Speaker 1: I was getting ready to drive to the Warner Brothers
Speaker 1: to read with Shane, and I called Bonnie up in
Speaker 1: New York and her agent her assistant put me on
Speaker 1: hold because I'm calling her up to be to say
Speaker 1: to her, I can't go in and do this, like
Speaker 1: this is like way over my head, this material. I
Speaker 1: have no idea what I'm doing. And in that moment,
Speaker 1: of course, I hear myself telling me it's I'm on
Speaker 1: hold for ages, and all of a sudden, I just
Speaker 1: hang up the damn phone, and I was like, you
Speaker 1: know what that means. I have to go in.
Speaker 2: I have to do this audition, you know, and say, God,
Speaker 2: I did because it changed my life.
Speaker 3: Hi.
Speaker 1: I'm Michelle Montiman, and I am very happy to be here.
Speaker 4: Hi, everybody, we're back. Well, your back off the beat
Speaker 4: is back and I am back me being your host,
Speaker 4: Ryan Bomgarterner, and you know who else is back, My guest,
Speaker 4: Michelle Monahan. Technically she's here for the first time, but
Speaker 4: she is back in my heart. She's had an incredible
Speaker 4: and incredibly prolific career, starring in movies like Kiss Kiss
Speaker 4: Bang Bang, Gone, Baby Gone, The Mission Impossible franchises, Pixels,
Speaker 4: Patriots Day, and most recently Maxine Plus. She's been in
Speaker 4: spectacular shows Boston Public, The Original True Detective, The Path, Echoes,
Speaker 4: and a brand news series that I am enjoying very much,
Speaker 4: Apple TV Plus's Bad Monkey with Vince Vaughan. She's such
Speaker 4: a complex and versatile actor. She has an epic career.
Speaker 4: But before we got into that, there's one thing I
Speaker 4: have to address with her. While doing my usual research
Speaker 4: for this converse, I came across one tiny detail that, well,
Speaker 4: it truly rocked me, and I don't think I would
Speaker 4: be doing just as her her story or to you
Speaker 4: listeners if I didn't address it head on. Michelle is
Speaker 4: a blue ribbon hog wrestler. I repeat. As a child,
Speaker 4: Michelle wrestled hogs with such skill she was proclaimed the
Speaker 4: best of the best of all other hog wrestling children. Now,
Speaker 4: what is hog wrestling? Why are so many children doing it?
Speaker 4: What happens when the hog wins? And most of all,
Speaker 4: why did she leave behind a promising career in hog
Speaker 4: wrestling for Hollywood. We're about to find out and learn
Speaker 4: all about this ancient Iowan tradition. Here she is champion
Speaker 4: hog wrestler. Michelle Monaghan Bubble and Squeak. I love it,
Speaker 4: Bubble and squeak.
Speaker 5: Gana bubble and squeaker, cooking every move from the nut before.
Speaker 4: Hi Michelle, Hi Brian.
Speaker 1: How are you.
Speaker 4: I'm doing all right? How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm great? Thank you?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Where are you hanging out here this summer? Are you?
Speaker 4: Are you overseas?
Speaker 1: I was overseas and i just returned from Thailand, so
Speaker 1: I'm back in Los Angeles.
Speaker 4: All right, Well, welcome home.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I have been diving into your your life and
Speaker 4: career here a little bit, and now I'm a bigger
Speaker 4: fan now than I was before. I understand. You grew
Speaker 4: up in Iowa. Winthrop.
Speaker 1: I did Winthrop, Iowa, very small town in northeast Iowa. Yeah.
Speaker 4: What do you think that gave you as a base?
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, it's such a good it's such a great question.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's interesting. You know, growing up
Speaker 1: you don't know any different, right, It's like wherever you
Speaker 1: grew up is that's your backyard, and that's what you're
Speaker 1: familiar with. It gave me a strong sense of community.
Speaker 1: I grew up in a town of a little over
Speaker 1: seven hundred people. I had thirty nine people in my
Speaker 1: graduating class. We were a tight knit community and you
Speaker 1: really loved your neighbors and you were just there for
Speaker 1: one another. So I think it gave me a great
Speaker 1: kind of backbone, also a strong work ethic. My dad
Speaker 1: was a farmer, My mom also ran a daycare from home.
