Speaker 1: I love how nervous you are about this. It's literally
Speaker 1: you're doing the exact same thing, just for longer.
Speaker 2: Let me start with the intro part and we'll jettison
Speaker 2: into whatever.
Speaker 3: You want to do.
Speaker 2: Hey, thank god you're here. It's another one.
Speaker 3: What's it called.
Speaker 2: Thinking out loud? Here? You are so glad you're listening.
Speaker 2: And I'll tell you why everyone loves Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Speaker 2: You love him on Modern Family. Of course, he just
Speaker 2: finished up doing Take Me Out on Broadway, which is
Speaker 2: an amazing funny play. He was great in that. But
Speaker 2: now he's got his podcast called Dinners on Me, and
Speaker 2: I want to talk to him about that and find
Speaker 2: out who does he think he is doing a podcast
Speaker 2: interviewing people, That's what I do. He's an actor, he
Speaker 2: reads scripts. But you know what, it's a very good podcast,
Speaker 2: and he's got a lot of star power in Los
Speaker 2: Angeles to pull out people that we dream of having.
Speaker 2: On this one, we're going to talk about things he's
Speaker 2: afraid of, like doing a podcast, doing things he's never
Speaker 2: done before, being in front of a live audience. Also,
Speaker 2: my favorite part of this will be when you hear
Speaker 2: him talk about what it was like wrapping up eleven
Speaker 2: seasons of modern Family. It's a story that I don't
Speaker 2: think it has ever been told, and we hear it here today.
Speaker 2: It's fantastic. Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Speaker 3: Hello, Hello, podcast friend.
Speaker 2: You know you have a podcast. You're going to teach
Speaker 2: me how to do a podcast? Exactly where do we start?
Speaker 2: Where do we start?
Speaker 3: Where do we start? Are you serious?
Speaker 2: Absolutely?
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: Well, first you set up your phone like you just did,
Speaker 1: and you start a timer. Yes, and you make sure
Speaker 1: that you can talk for at least forty five minutes?
Speaker 2: Is it forty five? No?
Speaker 3: How long are your podcast? We go like thirty to
Speaker 3: forty five?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: Okay, see, mind's a little longer the way that I'm doing.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, do you want me to just like launch
Speaker 1: it and tell you, like, well, my Batley podcast.
Speaker 2: I want you to do the podcast. I'll just say to.
Speaker 1: Do the podcast for you, just say that's why I'm here.
Speaker 1: I see, thanks for showing up.
Speaker 2: Ye. Yeah. So when you first started doing dinners on me,
Speaker 2: that's right, did anyone look at you and go, okay,
Speaker 2: we're in the podcast world. Listen, here's what we think
Speaker 2: you should do. And they gave you a little background.
Speaker 1: Right, we'll get you so that this concept was actually
Speaker 1: brought to me. It was it was something that was
Speaker 1: pitched to me.
Speaker 3: I never wanted.
Speaker 1: I never thought I would do a podcast. That never
Speaker 1: was I wasn't looking to do one. I was about
Speaker 1: to say I didn't want to do one, but that's
Speaker 1: not true because I'm actually doing one and I'm enjoying
Speaker 1: it immensely. But it was a concept that sort of
Speaker 1: existed in the brains of these producers over at Sony
Speaker 1: and Neon Hum and they thought I might be a
Speaker 1: good idea to match up with it, and so they
Speaker 1: pitched this idea to me, and I really liked it.
Speaker 1: It takes it sort of straddles the world of the
Speaker 1: culinary world and in a long form interview with a celebrity.
Speaker 1: So I take these groups different people out to I'll
Speaker 1: say groups of people, but it's only one on one.
Speaker 1: But there's a group of people that I have taken
Speaker 1: out to different restaurants, and we just have a really
Speaker 1: nice conversation over a great meal, and.
Speaker 3: We talked about the restaurant we're at. We talked about
Speaker 3: the chef.
Speaker 1: You hear us order you hear us talk about the
Speaker 1: food we're eating, but then beyond that, it's just a
Speaker 1: really great conversation.
Speaker 2: So backing up, when you have friends at the house, yeah,
Speaker 2: do you refine yourself in just regular conversation interviewing them?
Speaker 2: I mean, do you have interview conversations. I have many
Speaker 2: friends who are like I feel like I'm being interviewed sometimes,
Speaker 2: but they're just great conversationalist. Yeah, yeah, yeah, are you
Speaker 2: that way?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: But now that I have this job, I find myself
Speaker 1: not like practicing on my friends, but like, you know,
Speaker 1: definitely trying to get into that mode of like delving
Speaker 1: further into an idea than I might have before. It
Speaker 1: has made me a more curious person for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I have this one friend who's a restaurant owner
Speaker 2: in Santa Fe. Okay, he just sold it, but anyway,
Speaker 2: he would come out to each and every table and
Speaker 2: he would put his hand on your shoulder. Yeah, and
Speaker 2: just he would start. It was like a magical moment
Speaker 2: with him.
Speaker 3: Was his name?
Speaker 2: He owned the bull Ring, the Steake Cash what elevis? Yeah,
Speaker 2: where have you been? I said, Well, you know, we
Speaker 2: were on vacation last week's we weren't in it. Where'd
Speaker 2: you go? Yeah, and then it begins we were in Maui.
Speaker 2: I love Maui, my daughter got married, there were you?
Speaker 2: Where are you in Mali? And then it begins.
