Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central. My guest tonight is.
Speaker 2: Our comedian, an actor who wrote director the new film,
Speaker 2: first time female director. Please welcome Chelsea Baretti. The people,
Speaker 2: the people love you.
Speaker 3: The people have spoken.
Speaker 2: You're very beloved.
Speaker 3: Is this your vibrate Yeah, weird question. I think I
Speaker 3: saw an ad on Instagram for this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we tried to keep all guests happy. Project's first
Speaker 2: time female director. Yes, film, it's also you're also you're
Speaker 2: also a first time female director.
Speaker 3: This is going good? Can I get the regular host?
Speaker 3: We said each other?
Speaker 2: Look yeah, yeah, you know, look at us going at
Speaker 2: each other. Now, director, you had a really Larry David
Speaker 2: could be enthusiasm, but my style very handmade? Was that intentional?
Speaker 2: Is that lack of budget?
Speaker 3: I'm trying to spur him to come after me because
Speaker 3: I'm a big fan of Runnie Is. I just want
Speaker 3: to say that I.
Speaker 2: Really am No, I am a huge No. We we
Speaker 2: never met, but you are very nice to me over
Speaker 2: the pandemic idea over over Instagram. And I was a
Speaker 2: huge fan of yours, watching your comedy specials. And I
Speaker 2: love your music album that you released pre pandemic. It
Speaker 2: was about coffee.
Speaker 3: Yeah, It was a coffee concept album, one of those.
Speaker 2: Yeah wow, you did during the pandemic, A pandemic problems.
Speaker 3: It was pre pandemic. And then when the COVID happened,
Speaker 3: I was like, why did I spend the last eight
Speaker 3: months of my life making music about coffee?
Speaker 2: What a waste? No? No, it was a funny album.
Speaker 2: I love music, and you got film right now. And
Speaker 2: what's interesting to me many things is that I mean you,
Speaker 2: but you'll stand up comic. Yeah, you're starting these comedy
Speaker 2: clubs and all that right.
Speaker 3: Here in these city streets.
Speaker 2: Right here on the streets. Man, when you do comedy,
Speaker 2: you're in, especially when you're starting out, you're in a
Speaker 2: ba full of like drunk people if you're lucky, sometimes
Speaker 2: above empty if.
Speaker 3: You're lucky, usually it's a bar full of drunk men.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And then and then you moved into directing a movie.
Speaker 2: You know, how you get the that that skill set
Speaker 2: it must be.
Speaker 3: It really took was decades. So if you have decades
Speaker 3: to spare, you too might be able to do that.
Speaker 3: I know. But I wrote for TV, I wrote for
Speaker 3: Parks and rec and Amy produced this movie.
Speaker 2: So don't just say Amy like Amy, Yeah, I know
Speaker 2: you're on first name basis, but it.
Speaker 3: Would be weird if I always called her Amy Poe.
Speaker 2: On this and is that is she the one who
Speaker 2: kind of like champion usually is?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Right?
Speaker 2: So I mean, how did how did this project come about?
Speaker 2: Because it's very meta. I don't want to like misdescribe this.
Speaker 2: It's very meta. Kind of your first first time director
Speaker 2: directing a play in the movie and then in real life,
Speaker 2: your first time female director directing the movie.
Speaker 3: I mean I was, what, that's pretty accurate, all right, Yeah,
Speaker 3: that was a good description.
Speaker 2: But what what was the you know, inspiration for this?
Speaker 3: The inspiration well, I challenged myself to write a fake
Speaker 3: excerpt of a play at UCB Theater in Los Angeles,
Speaker 3: which was a southern rural drama and it was a
Speaker 3: fun night. It was very silly. We did a really
Speaker 3: pretentious Q and A afterwards, and and then I was like,
Speaker 3: could I make this into a movie? And so that's
Speaker 3: kind of the origin story, if you.
Speaker 2: Will, right, And that's that's how you started. And you know,
Speaker 2: people who don't know making movies is very hot. I mean,
Speaker 2: forget the making it, just trying to get it up
Speaker 2: and going.