Speaker 1: We fostered children all growing up. My parents were really
Speaker 1: incredible members of the community. And so that's what it
Speaker 1: gave me. It gave me my family and my community
Speaker 1: for sure. And then what's so interesting about kind of
Speaker 1: coming from a small town like that, I guess to
Speaker 1: kind of think everything is possible and maybe nothing is possible,
Speaker 1: and depending on how maybe who are raised. You know,
Speaker 1: I happen to be raised with like you can do
Speaker 1: anything you want to do. And I was naive enough
Speaker 1: to think, like, yeah I can, why not? And so
Speaker 1: I set out for bigger cities and kind of greater things.
Speaker 1: And then once I discovered, you know, the rest of
Speaker 1: the world, I sort of never looked back. But it's
Speaker 1: always maintained having had that great small town as a foundation.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, part of the reason I ask, right
Speaker 4: is because you and now this is so dumb, all right, Admittedly,
Speaker 4: but you think about like I don't know, particularly people
Speaker 4: who have families and the entertainment business who start out
Speaker 4: maybe at a super young age. You're from la or
Speaker 4: for you're from New York, and not that there's anything
Speaker 4: wrong with both of those places. My children will come
Speaker 4: from those places but same but but but a diverse
Speaker 4: a different kind of upbringing in background. There is going
Speaker 4: to be something about you that is different that now
Speaker 4: people may not be able to articulate what that thing is.
Speaker 4: But like you, for example, you were a blue ribbon
Speaker 4: hog wrestler. Now what this Now? What this true? No one,
Speaker 4: No one would be able to say, oh, yeah, she's
Speaker 4: the hog wrestler. But that experience in and of itself
Speaker 4: is is you're going to present yourself to the world
Speaker 4: in at least a slightly different way with it with
Speaker 4: a slightly different perspective.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it's funny you mentioned that, but yes
Speaker 1: it's true. I don't think they do that anymore at
Speaker 1: our County Fair. I don't think Peter would be down
Speaker 1: for it. But that was a normal that was like
Speaker 1: a normal, that was a normal thing that you would
Speaker 1: enter into a hog wrestling contest, and people probably still
Speaker 1: don't know what it is, but you basically my best friend,
Speaker 1: and she's still my best friend. I just saw a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks ago in Iowa. I was back there
Speaker 1: and she and I were probably I don't know, everybody
Speaker 1: did it from around town. I mean, that was just
Speaker 1: the thing you did. You get in a big, probably
Speaker 1: about fifteen foot diameter pin and it's full of mud,
Speaker 1: and there's a hog in there, and there's a barrel,
Speaker 1: and you run around and you chase the hog and
Speaker 1: you try to, like as fast as you can get
Speaker 1: the hog into the barrel. It's actually cruel and unusual
Speaker 1: when I now look back at it.
Speaker 3: But at the time, my friend and I happened to
Speaker 3: be really good at it, and we won the Blue
Speaker 3: Ribbon that summer, and so that is, you know, But
Speaker 3: you're right, like those are the things that defined me.
Speaker 1: You know. It's just like I just said, I was
Speaker 1: suspect from my brother's wedding, and we were laughing because
Speaker 1: I was looking at all the cornfields that are just
Speaker 1: surround my mom and dad's house. Of course, I used
Speaker 1: to go like God. I used to walk beans, I
Speaker 1: used to cancel, I used to pick up rock like
Speaker 1: all those things that are just very Midwestern. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: that really really defined me. Those were my first jobs.
Speaker 1: I spent so much time in those fields, and you know,
Speaker 1: I still when I go back, I have so much
Speaker 1: nostalgia for it.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I grew up in large part the
Speaker 4: same way. So just I mean, just to make you
Speaker 4: feel like you have nothing to worry about. Mine were
Speaker 4: distinctly Southern as opposed to the Midwestern, right, got it.
Speaker 4: So it was more shrimping, okay, but but frog gigging
Speaker 4: a thing that I that I have done. Yes, this
Speaker 4: is Oh my god, have I never told the maybe
Speaker 4: I'm going to get canceled? And I was just like
Speaker 4: trying to make you feel better, you know, because they
Speaker 4: were by the way, they were eaten, so they uh,
Speaker 4: this is in the middle of the night dark you
Speaker 4: wear my this is when I was a kid. This
Speaker 4: is not a joke. My mining helmets, you know, uh no,
Speaker 4: not mining lights on the on your forehead like like
Speaker 4: a miner. You go with a cane pole in a
Speaker 4: canoe down a creek a little river, and you shine
Speaker 4: from your forehead the light onto the banks and you
Speaker 4: see the underbelly of the frog and the frog freezes
Speaker 4: in the light and then oh my god, all right, producers,
Speaker 4: it's got this. Then you you have a long other
Speaker 4: pole with a little gig on it. Yeah, and you
Speaker 4: get the thing as close as you can through the
Speaker 4: frog and then yeah, and then you can you gig it. Yeah,
Speaker 4: and then you take them home and you eat it.
