WEBVTT - Stephen Root is the Quintessential “Stephen Root Type”

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<v Speaker 1>This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the

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<v Speaker 1>Thing from iHeart Radio. When my guest today first walked

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<v Speaker 1>into the studio, I instantly learned just how gifted an

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<v Speaker 1>actor he really is. I was expecting someone as wacky

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<v Speaker 1>and eclectic as the characters he plays on screen, but

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately I was struck by how calm and sincere Stephen

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<v Speaker 1>Rut is in person. Root is an Emmy nominated actor

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<v Speaker 1>who was amassed over three hundred film and TV credits.

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<v Speaker 1>A revered character actor, Rude is known for his iconic

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<v Speaker 1>roles in films and TV series such as Office Space,

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<v Speaker 1>News Radio, King of the Hill, Dodgeball, Idiocracy, and five

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<v Speaker 1>Coen Brothers films. Rude is perhaps most recognized for his

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<v Speaker 1>two recent Emmy nominated roles on the hit HBO series

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<v Speaker 1>Barry and the new Apple TV series Widow's Bay. Stephen

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<v Speaker 1>Root has become known for playing carrotaracters who are, among

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<v Speaker 1>other things, aloof and overlooked. His role as Monroe Fuchs

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<v Speaker 1>on Barry was the first time Route was able to

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<v Speaker 1>really explore what became known as the Stephen Root type character.

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<v Speaker 1>I was curious if they wrote the Fuchs character on Barry,

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<v Speaker 1>specifically for him.

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<v Speaker 2>They did not. I came in late in the process.

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<v Speaker 2>He said, would you come in just to show me

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<v Speaker 2>what you probably not not an audition audition, but just

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<v Speaker 2>if you want to show me what you.

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<v Speaker 1>Do with it. So I did that.

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<v Speaker 2>We did the pilot and it was totally rewritten. My

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<v Speaker 2>part was because I had They started me at eleven

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<v Speaker 2>and they wanted to start me much lower so that

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<v Speaker 2>it became more of a buddy thing between me and him.

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<v Speaker 2>But when we did the pilot, he had me screaming

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<v Speaker 2>and shouting through the whole thing and he said, nah,

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<v Speaker 2>it's not going to work. And fortunately they kept me

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<v Speaker 2>on for the real Yeah, for the real pilot. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 2>so it worked out great. But I think it was

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<v Speaker 2>a much better show if we were buds and then

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<v Speaker 2>you see it develop into what it did.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought the character was like Yosemite Sam. It was

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<v Speaker 1>constantly blowing up.

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<v Speaker 2>He was he was in the area covered with smoke

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<v Speaker 2>and throwing laptops around and stuff. But no, what was

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<v Speaker 2>so great was like Widow's Bay. You get to walk

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<v Speaker 2>the line between comedy and real real violence, you know.

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<v Speaker 2>And and that's the first thing Bill said to us

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<v Speaker 2>he said, they're not going to mix them. We're not

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<v Speaker 2>going to mix the violence and the comedy. There's going

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<v Speaker 2>to be one in one because you dilute either one

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<v Speaker 2>if you do that. And that was the smartest thing

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<v Speaker 2>I think he did.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm doing a show now. We're doing the show for

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<v Speaker 1>Koppleman and Levine who did Billions, and they're going to

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<v Speaker 1>do the show set in a Las Vegas casino and

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<v Speaker 1>I'm the boss. I run the casino, and Oscar Isaac

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<v Speaker 1>is one my vice president, and his wife is played

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<v Speaker 1>by Betty Gilpin and Betty Brilliant. I saw her do

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<v Speaker 1>Oh Mary, and I just wish I had seen that.

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<v Speaker 1>I couldn't believe my eyes. How inw Brechtian and insane

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<v Speaker 1>this thing wasn't so the energy you had to put

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<v Speaker 1>out to project this madness. Yes, and then you see

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<v Speaker 1>her in person and she's like Barbara Stanwick and she's

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<v Speaker 1>this beautiful, bleeding, steady well.

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<v Speaker 2>Having her on Widow's Bay was like the biggest get

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<v Speaker 2>in the world. Him and Hamish Link later great actors

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<v Speaker 2>doing amazing script.

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<v Speaker 1>When you do these things, I mean, I've been asked,

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<v Speaker 1>I would guess I don't think that much about this,

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<v Speaker 1>But I would guess for me in the last few years,

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<v Speaker 1>to do Trump was the externalization of something nutty and

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<v Speaker 1>loopy and crazy. You don't seem nutty and loopy and crazy.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not. I'm probably the most boring burthon on Earth,

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<v Speaker 2>and my wife Rommel Rosemont will tell you that.

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<v Speaker 1>But you find these characters.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think any good character has some of them

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<v Speaker 2>in their back pocket that they can take out and go.

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<v Speaker 2>I can use part of this, and I can use

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<v Speaker 2>part of that. And so I had done a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of Southern theater comedy, driving Miss Daisy, that kind of stuff,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think that's gotten me in good stead.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, your character. To me, the Barry character was

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<v Speaker 1>a combination between Rod Steiger and Jonathan Winters.

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<v Speaker 3>That's ystero, just so good masculine, yes, and you in person,

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<v Speaker 3>everything you do, there's that masculinity, sensitivity, intelligence.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, this is the stuff that.

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<v Speaker 2>The script is good.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'll look like, what do you do with the

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<v Speaker 1>script's not good?

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<v Speaker 2>Not do the project? I mean, these days it's you know,

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<v Speaker 2>I'm in my early seventies now and I want to

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<v Speaker 2>do projects that are amazingly well written because I could

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<v Speaker 2>start there and then give it something you know, and.

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<v Speaker 1>You find you find that literally even in the past,

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<v Speaker 1>in your earlier days, you've been working NonStop since nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>fifty two something. They just work working, just a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of stuff, but not all of it was something that

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<v Speaker 1>was Oh God.

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<v Speaker 2>No, I like every other actor that came out of

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<v Speaker 2>New York and a starving boy who did the waitering

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<v Speaker 2>and bartending and all that stuff came out of off

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<v Speaker 2>Broadway and Broadway finally, and then some film in the

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<v Speaker 2>eighties in New York because I was still there. And

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<v Speaker 2>then I did a two year tour of Driving Miss

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<v Speaker 2>Daisy with Brock Peters. No, yes, Brock Peters and Julie

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<v Speaker 2>Harris the greatest acting class for two years on the

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<v Speaker 2>road that you could ever have, watching those two every night.

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<v Speaker 1>And I did Not Slanding, and Julie was my mother.

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<v Speaker 1>I did the soap opera Not Slanding, right, and I

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<v Speaker 1>read that's that was my mother. She was unbelievable, and

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<v Speaker 1>so was Brock. And Brock was having a hard time

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<v Speaker 1>at the time because his wife had cancer and it

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<v Speaker 1>was and he what a trooper Peters, Brock Peters the voice,

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<v Speaker 1>just the voice, right, So Anyway, we did that tour.

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<v Speaker 2>And moved to LA in the nineties and then did TV.

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<v Speaker 2>You've been in LA since, been in LA since, But

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<v Speaker 2>we just recently because I missed it. I missed New

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<v Speaker 2>York City and I had done something to play rights

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<v Speaker 2>about a few years ago, and I said, I want

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<v Speaker 2>to be a presence in New York again because I

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<v Speaker 2>was here from seventy six to ninety and that so stats,

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<v Speaker 2>this still feels like my home even though I live

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<v Speaker 2>in LA. So we got an apartment where happily ensconced

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<v Speaker 2>in it. You know, you're hanging three or four months

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<v Speaker 2>out of the area.

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<v Speaker 1>Great, if I read your biographical material correctly. When you

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<v Speaker 1>were a kid and your father was a businessman that

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<v Speaker 1>moved around a lot.

