 1: even if they are from zooming from different places, probably
Speaker 1: different parts of their house, but I don't know. But
Speaker 1: my guests today are Seth Rogan and his wife, Lauren
Speaker 1: Miller Rogan. So listen up, lean in. I'm glad you're here.
Speaker 1: I am super excited today to have Lauren Miller Rogan
Speaker 1: and Seth Rogan on the podcast.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: You guys are the first couple that we've had. You're
Speaker 1: probably not going to be surprised to hear that. Uh.
Speaker 1: And it's also a little bit coincidental because the second
Speaker 1: podcast that I'm going to do today, I'm going to
Speaker 1: interview my wife, which should be interesting, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: good good.
Speaker 3: Luck with that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe this is a good warm up. I don't
Speaker 1: know what exactly, yeah, exactly, but I mean, listen, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't think I have a feeling that you, the
Speaker 1: two of you, don't often do the interviews together. Am
Speaker 1: I right about that?
Speaker 3: Not our first?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: First, we've Yeah, we've done a couple, We've done a
Speaker 3: couple of ye. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean I guess I guess your involvement with the
Speaker 1: with the charity has made that, you know, kind of possible.
Speaker 1: I know that for Kira and me, we try to
Speaker 1: avoid it, like the plague and the Yeah. I mean,
Speaker 1: the problem with it to me is, and I'm saying
Speaker 1: this because I'm about to jump into this, is the
Speaker 1: questions are just irritating. Do you How do you feel
Speaker 1: about answering questions about your marriage? I guess that's what
Speaker 1: I'm trying to say.
Speaker 4: I feel like because often the interviews that we do
Speaker 4: together are focused on our charity. They generally are focused
Speaker 4: on our charity, whereas you know, I guess in those
Speaker 4: moments where we're doing things that are not focused on
Speaker 4: our charity. Sure, the last about our marriage, and it's
Speaker 4: just like you know, it depends on how you're.
Speaker 3: Feeling and what you want to share.
Speaker 4: I think it's like we do share a chunk of
Speaker 4: our personal life having this organization, but certainly there are
Speaker 4: many things we do not want to talk about and
Speaker 4: do not so you know, it's it's always like, you know,
Speaker 4: I feel like it depends on the day, right, Like
Speaker 4: I don't know, Seth, what do you think?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I feel like we haven't you know, I feel
Speaker 5: like we both have I have a good sense of
Speaker 5: one another's discretionary preferences. But yeah, you know, also like
Speaker 5: we come from a place where, like when we first
Speaker 5: started dating, I was on like Howard Stern every other year,
Speaker 5: so like a lot of it came out. Probably that
Speaker 5: a lot more came out than I would have preferred it.
Speaker 3: Probably much earlier.
Speaker 1: On in retrospect.
Speaker 3: And never listen to how long?
Speaker 1: How long have you been married?
Speaker 4: We've been married for twelve years, but we've been together
Speaker 4: for over eighteen.
Speaker 1: Now, amazing. Wow, And how did you how did you meet?
Speaker 3: We met?
Speaker 5: I was a writer on The Ali g Show in
Speaker 5: two thousand and four, and I was twenty two. I
Speaker 5: guess twenty four, yeah, twenty two, And my friend Will
Speaker 5: Riser was a producer on the show, and he was
Speaker 5: around our age.
Speaker 3: He was a year older basically, and he was dating
Speaker 3: my friend Lawrence basically.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and so so yeah, they kind of suggested that
Speaker 4: we would like each other and we all went to
Speaker 4: a party one night together and and that was it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I mean, I gotta say it's it's probably I
Speaker 1: don't know, not that often that when you hear those stories,
Speaker 1: it's I always think, isn't that great that somebody had
Speaker 1: had the understanding the friends could have the understanding of
Speaker 1: two people to know that they would be you know,
Speaker 1: it's kind of beautiful in a way to have friends
Speaker 1: that would like kind of get get that. On the
Speaker 1: other hand, it doesn't happen that often though.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 5: I never set people up, but specifically I don't want
Speaker 5: to deal with the fallout of it. We were pretty young,
Speaker 5: so maybe they weren't understanding the full social ramifications of it.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I hate setting people up for that exact reason.
Speaker 1: Hate it.
Speaker 4: Do it when it's when people are like, oh a
Speaker 4: little bit. It's like, sure, well you're nice and you're nice,
Speaker 4: you'll have a good time. But it's like, oh, it's
Speaker 4: so much pressure.
Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever tried to tell you the truth.
Speaker 1: I can't think of a single time when I've ever
Speaker 1: really tried to set set somebody up, But I wouldn't
Speaker 1: be terrified. I fit.
Speaker 3: I don't either.
Speaker 5: And at this point, if I know you and your
Speaker 5: single like, I will never set you up with someone like.
Speaker 3: If you if you've.
Speaker 5: Made it this long, then I would never throw you
Speaker 5: at the throw you into a relationship with someone I know.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you something. We we we are both
Speaker 1: you're both in the in the simpler in the same business, uh, directing, producing, acting,
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. How how often do you
Speaker 1: discuss the day to day ups and downs and ins
Speaker 1: and outs of career and and work and business.
Speaker 4: I mean, I would say all all the time. Yeah,
Speaker 4: it's you know, it's it's a it's a balance. As
Speaker 4: you know, obviously our careers have been different. But I
Speaker 4: would say the fact that we both do the same
Speaker 4: thing is something that is really beneficial to our relationship
Speaker 4: because we both really have an understanding of of you know,
Speaker 4: how it feels for it to go well and how
Speaker 4: it feels for it to not go well, and you know,
Speaker 4: and and and literally I mean as as writers, and
Speaker 4: certainly this is a tricky line to walk and it
Speaker 4: doesn't always go well. But like you know, we can
Speaker 4: share what we're working on and give feedback and have
Speaker 4: conversations and be supportive of it. Again, doesn't always go well,
Speaker 4: but so I think it's for us, it's you know,
Speaker 4: it's great that we have that in common.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, you put the word that you use
Speaker 1: just now, which is something that I really always hold
Speaker 1: on to, is an understanding of what it is. So
Speaker 1: you know, like if you go, if you have a
Speaker 1: I mean, of course there's marriages where one person would
Speaker 1: be you know, an actor or another would be a
Speaker 1: you know, a dentist, and it could work out fine.