Speaker 1: But that, yeah, it's frog hunting. It's frog hunting.
Speaker 4: Hunting.
Speaker 1: We go, we go deer hunting, you know where I
Speaker 1: come from, but we also eat the deer. But also like,
Speaker 1: how do they how do they? You know, frog legs.
Speaker 1: I've had frog legs before in France, and that's just
Speaker 1: another form of frog gigging. But it's just, uh, it's
Speaker 1: the French French gigging. I guess I don't know.
Speaker 4: All right, enough about frogs and hogs. What else did
Speaker 4: you do as a kid, Like, did you have other
Speaker 4: hot Were you into sports or I.
Speaker 1: Wasn't wasn't Yeah, I wasn't. I wasn't into sports at all.
Speaker 1: I like being around sports, Like I I was a
Speaker 1: track manager. I was like a wrestling cheerleader. For one year,
Speaker 1: I did sill which are otherwise known as like the flags.
Speaker 1: I did that for several years. In high school, which
Speaker 1: I loved and I still like to throw a flag
Speaker 1: around the backyard. I babysat. I mean, I did a
Speaker 1: speech class, I did debates. Yeah, my brother did drama.
Speaker 1: And then, you know, for lack of anything else to do,
Speaker 1: I sort of followed in my brother's footsteps and I
Speaker 1: joined him in the school play. And I think that
Speaker 1: was the first time and I didn't have any desire
Speaker 1: to be an actress at that point at all. It
Speaker 1: took me until my early twenties to discover that, but
Speaker 1: I remember that feeling of being on stage, and I
Speaker 1: remember loving that kind of collaboration with everyone so much.
Speaker 1: So that was probably my first introduction to what ultimately
Speaker 1: I was going to I was going to do.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you moved it to Chicago, the big city to
Speaker 4: study journalism. Was journalism the plan that journal was that
Speaker 4: the plan.
Speaker 1: Journalism was always the plan. You know. I grew up
Speaker 1: in a family that we loved current events. We watched
Speaker 1: we sat down and watched the nightly news of Tom
Speaker 1: Brokaw every single night. I loved journalism. I loved the news,
Speaker 1: and I really really wanted to be a journalist and an
Speaker 1: investigative journalist. Broadcast news. And when I think about it,
Speaker 1: I'm like, maybe that was the closest thing I thought
Speaker 1: that I could be, to be on camera. Maybe that
Speaker 1: had something to do with it too. I don't know,
Speaker 1: because when you grew up in a town, it was
Speaker 1: like some I heard people, I don't even think, like
Speaker 1: you think you could be an actor or anything like that.
Speaker 1: So I went and I studied journalism at Columbia College
Speaker 1: in Chicago, and you know, I loved it. It was
Speaker 1: it was really my dream. And I had started modeling
Speaker 1: in Chicago, and I modeled for Montgomery Ward for Target,
Speaker 1: and that's really how I put myself through school. I
Speaker 1: really thought that that was the end all and be all.
Speaker 1: And then I realized my senior year I wasn't. I
Speaker 1: wasn't cut out for journalism. I didn't. I found out
Speaker 1: I was going to have to go back to small
Speaker 1: markets such as Iowa and essentially be a one man band,
Speaker 1: you know. And I was like, wait a second. I
Speaker 1: really liked the big city. The modeling was going pretty well.
Speaker 1: I was paying my bills and saving some money, and uh,
Speaker 1: and then I had this overwhelming feeling I needed to
Speaker 1: move to New York and I had a buddy that
Speaker 1: moved there, and I moved. I moved in with him,
Speaker 1: coincided with a terrible breakup with someone, so it just
Speaker 1: all the cards kind of fell into right into place,
Speaker 1: and moved to New York.
Speaker 4: Okay, so before before New York, how did you start model? Like?
Speaker 4: Did you find an agent? Did you there's a mid photo?