Speaker 1: It's like politicians are the same way. They they figure
Speaker 1: out like something that you have in common and they
Speaker 1: latch onto that and they are great conversationalists mostly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no, for sure.
Speaker 2: I uh. You know.
Speaker 1: Julie Bowen always had this phrase that she would say,
Speaker 1: you know, a conversa you want a conversation highway? Right now,
Speaker 1: we're in a conversation culd a sac like we went
Speaker 1: a highway right, you know. And she's a great conversationalist.
Speaker 1: She was my first guest on my podcast actually, and
Speaker 1: I was so relieved that she was because she could
Speaker 1: literally hold a two hour conversation with the tree Like
Speaker 1: she's just like she's inquisitive, and she's like even if
Speaker 1: she's not getting a lot back from you, she's gonna like,
Speaker 1: you know, just keep the conversation going. And she's just
Speaker 1: a great conversationalist. So I love that that concept of
Speaker 1: finding a conversation highway.
Speaker 2: You know. I spoke with Mo Rocca. We were talking
Speaker 2: about this earlier on the previous podcast, and he was
Speaker 2: going to do an interview with Eva Maurice Saint okay,
Speaker 2: and he had heard that she just wasn't the best conversations.
Speaker 2: He's like, oh great, here we go, Okay, I have
Speaker 2: to do an interview with someone who doesn't like to
Speaker 2: be interviewed. So he said, what I thought of doing
Speaker 2: in a brilliant idea. He was looking at her bio
Speaker 2: or whatever. He discovered she was born on July fourth, okay.
Speaker 2: So his opening question was what was it like celebrating
Speaker 2: your birthday with fire tis? And she immediately opened up.
Speaker 3: Oh interesting.
Speaker 2: The smile came on her face. She said, you know what,
Speaker 2: that's so great. You asked me that my dad used
Speaker 2: to tell me those fireworks for me for my birthday
Speaker 2: and so and then it'd be great icebreaker.
Speaker 3: You know. It's so interesting because.
Speaker 1: You, as as someone who gets interviewed a lot, you
Speaker 1: do hear a lot of the same questions over and
Speaker 1: over and over. And that's not a fault of the
Speaker 1: interviewer like that. These are questions that I think people
Speaker 1: want to know. But there does become a point where
Speaker 1: you're like, oh my god, how how do I answer
Speaker 1: this question?
Speaker 3: In a new way.
Speaker 1: So when you find that's a great example of the fireworks,
Speaker 1: like something that she probably had never been asked before,
Speaker 1: and it was immediately prompted a fresh answer and then
Speaker 1: a great conversation I'm sure follow it afterwards. And so like,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to do the same thing with these people
Speaker 1: who I'm sitting down with, and you know, I get
Speaker 1: like six pages of research on them, and I can
Speaker 1: kind of tell just from the research that's done, like
Speaker 1: what they've probably talked about a lot. And it's not
Speaker 1: that I want to avoid those those topics completely, but
Speaker 1: I want to find a different way into them or
Speaker 1: find like maybe an angle that they haven't come out
Speaker 1: that story from. So that's sort of my job before
Speaker 1: sitting down with these people. And then every once in
Speaker 1: a while, you'll get someone who has done very few interviews,
Speaker 1: and that's really exciting because it's like, oh, I got
Speaker 1: to sort of like see what this person's all about
Speaker 1: and hopefully introduce some facts about this person to the world.
Speaker 2: Being interviewed is a that is the most frightening thing
Speaker 2: in the world to me, because I mean, I'm always
Speaker 2: the interviewer, yeah, always, So when I had a book
Speaker 2: come out several years ago. I had to go out
Speaker 2: and do the press this and that, and I would
Speaker 2: I would get nervous. It was weird having the tables turned.
Speaker 1: I'm the exact opposite way, Like it's it's a new
Speaker 1: thing for me to be the interviewer. So yeah, I
Speaker 1: totally understand what you're saying.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And then the other argument is, well, you are a
Speaker 2: guy who reads scripts and sometimes ask to improv off
Speaker 2: scripted material and there's an outline for what they want
Speaker 2: you to do in front of a camera or whatever.
Speaker 2: Now there is no script. I mean you could have
Speaker 2: prep and some research, right, there's no script.
Speaker 1: It's it's improv You're improving for over an hour, and
Speaker 1: that's scary to like kind of fly without an at
Speaker 1: I love having a script, you know. I I don't
Speaker 1: know if I am the greatest improver, but I do
Speaker 1: feel like I am a good conversationalist.
Speaker 2: Well, and that's it, It's just a conversation.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Another thing I love about interviewing people when you find
Speaker 2: the great storytellers, Yes, they really understand the concept of
Speaker 2: here's the opening picture exactly, here's the meat and potatoes,
Speaker 2: and then dessert and payoff great storytellers. We can't get
Speaker 2: enough of those.
Speaker 3: Tell me a story, you want me to tell you
Speaker 3: a story.
Speaker 2: I know it doesn't work that way, but yeah, people
Speaker 2: who have that magical way of telling the story. My
Speaker 2: dad was an unbelievable storyteller and it was always humorous.
Speaker 2: It was always like down home Texas. And I never
Speaker 2: could really master that, and he never really was. He
Speaker 2: wanted to be proud of his son. The guy who
Speaker 2: could tell the story. Never could, right, So I went
Speaker 2: into radio instead.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: My grandpa he is, you know, was. He's no longer
Speaker 1: with us, but he's Irish and he but just he was.