Speaker 3: I tried to get Ronnie. I actually tried to get
Speaker 3: him for my movie, and I was told he's offer
Speaker 3: only that that's when an actor thinks they're too good
Speaker 3: to audition. So I was like, whoa, whoa, this one hurts,
Speaker 3: this one hurts.
Speaker 2: Yeah, by but I am a phone you are, yeah
Speaker 2: you are? So why didn't you make offer? How did
Speaker 2: you get Why didn't you make an offer?
Speaker 4: Well?
Speaker 2: I was waiting, good follow up question, make the offer,
Speaker 2: I'm offul only make the off too late? Actually technical,
Speaker 2: you can reshoot. You can do reshoots, yeah, you can.
Speaker 3: What I want to offer you is the lead.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well yeah, I'll take the lead. We'll redo it.
Speaker 2: This is good, okay, But so it's uh and you
Speaker 2: debuted it last year.
Speaker 3: I debuted it, and.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. I'm sorry that make a minor grammatical mistake
Speaker 2: in one of my three languages.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, you white feminist, I don't really care.
Speaker 2: Well, I'm a minority in America, so I don't know who.
Speaker 2: I don't know who wins here if we keep going
Speaker 2: at it, I think white people, white men wait, no,
Speaker 2: white men wait. If we keep fighting, white men are
Speaker 2: going to win. So we got you gotta get on
Speaker 2: board this shot.
Speaker 1: You gotta down on board this.
Speaker 2: That's kind of boarding promote the movies. Yeah so you yeah,
Speaker 2: when do you debut it?
Speaker 3: Friday? Friday, March eight.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you got into the festival.
Speaker 3: I got into Tribeca.
Speaker 2: Yeah, which is hot. It's hot to get in Tribecca.
Speaker 2: The Karents just walk into Drybeca has to be a
Speaker 2: good movie, No you can't.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is a hot crowd.
Speaker 2: This crowd is hot and yeah, yeah hot, a little
Speaker 2: old and uh yeah, a little bit, a little bit.
Speaker 2: I appreciate it, but let's call it what you know.
Speaker 2: And they've been waiting on in the New York range
Speaker 2: so that I really appreciate them waiting all that. That's
Speaker 2: a compliment. Thanks for being so old and waiting out. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and they love you.
Speaker 3: You're sweet street with them a tender rapport.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, So Tribeca was great, That's what I know.
Speaker 2: You're understanding it. But it's hot to it's hot to
Speaker 2: get into the Tribeca film that h achievement.
Speaker 3: I got a fake tan for it. Yeah, very classy.
Speaker 3: And then now it's a premiering on Roku March eighth. Yeah,
Speaker 3: so I'm excited and I hope people enjoy it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that's awesome. What was the most challenging thing
Speaker 2: you had on this on this project?
Speaker 3: Not not being able to get you in there? I
Speaker 3: really was.
Speaker 2: No asking me was the biggest challenge.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I love how you you named it first time female directors. Like,
Speaker 2: if anybody gives a bad review, is that like like
Speaker 2: just sexist? Right? Yeah, it's automatic trap. Right.
Speaker 3: That's what I'm always trying to set up is some
Speaker 3: sort of infrastructure like that. But it is weird, like
Speaker 3: any title you think of, you think of the snooty
Speaker 3: reviews where they say like something like, you know, they
Speaker 3: always use the title to slam the movie. Yeah, first
Speaker 3: time female director, right, I don't know, maybe it's harder.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, well yeah, well there's no reason to slam
Speaker 2: the movie because I watched it. It was great. Thank great job,
Speaker 2: I super funny, very original.
Speaker 3: Thanks just scanning your eyes if you're.
Speaker 1: Telling yeah I am.
Speaker 3: It's a weird time because it's like everyone being like, oh,
Speaker 3: I love the movie.
Speaker 2: I'm like this, Yeah, you see this is the com
Speaker 2: That's how I know you're a comic. Yeah, because comics
Speaker 2: can't take compliments. Trust, you can't take that. You can't
Speaker 2: tell tell me a nice thing about myself.