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<v Speaker 2>He was an engineer. He did construction projects, he did

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<v Speaker 2>steam power plants. Wow, they would take a year and

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<v Speaker 2>a half ton. We had to know what he was

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<v Speaker 2>talking about. He was one of those guys that never

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<v Speaker 2>went to college but became an engineer, you know, through

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<v Speaker 2>just just doing it.

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<v Speaker 1>Wow.

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<v Speaker 2>And he was one of the last ones that that

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<v Speaker 2>did that. And he ended up in an atomic plant

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<v Speaker 2>at the end of his career where in Hanford Hamford,

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<v Speaker 2>washing Washington. Yeah, yeah, the Tri Cities area there.

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<v Speaker 1>I've been involved with anti nuclear.

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<v Speaker 2>So was I for years for years, yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>Anti nuclear utility. I don't get into the weapons thing sticky,

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<v Speaker 1>but the but the utility thing. But you lived in

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<v Speaker 1>Woodland Hills lived. I lived in Woodland Hills for ten years.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. We high school, Yeah, we we did there and

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<v Speaker 2>then we finally I finally got into uh Sherman Oaks,

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<v Speaker 2>which I really like. There's a lot of actors and

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<v Speaker 2>writers who lived there. Very very nice and quiet, great place.

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<v Speaker 2>But yeah, no, when I was growing up, I was

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<v Speaker 2>year and a half Sioux City, Iowa, a year and

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<v Speaker 2>a half months of Indiana, year and a half Kansas City, MO.

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<v Speaker 2>Glen Rock, Wyoming, Fort Lauderdale, and then back to k C.

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<v Speaker 1>That that was That was my life.

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't think it was weird until I got to

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<v Speaker 2>Abouthigh School and I don't freaking know anybody. It's it's like,

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<v Speaker 2>people don't do this. But I think it was good

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<v Speaker 2>in terms of me being a gypsy as an actor,

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<v Speaker 2>because that's what we are now.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm always fascinated when I made that joke about Rod

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<v Speaker 1>Steiger and Jonathan Winters, I'm always fascinated by people who

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<v Speaker 1>access that really brilliant and really very real mania, you

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<v Speaker 1>know what I mean. And to me, it's literally like music.

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<v Speaker 1>It's like you're blowing notes. Is that how it feels

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<v Speaker 1>to you? Yeah?

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<v Speaker 2>Well, I think I think for me to be any good,

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<v Speaker 2>or for any character actor be any good, you've got

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<v Speaker 2>to put enough of yourself and your empathy for people

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<v Speaker 2>in it so that they can always empathize with your character,

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<v Speaker 2>whether he's you know, bizarrely strange or just not at all.

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<v Speaker 2>So I always feel like I have enough of me

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<v Speaker 2>in there that I you know, I can always draw

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<v Speaker 2>on that. But I'm a people watcher, like all character actors.

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<v Speaker 2>You watch the people. You go, you see that guy

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<v Speaker 2>going down during the Yeah, I can use that, and

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<v Speaker 2>you put it in your back pocket and you go.

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<v Speaker 1>You're in a restaurant, you watch some guys proposing to

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<v Speaker 1>his girlfriend.

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<v Speaker 2>Walks and walks are big because what what you're wearing

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<v Speaker 2>on your feet and how you walk. As for me,

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<v Speaker 2>is a big part of whatever character I'm doing because

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<v Speaker 2>it kind of your your body adjusts to that guy. Then,

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<v Speaker 2>whether he walks slow, he walks fast, he's he's he's

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<v Speaker 2>a drunk, he's not whatever.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, when I was starting in this business. When

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<v Speaker 1>I started, my dad was still alive. My dad was

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<v Speaker 1>so funny because I went to college for something else.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm at George Washington University, going to go to law school.

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<v Speaker 1>I changed and go to n YU at the Buzzer

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<v Speaker 1>and my dad one time he says to me, he goes,

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<v Speaker 1>you know where this acting thing you want to do?

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<v Speaker 1>He said, Uh, so you got to come up with

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<v Speaker 1>a walk. He said that he like John Wayne and I.

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<v Speaker 3>Like aip over John Wayne.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I think John Wayne was more likely to get

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<v Speaker 1>away with that.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, But for me. Sometimes, you know, the clothes,

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<v Speaker 2>clothes make the character.

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<v Speaker 1>You know.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes you go outside in, you know, go what am

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<v Speaker 2>I going to wear with this? What do you think?

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<v Speaker 2>What did shitty look like? I just did a little

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<v Speaker 2>indie down in Birmingham with my wife and we were

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<v Speaker 2>gun shop owners and at one point they put a

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<v Speaker 2>band down on me. It looked like I was doing

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<v Speaker 2>Rambow two. So that changes your whole complexion. Then you

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<v Speaker 2>put on something like that, you know, so sometimes it

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<v Speaker 2>goes outside in. Sometimes you go the other way.

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<v Speaker 1>No, you've been nominated for Widow's Bay. And what's on

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<v Speaker 1>the air now is they just finished streaming season one?

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, Season one is done ten episodes, and you're going

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<v Speaker 2>to go back and do Hopefully we're officially picked up,

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<v Speaker 2>but there's no news about when we're going to do it.

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<v Speaker 2>We're hoping, I'm hoping, and we're all hoping to do

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<v Speaker 2>it a little earlier than we did last year, which

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<v Speaker 2>we started in late May, so we went through kind

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<v Speaker 2>of a hot season in Massachusetts, which is where we

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<v Speaker 2>shot it. So we're hoping to start maybe earlier, maybe

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<v Speaker 2>in April, but that's in Katie dip Old's mind, and

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<v Speaker 2>I'm not I'm not allowed in Massachusetts.

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<v Speaker 1>Yes, that's where the whole thing is filmed. How do

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<v Speaker 1>you like being up there? Loved it.

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<v Speaker 2>I didn't get to do that part of the country

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<v Speaker 2>when I was moving around with my dad, So it's

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<v Speaker 2>really beautiful. All the little towns there. It was fantastic.

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<v Speaker 2>And we would shoot, you know, some of the main coasts,

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<v Speaker 2>but about really about twenty minutes from Concord. There's a

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<v Speaker 2>couple of studios in Devon and we shot there and

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<v Speaker 2>locations all around.

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<v Speaker 1>When I would go to locations if I wasn't playing

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<v Speaker 1>the lead in the film. When you're the lead in

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<v Speaker 1>a big film, you don't have much time off. It's

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<v Speaker 1>about you, basically your character. And I didn't get to

0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.280
<v Speaker 1>see London or Paris or Rome or whatever. And then

0:11:43.320 --> 0:11:45.440
<v Speaker 1>I started playing smaller roles in films. I had a

0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.520
<v Speaker 1>lot of time off. Yeah, so I can go with

0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:49.800
<v Speaker 1>My friends used to call me the horror of may There.

0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.280
<v Speaker 1>So I'd be walking down Mount Street in London, smoking

0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.760
<v Speaker 1>my cigars and sawders and going to my church was

0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.080
<v Speaker 1>on that street, and I would really get to see

0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.920
<v Speaker 1>the town and do some traveling and most saying, as

0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:05.439
<v Speaker 1>opposed to years before when I was too busy.

0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:07.880
<v Speaker 2>So that's the great part of being a character actor.

0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:10.480
<v Speaker 2>You walk in, you do your thing, hopefully knock it

0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:13.480
<v Speaker 2>out of the cark, and then say see Thursday, because

0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:15.360
<v Speaker 2>I've got to go do something over here.

0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:19.480
<v Speaker 1>Name for me among let's say movies. It was the

0:12:19.520 --> 0:12:21.720
<v Speaker 1>great writing for movies that you just said, I gotta

0:12:21.760 --> 0:12:22.400
<v Speaker 1>do this movie.