Speaker 1: That says a effeck right there. He was. He was
Speaker 1: the guy that would always stand up and like tell
Speaker 1: a limerick or reside a poem or tell a really
Speaker 1: great story after, you know, at dinner. And so I
Speaker 1: feel like I have a little bit of him and
Speaker 1: me for sure.
Speaker 2: Well, Okay, in addition to acting, you said earlier, you've
Speaker 2: done other things. You hosted a James several James Beard events.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 1: Yes, the James Beards are basically like the Oscars for
Speaker 1: the culinary. And it's so funny because I made that
Speaker 1: reference during the event that I hosted for them, but
Speaker 1: I called I called the Emmys the James Beards of
Speaker 1: the TV world. Okay, appreciate it, I'm sure, because you know,
Speaker 1: they're always being compared to, like you know, the Oscars
Speaker 1: are the Emmys. But anyways, it was It's a room
Speaker 1: full of just the top of the top of the
Speaker 1: people in the culinary world, chefs and restauranteurs and small
Speaker 1: a's and it was a very fancy room to be
Speaker 1: in and a group of people who I respect immensely,
Speaker 1: and hosting that that event for them that meant so
Speaker 1: much to them was really nerve wracking.
Speaker 2: Well that's why I wanted to go there. So when
Speaker 2: you don't have a script there, but they have, they
Speaker 2: have an outline what they want you to do.
Speaker 3: I definitely scripted some stuff for myself.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you're up there and it is it's a
Speaker 2: live crowd nerve wrecking, really, yes.
Speaker 1: And it was the first time sort of doing like
Speaker 1: a big hosting a big awards show. It wasn't televised,
Speaker 1: of course, but like I was in a big auditorium
Speaker 1: and it was you know, I was managing the audience
Speaker 1: and keeping things moving and it was really fun and
Speaker 1: it would do terrified. I did very well. Yeah, yes,
Speaker 1: well they had me back twice because I did so good.
Speaker 1: So I know I did a good job. And I
Speaker 1: can't say that with confidence and I'm not being an egomaniac.
Speaker 3: I did a very very good job.
Speaker 2: Well, good for you. I mean, live audiences scare the
Speaker 2: shit out of it.
Speaker 3: Oh they're terrified.
Speaker 2: I mean, we'll host our big jingle ball concerts at
Speaker 2: Radio City Musical or no, no, at the Madson Square Gardens.
Speaker 3: Sure, I've been to one of those jingle balls.
Speaker 2: The thing is about those is everyone's in the dark.
Speaker 2: There's fifty thousand of them. It doesn't matter. But if
Speaker 2: you're in a room.
Speaker 1: Full of people you who are actually paying attention, Yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll talk about like that's what theater is mean, people
Speaker 1: actually paying attention to what you're saying. But you know
Speaker 1: it's scripted again, so exactly, and I rehearsed well for it.
Speaker 1: But going up on rehearse scripted is it's terrifying. Did
Speaker 1: you watch Jury Duty?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 2: Absolutely, we had we had him on you Donald on yes,
Speaker 2: six six Donald, he was the Nico.
Speaker 1: And what I mean, I just I would love to
Speaker 1: meet him. He's so wonderful and sweet and the heart
Speaker 1: of that show. But that you know, I thought a
Speaker 1: lot about that show was completely improvided, improvised based, and
Speaker 1: you know, these these actors, who are all great medians
Speaker 1: and greatizers, were brilliant, like went with whatever story they
Speaker 1: thought they needed to go with. But like I had
Speaker 1: such anxiety as an actor watching that because like I
Speaker 1: was looking at James Marsden, who is a great improviser
Speaker 1: as well, but like he was the most like kind
Speaker 1: of I guess, you know, if you're going to categorize
Speaker 1: one of them as like, uh uh, mostly an actor,
Speaker 1: it was you know him, like he's not necessarily that's
Speaker 1: not where he lives in Breeze and in the improv world,
Speaker 1: and I was just having so much anxiety for him
Speaker 1: having to sort of like navig gate that storyline for
Speaker 1: ten episodes.
Speaker 3: I thought it was so well done.
Speaker 2: I love that it was, you know, And to hear
Speaker 2: the background story as we were talking to Donald about Donald.
Speaker 1: Right and Ronald Ronald Ronald, I think I said, Donald, Okay,
Speaker 1: well I threw you off.
Speaker 2: Follow your lead. But James on as well the day
Speaker 2: before and they were talking about how well you know
Speaker 2: it was edited beautifully, beautifully because you know, every once
Speaker 2: in a while, Ronald Donald Ronald would get like something
Speaker 2: was so strange would happen it wasn't real and he
Speaker 2: could yes, so they would. They would purposefully make the
Speaker 2: court proceedings long and boring to.
Speaker 3: Like outweigh yeah, the ridiculousness.
Speaker 1: You can't just go crazy situation after crazies and someone
Speaker 1: would be like, what's going on?
Speaker 2: But they said they would. They would go three or
Speaker 2: four hours.
Speaker 1: Of just mundane yeah, wow, to counteract and the ridiculousness.
Speaker 2: But look how brilliant it turned out.
Speaker 1: And it turned out great, and obviously like we're not
Speaker 1: using any of this, any of this three hours of
Speaker 1: mundane ness.