Speaker 1: But but for people that are in the entertainment business,
Speaker 1: the things that seem sometimes really kind of big and
Speaker 1: hard seem kind of silly to the outside world. You know,
Speaker 1: like if I'm giving an example, like if I if
Speaker 1: I go, you know, hey, she's like, what what's wrong? Why?
Speaker 1: You know what you seem like you're, well, you know,
Speaker 1: I just read this review and you know this guy
Speaker 1: my age, you know, just got you just got this
Speaker 1: great review or just want to you know, an oscar
Speaker 1: or whatever it is. I mean, to the outside world,
Speaker 1: people go that is just stupid. I mean, why would
Speaker 1: you let that even affect your day? And it's the
Speaker 1: slightest bit, but there is a kind of empathy and
Speaker 1: kind of understanding about what it is that we do
Speaker 1: for a living. Not to mention just a shorthand of
Speaker 1: you know, whatever terms you want to use, you know,
Speaker 1: call times and back end things.
Speaker 5: Like exactly we talked about our back end mostly I
Speaker 5: talk I talk about her back We Uh, well, no,
Speaker 5: you're right. I think that's something that we're both very
Speaker 5: at peace with that it and in tune with is
Speaker 5: is one another?
Speaker 3: You know? Is that? Is that exactly what you're saying?
Speaker 3: You get wrapped up.
Speaker 5: You know, our emotional stakes are different in this job.
Speaker 5: Some would say, you know, the things that we get
Speaker 5: worked up about are are inconsequential to others, but to us,
Speaker 5: they're very meaningful. When you pour yourself into your work
Speaker 5: and when you identify through your work, and when you're
Speaker 5: an artist and you want people to see you through
Speaker 5: your work, and when it's not received how you want, like, yeah,
Speaker 5: I think I could see how.
Speaker 3: You know. We what's nice is we are both in
Speaker 3: a position to.
Speaker 5: Truly understand like how how how how painful that can be,
Speaker 5: you know, and we don't kind of belittle that at all,
Speaker 5: as as my other friends do.
Speaker 3: To meet.
Speaker 1: Well, I know I have friends that do the same thing.
Speaker 1: For me, it is that just don't get it. And
Speaker 1: men family members too that are kind of like, yeah, dude,
Speaker 1: shut up.
Speaker 5: I've been with the I've been with filmmakers as we've
Speaker 5: been as we've been like releasing movies that are breaking
Speaker 5: literal like box office records, and and the filmmaker is
Speaker 5: still just focused on the fact that, like the tomato
Speaker 5: score is not what and yeah, and and and I
Speaker 5: get and whenever I'm like, I get it.
Speaker 3: Like I see, I feel the pain and it's and
Speaker 3: it does. Yeah, yeah, that's painful.
Speaker 1: Exactly. You used the word recently. I want to ask
Speaker 1: you both about this that I have been uh I'm
Speaker 1: coming to a new understanding of it. And the word
Speaker 1: is artists. And I can tell you that when I
Speaker 1: uh became an actor, I was super super focused on
Speaker 1: just getting famous and getting wretch and getting girls. That
Speaker 1: was one hundred had nothing to do.
Speaker 3: And you crush that man, so exactly.
Speaker 1: It was it had nothing to do with the with
Speaker 1: the with art you know, it was like to me,
Speaker 1: Bryan Brandt was an artist and what I was doing
Speaker 1: was wearing makeup and you know, of saying somebody else's words.
Speaker 1: But I think more recently I've started to think about
Speaker 1: art and the impact that art can have on people,
Speaker 1: uh individually, you know, in the ways that they feel
Speaker 1: about life, and then and the ways that that that
Speaker 1: culture responds to things and even uh you know, the
Speaker 1: political change or awareness of of of issues or whatever.
Speaker 1: And and I'm not just talking about making films or writing, directing,
Speaker 1: you know, acting in films that have some kind of great,
Speaker 1: big social point of view. But I mean I'm about
Speaker 1: making horror movies or comedies. You know, you can impact
Speaker 1: people with these And I'm starting to feel like, well,
Speaker 1: that's really what art is, that's what it has been.
Speaker 1: And I just wondered if if you've ever had any
Speaker 1: kind of resistance to that concept, and whether you have
Speaker 1: you know, a point of view about that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well you went to art school or in so
Speaker 5: I think you were conditioned from a very young age
Speaker 5: to accept that, which is nice.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I was going to say that. I think
Speaker 4: like for me, I was I was an art kid
Speaker 4: in that like from a young age, I was happiest
Speaker 4: with crayons and paper and a journal that I could
Speaker 4: write everything into. And so and I went then to
Speaker 4: a middle school that was focused on the arts and
Speaker 4: was in the visual arts program. And high school I
Speaker 4: went to an arts high school and was in the
Speaker 4: visual arts program. And so expressing the feelings that I
Speaker 4: had into whatever art it was that I was making
Speaker 4: in those programs I think was ingringed in me that
Speaker 4: I didn't give it a second thought, and that was like, Oh,
Speaker 4: that's what I do because that's how I feel, and
Speaker 4: I've learning, I've learned the skills and how to express
Speaker 4: that through writing, drawing, painting, sculpting, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 4: And so for me, I think I honestly never really
Speaker 4: thought about that it was anything other than that. I
Speaker 4: don't think of it as in this like at this point,
Speaker 4: I absolutely think that storytelling and what we do is art,
Speaker 4: but I don't put a sort of pretentious spin on
Speaker 4: it in any way other than I feel that so
Speaker 4: much of what we do is about connection and understanding,
Speaker 4: and I'm just expressing what I'm feeling or what I'm
Speaker 4: thinking or what i'm creating, so that someone else can
Speaker 4: be like, yeah, I feel that way too, or I
Speaker 4: thought that was funny, or you know, or I just
Speaker 4: I see myself in that, and so I think that
Speaker 4: that is, you know, and that is generally really what
Speaker 4: what art is. It's a representation of someone's interpretation of
Speaker 4: a moment for the viewer or the audience to have
Speaker 4: a relationship to it. And I think that's like, that's
Speaker 4: what we're always doing, is people maybe pretensions, but.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's I just started to feel like how co
Speaker 5: musicians get, like the worst musician gets to be called
Speaker 5: an artist, Like it's true in a world where Kid
Speaker 5: Rocks consider an artist, why can't I consider myself an artist?