0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:29.040
<v Speaker 2>Oh brother, we're an You're going to do it for them.

0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:31.960
<v Speaker 2>Just just love those guys.

0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:35.600
<v Speaker 1>And uh, no country for all men, No country I worship,

0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:36.599
<v Speaker 1>I worship VI.

0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:39.720
<v Speaker 2>So did I and the poor guy throughout the whole

0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:43.920
<v Speaker 2>film would come over to everybody, everybody including extras, and go,

0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.040
<v Speaker 2>my hair look weird. It's my hair weird. It is

0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:54.000
<v Speaker 2>actually said Javier, you're totally frightening. Don't touch it, please,

0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:56.200
<v Speaker 2>please don't please leave it alone.

0:12:56.440 --> 0:12:58.559
<v Speaker 1>But when you're with the Coen Brothers, like do people

0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:01.199
<v Speaker 1>when they work with you, because they realize so funny obviously,

0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:05.080
<v Speaker 1>and that's a very valuable currency. You've ever worked on

0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:07.439
<v Speaker 1>thilms where they asked you for your opinion about lines

0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:10.520
<v Speaker 1>and ideas, and they're so storyboarded.

0:13:10.679 --> 0:13:15.160
<v Speaker 2>They storyboard everything to the instagree. Then when you're when

0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.439
<v Speaker 2>you're there and you're doing the thing, of course they'll

0:13:17.480 --> 0:13:19.679
<v Speaker 2>do you know, go have fun. What do you want

0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:20.040
<v Speaker 2>to do with this?

0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:20.920
<v Speaker 1>You know at the end.

0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.199
<v Speaker 2>But they were very very rigid in terms of that,

0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.360
<v Speaker 2>so there's not a lot of improv going on. But

0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:30.640
<v Speaker 2>in your final take of that scene, you could you

0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:32.719
<v Speaker 2>could play around her a little, which was great, and

0:13:32.760 --> 0:13:33.120
<v Speaker 2>we did.

0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.000
<v Speaker 1>Who was the head writer for Barry alec Burg.

0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:39.760
<v Speaker 2>Alec Berg and and Bill wrote wrote wrote a lot.

0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:41.439
<v Speaker 2>It was It was a good They lose.

0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:42.680
<v Speaker 1>With that too. Do they want you to let you burn?

0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:43.200
<v Speaker 1>It a take.

0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:45.520
<v Speaker 2>Bill was very loose, you know, because obviously it came

0:13:45.559 --> 0:13:49.240
<v Speaker 2>from improv and I didn't. I mean, I came from

0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.640
<v Speaker 2>National Shakespeare Company back back, so I was like, I

0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:57.320
<v Speaker 2>don't know if I can. But Bill made it very

0:13:57.360 --> 0:14:00.839
<v Speaker 2>easy to do for me to be come better at

0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:03.880
<v Speaker 2>that kind of thing, better better at improv, because he

0:14:03.920 --> 0:14:08.320
<v Speaker 2>directed the whole fourth season and he just wouldn't spend

0:14:08.320 --> 0:14:12.480
<v Speaker 2>a lot of time that day. Stopped, stopped insane, take

0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.600
<v Speaker 2>off the hat, put on the hat, and he'd go

0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:16.840
<v Speaker 2>go to the insane and go it was that good enough,

0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:21.120
<v Speaker 2>okay good and then then he'd go direct, but he

0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.200
<v Speaker 2>would let you play around a lot there. I remember

0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:27.440
<v Speaker 2>there was there there was an episode where my hands

0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.680
<v Speaker 2>got stuck on the wheel of the car. We did

0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:34.120
<v Speaker 2>a scene after that that didn't work, and Bill said,

0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:35.760
<v Speaker 2>now we're gonna throw that out. We're gonna go over

0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.040
<v Speaker 2>here to this, over here to the park. We're going

0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:41.960
<v Speaker 2>to improv. You know what happened after that scene, And

0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:44.000
<v Speaker 2>we did that and that's what ended up in the

0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.720
<v Speaker 2>in the piece. So it was it was much different

0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:48.680
<v Speaker 2>in that in that way for me, since I came

0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.960
<v Speaker 2>up through shakespeare and stuff like that. I found if

0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:56.360
<v Speaker 2>I knew everything backwards, knew it so well, then I

0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:59.040
<v Speaker 2>felt like I could play within the structure of what

0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:02.680
<v Speaker 2>it was, not necessarily change the line, just just play

0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:07.760
<v Speaker 2>within the structure. And that's what's helped me so much,

0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:12.640
<v Speaker 2>is knowing things backwards, knowing exactly what's coming up, and

0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:15.600
<v Speaker 2>then then you can go play and change it and whatever.

0:15:15.920 --> 0:15:18.680
<v Speaker 1>But you have the base. You have the base to

0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:25.840
<v Speaker 1>do it. Actor Stephen Roots. If you enjoy conversations with

0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:30.000
<v Speaker 1>intrepid character actors, check out my episode with Dan Ackroyd.

0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:32.240
<v Speaker 4>I love writing more than anything.

0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:33.240
<v Speaker 1>You're left alone.

0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:35.480
<v Speaker 4>You know, you do three hours in the morning you're write,

0:15:35.880 --> 0:15:37.440
<v Speaker 4>you need to have lunch, and then three hours in

0:15:37.480 --> 0:15:39.720
<v Speaker 4>the afternoon, go pick up a kid from school and

0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.280
<v Speaker 4>write at night, and after nine hours you come out

0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:45.360
<v Speaker 4>with seven pages and then you're moving on. It's just

0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.040
<v Speaker 4>your own devices, the air, the air around you, and

0:15:48.080 --> 0:15:50.480
<v Speaker 4>your mind and a blank screen or a blank piece

0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:53.400
<v Speaker 4>of paper. That's really what I'd like to be doing

0:15:53.440 --> 0:15:55.520
<v Speaker 4>more of and always did.

0:15:55.640 --> 0:16:00.000
<v Speaker 1>Enjoy. To hear more of my conversation with dan acroy

0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:04.240
<v Speaker 1>go to Here's the Thing dot org. After the break,

0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:07.680
<v Speaker 1>Stephen Root tells us how good scripts keep him from

0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:21.920
<v Speaker 1>becoming the laziest actor he knows. I'm Alec Baldwin and

0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:24.880
<v Speaker 1>this is here is the Thing. Now known for countless

0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.880
<v Speaker 1>roles in film and television. Stephen Root got his start

0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:32.280
<v Speaker 1>in a traveling Shakespeare troupe. Before completing his senior year

0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:35.600
<v Speaker 1>at the University of Florida. Route left school to join

0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:39.920
<v Speaker 1>the National Shakespeare Company. He spent three years traveling and

0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:43.520
<v Speaker 1>performing classic works such as The Winter's Tale in Romeo

0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.640
<v Speaker 1>and Juliet. I wanted to know some of the roles

0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.880
<v Speaker 1>Route performed during his Shakespearean apprenticeship.

0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:53.040
<v Speaker 2>I think the first thing that I loved so much

0:16:53.080 --> 0:16:58.760
<v Speaker 2>we did National Shakespeare was a bus and truck twelve actors.

0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:02.760
<v Speaker 2>We did three plays is in every college in America

0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:06.000
<v Speaker 2>for nine months, so you were at least double cast

0:17:06.160 --> 0:17:06.680
<v Speaker 2>in a play.

0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:08.120
<v Speaker 1>Where were they headquartered out of.