Speaker 2: Just go back to James Beard for a second. Do
Speaker 2: you follow? I mean, are you familiar with his work
Speaker 2: and who he was? Did you ever go to his
Speaker 2: townhouse for dinner?
Speaker 1: And I'm aware of all of it, but I haven't.
Speaker 1: I don't know a ton about him. I mean, I've
Speaker 1: learned a little bit when I was hosting that the
Speaker 1: awards themselves, but I don't know a ton.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: I read a little bit about him in a bio
Speaker 2: that was written and if I were. If I were
Speaker 2: an actor, I would I would want that. I would
Speaker 2: want to be James Beard. Of course, he was like
Speaker 2: eight feet tall and fifteen feet wide and bigger than
Speaker 2: life guy. But you know, I don't think anyone's ever
Speaker 2: tried to tackle that role.
Speaker 1: No, no, are you? Are you suggesting I perhaps.
Speaker 2: It would take a lot of makeup, it would have
Speaker 2: to thicken you up a lot. But he's just He's
Speaker 2: just one of those roles. I'm not an actress. Who
Speaker 2: am I to say this, but that just seems like
Speaker 2: a juicy juicy Oh my god, just tell all about
Speaker 2: this guy, because he had a crazy off the grid
Speaker 2: live right that was he was very famous for here
Speaker 2: right right right. Are there any people in history or
Speaker 2: any people that we're all familiar with that you often think, God.
Speaker 1: You know the one that comes up a lot, And
Speaker 1: it's I think it's because I portrayed him sort of
Speaker 1: in an episode of Modern Family or they they they
Speaker 1: said that I resembled him in an episode, But it's
Speaker 1: Vincent van Gogh.
Speaker 3: You do, uh huh.
Speaker 1: And I went to the Art Institute when I was
Speaker 1: actually hosting James Beard Awards, I went to the Art
Speaker 1: Institute of Chicago, and that's where his portrait is housed.
Speaker 1: And I took a photo of myself next to his
Speaker 1: portrait and put on like my Instagram page, and I
Speaker 1: just like that took it to a whole other level, like.
Speaker 2: Did you see do you see it? Though?
Speaker 3: I do see it?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 3: I think didn't.
Speaker 1: William Dafoe just recently play him, And I can't remember
Speaker 1: who was biopic. I think it's sort of been done already.
Speaker 1: But you know that seems like something that there's probably
Speaker 1: a story there. I could see myself playing Vincent van Gogh.
Speaker 2: But well, if you have to do more than just
Speaker 2: look like there's yeah, no true, you can create your
Speaker 2: own Vincent.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, but the base of it's there. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So what's going on in Hollywood? Now? There's a writer
Speaker 2: strike going.
Speaker 3: To riders strikes? We're both doing podcasts?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Really? No or in dividing when you're hearing this,
Speaker 2: maybe they all worked it all out.
Speaker 1: I don't when is this going to air? In like
Speaker 1: a few days? I think we got I think we're
Speaker 1: safe to say it's still going on.
Speaker 2: So give me your feeling about how it is being
Speaker 2: an actor? Yeah, and did indeed this podcast you're doing
Speaker 2: come from it.
Speaker 3: Did not did not come from the rider strike.
Speaker 1: It's a happy accident that I have something to focus
Speaker 1: on during the writer's strike.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I I was in Los Angeles. I just moved to
Speaker 1: Los Angeles and the Writer's strike of two thousand and
Speaker 1: eight last one, and I was I had just finished
Speaker 1: a series called The Class that ran I think nineteen episodes,
Speaker 1: and it was canceled, and then the rider strike happened.
Speaker 1: So I was had uprooted my life and moved to
Speaker 1: LA and I was, you know, with the intention of
Speaker 1: after this my show was canceled, I was going to
Speaker 1: stick around and just sort of like, you know, see
Speaker 1: what could happen for me in Los Angeles since I'd
Speaker 1: already made roots there. And then it was like nine months.
Speaker 1: I think it was one hundred days. I don't know
Speaker 1: how many months it works.
Speaker 3: It was right around hundred days. But you know, there
Speaker 3: was just nothing. There was nothing at all, and it
Speaker 3: was a little scary.
Speaker 2: How did you survive?
Speaker 1: I had saved some money from the the the series
Speaker 1: I had done. I was not paid super well because
Speaker 1: it was my very first TV show, so my quote
Speaker 1: was extremely low. But I I I think I might
Speaker 1: have borrowed some money from a friend. And then also
Speaker 1: I was going back to how to New York rather
Speaker 1: than doing some workshops of different theater projects, which you know,
Speaker 1: kuching ku ching no.
Speaker 3: Money in that. But you know, he.
Speaker 1: Was keeping me artistically satisfied somewhat, and I kind of
Speaker 1: feel like ready to throw in the towel and be like, okay,
Speaker 1: well after this strike is resolved, that probably would end
Speaker 1: up just moving back to New York. And then Modern
Speaker 1: Family happened.
Speaker 2: So in Wow, that was how many years? Eleven eleven seasons?
Speaker 3: Eleven seasons.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Now that it's in the rear view mirror
Speaker 2: sort of, I mean, do you do you respect the
Speaker 2: enormity of that show? I mean, Modern Family when you're
Speaker 2: in it, I'm sure it's different than when you're.
Speaker 3: Done with it.