Speaker 1: No, they definitely grabbed it. They grabbed it, they took
Speaker 1: it before we did, so unfair right about that?
Speaker 5: I got Yeah, at what point, I was at the
Speaker 5: Grabbys and just like, fuck it, I'm an artist too.
Speaker 1: I got a fan out a little bit. I can't talk,
Speaker 1: obviously for obvious reasons about things that are specific, but
Speaker 1: I just want to say that I'm such a great
Speaker 1: admirer of your really singular kind of career in the
Speaker 1: way that you came to it. But also besides the fact,
Speaker 1: there's two things that I think are really interesting. One is,
Speaker 1: in the nineteen eighties, they gave me a production deal
Speaker 1: at a major studio and I had I lived in
Speaker 1: New York, but I had an office on the lot,
Speaker 1: and I had a development person and I had a
Speaker 1: and I had a secretary. And we didn't do jack
Speaker 1: shitt and I couldn't get I was like, this is cool,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be a producer. And nothing, nothing got done.
Speaker 1: It was so difficult. And you have completely embraced and
Speaker 1: you know, just made this made this a part of
Speaker 1: who you are is finding stuff for you to be,
Speaker 1: in finding stuff for other people to be, in finding
Speaker 1: things that you think have value. And I just I
Speaker 1: really admire that because I think that so often as
Speaker 1: artists take it, yes we are, we're just you know,
Speaker 1: we don't get it well. Either we don't have the
Speaker 1: skill to do that, or we don't get a chance
Speaker 1: to do that. So I just want to say that
Speaker 1: I admire that.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Yeah.
Speaker 5: I mean I was lucky to be like brought up
Speaker 5: also in like a very specific environment, like surrounded by
Speaker 5: people who like we're very geared towards like producing, and
Speaker 5: I was like showing how to produce, and I was shown, oh,
Speaker 5: you can like nurture someone in their idea and you
Speaker 5: could understand the logistics of how things get brought to
Speaker 5: life from like a financial standpoint and navigating the studio.
Speaker 3: And and if.
Speaker 5: You're a writer too, then it puts you in like
Speaker 5: a really special position and the idea of being like
Speaker 5: a writing producer, a producer who can actually fix the
Speaker 5: problems in the material and help fix the problems and
Speaker 5: enable people to fix the problems. You know, that I
Speaker 5: get like I was brought up around people who did that,
Speaker 5: and I saw, oh, like if that, if that's a
Speaker 5: thing we can do, then there's not a lot of
Speaker 5: people who are both you know, able to go into
Speaker 5: a studio and you know, negotiate budgets and deals and
Speaker 5: all that stuff, and if there's a writing issue, they
Speaker 5: could actually sit down and help fix the problem, you know.
Speaker 5: And and so it was yeah, I mean, but I
Speaker 5: got I got real lucky in that I was kind
Speaker 5: of like shown how to do that.
Speaker 1: You know, who were those people that you say brought
Speaker 1: you up in that way.
Speaker 5: I mean it was Judd Apatow for sure. It was
Speaker 5: one of those people. And he was brought up by
Speaker 5: Gary Shandling.
Speaker 3: A lot of the the in a lot of ways.
Speaker 5: And Gary was around me when I was younger, and
Speaker 5: he really like had that it was almost like a.
Speaker 3: Rick rubinesque like comedic figure.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: It was someone who was like.
Speaker 5: Really was trying to inspire others to like create their
Speaker 5: best work and and and spoke to them about how
Speaker 5: to create their best work and and and physically could
Speaker 5: could do it as well.
Speaker 3: You know, and and and.
Speaker 5: Also like would like have their own shows and their
Speaker 5: own companies and and would enable other people. And Jim
Speaker 5: Brooks was someone that was for sure, you know, judge
Speaker 5: him up under him and he's so when I got
Speaker 5: to be around when I was younger, and.
Speaker 1: He was almost was very he's very degenerous in that.
Speaker 5: Yeah, he's great, and he's kind of in a lot
Speaker 5: of ways, Yeah, like one of the architects of really
Speaker 5: being like a prolific writer, director, producer of of of
Speaker 5: people's work in that way, you know, and and like
Speaker 5: a writing producer in and of himself. So yeah, it
Speaker 5: was I was very fortunate to kind of get to
Speaker 5: be around these people at a young age and kind
Speaker 5: of absorb.
Speaker 1: Or did you have that kind of mentorship, Yeah, a bit.
Speaker 4: I mean I went to film school and so you
Speaker 4: know it was very intentional to you know, work, you know,
Speaker 4: as a writer and producer. I came out of school
Speaker 4: actually really being interested in producing, and I worked for
Speaker 4: this producer named Steve Starkey who was Robertson Echisil's producer
Speaker 4: in the sort of Polar Express and Beowulf Monster House
Speaker 4: years and you know, learned an incredible amount working at
Speaker 4: this company that was making big movies while simultaneously, Seth
Speaker 4: and I had started dating at the time, so I
Speaker 4: would I would leave work and then go to set
Speaker 4: and sit on set and also get to observe jud
Speaker 4: and SHAWNA. Robertson who was producing those movies at the time,
Speaker 4: and so very much. Yeah, had amazing examples of people
Speaker 4: who could juggle you know, the sort of creative side
Speaker 4: of putting funny stories together, but also you know, shepherding
Speaker 4: other people and being supportive of you know, people coming
Speaker 4: up and being generous and teaching and listening and offering guidance.