0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:10.960
<v Speaker 2>Out of New York right on fifty first between nineth

0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:13.639
<v Speaker 2>and tenth. But I think the very first one that

0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:16.520
<v Speaker 2>we were going to rehearse in seventy six, I think

0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:20.560
<v Speaker 2>it was was a Wintersdale, one of my favorite things,

0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:21.959
<v Speaker 2>and I played the clown in it.

0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:23.600
<v Speaker 1>So I got there.

0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:28.520
<v Speaker 2>I'm completely off book, ready to go, just going crazy

0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:33.359
<v Speaker 2>and rehearsal, and the director comes over to me and says, wonderful, wonderful,

0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:40.480
<v Speaker 2>ninety percent less, And so as well as I was prepared,

0:17:40.520 --> 0:17:42.800
<v Speaker 2>I could then go down to that.

0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:45.760
<v Speaker 1>You know, I never had a chance to do as

0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.760
<v Speaker 1>much Shakespeare as I wanted to. I did Scottish play

0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:52.359
<v Speaker 1>in ninety eight at the Public with Angela Bassett, and

0:17:52.400 --> 0:17:54.920
<v Speaker 1>that was a tremendous experience. It changed my life. Yeah,

0:17:54.920 --> 0:17:57.000
<v Speaker 1>I really was, because it made me want to do more.

0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:00.919
<v Speaker 1>Although for me memorization wise, I'd fall asleep with the

0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:03.000
<v Speaker 1>thing on my chest, sure, and I wake up in

0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:04.439
<v Speaker 1>the morning with it. And I mean I was just

0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:07.120
<v Speaker 1>nice watching I had my notes in that book. Oh god,

0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:11.240
<v Speaker 1>damn dar Yeah, what's another role you played? Oh?

0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:15.080
<v Speaker 2>I played a Groomio and Tame You of the Shrew,

0:18:15.119 --> 0:18:18.400
<v Speaker 2>which I loved very very much. But these are all comic.

0:18:18.520 --> 0:18:23.720
<v Speaker 2>They are mostly all comic characters off no king there

0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:27.359
<v Speaker 2>from me. I did get to play Demetrius as a

0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:30.560
<v Speaker 2>young lover, but most of my stuff was with you know,

0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:32.760
<v Speaker 2>I would be Audrey with balloon Titch.

0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:36.320
<v Speaker 1>You know, sorry, I know it was.

0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:40.640
<v Speaker 2>It was tremendous performance, but yeah, mostly comic stuff. Back

0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:42.480
<v Speaker 2>when I was, you know, in my my twenties. That's

0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:43.920
<v Speaker 2>what they wanted me to do, and I did that

0:18:44.520 --> 0:18:47.320
<v Speaker 2>didn't get we we did Hamlet, and we did you know,

0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:51.399
<v Speaker 2>all all the all the dramas. But I'd get to

0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:52.760
<v Speaker 2>play ancillary characters.

0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:56.960
<v Speaker 1>And though you work a lot, Yeah, you work a lot.

0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.359
<v Speaker 1>I do. And was there a period of time where

0:19:01.040 --> 0:19:02.959
<v Speaker 1>you did that because you had to in terms of

0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:06.320
<v Speaker 1>sure to make them living. Yeah, because we're cobbling together

0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:07.960
<v Speaker 1>things in the beginning to make a living and then

0:19:07.960 --> 0:19:09.560
<v Speaker 1>the next you know, you go to another level and

0:19:09.680 --> 0:19:12.080
<v Speaker 1>another level and you find that it's just to happen.

0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:13.960
<v Speaker 1>Now you like to work a lot.

0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:18.159
<v Speaker 2>I know. I'm the laziest actor that I know. I

0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:20.320
<v Speaker 2>just happen to get some good scripts. I mean, you're

0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.639
<v Speaker 2>not going to turn down Barry because.

0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:23.720
<v Speaker 1>The scripts were brilliant with.

0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:27.000
<v Speaker 2>The con Brothers and or the Coen Brothers or or

0:19:27.280 --> 0:19:30.439
<v Speaker 2>Widow's Bay because it's just too good. I mean, I

0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:34.360
<v Speaker 2>hadn't in my seventies, I hadn't ever planned on signing

0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:37.480
<v Speaker 2>on as a regular to another show. But you got

0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:41.720
<v Speaker 2>those scripts and Katie Dippold and hero Maria Hello, I

0:19:41.800 --> 0:19:44.480
<v Speaker 2>have to do it. I feel compelled.

0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:49.320
<v Speaker 1>But you say the laziest actor, meaning do you see yourself.

0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:50.680
<v Speaker 1>I mean a lot of people, I know, they get

0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:52.600
<v Speaker 1>to the point you're at now where they have all

0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.280
<v Speaker 1>the work they need. Yeah, you're constantly offer things all

0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:57.200
<v Speaker 1>the time. Sure, and they say to themselves, so I'm

0:19:57.200 --> 0:19:59.000
<v Speaker 1>going to do this until it ends. I'm going to

0:19:59.080 --> 0:20:00.480
<v Speaker 1>ride this way. Get that.

0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:03.439
<v Speaker 2>I get that you want to retire monetarily. I don't

0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:07.040
<v Speaker 2>need the money at the moment, so I just want

0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:11.199
<v Speaker 2>to go for quality, quality control, and no retirement. I

0:20:11.200 --> 0:20:13.879
<v Speaker 2>don't think there's any reason to really. Yeah, no, I

0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:16.600
<v Speaker 2>don't think. So I could go do five projects this

0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:19.880
<v Speaker 2>year and maybe four the next year and dwindle down

0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:24.199
<v Speaker 2>to one in my eighties and nineties. Yes, but that's okay,

0:20:24.400 --> 0:20:26.480
<v Speaker 2>you know, that's that's all right if I can have

0:20:26.520 --> 0:20:29.080
<v Speaker 2>fun doing it. And this this INDI that I just

0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:31.640
<v Speaker 2>did with Romeo, I had fun.

0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:32.080
<v Speaker 1>You know.

0:20:32.160 --> 0:20:33.760
<v Speaker 2>I didn't do it for money. Did it to be

0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:36.040
<v Speaker 2>able to work with my wife and have fun.

0:20:36.600 --> 0:20:39.600
<v Speaker 1>Well, the reason I found at one point indies. I

0:20:39.600 --> 0:20:42.879
<v Speaker 1>mean I've had a tough time, meaning great people, lovely people,

0:20:42.880 --> 0:20:46.879
<v Speaker 1>pleasant people, some good scripts, some good scenes and moments.

0:20:46.960 --> 0:20:49.240
<v Speaker 1>I mean you know. Yeah. I think it was Nicholson

0:20:49.240 --> 0:20:52.560
<v Speaker 1>who was quoted to sitting there saying what was the metric? Like, well,

0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:54.840
<v Speaker 1>how did you choose the script? And he said three

0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:59.600
<v Speaker 1>good scenes, two good lines, that's about right, And I thought, well,

0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:01.760
<v Speaker 1>that's an inch way to look at it. I ask

0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:04.679
<v Speaker 1>a lot of actors this question, what do directors have

0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:07.920
<v Speaker 1>to offer you? Now? With all your experience, A good

0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:08.679
<v Speaker 1>director does what?

0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:14.280
<v Speaker 2>A good director lets you do your gut, what your

0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:16.919
<v Speaker 2>gut read that you think for this guy is, and

0:21:16.960 --> 0:21:20.960
<v Speaker 2>then nudges you forward or backwards with in terms of

0:21:21.000 --> 0:21:25.680
<v Speaker 2>intensity and style. But I think it's a good director.

0:21:26.560 --> 0:21:30.600
<v Speaker 2>You've cast this person to do this role, so you

0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:34.399
<v Speaker 2>must have an idea of what he does well or

0:21:34.440 --> 0:21:37.880
<v Speaker 2>she does well. Less is more for me for a director,

0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:42.840
<v Speaker 2>tell me, am, I in the right direction? Good, I'm

0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:43.560
<v Speaker 2>not okay?