Speaker 3: I love you.
Speaker 2: I don't believe that. I don't believe that.
Speaker 3: Well, you know what's funny is my dad loves you too.
Speaker 3: And he was like, we're at dinner, and he goes,
Speaker 3: I love this comedian. He's emotionless. And the weirdest thing is,
Speaker 3: I go, is it this guy? And I pulled up
Speaker 3: a picture of you. I'm like, do you mean Rachel?
Speaker 3: Because that was the joke, but I guess I didn't
Speaker 3: hit No.
Speaker 2: I appreciate your dad knowing me as emotional as that,
Speaker 2: not the Asian guy. That's great. Great, mister Pardi, thanks
Speaker 2: so much. Yeah, well, Chelsea, thanks so much for being
Speaker 2: the show man. I can't wait. This thing is coming
Speaker 2: out Roku channel March eighth, please take it. Give you
Speaker 2: a watch. Chelsea Paridi. Everybody, she's awesome. My guest tonight
Speaker 2: there's an Emmy nominated actor and comedian who starts in
Speaker 2: the new film Kung Fu Panda four. Please welcome the
Speaker 2: one and only Aquafina. Right, all right, all right, thanks
Speaker 2: for comming, thanks for comment.
Speaker 1: It's good to see you guys.
Speaker 2: Yeah, good to see you again. It's great so what's
Speaker 2: this one? Is what comand when you came out? Yeah,
Speaker 2: they did. It was even louder when I came out.
Speaker 2: So Kung Fu Panda four Man.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, good movie, great movie.
Speaker 2: I agree. I think it's amazing. Yeah you know I'm
Speaker 2: in that movie too.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, right, yes, you are in that movie. Yes,
Speaker 1: you are in that movie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm in that movie too.
Speaker 1: So in that movie. You are in that movie?
Speaker 2: You once you uh you know you're doing all this
Speaker 2: press for it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been doing a lot.
Speaker 2: No one's asking me any questions about that movie. Why
Speaker 2: do you ask me some questions about this movie? I'm
Speaker 2: in the two asked me some question about you want
Speaker 2: to ask you? Okay, okay, so let we do it. Good, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go out. You're introduced you as a guest. Okay,
Speaker 2: just read that and you can ask me some questions.
Speaker 2: All right, you're gonna go out. Yeah, just read from that. Okay,
Speaker 2: just read that. Come on, all right, and then interview
Speaker 2: me about this movie.
Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, okay.
Speaker 5: Guest, wait, okay, go okay.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's so nice.
Speaker 4: My guest Tonight is a towering figure in comedy and
Speaker 4: icon for all Asians, a colossal acting talent who deserves
Speaker 4: his own action franchise, and my personal hero who I'm
Speaker 4: honored to even breathe the same air with.
Speaker 1: Please welcome Ronnie Chang.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that.
Speaker 1: Trainers. Okay, here we go.
Speaker 2: I prepare some questions for you in case.
Speaker 4: Your voice acting is so realistic.
Speaker 1: Did you go to Juilliard or something?
Speaker 2: Oh? I'm glad you asked that. You know, I just
Speaker 2: think that sometimes with voice acting, you want to, you know,
Speaker 2: be as natural as you can. So I'm kind of
Speaker 2: proud to say I didn't have any formal training in it.
Speaker 2: I just, you know, I just think authenticity is the
Speaker 2: key to a good animal uh animation.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yes, yes, one hundred percent that I mean. This
Speaker 4: year we saw actress take on some incredibly challenging roles
Speaker 4: with Stilian Revie or Chillian review and As Oppenheimer, Bradley
Speaker 4: Cooper as Leonard Bernstein, and Ronnie Chang as fish in
Speaker 4: Kung Fu Panda four.
Speaker 5: How How do you yes, yeah, keep it going, keep
Speaker 5: it going, keep it going.
Speaker 1: How do you prepare to take on such a big role?
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I've been kind of eating fish my
Speaker 2: whole life, so I feel like I knew what this
Speaker 2: character would really tastes like, and I kind of, you know,
Speaker 2: I channeled that into I tried to put a little
Speaker 2: bit of fishiness into you.