Speaker 4: And Yeah, it's incredible to be able to have that
Speaker 4: and to be around people like that. Yeah, I was
Speaker 4: very lucky and fun time for sure.
Speaker 1: I want to say to the people that are listening
Speaker 1: to this podcast. I probably mentioned this before, but I
Speaker 1: have zero regrets about my career and my I'm just
Speaker 1: not somebody that looks back and goes, oh shit, I
Speaker 1: wish I would have done this and done except for
Speaker 1: the fact that I never got the concept of mentorship
Speaker 1: because I was such a cocky little shit. I thought
Speaker 1: there was nothing that anybody could teach me. Teachers. I
Speaker 1: couldn't stand being in class because I was like, I
Speaker 1: don't I got this. I got this even you know,
Speaker 1: from my parents' older actors that I would meet now
Speaker 1: probably just I'm sure I was absorbing things without but
Speaker 1: I never really put myself in the situation of going
Speaker 1: to somebody and saying, you know, can I ask your
Speaker 1: advice on something? And I think that's I think that's
Speaker 1: a really important thing for people to do, as as
Speaker 1: young people er.
Speaker 4: I mean, I think having a balance though. I think
Speaker 4: that like confidence though, is key, and knowing where you're
Speaker 4: going is key, and so the fact that you had
Speaker 4: the confidence to, you know, be like, I deserve to
Speaker 4: be here, I know what I'm doing. I don't don't
Speaker 4: I don't need to listen to you helped drive you
Speaker 4: to where you where you were and are you know
Speaker 4: I would say that my confidence, I didn't have that confidence.
Speaker 4: I literally was like I need to learn because I
Speaker 4: am not ready until I was ready. And so I
Speaker 4: think that, you know, it's important to know I should
Speaker 4: in some situations shut up and listen and in some
Speaker 4: situations to say like I've experienced and I've learned and
Speaker 4: I'm ready to go.
Speaker 3: Yeah, It's true.
Speaker 5: That's what's hard about movies especially, is like no one's right.
Speaker 5: It's all just like who likes what more? And like
Speaker 5: who who feels it speaks to their tastes more and
Speaker 5: and and it is hard at times to yeah, navigate
Speaker 5: what advice you should take and what what advice is
Speaker 5: just kind.
Speaker 1: Of I'm trying to be better like at this age,
Speaker 1: at this late age, I'm actually trying to you know, especially,
Speaker 1: I think part of it is my is my wife's influence,
Speaker 1: because I mean really down to like even directors, do
Speaker 1: I really want direction? Not really?
Speaker 3: No one getting direction?
Speaker 1: When I was at.
Speaker 3: I'm happy not to are you are you really?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I've been on movies wherely like I real I'll be
Speaker 5: like so I'd be like, it's been days since I've
Speaker 5: even spoken to the director, and that is like.
Speaker 1: You're good with that? Yes, okay, I'm glad because I
Speaker 1: don't know that I don't know that. I don't know
Speaker 1: that I've I've really uh talked to other actors that
Speaker 1: feel that way. So I'm glad that somebody else feeling glad.
Speaker 1: I can. Yeah, he doesn't like being directed either, just
Speaker 1: so you know.
Speaker 3: And I don't like directing the actors. I don't like
Speaker 3: talking about it.
Speaker 5: I'm in general like time, I'd be like, if I
Speaker 5: can avoid talking to them, I will just let them
Speaker 5: do their thing, you know.
Speaker 4: And I love it, like I want to get in
Speaker 4: there and be like, how you know, let's talk about
Speaker 4: how we're going to do this, like like that's I think,
Speaker 4: you know, one of the most fun parts of it.
Speaker 4: And and honestly like if you take like of course,
Speaker 4: like a technical directing class like in a school, like
Speaker 4: so much of it is how do you communicate with
Speaker 4: the actors? So like to be on set either as
Speaker 4: an actor and the director doesn't talk to you, I'm like,
Speaker 4: where's the director, but then also be the director and
Speaker 4: like to get the sense that the actors like, I
Speaker 4: got this. You're like, okay, I can take that, and
Speaker 4: I'm not going to say anything, and I'm going to
Speaker 4: let them go because I know they know what they're doing,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 5: The fatal man Stevens Fieldberg was like, I don't want
Speaker 5: to talk to the actress ever about the scene ever.
Speaker 3: Basically the greatest.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 5: And then but then when he did give you direction,
Speaker 5: it was terrified because you're like, oh, no.
Speaker 1: That's the greatest, that's the greatest. Well here, yeah, it's
Speaker 1: that thing between you Take one and take two. You
Speaker 1: see him get out of the chair and start to
Speaker 1: stroll over towards a second You're like, oh no, oh no, no,
Speaker 1: can we just go again? We just go again. I
Speaker 1: can sense what you want. Uh. The that's an interesting
Speaker 1: you mentioned that moved. It's an interesting segment to my
Speaker 1: other thing that I think is so fascinating. I've often
Speaker 1: said that I would I would, Uh, I would love
Speaker 1: to do more comedy, but I would I would much
Speaker 1: rather have been a serious actor who then gets a
Speaker 1: chance to do some comedy that have been well known
Speaker 1: for being a comedy the actor, because I think that
Speaker 1: the transition, I don't know how you feel about this
Speaker 1: in the other direction is uh, is is tough. I
Speaker 1: think that there's a there's something tied up with audiences
Speaker 1: and what they want to feel from from you in
Speaker 1: that moment, you know, as the truck backs up. I uh,
Speaker 1: and you've been able to do that to uh, to
Speaker 1: to kind of push past that seth in in such
Speaker 1: a such a great way with with you know, really
Speaker 1: truly amazing dramatic performances and all kinds of stretches, you know,
Speaker 1: and uh into different you know, walking in different people's shoes.
Speaker 1: And I wondered if that was a had a fight,
Speaker 1: if there was a fight to do that, or if
Speaker 1: it just kind of happened naturally.
Speaker 3: Uh No, there really wasn't. I like it. It wasn't
Speaker 3: something that I I.