Speaker 1: So I was scouted in Iowa and like Cedar Rapids,
Speaker 1: Iowa and yeah, yeah, So it was one of those
Speaker 1: things like we think that you could be a model
Speaker 1: that can take some photos. And I loved the sound
Speaker 1: of that, you know, I'd been told that before and
Speaker 1: didn't really think too much of it. But I was
Speaker 1: also the gal looking through all those Sears catalogs and
Speaker 1: you know, just loving all the ladies in there, you know,
Speaker 1: loving all the models. And so when I had the
Speaker 1: opportunity to take some test photos, I guess I got
Speaker 1: very excited. And shortly thereafter I was able to secure
Speaker 1: an agent and agency Elite Model Agency in Chicago, and
Speaker 1: my dad would drive me four and a half hours.
Speaker 1: This was a big deal for him to take time
Speaker 1: off of work to take me into Chicago to dry.
Speaker 1: He wouldn't even he never missed a day work in
Speaker 1: his life unless it was to drive me into work
Speaker 1: for Montgomery Wards. That was a really big deal, Like,
Speaker 1: you know, they really believed in me, and you know,
Speaker 1: I was making I was probably making six hundred bucks
Speaker 1: for the day, which is a lot of money. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and you know he didn't even make me payper gas.
Speaker 1: So that was awfully sweet. So that was it. That
Speaker 1: was it, And so I knew, you know, while I
Speaker 1: was in high school, I was able to make that money.
Speaker 1: And so I thought, gosh, I grew up very humble, humble,
Speaker 1: and my folks were always like, listen, we want you
Speaker 1: to go to college, but we can't help out that much,
Speaker 1: you know. And so you know, I saw a great opportunity.
Speaker 1: I was like, listen, I love modeling. I can make
Speaker 1: some tuition here and I can go to college and
Speaker 1: studying journalism in a big city. Like perfect.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's awesome. So okay, so then you go, it's
Speaker 4: the perfect time you decide I'm not going back to
Speaker 4: small markets, I'm going to the big city. For you.
Speaker 4: At that moment, was it about just getting to New
Speaker 4: York or did you have a plan.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, I wanted to live in New York. By
Speaker 1: that time, I had been there for a couple of
Speaker 1: jobs and gigs, and there was just something so special
Speaker 1: about that city that I felt really connected to, and
Speaker 1: I really there was this feeling that something was going
Speaker 1: to happened for me there and I didn't know what
Speaker 1: it was, but I knew that I'd be okay because
Speaker 1: I could continue to model and I would just kind
Speaker 1: of make my way, and for an entire year, that's
Speaker 1: kind of what I did. I just went on casting,
Speaker 1: so I made enough money to pay my rent. I
Speaker 1: found another roommate, and it was great. And then commercials
Speaker 1: started coming through.
Speaker 4: Through the modeling, through the through the model, through.
Speaker 1: The modeling, right and then you know, I think it
Speaker 1: was like a secret dealtorant commercial. It was a it
Speaker 1: was a face wash commercial. It was a clean and clear.
Speaker 1: There was a Tampax commercial. And there it was like
Speaker 1: all of it was going and then, you know, and
Speaker 1: it was great because I was making money and I was,
Speaker 1: you know, kind of paying off my loans now at
Speaker 1: that stage. And then sure enough, an audition came through
Speaker 1: my modeling agent for a role on the show called
Speaker 1: Young Americans, and it was this yeah on CW and
Speaker 1: I think it came through the modeling agencies because they
Speaker 1: were looking for a model type and the agent was saying, listen,
Speaker 1: you've had good luck doing these commercials. You know you
Speaker 1: should give it a shot. And I thought, yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't have anything else. Sleeper was like why not? And
Speaker 1: I got the gig. I got the gig and they
Speaker 1: were like, can you be on a train to Baltimore
Speaker 1: tomorrow at ten am? And I was like wait what?
Speaker 1: And sure enough, you know, I was on a train
Speaker 1: at Baltimore and started working with Kate Bosworth and Kate
Speaker 1: Minnig and Ian Summerhoulder. It was such a wonderful cast,
Speaker 1: but I had no idea what I was doing when
Speaker 1: I mean to tell you like, it took me a
Speaker 1: whole season to learn what my mark was. I mean,
Speaker 1: I was so green. It was so green, but it
Speaker 1: was it was such an amazing opportunity. And I think
Speaker 1: that's really when I was like, wow, I loved it again.