Speaker 1: Live inside a Bird? Yes, and spoiler alert.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I live in a Bird character. You know, it's
Speaker 2: actually the second marine character developed your in Kung Fu
Speaker 2: Panda franchise. Really, that's bigger, that's biggures to Uh. It's
Speaker 2: had to show on the aquatic animals and on end.
Speaker 2: But while we figured it out.
Speaker 4: This is this is the fourth project you've done with me.
Speaker 4: How does it feel to always be below me on
Speaker 4: the call show?
Speaker 3: You know what?
Speaker 5: Great?
Speaker 2: I didn't forget that what he says, all right, anyway,
Speaker 2: this is the fourth project we've done together. We have
Speaker 2: We've done so much cool stuff together. We have, yeah,
Speaker 2: done crazy occasions, We did shang together, we did Kung
Speaker 2: Fu Panda Panda. It was the other one that's you
Speaker 2: were on my show, Yeah no, from Queen's on Comedy
Speaker 2: Central Looks. I was on that. I forgot that was
Speaker 2: on that show that was on my own network. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: thanks for having me on that, by the way, thank
Speaker 2: you for Yeah. Yes, it's a cool icon you know
Speaker 2: from New York City. Want to raised queens? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: What's your what's your connections to New York City?
Speaker 1: What do you mean? I mean? I was from here?
Speaker 4: Yeah, raised here. I love I love you know, bagels
Speaker 4: and pizza.
Speaker 2: Oh no, but sorry, watch you, I have asked a
Speaker 2: question better. I meant, like, you know, you had your
Speaker 2: family restaurant here, right?
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, right, yeah, my yeah, we had the first
Speaker 4: Chinese restaurant in Flushing was called Lums. It was my
Speaker 4: great grandpa, my great grandpa, Jimmy Lum came over in
Speaker 4: the nineteen forties and and then it kind of went
Speaker 4: out of business and in the eighties.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, great Riagonomics.
Speaker 1: And then.
Speaker 2: But what was you You grew up in that restaurant?
Speaker 1: I didn't.
Speaker 4: I grew up in a restaurant because then they had
Speaker 4: an offshoot. After Lums closed, my grandma opened a new one.
Speaker 4: And so I grew up like in the restaurants, like
Speaker 4: I would eat that would.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so very much in the in the in
Speaker 2: the kitchen.
Speaker 4: In the kitchen, I ate like a scoop of MSG
Speaker 4: one time, like just like literally literally it was crazy.
Speaker 1: It was crazy.
Speaker 2: It's like a crazy it was not Yeah, Okay, maybe
Speaker 2: I try that some of them too. This yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: well this this new I got. I got to spent
Speaker 2: at least something I got talked talking about this movie
Speaker 2: a little bit. You're you play a collac.
Speaker 1: Okay, sorry, Corsack, call sack fox. You're mispronouncing it.
Speaker 2: Is that real animal, beautiful Asian fox? Yes, you play
Speaker 2: a beautiful Asian fox in yes, yes, yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2: That's what you look at it.
Speaker 1: Go for that.
Speaker 2: And I don't know if I spoil it, but it's
Speaker 2: a pretty important role in this because not only are
Speaker 2: you the second lead, you know, something happens in this
Speaker 2: movie that you know, really it really will change the
Speaker 2: franchise whatever I think. Yeah, I don't know if you
Speaker 2: can talk about that, but you want, you want to.
Speaker 2: You can't say what's gonna the spoiler alert? Yeah yeah, Ok.
Speaker 4: Well, well I think I think the movie is just
Speaker 4: this one.
Speaker 1: I watched it a lot.
Speaker 4: I was a fan of it, and I'm a huge
Speaker 4: fan of Jack Black, who's you know, like kind of
Speaker 4: reprising this role.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean like he's he's really the real deal.