Speaker 5: Always like love comedy and and and I was never
Speaker 5: like someone who, like, uh, I thought comedy was really
Speaker 5: always harder, you know, and I would look at you know,
Speaker 5: I would do dramatic scenes.
Speaker 3: In comedies and they were always so much easier.
Speaker 5: Than the comedic scenes in the comedies, you know, And
Speaker 5: so it wasn't I was always like relieved, though I
Speaker 5: remember being like, oh, it's like it's like the scene
Speaker 5: where like we break up, and even that was hard
Speaker 5: because we would still trying to make it funny. But
Speaker 5: like it, it to me was not something I ever
Speaker 5: honestly cared that much about. And some of my good
Speaker 5: friends were getting cast in dramatic films again, nominated for
Speaker 5: Academy Awards, and I was very thrilled for them, and
Speaker 5: I would look at them and do you like that
Speaker 5: just isn't something I like need necessarily like it. But
Speaker 5: there are filmmakers that I love working with, and I
Speaker 5: like dramatic film, but I'm more I think Sarah Pauley
Speaker 5: was the first one really who put me in like
Speaker 5: a dramatic movie, in like a big role in take
Speaker 5: This Waltz, and it was like it was interesting, Like
Speaker 5: I remember thinking it was very weird that she wanted
Speaker 5: me to do it and that she could have her
Speaker 5: pick of so many more dramatic actors, but she, like
Speaker 5: I thought that I would work in a specific way.
Speaker 4: And so.
Speaker 5: But yeah, I don't like, Yeah, it's not something I
Speaker 5: like long for. You know, if I was only making
Speaker 5: comedies forever, i'd be happy.
Speaker 3: It's just it's hard, you know, you know, that's.
Speaker 1: So fascinating I'm really that's very very interesting. Yeah, Lauren,
Speaker 1: can you tell us about Hilarity for charity and and
Speaker 1: and what your own personal connection to this is. I want,
Speaker 1: I want to this is this is why you guys
Speaker 1: are here today, and I want to segue into that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So, unfortunately, Alzheimer's was kind of a part of
Speaker 4: my life always my on my mom's side, my grandfather,
Speaker 4: her dad was diagnosed when I was very young, before
Speaker 4: I was born, and then after him, my grandmother, my
Speaker 4: mom's mom, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's also, and then at
Speaker 4: my college graduation, when I was twenty two and my
Speaker 4: mom was fifty two, she started repeating herself and you know,
Speaker 4: and it was one of those things that I just knew.
Speaker 4: And by the time, just before her fifty fifth birthday,
Speaker 4: she was diagnosed with I guess like an earlier on
Speaker 4: set Alzheimer's, which you know, coincided with when Seth and
Speaker 4: I started dating. We you know, met when we were
Speaker 4: twenty three, and so this really obviously hugely colored a
Speaker 4: huge part of my life during that time. And you know,
Speaker 4: here I was across the country from my parents. They
Speaker 4: were in Florida at the time, and you know, I
Speaker 4: was trying to build my career and in this relationship
Speaker 4: that was growing and sort of get my feet on
Speaker 4: the ground here while this was happening back home, and
Speaker 4: just as many people do who face a diagnosis of dementia,
Speaker 4: we were really scared and didn't know where to turn.
Speaker 4: And my mom really didn't want us to talk about
Speaker 4: it for the first couple of years because she felt
Speaker 4: a lot of stigma that stems from having dementia and
Speaker 4: and I'm sure a lot of fear herself having seen
Speaker 4: her parents go through it. But eventually her disease progressed
Speaker 4: and Steth and I started talking about it and sharing
Speaker 4: what I was going through and what my family was
Speaker 4: going through. And eventually a friend was like, hey, let's
Speaker 4: throw up a variety show since you know, we were
Speaker 4: in the comedy area, and let's raise some money for
Speaker 4: Alzheimer's research. And I was like, whoa, no, But then
Speaker 4: he persisted and I said okay, and we did it.
Speaker 4: And that was in twenty twelve, and through that really
Speaker 4: realized that there weren't a lot of young people talking
Speaker 4: about Alzheimer's at that point. There a lot of people
Speaker 4: talking about it in general, really and other young people
Speaker 4: were like, oh, hey, I'm also in my tw with
Speaker 4: a parent with it or sometimes unfortunately younger than that,
Speaker 4: And I was far from being alone and being young
Speaker 4: and having a parent dealing with it, and that we
Speaker 4: had this voice that we could use to give other
Speaker 4: people a voice and show them how to use their
Speaker 4: stories to create advocacy that was needed to explain this
Speaker 4: disease and what it is like to be a caregiver
Speaker 4: for this disease, but also to teach people how to
Speaker 4: take care of their brains and how to stay healthy,
Speaker 4: and also help caregivers who are going through it right
Speaker 4: now and really make sure that they are getting the
Speaker 4: support that they need to navigate the very difficult journey
Speaker 4: that most people who are cared for someone Golzheimer's are
Speaker 4: going through.
Speaker 1: Did you ever get a chance to talk to your
Speaker 1: mother about it? Did she ever open up about it? Yeah?
Speaker 4: You know, we had conversations early on. There was one
Speaker 4: sort of pivotal conversation early on. This is so funny
Speaker 4: how I get to it. But I had read early
Speaker 4: on in like a teen magazine that the best place
Speaker 4: to have a comfortable conversations with your parents is in
Speaker 4: the car because ultimately you'll always have to get out
Speaker 4: of the car, so the conversation come to a natural end.
Speaker 4: So remember one time I was home visiting and she
Speaker 4: and I went to Target, and for whatever reason, I
Speaker 4: brought it up on the way to Target. So in
Speaker 4: the Target parking lot, we had this very specific conversation
Speaker 4: that I'll always remember, which was when I asked her
Speaker 4: if she was scared, in which she told me she
Speaker 4: wasn't scared for herself, but she was scared for us
Speaker 4: because she knew what we were going to go through
Speaker 4: and that I was absolutely not to move home to
Speaker 4: Florida to be with her, and I was not to
Speaker 4: make my life that I had been, you know, building
Speaker 4: towards take a left turn and stop what I was
Speaker 4: doing to take care of her the class she wanted. Wow,
Speaker 4: that's what she was was really selfless. She was giving
Speaker 4: and caring and so you know, and I was lucky
Speaker 4: to have Step there to support me. And you know,
Speaker 4: like I always said, like I was a caregiver for
Speaker 4: a caregiver because my dad was my mom's primary caregiver.