Speaker 1: It was that collaboration. I was familiar with the camera
Speaker 1: from modeling, so I felt comfortable with it and I
Speaker 1: loved the people. And then it was when I got
Speaker 1: back to New York after that gig, I thought Oh wow,
Speaker 1: Maybe I should find an agent, you know, maybe I
Speaker 1: should take this more seriously.
Speaker 4: How many episodes did you do on that?
Speaker 1: I think I did gosh, I'd hate to say maybe five, okay,
Speaker 1: and it got it got canceled after the first season,
Speaker 1: and it was just a I think I was just
Speaker 1: a guest star. But I think I did five.
Speaker 6: Five.
Speaker 4: But you were there long enough to you know, because
Speaker 4: a lot of guest stars sometimes it's hard to have
Speaker 4: the time and feel comfortable enough to figure things out.
Speaker 4: But being there five weeks doing five episodes or however
Speaker 4: long it was for five episodes, you can kind of
Speaker 4: get your feet under you feel comfortable with the people,
Speaker 4: you know, all of those things that are just sort
Speaker 4: of inherently difficult totally.
Speaker 1: And we were all just a bunch of young kids too,
Speaker 1: so it was all it felt like summer camp in Baltimore.
Speaker 1: We were jet skiing on a lake and are yeah,
Speaker 1: I come on, man, it.
Speaker 5: Was like we were having a you know, for sure,
Speaker 5: I felt co Yeah, this I old girl felt right
Speaker 5: at home.
Speaker 1: I was good. I was totally good. I was like,
Speaker 1: do they have beer in Baltimore? They do fantastic.
Speaker 4: Well, pretty shortly after that role on Boston Public. Yes,
Speaker 4: now talk about what kind of doors that opened for you,
Speaker 4: because this in terms of shows, would you consider it break?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was definitely my first break. It was a
Speaker 1: really big break. And I think, if I remember it correctly,
Speaker 1: I had auditioned for a David Kelly show at the time,
Speaker 1: and I didn't get the gig. But then he turned
Speaker 1: around and he wrote me Kimberly woods As. I can't
Speaker 1: believe I remember that name, but it was because it
Speaker 1: was like my first gig, and that was a big
Speaker 1: deal because I was living in New York at the time,
Speaker 1: and I remember having to come out to LA living
Speaker 1: in Manhattan Beach in a little apartment. I was shooting
Speaker 1: at Rosecrant Studios, And again, that was an amazing cast,
Speaker 1: just such a beautiful, welcoming cast, and I got to
Speaker 1: play this teacher, this young teacher, and I learned a
Speaker 1: lot on that show. I mean, that's really where I
Speaker 1: learned how to act. That was just that was the
Speaker 1: beginning because I had never studied acting. So every job
Speaker 1: that I went to from there in on out was
Speaker 1: really acting one on one, acting two two. It's I
Speaker 1: learned everything from my fellow coast and directors.
Speaker 4: You get a huge role in a very very big film,
Speaker 4: Kiss Kiss, Bang bang. Is this happening at the same
Speaker 4: time the Boston public is happening, So.
Speaker 1: Boston Public happens, And then yes, it's happening. It's basically
Speaker 1: happening right around the same time I'm in town. I
Speaker 1: auditioned for the role, and originally it was somebody else
Speaker 1: that was going to play Robert's part, and then I
Speaker 1: knew they they they were interested me, and I think
Speaker 1: the movie kind of went away for a few months,
Speaker 1: and then I randomly got a call saying, you know,
Speaker 1: Shane Black wants you to come in and read with him.
Speaker 1: I remember calling it my agent at the time who
Speaker 1: I got after Young Americans, who I'm still with today.
Speaker 1: By the way, twenty six years I was with her
Speaker 1: last night.
Speaker 4: We realized, what's for you?
Speaker 1: Thank you? Yeah, well that's a testament to her, my friend.
Speaker 4: Twenty six years with the same agent.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I basically knocked on her door in New York when
Speaker 1: I had that job of young Americans, and I said,
Speaker 1: I have this job, but I don't have an agent.
Speaker 1: So first of all, that got me in the door, right,
Speaker 1: and I was like, I don't know, but I think
Speaker 1: maybe this is what I'm supposed to do. I don't
Speaker 1: know really what I'm doing, but I promised all work hard,
Speaker 1: and she was like, I believe you. Let's give it
Speaker 1: a shot. And so I remember calling her. I was flow.