0:21:43.680 --> 0:21:45.760
<v Speaker 1>Which way? That way? Okay?

0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:49.240
<v Speaker 2>But then let me do my gut. Once you've given

0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:52.159
<v Speaker 2>me the direction, let me do my gut and if

0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:56.000
<v Speaker 2>we're close, great. But I think less is more.

0:21:56.160 --> 0:21:59.600
<v Speaker 1>Have you ever been interested in directing? Never? Ever? Why?

0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:02.200
<v Speaker 1>I'm the same way.

0:22:02.400 --> 0:22:05.879
<v Speaker 2>The laziest in the world.

0:22:05.240 --> 0:22:07.639
<v Speaker 1>The lazy bastard. I like to pet the dog and

0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:08.320
<v Speaker 1>go to the pool.

0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:13.000
<v Speaker 2>No, that's not I'm not really a type a personality

0:22:13.040 --> 0:22:16.120
<v Speaker 2>I like to I like on the ensembleness of it all,

0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:19.200
<v Speaker 2>but I do I want to direct the ensembleness of

0:22:19.240 --> 0:22:21.880
<v Speaker 2>it not so much. I think it would be more

0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:25.880
<v Speaker 2>fun for me if, in my later years to produce

0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:29.360
<v Speaker 2>get and put people together, Put people together.

0:22:29.200 --> 0:22:31.679
<v Speaker 1>And go back to being a lazy best. Yes, you

0:22:31.720 --> 0:22:35.639
<v Speaker 1>will have that absolutely well. When I directed one movie,

0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:37.560
<v Speaker 1>I hated every minute of it, And when the part

0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:40.919
<v Speaker 1>I hated most dealing with the actors. Yes, trying to

0:22:40.960 --> 0:22:43.960
<v Speaker 1>cajole them into doing what I want to done. Babies, Yes,

0:22:44.119 --> 0:22:47.000
<v Speaker 1>why don't you shut up and.

0:22:46.080 --> 0:22:47.800
<v Speaker 2>Say the lines?

0:22:47.880 --> 0:22:51.119
<v Speaker 1>Say this way? Yeah. But I've done movies with people

0:22:51.160 --> 0:22:54.879
<v Speaker 1>where they were less experienced. It was enjoyable because they

0:22:55.200 --> 0:22:57.640
<v Speaker 1>realized that they wanted to collaborate with you and maybe

0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:00.640
<v Speaker 1>get some ideas from you. Because I'm always figuring how

0:23:00.640 --> 0:23:03.639
<v Speaker 1>do we make it more cinematic, Like let's have a

0:23:03.640 --> 0:23:06.960
<v Speaker 1>shot of you, and I'm big on the walking scene,

0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:10.040
<v Speaker 1>the horseback riding scene, and we're weigh in the distance

0:23:10.040 --> 0:23:11.960
<v Speaker 1>and we can loop the lines later on say whatever

0:23:12.000 --> 0:23:14.320
<v Speaker 1>we want to say. It doesn't matter what the lines

0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:14.760
<v Speaker 1>are the days.

0:23:14.880 --> 0:23:18.560
<v Speaker 2>The nicest space if you could take space visually in

0:23:18.640 --> 0:23:22.760
<v Speaker 2>a movie, and that's the cinematographer's job, take space and

0:23:22.840 --> 0:23:25.880
<v Speaker 2>time and and not rush it. That's why I love

0:23:25.880 --> 0:23:28.560
<v Speaker 2>the Coen Brothers movies because it goes at a pace

0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:31.760
<v Speaker 2>that it should go. It doesn't go too fast, doesn't

0:23:31.760 --> 0:23:34.280
<v Speaker 2>go too slow. It's just telling the story of people.

0:23:35.200 --> 0:23:38.600
<v Speaker 1>The business has changed greatly since you and I started, Yeah,

0:23:38.640 --> 0:23:41.760
<v Speaker 1>and it's kind of it's crazy. Now, what's one of

0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:43.679
<v Speaker 1>the biggest changes you've noticed in this business.

0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:47.239
<v Speaker 2>I've noticed it because my wife is still going through it.

0:23:47.320 --> 0:23:50.720
<v Speaker 2>They don't want to see people in person anymore, and

0:23:50.760 --> 0:23:53.800
<v Speaker 2>that makes me freaking crazy.

0:23:53.880 --> 0:23:55.840
<v Speaker 1>I can't believe the union isn't stop them.

0:23:56.200 --> 0:23:59.440
<v Speaker 2>That's that's insane. How first of all, you can send

0:23:59.480 --> 0:24:02.639
<v Speaker 2>in a tape. It's probably brilliant for the character that

0:24:02.920 --> 0:24:05.720
<v Speaker 2>they want to see, but can you be directed. No,

0:24:05.880 --> 0:24:08.119
<v Speaker 2>you can't tell that from a tape. You have to

0:24:08.160 --> 0:24:10.440
<v Speaker 2>see the human being in the room to be able

0:24:10.480 --> 0:24:12.320
<v Speaker 2>to do it, and they've gotten rid of that. And

0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:15.399
<v Speaker 2>that makes me angry because then you can't win a

0:24:15.480 --> 0:24:17.320
<v Speaker 2>role in a room. That's what I did when I

0:24:17.359 --> 0:24:20.560
<v Speaker 2>was younger. I want to roll in the room because

0:24:20.600 --> 0:24:22.920
<v Speaker 2>you could see what I was doing and I could

0:24:23.000 --> 0:24:26.840
<v Speaker 2>be directed in either direction. But doesn't happen now. And

0:24:26.840 --> 0:24:28.720
<v Speaker 2>that's one of the main things that I really hate.

0:24:28.960 --> 0:24:31.119
<v Speaker 1>I would tell people that when I first started and

0:24:31.160 --> 0:24:32.719
<v Speaker 1>I went out to LA because I was in New

0:24:32.800 --> 0:24:34.040
<v Speaker 1>York and I went out tell her to kind of

0:24:34.080 --> 0:24:37.080
<v Speaker 1>introduce myself to people out there, so to speak. And

0:24:37.400 --> 0:24:40.800
<v Speaker 1>you know, one good example was Jane Jenkins and Janet Herschinston.

0:24:41.680 --> 0:24:43.520
<v Speaker 1>Jane and Janet we called him back then, and they

0:24:43.520 --> 0:24:46.199
<v Speaker 1>were these big casting directors who'd bring me in and

0:24:46.240 --> 0:24:48.320
<v Speaker 1>you knew that when you left, or you learned later on,

0:24:48.440 --> 0:24:50.200
<v Speaker 1>essentially that when you left, they were like, he's not

0:24:50.320 --> 0:24:52.480
<v Speaker 1>right for Bob in this movie, but he's right for

0:24:52.520 --> 0:24:56.240
<v Speaker 1>stun Pots on the show at the same time. Absolutely,

0:24:56.280 --> 0:24:57.600
<v Speaker 1>And they want you want to be in that room

0:24:57.600 --> 0:24:58.879
<v Speaker 1>so they can smell you, you know what I mean.

0:24:58.880 --> 0:25:01.600
<v Speaker 1>They want to get a smell. And that's gone now,

0:25:01.640 --> 0:25:04.320
<v Speaker 1>which I find horrendous. That's so bad.