Speaker 4: But you know, at a lot of ways, Step was
Speaker 4: my caregiver. And I was extremely lucky to have him there.
Speaker 6: If you are inspired by today's episode, please join us
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Speaker 1: I think this is a good moment to bring on.
Speaker 1: Amanda Caesauta, who who U is? The senior communications manager?
Speaker 1: You are the SCM for hm HFC. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining us, Amanda, thank you. You know, there's
Speaker 1: something that Lauren mentioned that I that I found really
Speaker 1: interesting when I was reading about the Alzheimer's and some
Speaker 1: of the research and some of the focus that you
Speaker 1: guys are making, and that is in this idea of
Speaker 1: a preventative lifestyle. This is something that I'd never really
Speaker 1: even thought about brain health. I mean, can you dig
Speaker 1: into that a little bit more for people?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's definitely one of our main pillars I think
Speaker 2: what separates us from a lot of other organizations in
Speaker 2: the Alzheimer's space is some of the programs that we
Speaker 2: offer and kind of the pillars that we're built on.
Speaker 2: So the first obviously to care for families and caregivers
Speaker 2: impacted by it, as Len mentioned, the second is to
Speaker 2: activate the generation of Alzheimer's advocates, and then that third
Speaker 2: pillar is to be a leader in the brain health space,
Speaker 2: particularly brain health education. And I think something that people
Speaker 2: would be surprised to learn is that research suggests that
Speaker 2: four and ten cases of dementia may be preventable through
Speaker 2: lifestyle changes. And part of this research is that twenty
Speaker 2: to thirty years before the onset of symptoms of Alzheimer's
Speaker 2: and dementia is when the disease actually starts and it
Speaker 2: starts to build. So by the time you get a diagnosis,
Speaker 2: you've been living with the disease for decades. And knowing
Speaker 2: that information, we really strive to get education to younger
Speaker 2: folks and to get young people caring about brain health
Speaker 2: education so that when they are in their twenties and thirties,
Speaker 2: they can be proactive and doing things that support that. Lauren,
Speaker 2: and you might have to help me. We have our
Speaker 2: five brain health habits that kind of drive all of
Speaker 2: our brain health education. So physical exercise we write then, Yeah,
Speaker 2: physical exercise is one of them. Emotional will be is another. Nutrition.
Speaker 2: What you eat in put in your body very important.
Speaker 2: The biggest one that Lauren talks lots about is sleep.
Speaker 2: And then what is the fifth one that I'm missing?
Speaker 4: Learn mental fitness, mental things.
Speaker 2: Yes, keeping your brain engaged. So an example of that
Speaker 2: that we like to share is learning a new language,
Speaker 2: like learning a new line, your brain learning. Yeah. The
Speaker 2: more that you can learn new things and activate your
Speaker 2: brain in that way, the stronger connections you can make. Yeah,
Speaker 2: we're very big on brain health, and there is a
Speaker 2: lot that people can do that they don't even realize
Speaker 2: in their day to day that can help that effort.
Speaker 1: Seth, tell me a little bit about the hilarity side
Speaker 1: of this. Yeah, I'm curious about the idea of taking
Speaker 1: something that is obviously you know, deep and painful and
Speaker 1: as hard as as Alzheimer's and you know, at least
Speaker 1: finding a way in through humor.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean.
Speaker 3: A lot of it is because it's just what we do,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 5: And as we were putting together the show for the
Speaker 5: first time, we are comedians. All of our friends are comedians,
Speaker 5: you know. Will actually the guy who introduced us, would
Speaker 5: put on comedy variety shows.
Speaker 3: It was kind of like an.
Speaker 5: Environment we came up with, was was we would always
Speaker 5: be going to these kind of comedy variety shows all
Speaker 5: the time.
Speaker 3: And so it at first was kind of just organically
Speaker 3: all we had to offer.
Speaker 5: But over the years it has become a much more
Speaker 5: kind of resonant, like beautiful, uh like approach to it.
Speaker 5: That that that again, like looking back, is is lovely
Speaker 5: and and the fact that we were able to infuse
Speaker 5: such a sad thing with humor, and that we're able
Speaker 5: to able to bring whiteness to such a dark subject
Speaker 5: and able to you kind of you know, take people's
Speaker 5: minds off things and with a spoonful of sugar, you know,
Speaker 5: like kind of feed them information and tips and lifestyle
Speaker 5: you know, habit suggestions that in a way that is
Speaker 5: entertaining and maybe a little more lighthearted than this information
Speaker 5: is generally conveyed with. Uh that that yeah, that was
Speaker 5: never part of like the grand plan. It's kind of
Speaker 5: just who we are and what we had to offer
Speaker 5: and and and it all came together in that way.
Speaker 5: But if anything. Yeah, Like, I think we've all been
Speaker 5: amazed at how organically it does go together, and how
Speaker 5: comedians especially are very charitable with their time and are
Speaker 5: undaunted by speaking about or around incredibly unhappy, traumatic things.
Speaker 5: That's what comedy is, right, And I remember, yeah, honestly,
Speaker 5: I remember putting together one of the shows and texting
Speaker 5: I think was John Mulaney being like, you're coming on
Speaker 5: after something that's like brutal, and he was like, it's fine,
Speaker 5: Like he's like people, He's like, people shift gears real fast.
Speaker 5: It's totally not a problem, you know. And so yeah,
Speaker 5: if anything, it kind of has it seems nice in
Speaker 5: retrospect and like we have this grand plan to kind
Speaker 5: of change the tone surrounding something so sad. But no,
Speaker 5: it was just kind of who we were, and we
Speaker 5: always we joke like if we were chefs, would be
Speaker 5: called baking for charity, you know, but unfortunately we're not.