Speaker 1: I don't know, Yeah, no it is. But it's also
Speaker 1: you know, it's something that I think we all knew
Speaker 1: was a special thing.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: It was nice having Ed O'Neil being part of that
Speaker 1: cast because he had been through an eleven year show
Speaker 1: with married with children, and he was in like the
Speaker 1: third act of his life, let's say, and he was
Speaker 1: at a place where he didn't think this would ever
Speaker 1: happen for him again. So to watch him, who in
Speaker 1: my eyes, was this massive star, this icon of television
Speaker 1: be excited about something new was a telltale sign that
Speaker 1: this is something to be excited about. I mean I
Speaker 1: kind of followed his lead. He really seemed to take
Speaker 1: each day and live it to its fullest and like,
Speaker 1: really appreciate this work he got to do as someone
Speaker 1: who is in his seventies and get this great role,
Speaker 1: and also the acclaim that he had never received before
Speaker 1: I married with children.
Speaker 3: He was nominated for.
Speaker 1: Emmy Awards and really respected by his peers in a
Speaker 1: way that I think he hadn't been before. And so
Speaker 1: I looked to him a lot and let that sort
Speaker 1: of appreciation reflect.
Speaker 3: Back on me.
Speaker 1: But we all knew, you know, I was the youngest
Speaker 1: cast member of the adults, and then you know, the
Speaker 1: next jump was down with Sarah Hiland, who played my niece.
Speaker 3: But I was with a whole bunch of people.
Speaker 1: Who had been in this business and varying degrees of
Speaker 1: success for quite some time, and I think we all
Speaker 1: kind of collectively agreed that this was a really special
Speaker 1: thing and something that we needed to enjoy and like
Speaker 1: really appreciate. It's like it's such a rare thing that's
Speaker 1: like that happens.
Speaker 2: But eleven seasons. I mean, what was it like wrapping that?
Speaker 1: Oh it was devastating and exciting at the same time.
Speaker 1: You know, actors, I mean I should I'll speak for myself.
Speaker 1: I was very eager to do other work and very
Speaker 1: eager to play the roles. And you know, you were
Speaker 1: playing this one person for eleven years and you know
Speaker 1: that person so well. And as an actor, I like
Speaker 1: to be scared. I like to be nervous, and I
Speaker 1: like to try things that excite me. This podcast is
Speaker 1: a great example of it. You know, Toasting Extreme Makeover
Speaker 1: Home Editions is another example. Doing a play on Broadway
Speaker 1: where there's you know that you're acting without a safety
Speaker 1: net is another thing that excites me. I was very
Speaker 1: excited for these opportunities to come up, and then the
Speaker 1: pandemic happened. So we wrapped the show and it was
Speaker 1: an incredibly emotional process. You know, on the last day,
Speaker 1: they they they start at the at the bottom of
Speaker 1: the call sheet with the younger cast member and say,
Speaker 1: you know, that's a rap on Aubrey Anderson Emmons, who
Speaker 1: played my daughter Lily, And that's a series wrap on Aubrey,
Speaker 1: and everyone cheers for that person, and they get closer
Speaker 1: and closer to your number, and you know that your
Speaker 1: numbers coming up and everyone's going to share for you.
Speaker 1: And it's a very emotional thing ending with Ed O'Neill,
Speaker 1: and then it's just like, well, now what do we do?
Speaker 1: And like we sort of sat there and like drank
Speaker 1: and had a party for like an hour, and then
Speaker 1: people sort of I was like, but home, and for us,
Speaker 1: we were like, well, we'll get to see each other
Speaker 1: again in February or in March or April when the
Speaker 1: series finale is finally airing. We had planned to be
Speaker 1: like all the whole cast is gonna be on Jimmy
Speaker 1: Kimore or something together. It's like, you know, I'll al
Speaker 1: we'll see you in a few months, seen in a
Speaker 1: few months. And then the world shut down, and you know,
Speaker 1: we didn't get that closure of actually kind of coming
Speaker 1: together again and really celebrating this thing. We did because
Speaker 1: the finale aired during the pandemic, and I'm so grateful
Speaker 1: that we were able to wrap shooting before everything shut down.
Speaker 1: And so that there was actually closure to the art
Speaker 1: form and for the fans as well, but as a cast,
Speaker 1: we weren't able to have that closure, so that was sort.
Speaker 3: Of there was some open wounds with that.
Speaker 1: And I'm actually Julie Bowen has met the first guest
Speaker 1: on my podcast, and we both talked about like, how
Speaker 1: are you feeling with this, like little wellness check? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: And I've seen almost every single cast member in some
Speaker 1: form or another, not altogether, but I think I've seen
Speaker 1: everyone in person since we wrapped, and but you know,
Speaker 1: we haven't all been together, and that sort of feels
Speaker 1: like we don't have full closure with with you know,
Speaker 1: wrapping up that process.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's totally mess this Up's stop the interview and
Speaker 2: go behind the curtains.
Speaker 3: Okay.
Speaker 2: We were talking earlier about being interviewed and you're asked
Speaker 2: the same questions over and over and over, so you
Speaker 2: look for different exciting ways to answer differently. Have you
Speaker 2: told that same story? Has anyone ever asked you any
Speaker 2: about anything about wrapping up?
Speaker 3: No? No, oh really, I was wondering.
Speaker 1: They asked us like what it was like to like
Speaker 1: finish the show, and like what was that you know,
Speaker 1: experience like and emotionally what was it?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 1: But but you know, never, I guess I've never talked
Speaker 1: about having finished it and then gone into a pandemic.