0:25:04.560 --> 0:25:07.280
<v Speaker 2>And plus people are going to off roadway shows like

0:25:07.320 --> 0:25:09.879
<v Speaker 2>they used to define new actors and how are you

0:25:10.000 --> 0:25:12.640
<v Speaker 2>going to train the league the act Yeah, and how

0:25:12.640 --> 0:25:14.320
<v Speaker 2>are you going to train these actors? If you don't

0:25:14.320 --> 0:25:18.440
<v Speaker 2>give the meaty parts as they're coming up, and they're

0:25:18.480 --> 0:25:21.040
<v Speaker 2>just giving it to stars. You know, some of them

0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:23.800
<v Speaker 2>are good for that role, but most of the time

0:25:23.840 --> 0:25:26.840
<v Speaker 2>they're not. You're not getting the best actor for the role.

0:25:27.359 --> 0:25:30.159
<v Speaker 2>I don't love that either. The argument for them is

0:25:30.160 --> 0:25:31.920
<v Speaker 2>that we can see more people that way, and that's

0:25:32.119 --> 0:25:35.000
<v Speaker 2>entirely true. You can see more people. What you can't

0:25:35.040 --> 0:25:38.480
<v Speaker 2>do is see if they're directable, and that's the whole

0:25:38.520 --> 0:25:39.199
<v Speaker 2>I haven't thought of that.

0:25:39.359 --> 0:25:41.760
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I always say the same phrase I said. They're

0:25:41.800 --> 0:25:45.080
<v Speaker 1>in search, have always been in search of, and remain

0:25:45.200 --> 0:25:48.639
<v Speaker 1>in search of, the risk free entertainment business. Absolutely, and

0:25:48.680 --> 0:25:50.639
<v Speaker 1>there's no such thing as the risk free entertainment business.

0:25:50.800 --> 0:25:53.000
<v Speaker 1>If you don't take risks, then you're going to be sure.

0:25:53.040 --> 0:25:55.800
<v Speaker 1>And now we're fully, fully in the zone of risk

0:25:55.840 --> 0:25:59.600
<v Speaker 1>free entertainment. I look at people who are actors now

0:26:00.200 --> 0:26:03.159
<v Speaker 1>and I think acting couldn't be less important than it

0:26:03.200 --> 0:26:03.600
<v Speaker 1>is now.

0:26:04.600 --> 0:26:09.040
<v Speaker 2>Well, we're widgets. We're widgets with the bean counters count.

0:26:09.119 --> 0:26:11.959
<v Speaker 1>You put the costume on, put the cape on, and

0:26:12.040 --> 0:26:14.359
<v Speaker 1>put the gloves on, and anybody can wear the gloves

0:26:14.359 --> 0:26:16.080
<v Speaker 1>in the cape. Let's just get you know, yeah, just

0:26:16.119 --> 0:26:20.040
<v Speaker 1>get fitnesses stardom. Now, yeah, fitness is stardom. And I

0:26:20.080 --> 0:26:23.800
<v Speaker 1>mean in old school acting, your talent is never going

0:26:23.880 --> 0:26:26.399
<v Speaker 1>to be devalued. It's never going to go out of style.

0:26:26.480 --> 0:26:29.120
<v Speaker 1>You're always going to work. When they want something, they

0:26:29.119 --> 0:26:30.320
<v Speaker 1>want real talents.

0:26:30.520 --> 0:26:34.400
<v Speaker 2>Well, I appreciate that. I've just been in this so long.

0:26:34.560 --> 0:26:36.520
<v Speaker 2>I mean, I don't know about you, but most of

0:26:36.560 --> 0:26:38.959
<v Speaker 2>the people that were in the business when I started

0:26:39.080 --> 0:26:41.600
<v Speaker 2>or not there anymore, right, And that's that's what I

0:26:41.600 --> 0:26:44.840
<v Speaker 2>tell young actors say. Longevity is just staying in it.

0:26:45.280 --> 0:26:46.240
<v Speaker 2>That's half of it.

0:26:48.480 --> 0:26:51.960
<v Speaker 1>Actor Stephen Root, if you're enjoying this conversation, tell a

0:26:52.000 --> 0:26:54.359
<v Speaker 1>friend and be sure to follow Here's the Thing on

0:26:54.400 --> 0:26:59.120
<v Speaker 1>the iHeartRadio app, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

0:27:00.200 --> 0:27:03.160
<v Speaker 1>When we come back, Stephen Root talks about what kind

0:27:03.200 --> 0:27:05.320
<v Speaker 1>of project he would like to do next and what

0:27:05.400 --> 0:27:18.160
<v Speaker 1>he loves about Widow's Bay and Barry. I'm Alec Baldwin

0:27:18.400 --> 0:27:21.639
<v Speaker 1>and you were listening to Here's the Thing. Stephen Root's

0:27:21.640 --> 0:27:24.639
<v Speaker 1>big break was on the nineteen nineties sitcom News Radio,

0:27:24.720 --> 0:27:29.160
<v Speaker 1>where he acted alongside comic heavyweight Phil Hartman. Root has

0:27:29.240 --> 0:27:33.159
<v Speaker 1>worked with countless Hollywood icons from Arnold Schwarzenegger to the

0:27:33.200 --> 0:27:37.119
<v Speaker 1>Kohen Brothers. Having had such a diverse career, I was

0:27:37.200 --> 0:27:39.719
<v Speaker 1>curious if there was one actor in particular who has

0:27:39.760 --> 0:27:42.520
<v Speaker 1>stood out to throughout his impressive career.

0:27:43.280 --> 0:27:45.720
<v Speaker 2>I have to say Matthew Reese, just because we had

0:27:45.760 --> 0:27:50.200
<v Speaker 2>worked together before on Perry Mason for HBO, and Perry

0:27:50.240 --> 0:27:54.960
<v Speaker 2>Mason was not funny, but Matthew Reese his hysterical. He's

0:27:55.160 --> 0:27:58.600
<v Speaker 2>one of the funniest people ever and he hasn't had

0:27:58.600 --> 0:28:01.359
<v Speaker 2>a chance to do that for him to be able

0:28:01.400 --> 0:28:06.040
<v Speaker 2>to do it on Widow's Bay and he does silent acting,

0:28:06.520 --> 0:28:09.520
<v Speaker 2>silent comedic acting, which is really big, and he does

0:28:09.560 --> 0:28:13.919
<v Speaker 2>really tiny, tiny, wonderful, subtle stuff. So I have to

0:28:13.920 --> 0:28:17.399
<v Speaker 2>say Matthew. Back when I was doing news radio, Phil Hartman,

0:28:17.680 --> 0:28:21.120
<v Speaker 2>Oh my god, oh my god, the best, Miss uncle

0:28:21.160 --> 0:28:24.720
<v Speaker 2>Phil so much. But that was a whole group of

0:28:24.760 --> 0:28:28.960
<v Speaker 2>great people. They fully and more Tyranny more. Tyranny is

0:28:29.000 --> 0:28:32.640
<v Speaker 2>one of my heroes. She what a great, great great.

0:28:32.560 --> 0:28:34.359
<v Speaker 1>Phil Hartman is the only person that made me crack

0:28:34.440 --> 0:28:37.520
<v Speaker 1>up on us and now live no kidding. Yeah, we're

0:28:37.520 --> 0:28:41.640
<v Speaker 1>doing a scene and I played Marlon Bando and take

0:28:41.720 --> 0:28:44.960
<v Speaker 1>us to the movie. We're lamputting his calls the environmentally

0:28:45.040 --> 0:28:49.200
<v Speaker 1>sensitive one and I'm running off with his daughter Victoria

0:28:49.320 --> 0:28:51.880
<v Speaker 1>Jackson when one of his aides comes in and says

0:28:52.040 --> 0:28:54.760
<v Speaker 1>to what number three blue boss, what are we gonna do?

0:28:55.040 --> 0:28:57.080
<v Speaker 1>And Phil Hartman's line was take me with you? Like

0:28:57.200 --> 0:28:59.400
<v Speaker 1>he changed his mind. He wasn't gonna reject me. Now

0:28:59.400 --> 0:29:01.960
<v Speaker 1>he wants to leave with us and escape. Do you think?