Speaker 1: Amanda, tell me about the other two pillars.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So the first, which is kind of the heart
Speaker 2: and soul of our organization, is to care for families
Speaker 2: impacted by Alzheimer's. By twenty fifty, it's estimated that thirteen
Speaker 2: million Americans over the age of sixty five will have
Speaker 2: the disease, and that is tripling the current amount of
Speaker 2: cases that we have today. And I think another big
Speaker 2: part of that is that with an increase in people
Speaker 2: living with the disease, is the increase of people caring
Speaker 2: for people living with the disease. And right now there's
Speaker 2: already eleven million Americans who provide on paid care. So
Speaker 2: what we do at HFC is try to be a
Speaker 2: resource hub for folks wherever they are in the journey.
Speaker 2: So whether you yourself have been newly diagnosed or you're
Speaker 2: a caregiver who's been caring for someone for years with
Speaker 2: the disease, we try to meet people where they are
Speaker 2: through a variety of services. Probably the biggest and kind
Speaker 2: of the core of our work is our respite grants,
Speaker 2: and what those are is folks can apply and what
Speaker 2: it is is it's either a short term grant where
Speaker 2: we collaborate with a professional care organization and if you
Speaker 2: are awarded the grant, then someone would come to your home,
Speaker 2: a professional caregiver to help relieve you. So it's meant
Speaker 2: to take the burden of caregiving off the caregiver just
Speaker 2: for a little We also have extended grants, so that's
Speaker 2: like more long term assistance that you'd have, but we
Speaker 2: found that it's just much needed respite. Like caregivers are
Speaker 2: very burnt out and it is such a taxing job
Speaker 2: and responsibility, and to even have the time to go
Speaker 2: to the grocery store or to have a night out
Speaker 2: with friends can be monumental in giving them a little
Speaker 2: bit more fuel so that they can continue caring for
Speaker 2: the person that they love. Which in addition to the
Speaker 2: care grants, we also have a lot of online opportunities.
Speaker 2: Since caregivers are everywhere and very busy and we're a
Speaker 2: national organization, we have workshops, We have our main event
Speaker 2: every year, which is care Con, which is coming up
Speaker 2: this February, actually on Valentine's Day this year, So shout
Speaker 2: out to all the caregivers and those are all meant
Speaker 2: to kind of speaking to what Seth said, one educate them,
Speaker 2: so give them resources and maybe tips and chicks that
Speaker 2: they might not have known about in caregiving, and to
Speaker 2: give them a space to just be entertained and to
Speaker 2: laugh and to find community with people who get it,
Speaker 2: because it's a really isolating experience and not everyone understands
Speaker 2: what it looks like to care for someone and when
Speaker 2: you meet someone who does, it's a really special thing.
Speaker 2: So that's one of them, caring for caregivers, and then
Speaker 2: the other one that's pretty exciting, and I think we're
Speaker 2: one of a few organizations doing it is activating the
Speaker 2: next generation of Alzheimer's advocates. So we have a program
Speaker 2: right now called the Youth Movement Against Alzheimer's and we
Speaker 2: have high school and college chapters all across the country
Speaker 2: of kids who, either through personal connection or maybe careers
Speaker 2: that they want to get into, they have a passion
Speaker 2: for Alzheimer's and dementia and they want to advocate on
Speaker 2: behalf of the disease and people living with the disease.
Speaker 2: And it's a big part of what we do is
Speaker 2: making sure that those young people are equipped to put
Speaker 2: that message out into the world to help educate their
Speaker 2: peers on what they can do around brain health. It
Speaker 2: kind of all funnels back into that idea of prevention
Speaker 2: that if we can get people educated and inspired earlier,
Speaker 2: we'll all be better off in the long run.
Speaker 1: AMaGA, let me ask you a question. Obviously you're very
Speaker 1: committed to this, do you think it was in your
Speaker 1: life personally that made you want to, you know, be
Speaker 1: in this line of work. Yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: be work in the in the cause based space. I'm
Speaker 1: always fascinated when you know, being someone who that was
Speaker 1: never an option that I considered as a young man.
Speaker 1: I'm always fascinated with with people that really have have
Speaker 1: chosen to to to make this their their work.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think it was modeled for me by my
Speaker 2: parents just in our lifestyle. They were really big on
Speaker 2: helping others, So we've had countless friends and families stay
Speaker 2: at our home throughout the years. And I think for
Speaker 2: my sister and I, she's in the medical field, so
Speaker 2: she does servanthood in her own way. We just thought
Speaker 2: modeled for us. My mom especially was really big on
Speaker 2: teaching us that if you have the means and the
Speaker 2: ability you help others, that's what you do. And I
Speaker 2: think I learned early on the gratification that you feel
Speaker 2: and that you get from helping other people. And I
Speaker 2: felt pretty convinced, I mean out of call it is
Speaker 2: that if I didn't do work that was tied to
Speaker 2: a purposeful mission, I wouldn't be fulfilled. And I wouldn't
Speaker 2: be able to show up and really love what I do.
Speaker 2: Hilarity for charity is the sweet spot of all the
Speaker 2: things that I love. I get to be very creative here.
Speaker 2: I get to help others, and it's a cause that
Speaker 2: I have personal experience with, and I get to, you know,
Speaker 2: help people who are in the same position as myself
Speaker 2: and my family.
Speaker 1: M hm, that's that's that's great. I also have to
Speaker 1: say that I'm so touched with the notion of Seth
Speaker 1: becoming the caregiver for the caregiver you mentioned that, Lord,
Speaker 1: and I just want to circle back to that because
Speaker 1: I I, I mean, obviously there is a I'm gonna
Speaker 1: call it trickle down, but there's a there's a there's
Speaker 1: a ripple effect when somebody in somebody.
Speaker 5: I'd call it a black hole, right the exactly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it is, you know, that's that's that's part
Speaker 1: of what marriages, that's part of what family is, you know.