Speaker 1: They flew me out here. I was staying at what
Speaker 1: was the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. It was close to
Speaker 1: Warner Brothers, and I was getting ready to drive to
Speaker 1: the Warner Brothers to read with Shane, and I called
Speaker 1: Bonnie up in New York and her agent, her assistant
Speaker 1: put me on hold because I'm calling her up to
Speaker 1: be to say to her, I can't go in and
Speaker 1: do this, like this is like way over my head,
Speaker 1: this material. I have no idea what I'm doing. And
Speaker 1: in that moment, of course, I hear myself telling me
Speaker 1: I'm on hold for ages, and all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: I just hang up the damn phone, and I was like,
Speaker 1: you know what that means. I have to go in.
Speaker 1: I have to do this.
Speaker 2: Audition, you know, and say, God I did because it
Speaker 2: changed my life.
Speaker 1: Wow. And that's just a number of times now I
Speaker 1: always go up against that I can't do this or oh,
Speaker 1: I'm scared to do this or you know that fear
Speaker 1: of me. And I always go back to that moment
Speaker 1: because that was such a fundamental moment and the perseverance
Speaker 1: you know that it takes to be an actor, because
Speaker 1: it did. It was an integral moment that changed my life.
Speaker 1: And I sat down and I read with Shane. It
Speaker 1: was a great reading, and I think the following week
Speaker 1: they offered me the role and I went in and
Speaker 1: I read with Robert and it was an amazing It
Speaker 1: was amazing, and that that experience is one of the
Speaker 1: highlights of my career. I just had such an amazing
Speaker 1: time working with Robert and Shane and of course Val.
Speaker 1: We were all super tight and again I learned so much.
Speaker 1: Robert taught me how to improv on that on that
Speaker 1: on that film, not that we needed better words than
Speaker 1: Shading Black's words because they're so brilliant, but you know, Robert,
Speaker 1: you know, Oh, so that was awesome. That was like,
Speaker 1: that was a huge turning point for me. And I
Speaker 1: think it was in the middle of shooting that I
Speaker 1: got an audition for North Country and then that was
Speaker 1: a very another really big film for me, and the
Speaker 1: cast was incredible and still very dear to me. Nicky
Speaker 1: Carro and Charlie's and Jeremy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean you go on to run at this time?
Speaker 4: Do you give credit to kiss Kiss Bang Bang? Is that? What?
Speaker 4: Did it?
Speaker 1: A hundred? I would say one hundred percent. It's interesting.
Speaker 6: There was a film that I did, and it's important
Speaker 6: for actors to hear this too. I did a small
Speaker 6: role in Constantine with Keanu Reeves. This was so many
Speaker 6: years ago, was structured by Francis Lawrence and I get
Speaker 6: a call from Francis Lawrence after I shoot it and
Speaker 6: he says, I'm so sorry, but I have to cut
Speaker 6: you out of the film.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm so green. I call it Bonnie my agent,
Speaker 1: and I'm like, do I have to give the money back? Like,
Speaker 1: I'm so naive? Right, He's liked, of course, you don't
Speaker 1: have to give them money back. Of course you don't
Speaker 1: have to give them money back. Well, it turns out
Speaker 1: like the acting was he assured me, it was good.
Speaker 1: He's like, but it was just the storyline was too long,
Speaker 1: and it was it was unnecessary, so they had to
Speaker 1: cut me out. But what happened with that cut footage
Speaker 1: is that Francis Lawrence actually happened to give it to
Speaker 1: JJ Abrams and he said, you're getting ready to cast
Speaker 1: this film. There's this actress that I worked with who's
Speaker 1: really good. Here have a look. And JJ Abrams saw
Speaker 1: that because I've never even seen it myself, I should
Speaker 1: ask Francis. I ran into him a year ago and
Speaker 1: he apologized again for cutting.
Speaker 5: Me out of the throm. I was like, are you
Speaker 5: kidding me, dude? You got me mission impossible three. So
Speaker 5: that's a great story. So that was like bang bang
Speaker 5: put me on the map. But it was like Hollywood
Speaker 5: works in those mysterious ways. You know, just because you
Speaker 5: get cut out of something doesn't mean. I always remind
Speaker 5: people it's not because it wasn't good necessarily, and people
Speaker 5: people talk.
Speaker 1: You know, this is a small town, this is a
Speaker 1: small industry, and people want to work with talented people,
Speaker 1: good people, like minded people. And so that's that's that
Speaker 1: got me the audition for JJ and then I read
Speaker 1: with Tom and then that was that was it.