0:29:02.320 --> 0:29:05.200
<v Speaker 1>And literally during the during the air show, he goes

0:29:05.400 --> 0:29:07.640
<v Speaker 1>tell her number three blue boss, what do you want

0:29:07.640 --> 0:29:10.280
<v Speaker 1>to do? Phil hart looks, he goes, take me with you.

0:29:11.320 --> 0:29:13.520
<v Speaker 1>He just says this wine inside the line that he

0:29:13.600 --> 0:29:17.160
<v Speaker 1>never did, And of course I start spinning up and

0:29:17.240 --> 0:29:18.600
<v Speaker 1>laughing on the show.

0:29:18.960 --> 0:29:22.840
<v Speaker 2>He nobody has has made me laugh harder than that,

0:29:23.000 --> 0:29:25.200
<v Speaker 2>or Caveman, caveman, lawyer.

0:29:25.440 --> 0:29:27.960
<v Speaker 1>Lord, come on, your ways are strange to me.

0:29:28.400 --> 0:29:30.880
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, fantastic loved him.

0:29:31.520 --> 0:29:34.480
<v Speaker 1>It was for me. It was Tony Hopkins. Oh and Meryll.

0:29:34.960 --> 0:29:38.000
<v Speaker 1>When I got a chance to do It's Complicated with Meryll, amazing,

0:29:38.080 --> 0:29:40.120
<v Speaker 1>I was. I was thrilled to do that. That was

0:29:40.120 --> 0:29:42.480
<v Speaker 1>a real pleasure to that was a great honor to

0:29:42.520 --> 0:29:43.160
<v Speaker 1>work with her.

0:29:43.160 --> 0:29:45.280
<v Speaker 2>Right, I would say John Lithgow as well. I mean

0:29:45.360 --> 0:29:47.480
<v Speaker 2>I we got to work with him, both Matthew and

0:29:47.520 --> 0:29:50.360
<v Speaker 2>I did on on Perry Mason and I just seen

0:29:50.960 --> 0:29:53.160
<v Speaker 2>I don't know whether you saw a giant in you

0:29:53.200 --> 0:29:55.280
<v Speaker 2>know or here astonishing.

0:29:55.320 --> 0:29:57.320
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to see Salesman tonight. Yeah.

0:29:57.440 --> 0:30:03.880
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Salesman is great, but John performance in that is yeah, phenomenal.

0:30:03.960 --> 0:30:05.760
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm sorry, miss because I love John.

0:30:05.880 --> 0:30:08.920
<v Speaker 2>The man's you know, he's almost eighty. If he isn't,

0:30:09.680 --> 0:30:11.680
<v Speaker 2>and he's he's doing it a h What do.

0:30:11.640 --> 0:30:14.360
<v Speaker 1>You think about that in terms of success at that age?

0:30:14.480 --> 0:30:17.640
<v Speaker 1>Success at your age? You know, things are going really

0:30:17.680 --> 0:30:20.520
<v Speaker 1>well for you right now they are in the in

0:30:20.560 --> 0:30:21.840
<v Speaker 1>the latter part of your career.

0:30:22.280 --> 0:30:25.600
<v Speaker 2>I think I've worked more in my sixties and seventies than.

0:30:25.480 --> 0:30:29.040
<v Speaker 1>I worked to that. Yeah, exactly.

0:30:29.560 --> 0:30:32.360
<v Speaker 2>But I think it's just you hang around long enough

0:30:32.400 --> 0:30:36.080
<v Speaker 2>and people remember you, and hopefully work begets work and

0:30:36.120 --> 0:30:38.240
<v Speaker 2>you get to work with some of the same people,

0:30:38.960 --> 0:30:40.000
<v Speaker 2>which has happened a lot.

0:30:40.560 --> 0:30:43.240
<v Speaker 1>What's the part you want to play? Is there a

0:30:43.280 --> 0:30:44.000
<v Speaker 1>play you want to do?

0:30:44.520 --> 0:30:47.840
<v Speaker 2>The last play I did was Marjorie Prime, which was

0:30:47.840 --> 0:30:51.160
<v Speaker 2>a four person play about and this was before AI.

0:30:51.280 --> 0:30:55.240
<v Speaker 2>This is like twenty fifteen. This was about a holographic

0:30:56.040 --> 0:31:01.160
<v Speaker 2>AI taking care of old people by talking to them

0:31:01.200 --> 0:31:05.280
<v Speaker 2>in a projected way, so that maybe their husband was

0:31:05.320 --> 0:31:07.800
<v Speaker 2>thirty years old and they're ninety now and they're talking

0:31:07.840 --> 0:31:12.160
<v Speaker 2>to this AI projected and the AI learned more about

0:31:12.200 --> 0:31:15.080
<v Speaker 2>him as they talk. And this was ten twelve years ago.

0:31:15.160 --> 0:31:18.120
<v Speaker 2>But an ensemble piece interests me more than anything else.

0:31:18.920 --> 0:31:20.960
<v Speaker 2>Do I want to get up and do lear Not

0:31:21.040 --> 0:31:24.080
<v Speaker 2>so much, as I said, I'm very lazy, but an

0:31:24.200 --> 0:31:24.920
<v Speaker 2>ensemble piece.

0:31:25.000 --> 0:31:27.280
<v Speaker 1>Yes. Chris Stack is an actor that I know from

0:31:27.280 --> 0:31:29.720
<v Speaker 1>the actor's studio, and Chris invited me to come see

0:31:29.760 --> 0:31:31.719
<v Speaker 1>Stereophonic when it was aw that.

0:31:31.760 --> 0:31:35.320
<v Speaker 2>I loved that at Playwrights, Yeah, I saw Playwrights unbelievable.

0:31:35.360 --> 0:31:37.520
<v Speaker 1>And then they went to Broadway and what I loved

0:31:37.680 --> 0:31:40.080
<v Speaker 1>was they were all like musicians in the symphony. They're

0:31:40.080 --> 0:31:42.440
<v Speaker 1>all doing the same thing. I thought that was great

0:31:42.440 --> 0:31:44.680
<v Speaker 1>directing to get everybody to do the same thing. Absolutely,

0:31:44.720 --> 0:31:47.480
<v Speaker 1>And that's what I try to do now, is I

0:31:47.480 --> 0:31:49.840
<v Speaker 1>don't need the thing to be about me. I'd rather

0:31:49.880 --> 0:31:50.360
<v Speaker 1>be a part of that.

0:31:51.920 --> 0:31:54.240
<v Speaker 2>It can go for the gold exactly exactly what I love.

0:31:54.440 --> 0:31:56.760
<v Speaker 2>And that's why I love Widows Bay. That's why I

0:31:56.760 --> 0:31:59.960
<v Speaker 2>loved Barry, because everybody in it, from the tiniest role

0:32:00.520 --> 0:32:05.360
<v Speaker 2>was perfectly cast with great actors, and you can't have

0:32:05.400 --> 0:32:07.600
<v Speaker 2>any more fun than that on a project if you're

0:32:07.640 --> 0:32:09.480
<v Speaker 2>working with great actors in a great script.

0:32:10.400 --> 0:32:13.560
<v Speaker 1>I dare ask you this question because I'm not quite

0:32:13.560 --> 0:32:16.080
<v Speaker 1>sure I would do it in the nude. Yeah, go ahead,

0:32:16.280 --> 0:32:19.680
<v Speaker 1>you would do it. I'm tard and feathered. Yes, But

0:32:20.120 --> 0:32:22.600
<v Speaker 1>what are your hobbies? What do you do when you're

0:32:22.640 --> 0:32:23.200
<v Speaker 1>not acting?