Speaker 4: And and so I think it's now speaking to I
Speaker 4: think the adults that that kind of watched it and
Speaker 4: you know, them moving on and stuff like change and
Speaker 4: stuff like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's great. Okay. Should we kind of really lost
Speaker 2: steam in this one after Yeah, once we started being
Speaker 2: too sincere, we got lost. Yeah, okay, when we're doing
Speaker 2: the bid, it was mean to me lessons here, No, no, no,
Speaker 2: it's okay, what all this out the way? We'll go
Speaker 2: from well edit, Well, okay, i'll give you. I'll give
Speaker 2: you something for YouTube, just okay. So what was it
Speaker 2: like working with Jack Black?
Speaker 1: It was so good?
Speaker 4: I love.
Speaker 1: I love I love him.
Speaker 2: Are you really asking? We'll use it to say, we'll
Speaker 2: cut out all the stuff that's bad. Only these people
Speaker 2: will know. Yeah, okay, we'll cut out everything. We'll start
Speaker 2: an interview from here.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So what was it like Welcome to Jack Black?
Speaker 1: Working with Jack Black? Is I mean, are you kidding?
Speaker 2: No? No, I'm not. Do it. Just do the press
Speaker 2: thing so we can go home. Do the press thing,
Speaker 2: do the yeah, just say Jack Black's great, movies great,
Speaker 2: And you know, I was like, yeah, just go just
Speaker 2: go into press mode. Going to press mode. Okay, what's
Speaker 2: it like looking at Jack Black?
Speaker 1: You know what, Ronnie?
Speaker 4: It was so good and I and Kung Fu Panda
Speaker 4: for you, especially so good in it.
Speaker 2: I hope we can hope we can sell a lot
Speaker 2: of stuff. Animals in that thing.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 4: Because you would be interest because you have to open
Speaker 4: the whole bird's mouth.
Speaker 2: Yeah, my stuff animal is actually like two figures in one. Yeah. Also,
Speaker 2: you know Jack Black interesting his mom. His mother was
Speaker 2: one of the women who contributed to the NASA Polo program.
Speaker 2: She coded the programs that let men go to the moon. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so you know, way to go Jack Black's mom. Not
Speaker 2: just not just the physical genius. You know, I got
Speaker 2: to meet him at the premier because I'm not famous
Speaker 2: enough to hang out with you guys in the studio.
Speaker 1: You were in the TikTok with them, you got.
Speaker 2: In the teich the premier. Yeah, I met him at
Speaker 2: the first at the movie premier. It was very nice.
Speaker 1: It was nice to see you there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you were nice to see me there. Yeah. And
Speaker 2: he's just such a ball of energy, you know, it's
Speaker 2: like a physical genius. It's very hard to keep up
Speaker 2: with him.
Speaker 1: Like, I mean, he's so funny.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's super funny, very energetic. Also a bunch of
Speaker 2: other Asians in this movie. Yes, James Hong, No, I
Speaker 2: meant that sincerely, James Hong's names home. Yeah, legend legendary
Speaker 2: James Hong. He's like ninety four. I think he's still
Speaker 2: in that.
Speaker 4: Yes, I mean he's he We were at the grove
Speaker 4: and we went up the trolley and he and he like,
Speaker 4: I can think he was doing a bit, but he
Speaker 4: was like, oh no, there are stairs.
Speaker 1: But then he I think he was jokingly ran up them.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah.
Speaker 1: He's like so sprightly, so much energy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, unlike some presidents I know. Yeah, yeah, he's
Speaker 2: still going very strong. And when you hear his voice
Speaker 2: acting in the movie, you're like, this dude doesn't sound
Speaker 2: on you, foy or this guy sounds like you know.
Speaker 1: I think he was the best.
Speaker 4: I think he was the best other Asian actor other
Speaker 4: than in the movie.
Speaker 2: Other than other than.
Speaker 4: Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah is incredible.
Speaker 2: All Right, Okay, you know what, let's end this so
Speaker 2: we can go home. No, no, it's very good to
Speaker 2: see you, man. You'll, honestee, the best. I've known you
Speaker 2: for so long. You've always been very clearer than me.
Speaker 2: Kung Fu Panda always in theaters nationwide on Mache Everybody.
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