Speaker 2: But the way you told the story was great. It
Speaker 2: was awesome about how they Okay, you're next up, You're
Speaker 2: next up for the following line everyone. Yes, that was
Speaker 2: just really really fantastic. Okay, back to the interviews you
Speaker 2: this is like we're learning. I'm learning. It's all good.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: One of my favorite Hollywood stories the past few years.
Speaker 2: Of course, it's been Jennifer Coolidge. When you say Jennifer Gills,
Speaker 2: especially Gay goes. Yes, yes, we're all trying to kill her. She.
Speaker 2: I mean, what an incredible story on many different levels.
Speaker 2: I mean, we're talking about a woman in her her sixties, right,
Speaker 2: who's just beautiful and fun and she's not new. She's
Speaker 2: been around a long long time, long time, she's been
Speaker 2: paying her dues and then of course here she is.
Speaker 2: I mean you see her everywhere.
Speaker 3: Yeah, deservedly.
Speaker 2: She's just incredible, do.
Speaker 3: You I know? Look that for myself. Do you know her?
Speaker 3: I've met her, I don't know her.
Speaker 2: We need to know her.
Speaker 3: I know, I feel like everyone needs to know. Jennifer's like,
Speaker 3: I feel like Jennifer Clich.
Speaker 1: Is like, oh man, I can't get to know all
Speaker 1: of you, Like you know, She's like, oh geez, can
Speaker 1: my Jennifer Clitch is not very good?
Speaker 2: But then the all game in should have dinner at
Speaker 2: in a Garden's house.
Speaker 3: She's like, she'd be so exhausted. I wish I could.
Speaker 3: I don't want to do that and dinner.
Speaker 2: Jennifer's Oh, yeah, fascinating. I heard she has two homes
Speaker 2: in New Orleans. Oh really having one home in New
Speaker 2: Orleans is wacky enough. And you two, do you have
Speaker 2: any other just top of mind Hollywood stories that you
Speaker 2: find fascinating people that you would love to meet or
Speaker 2: talk to because they've done something like Jennifer Coolidge. Look
Speaker 2: what she's done.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's a great example of someone that I've
Speaker 1: I've been very lucky that I've gotten to meet people
Speaker 1: and work with people that I have had that feeling about.
Speaker 1: This is a great example because I was actually talking
Speaker 1: about Jennifer Collidge with this person. But Jane Lynch has
Speaker 1: become a friend of mine, love her, and it is great,
Speaker 1: Oh the greatest. And I've just I've I've revered her
Speaker 1: for so long and then we became friends. And then
Speaker 1: I was doing a movie in Canada and it was
Speaker 1: with all it was all kids in this film, and
Speaker 1: so like I had nothing, no one to hang out
Speaker 1: with after we wrapped, and Jane was also going to
Speaker 1: do a part of this film, and she overlapped with
Speaker 1: like for like three days, and I was like, Jane,
Speaker 1: we have got to please have dinner with me.
Speaker 3: And I really don't know her that well.
Speaker 1: And another person that happened to be in town was
Speaker 1: Alison Janney and so I like I reached out to her,
Speaker 1: again don't know her very well, was like, Alison, I
Speaker 1: need adult attention.
Speaker 3: We please have dinner with me.
Speaker 1: And so these are two people I just like I thought,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm gonna cold call these people. I kind
Speaker 1: of know them a little bit, but like not enough
Speaker 1: to say, like, will you just sit down and have
Speaker 1: a meal with me? And they both did and I
Speaker 1: had a great time with both of them. And it
Speaker 1: wasn't a meal together but two separate meals. But I
Speaker 1: remember talking about white Lotus with Jane and she's like, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm so happy for for Jennifer and I haven't watched
Speaker 1: it yet, but I hear she's fantastic, and so I
Speaker 1: just like the warl like for me, it was like
Speaker 1: the Christopher Guests. World was like closing in on me
Speaker 1: in a way that I found incredibly gratifying. You know,
Speaker 1: all these people who had done these films that I
Speaker 1: love someone.
Speaker 2: We had urgency in your voice and you called them.
Speaker 1: Please, I did I need some adult I did. And
Speaker 1: Allison was like number one on the call sheet for
Speaker 1: this movie. She was doing night shoots and she was exhausted.
Speaker 1: She's like, I have one day off, but I'd left
Speaker 1: to have dinner with you. And I had a great
Speaker 1: time with her. But you know, that's a perfect example
Speaker 1: someone I revere and I adore and respect so much
Speaker 1: and didn't know and have heard that she's just like
Speaker 1: salt of the earth. And you know, I felt comfortable
Speaker 1: reaching out and it was great, and you should.
Speaker 2: But on that same level, have you ever been just
Speaker 2: floored because someone who you totally admire comes up to
Speaker 2: you and says, Jesse, I gotta say your work is
Speaker 2: just phenomenal, and you walk away, Oh my god.
Speaker 1: I mean it happened a lot for all of us
Speaker 1: on Modern Family. Steven Spielberg was a huge fan of
Speaker 1: the show and like talk to us in terms of
Speaker 1: like being an uber nerd about it, like talking like
Speaker 1: breaking down the comedy of different scenes, like he came
Speaker 1: at it from a writer and director perspective, and I
Speaker 1: was like, Wow, this is crazy. Steven Spielberg is breaking
Speaker 1: down my work in front of me. That was wild,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 3: I mean.