0:32:23.880 --> 0:32:26.600
<v Speaker 2>I like to play with my I don't play an instrument,

0:32:27.040 --> 0:32:32.320
<v Speaker 2>but I love putting music together like I'll have and

0:32:32.400 --> 0:32:35.360
<v Speaker 2>it's very specific. I want to put together t Bone

0:32:35.360 --> 0:32:38.840
<v Speaker 2>Burnett and Elvis Costello and nic Low from nineteen eighty

0:32:38.880 --> 0:32:41.840
<v Speaker 2>four and make a playlist of that that I'll do that.

0:32:42.320 --> 0:32:45.920
<v Speaker 2>I play golf badly with a lot of other character

0:32:45.960 --> 0:32:52.160
<v Speaker 2>actors and writers, and I try to rest mostly right. Yes,

0:32:52.280 --> 0:32:53.000
<v Speaker 2>rest is good.

0:32:53.520 --> 0:32:56.000
<v Speaker 1>Well, we would used to say years ago we were

0:32:56.120 --> 0:32:59.520
<v Speaker 1>entering the judge phase of our career. So the jobs

0:32:59.520 --> 0:33:01.680
<v Speaker 1>you would do, shou'd have the ropes, but underneath were

0:33:01.720 --> 0:33:02.680
<v Speaker 1>your tennis closed.

0:33:03.200 --> 0:33:06.240
<v Speaker 2>I was a judge, unjustified, and I had a speedo.

0:33:08.280 --> 0:33:09.960
<v Speaker 1>That's all. I have my tennis clothes and you sit

0:33:09.960 --> 0:33:12.720
<v Speaker 1>there all day long, go out of it. The jury

0:33:12.800 --> 0:33:15.560
<v Speaker 1>will disregard that statement by the prosecutor and they shoot

0:33:15.600 --> 0:33:22.320
<v Speaker 1>you last right now. Off of Space is a cult classic? Yeah,

0:33:22.400 --> 0:33:23.800
<v Speaker 1>were you were aware at the time that it was

0:33:23.840 --> 0:33:25.440
<v Speaker 1>a cult when it was due when you were doing it,

0:33:25.440 --> 0:33:27.440
<v Speaker 1>do you go it's gonna be a cult classic? No?

0:33:27.880 --> 0:33:31.080
<v Speaker 2>I knew it was a really good, funny be comedy

0:33:31.520 --> 0:33:34.160
<v Speaker 2>because there are good people in it, and it's Mike Judge,

0:33:34.240 --> 0:33:36.960
<v Speaker 2>who I've done King of the Hill with forever, and

0:33:37.040 --> 0:33:39.640
<v Speaker 2>I thought it was a fun little thing to do.

0:33:40.360 --> 0:33:44.360
<v Speaker 2>And it has become a cult, I think because everybody

0:33:44.400 --> 0:33:49.200
<v Speaker 2>was good in it, like everybody. Everybody was cast well,

0:33:49.360 --> 0:33:54.600
<v Speaker 2>it's like doing a really big performance very small. You know,

0:33:54.680 --> 0:33:57.640
<v Speaker 2>you're you're making a big swing, but you're doing.

0:33:57.440 --> 0:34:01.000
<v Speaker 1>It very very, very.

0:34:00.040 --> 0:34:05.560
<v Speaker 2>Very tiny, almost nothing. And I think that that's that's

0:34:05.560 --> 0:34:08.320
<v Speaker 2>why it was good. I would totally had my thapler.

0:34:11.440 --> 0:34:12.880
<v Speaker 1>I just want to say in the time we have

0:34:13.040 --> 0:34:14.680
<v Speaker 1>the moment we have left, which is that I am

0:34:14.719 --> 0:34:20.120
<v Speaker 1>such a fan of yours. I watched that Barry like

0:34:20.160 --> 0:34:22.719
<v Speaker 1>I was smoking crack. I couldn't wait, what do you mean?

0:34:22.719 --> 0:34:24.320
<v Speaker 1>I gotta wait undo the week to watch.

0:34:24.760 --> 0:34:27.640
<v Speaker 2>Came up to me after the third season and said, look,

0:34:28.000 --> 0:34:30.560
<v Speaker 2>I wanted to go this way and I want you

0:34:30.640 --> 0:34:35.600
<v Speaker 2>to do this guy, which is the total opposite of

0:34:35.640 --> 0:34:38.279
<v Speaker 2>what we've been doing for three years. He's coming out

0:34:38.320 --> 0:34:44.000
<v Speaker 2>of prison, he's tattered up, he is you know, a yeah,

0:34:44.040 --> 0:34:46.960
<v Speaker 2>he's the raven. And I said, really, I would never

0:34:47.040 --> 0:34:52.200
<v Speaker 2>get cast as that motherfucker, but I'm more than happy

0:34:52.239 --> 0:34:54.480
<v Speaker 2>to give it a shot. And it was some of

0:34:54.520 --> 0:34:57.040
<v Speaker 2>the most fun I've ever had because it was very

0:34:57.040 --> 0:34:59.839
<v Speaker 2>freeing to be something I would never be cast as

0:35:00.080 --> 0:35:04.799
<v Speaker 2>you know, built up, tat it up, violent, violent guy.

0:35:05.080 --> 0:35:06.920
<v Speaker 1>When I did thirty Rock, they would give us the

0:35:07.480 --> 0:35:09.680
<v Speaker 1>We do the read through on a Wednesday, and they

0:35:09.680 --> 0:35:11.920
<v Speaker 1>had those cameras and then had a pipe out to burnback.

0:35:12.239 --> 0:35:13.759
<v Speaker 1>So we're in New York at Silver Cup and we

0:35:13.840 --> 0:35:15.400
<v Speaker 1>have a dais of the cast.

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<v Speaker 2>And Jimmy Burrows is directing. But go ahead, right right,

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<v Speaker 2>I wish I wish, no.

0:35:19.200 --> 0:35:22.120
<v Speaker 1>No. We had great directors. We had Antina in the cast,

0:35:22.160 --> 0:35:24.279
<v Speaker 1>everybody on the dais, and then the writers and the

0:35:24.320 --> 0:35:27.360
<v Speaker 1>crafts people, all the crew out department heads in the audience.

0:35:27.360 --> 0:35:29.279
<v Speaker 1>So they have like sixty people in the room and

0:35:29.320 --> 0:35:31.080
<v Speaker 1>we sit there. They give me the script at the call,

0:35:31.520 --> 0:35:33.120
<v Speaker 1>and I sit in the makeup chair and get my

0:35:33.520 --> 0:35:35.719
<v Speaker 1>seventhing done, and I'd read the script and I think

0:35:35.719 --> 0:35:38.680
<v Speaker 1>to myself, you know, thank God for great writing. That

0:35:38.800 --> 0:35:40.040
<v Speaker 1>was the greatest time of my life.

0:35:40.200 --> 0:35:43.800
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but you're not going to be great unless unless

0:35:43.800 --> 0:35:45.439
<v Speaker 2>you're doing something that you're scared of as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Right, I'm gonna remember you said that.

0:35:48.000 --> 0:35:49.760
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

0:35:50.719 --> 0:35:54.920
<v Speaker 1>My thanks to actors Stephen Roots. This episode was recorded

0:35:55.200 --> 0:35:58.360
<v Speaker 1>at CDM Studios in New York City. Were produced by

0:35:58.440 --> 0:36:02.759
<v Speaker 1>Kathleen Russo, Zach McNee, and Victoria De Martin. Our engineer

0:36:02.880 --> 0:36:06.560
<v Speaker 1>is Isaac Captain Woolmer. I'm Alec Baldwin. Here's the thing

0:36:06.680 --> 0:36:27.000
<v Speaker 1>is brought to you by iHeart Radio.