Speaker 5: And yeah, it was really yeah, it was. It was
Speaker 5: one of those things though, like it was so sad, and.
Speaker 3: You know, I remember suggesting Laura go to therapy.
Speaker 5: That was a big that was a defining moment, I
Speaker 5: would say, and you know, uh forward, because I was
Speaker 5: just literally unequipped to deal with how sad the situation was.
Speaker 5: Like it wasn't like normal like hard day at work sad,
Speaker 5: like my boss is an asshole sad. It was like
Speaker 5: outside the scope of what I was equipped to understand
Speaker 5: how to deal with effectively, you know. And and then
Speaker 5: also it was one of those things where like money
Speaker 5: just helped, and that's why we made these grants, where
Speaker 5: like Lauren's father was just like getting worked to death,
Speaker 5: and then we hired these people, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 5: like everyone's lives was much better in like a tangible way.
Speaker 3: And so.
Speaker 5: Yeah, like this idea that you know, just there's a
Speaker 5: very like immediate way to relieve the pressure of these
Speaker 5: caregivers because also like caregiving is also you know, like
Speaker 5: the caregiver dies before the person they are caring for,
Speaker 5: often because of the toll it takes. And and and
Speaker 5: that really seemed to be you know, what would was
Speaker 5: what could have happened to Lauren's father and so and
Speaker 5: and and then yeah, and then like the emotional effect
Speaker 5: it had on Lauren obviously because both of her parents
Speaker 5: were going through this terrible thing. So yeah, it does
Speaker 5: create this kind of like black hole that you really
Speaker 5: have to fight against the gravitational pull of you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I want to give you an opportunity, both
Speaker 1: Lauren and Amanda to you know, say how people listening
Speaker 1: to this can get involved, can help. This is our
Speaker 1: call to action to you know, just see how what
Speaker 1: people can do.
Speaker 2: Do you want to kiss? Sure?
Speaker 4: I mean, look, the first thing that can help is
Speaker 4: by donating money. You know, we are able to fund
Speaker 4: I think it's twenty seven percent or something of our
Speaker 4: applications that we received for our restpen programs. I would
Speaker 4: love to be able to fund more. However, it's not
Speaker 4: only money where we need the help. The simplest thing
Speaker 4: someone can do is share a story. If you're a caregiver,
Speaker 4: telling your friends, telling your family, sharing your story on
Speaker 4: social media. Making the reality of caring for someone with
Speaker 4: dementia part of the conversation so that people understand what
Speaker 4: it actually means to care for someone with dementia is
Speaker 4: huge to push the conversation forward because part of the
Speaker 4: reason that dementia Alzheimer's research was underfunded for so long
Speaker 4: by the government was because no one talked about it.
Speaker 4: In the last ten years, that's changed the reality of
Speaker 4: the situation has forced the government to step up with
Speaker 4: more funding in the areas of scientific research. So caregiving
Speaker 4: is still unfortunately behind, and so sharing our stories about
Speaker 4: the need for the support we need for caregivers, hopefully
Speaker 4: we'll shift the conversation to give caregivers the support they need.
Speaker 4: So I would say it's donations, it's advocacy, it's sharing
Speaker 4: our information on social media with a friend who you
Speaker 4: know needs it. It's sharing the fact that you know
Speaker 4: we have a support group. We have support groups for
Speaker 4: so many different types of people, and so so yeah, donating, sharing, Amanda,
Speaker 4: what else.
Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously donating and sharing. I think another big thing
Speaker 2: is learn how to care for your brain. I mean,
Speaker 2: the crisis of care is going to impact everyone on
Speaker 2: a big scale, the economy. We're not ready for the
Speaker 2: amount of care that's going to need to be provided
Speaker 2: in the coming years. And we can tackle that by
Speaker 2: selling those lifestyle habits that can help towards preventions. So
Speaker 2: check out we are HFC dot org. We've got lots
Speaker 2: of resources about all the brain health habits that you
Speaker 2: can do. We even have a lovely recording of seth
Speaker 2: if you want to soothe yourself to sleep with the
Speaker 2: voices that brogan you can.
Speaker 3: Definite Yeah.
Speaker 2: I would encourage everyone check out our website, find out
Speaker 2: the simple things that you can start changing to help
Speaker 2: improve your brain health with those habits, and then if
Speaker 2: there's any caregivers listening out here, know that we're here
Speaker 2: to support you wherever you are on your journey. Please
Speaker 2: connect with us either through the website or on social media.
Speaker 2: We are at we are HFC across all social platforms,
Speaker 2: and we also have our major event, our virtual event
Speaker 2: care Con, coming up this February on Valentine's Day, so
Speaker 2: please join us even if you're not a caregiver. I
Speaker 2: think another aspect of this issue was that caregivers feel
Speaker 2: isolated because people don't know how to support someone who's
Speaker 2: caring for someone with all sign and we've got a
Speaker 2: lot of tools to even help the non trigivers know
Speaker 2: how to better love and support the people in their
Speaker 2: lives who are doing the caregiving.
Speaker 1: That's awesome. I want to thank you guys so much, Seth, Lauren, Amanda,
Speaker 1: thank you so much foranking here today. Thanks for having us.
Speaker 1: It's really fun to to chat with you guys, and
Speaker 1: I love the sport that you're doing and and you know,
Speaker 1: keep up the good work. It's it's just fantastic stuff.
Speaker 1: So thank you, thank.
Speaker 2: You, thank you, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, thanks for listening to another episode of Six
Speaker 1: Degrees with Kevin Bacon. To learn more about Hilarity for Charity.
Speaker 1: I love that name and all the great works Seth,
Speaker 1: Lauren and their team are up to head to their website.
Speaker 1: We are h FC dot org. That's we are h
Speaker 1: FC dot org. You can find all the links in
Speaker 1: our show notes and hey, if you like what you need,
Speaker 1: make sure that you subscribe to the show and tune
Speaker 1: in to the rest of our episodes. You can find
Speaker 1: six Degrees with Kevin Bacon on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, or
Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. I see you next time.