Speaker 1: Julia Roberts gave me a hug once out of the
Speaker 1: blue on a red carpet. I think she's like she
Speaker 1: didn't recognize anyone. She felt like she was floundering all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, like she's like, oh, there's someone I
Speaker 1: can know. We don't know each other. She was a
Speaker 1: must have watched My Modern Family, and she came up
Speaker 1: and gave me the biggest hug, like she hadn't seen
Speaker 1: me in forever, and it was the first time we
Speaker 1: were meeting. The photo exists online and you just google
Speaker 1: just a top of Ferguson and Julie Roberts.
Speaker 2: And the last time you saw her, I thought you'd
Speaker 2: be best friends by now.
Speaker 1: No, I'd love to know her, and I know people
Speaker 1: who have worked with her and had such wonderful things
Speaker 1: to say about her. But like those brushes have happened
Speaker 1: a lot, and it's it's really exciting.
Speaker 2: So is there ever a time when you're alone in
Speaker 2: the house, your husband's gone, it's just you.
Speaker 3: I made the kids?
Speaker 2: Are the kids? Kids?
Speaker 3: Child? Right too?
Speaker 2: Two children?
Speaker 3: Congratulations?
Speaker 2: You have the house to yourself and you're walking by
Speaker 2: a mirror and you stop and you you look at
Speaker 2: yourself in the mirror and go, you know, fuck, this
Speaker 2: is a great life. This is this is pretty awesome.
Speaker 2: Did you ever have those moments?
Speaker 1: I usually walk by a mirror and be like, God,
Speaker 1: I look old.
Speaker 2: Well, Miley is good. I mean, is that something you do?
Speaker 2: Are you? I do it? Everyone swans? I have to
Speaker 2: stop myself and go, this is kind of great.
Speaker 1: I'm a very I'm very grateful for everything that's happened
Speaker 1: to me. I have a wonderful family, two great kids.
Speaker 1: I'm I have my health, I have a career that
Speaker 1: I'm very proud of. I'm excited to see where it
Speaker 1: goes next. I am I'm very grateful. I am I
Speaker 1: I of course, everyone always wants to do more than
Speaker 1: they've been allowed to do, and I there's there's things
Speaker 1: I still would like to do. And you know, for
Speaker 1: for me, and I talk about this with Julie on
Speaker 1: my podcast, but like and also we talked about talked
Speaker 1: about with Jim Parsons and but people who have been
Speaker 1: who have played roles for such a long amount of time,
Speaker 1: there's amount of there's amount of work that you have
Speaker 1: to do to crawl out from under that part. And
Speaker 1: so you know, my my goal now for myself is
Speaker 1: to distance myself from from Mitchell on modern Family and
Speaker 1: to be able to give myself opportunities to be seen
Speaker 1: in other ways. So that's you know, I think you
Speaker 1: can stop and look at the mirror and be like,
Speaker 1: I'm so grateful for my life. This is a wonderful thing.
Speaker 1: But for me personally, I have I have to acknowledge
Speaker 1: that I have to acknowledge how how much I've achieved.
Speaker 1: Not proud of myself I am, but then I personally
Speaker 1: need to like still find drive to to further that
Speaker 1: at least right now. Some day maybe I'll like want
Speaker 1: to retire, but I'm definitely I'm excited to see what
Speaker 1: happens next.
Speaker 2: Retire Oh God, people do it, apparently know then they
Speaker 2: come back sometimes from the day, Uh Jesse Tyler Ferguson's
Speaker 2: podcast is called Dinners on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson.
Speaker 2: Top of Mind. Some guests that are coming up that
Speaker 2: we haven't heard yet.
Speaker 1: Sure, we have Tracy Elis Ross coming out next week,
Speaker 1: Pad Mlackshmi, Marcus Samuelson, Jim Parsons.
Speaker 2: Marcus Samuelson is awesome.
Speaker 3: Isn't He's so interesting and the nicest guy. Yeah, such
Speaker 3: a great guy.
Speaker 1: I have Roy Choy some that the more chefs happy
Speaker 1: people have, Marcus Samuelson, Pat Mclakshmi, Roy Choi who kind
Speaker 1: of started the food truck movement in Los Angeles with
Speaker 1: with Kogie Tacos and has a fantastic, really interesting story
Speaker 1: dealt with addiction and it's like at the top of
Speaker 1: this game now. And I found that in a conversation
Speaker 1: to be wildly inspiring.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I have some more people from Modern Family coming up
Speaker 1: that I can't mention yet but excited about.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Any really really great friends, like truly best friends
Speaker 2: you've interviewed the reason?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean Jim Parsons is a very very close
Speaker 1: friend of mine. He was at my wedding and we
Speaker 1: became very good friends through working in the same field
Speaker 1: together and you know, both being out gay actors in Hollywood,
Speaker 1: and we came together sort of as it is Mafia,
Speaker 1: the game.
Speaker 2: Offa of course, the Pink Mafia. Yes, yes, yes, Well,
Speaker 2: so the reason I'm asking you is I have found
Speaker 2: and I think this is maybe very telling of me
Speaker 2: and some issues I need to work on. I have
Speaker 2: a difficult time interviewing people I know very well.
Speaker 1: Me too, Okay, so you know what, I almost every
Speaker 1: single person that I've interviewed this first season is someone
Speaker 1: I know pretty well. I have some very old things,
Speaker 1: like some of my oldest friends in Los Angeles are
Speaker 1: are on the podcast coming up, Jim being one of them,
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Banks, but I've just known for a very long time.
Speaker 1: And I did find even with Julie Bow and I
Speaker 1: know her so well, Like I was like, I don't know,
Speaker 1: it's going to sound like we're just rehashing old stories,
Speaker 1: right it is for a listener who maybe hasn't heard
Speaker 1: all these stories. But that was the interesting challenge of
Speaker 1: trying to find a different new in with these people
Speaker 1: that I know so well.
Speaker 2: I'll give you a Charlie Pooth is a good friend
Speaker 2: of mine.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I love Charlie.
Speaker 2: But as we got to know each other more and
Speaker 2: more and more, I would have him in and what
Speaker 2: do we talk about? It's I could lead him down
Speaker 2: a road I know he can go down. But that
Speaker 2: just seems kind of cheap and tawdry.
Speaker 1: But it's not because a listener wants to hear all that.
Speaker 1: But they have to know that if they're sitting in
Speaker 1: this room with how many cameras pointing at us, and
Speaker 1: we're sitting in front of microphones and we have you know,
Speaker 1: sound engineers, like we know that we're here for a reason.
Speaker 1: That's not just a conversation. If we're sitting in your
Speaker 1: office and we're having this conversation, you know, like helpous
Speaker 1: you know if spout me already like I.
Speaker 2: Can't do it. Yeah, So you know that that Jesse
Speaker 2: and I don't know each other because this is a
Speaker 2: great interview, it means just a piece of crap, like
Speaker 2: what do we talk about? But I said this to
Speaker 2: him in an interview. I told tru I can't interview you.
Speaker 1: Cut them off, say no, don't come back here, not
Speaker 1: someone else interview you.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you for being here today, Happy to be here.
Speaker 2: I want everyone to put it on what is it
Speaker 2: your list? Your puppet notifications? Yes, what do you do?
Speaker 3: You favored it?
Speaker 2: You favored it?
Speaker 3: You like them?
Speaker 2: The tribe and review.
Speaker 1: We like reviews, reviews when there's five stars included. I
Speaker 1: feel like people who like, go, I'm gonna put one
Speaker 1: star and then write something really stark, and it's like,
Speaker 1: what else could you do today?
Speaker 2: Let's just so do you ignore them? Do? Do you
Speaker 2: get one stars?
Speaker 1: I will tell you I just recently looked at the
Speaker 1: reviews on the Apple podcast and there are only five
Speaker 1: star reviews. It's not that I have five stars, like
Speaker 1: my average is like four point six because some people
Speaker 1: just like push the star meter they don't like to
Speaker 1: leave a review.
Speaker 3: But everyone that's.
Speaker 1: Actually stopped to write something has been really positive. So
Speaker 1: I appreciate all these people who like and subscribe and review.
Speaker 2: Okay, like subscribe and review. Dinners on the Dinner's on
Speaker 2: Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, And of course this podcast
Speaker 2: is what they called thinking. It's thinking out Loud.
Speaker 3: That's what we did.
Speaker 2: We should call it we thought out Loud. We should
Speaker 2: call it. I don't know the name of.
Speaker 1: This podcast, untitled podcast projects know what were some of
Speaker 1: the pitch.
Speaker 2: It was off air, off air.
Speaker 3: That great one.
Speaker 2: Well, I don't know if you heard his mic. His
Speaker 2: MIC's not on. It was Elvis Durant's contractually obligated because
Speaker 2: it is they're forcing me to do this, but I'm
Speaker 2: glad they are. I will. I will thank them one day,
Speaker 2: especially for today.
Speaker 3: Start up blog next can we get you to do Please.
Speaker 2: Don't give them any ideas. Jesse Tider for an honor
Speaker 2: to have you on today, and I can't wait to
Speaker 2: listen to the rest of your twenty six party four
Speaker 2: twenty four podcasts. Bring him on and in New York
Speaker 2: versus la go.
Speaker 1: Oh god, I mean if you have, if you really
Speaker 1: put it into my head, it's out New.
Speaker 2: York Okay, thank you, have a nice day. Thank you,
Speaker 2: Jesse Titer Ferguson. Thanks for being on with us. I
Speaker 2: can't talk mark edit. Thank you, Jesse Tyter Ferguson. Don't
Speaker 2: edit that, leave it all natural.
Speaker 3: I like the first one.
Speaker 2: Check out Jesse's podcast, Dinner Is on Me. He brings
Speaker 2: in a lot of actors and celebrities that we love,
Speaker 2: has dinner with them, opens them up, has great conversation.
Speaker 2: He's great at what he does. You're gonna love it.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for listening to the show. Tell
Speaker 2: a friend, tell a dozen friends, and don't forget Rate
Speaker 2: review and subscribe. If you subscribe them by we notify
Speaker 2: you when a new episode comes out and you want
Speaker 2: to know that, don't you?
Speaker 3: Sure you do?
Speaker 2: Thinking Out is hosted by me Elvis Durant. The podcast
Speaker 2: is produced and edited by Mike Coscarelli. Executive producers are
Speaker 2: Andrew mcglsi and Katrina Norvell. Special thanks to David Katz,
Speaker 2: Michael Kindheart, and Caitlin Madore. Thinking Out Loud as part
Speaker 2: of the Elvis Durant Podcast Network on iHeartRadio. For more,
Speaker 2: rate review and subscribe to our show and if you
Speaker 2: liked this episode, tell your friends. Until next time, I'm
Speaker 2: Elvis Durant.