Speaker 4: And it makes a whole lot of sense psychologically also, right,
Speaker 4: because I'm going to assume that your work was really
Speaker 4: good in Constantine. By the way, when you start talking
Speaker 4: about Constantine. I'm like, dang it when my researcher there's
Speaker 4: I don't see Constantine here. And then you start telling
Speaker 4: the story and I'm like, oh, okay, well that makes
Speaker 4: sense why it's not okay? Yeah no, but but also right,
Speaker 4: you do good work on a story that makes the
Speaker 4: movie too long or it's you know, superfluous whatever, which
Speaker 4: is nobody knows until you put it together. But you've
Speaker 4: all got just go with me. You also have Francis
Speaker 4: who now feels bad, right, no, but I mean for real,
Speaker 4: and so like I'm sure that he just wanted to
Speaker 4: do you a solid because he felt like you were
Speaker 4: really good and whatever. But he also in his mind
Speaker 4: is going like, man, that sucks because she was really good.
Speaker 4: But you know what, let me see, let me see
Speaker 4: if I can do something that is how hot. People
Speaker 4: never talk about that, but that like it does work.
Speaker 4: That because good people who are doing good work, like
Speaker 4: people want to support that and continue to help in
Speaker 4: a way. And that's why, which I think, which is
Speaker 4: where you're going, not to take your words, but like
Speaker 4: sometimes doing those smaller things are really important because of
Speaker 4: a relationship because you know and you never know what
Speaker 4: it could breed.
Speaker 1: That's exactly right. I couldn't. I couldn't agree with that more.
Speaker 1: That's exactly right.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I got to mention this because of my old
Speaker 4: pal Amy Ryan. You work on Gone, Baby Gone with
Speaker 4: Casey Affleck. Now you've done the action, You've done the
Speaker 4: kiss kiss bang bang, You've done some television. Is this
Speaker 4: like your first like drama drama? Right? How was that
Speaker 4: experience different for you? And really just you can talk
Speaker 4: about Amy Ryan.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I Oh, she's amazing. I think my first stab
Speaker 1: at the drama, I would say, was North Country. That's
Speaker 1: kind of oh right, yeah, no, no, no, no no,
Speaker 1: but that was but that was totally different. Gone Baby
Speaker 1: Gone was It's just an intense film. The subject matter
Speaker 1: I felt very very close to. It was emotional, it
Speaker 1: felt personal. It was just in working with Ben and
Speaker 1: Amy who Amy is just so extraord in that role.
Speaker 1: That was one of the times that I'd seen an
Speaker 1: actress just so lived in, like so lived in a role,
Speaker 1: lost and lost in the role and in all the
Speaker 1: best ways. I mean, she was so fantastic. And also
Speaker 1: just shooting in Boston with Ben and Casey, their hometown,
Speaker 1: everything felt very so, very real and raw. For me
Speaker 1: for that film, and it's it's still like when I
Speaker 1: really think about it, it's still affecting like it really
Speaker 1: and it's oftentimes the film that people will come up
Speaker 1: and still want to talk about, which is like so
Speaker 1: rare to have a film that's still so thought provoking,
Speaker 1: so provocative that people want to weigh in on what
Speaker 1: would you do at the end? You know? That was
Speaker 1: that was just people walked away from that film shook,
Speaker 1: and it was because of all of those performances and Harris.
Speaker 1: I'd never seen a method actor before until I met
Speaker 1: Ed Harris. I remember, you know, sitting in the makeup
Speaker 1: trailer and he'd come in and I'd start chatting him
Speaker 1: up naively, and he wasn't chatting me back up, and
Speaker 1: I kind of just thought, what's going on here? I
Speaker 1: really was still at that point pretty naive about various
Speaker 1: processes of actors, and it was clear, you know that
Speaker 1: he was in his using his very specific headspace and
Speaker 1: in his character. So that was very informative for me
Speaker 1: that role. I mean, I just I have so much
Speaker 1: respect for Amy Ryan's I've been a fan of hers
Speaker 1: from that day forward.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, she is fantastic part of why I bring
Speaker 4: up that movie as well, and I hope that you
Speaker 4: don't take this the wrong way. I don't know what
Speaker 4: that even means, but I think that my brain associates
Speaker 4: you probably first from that movie, and then you did
Speaker 4: Patriots Day, and you've worked time and again those guys.
Speaker 4: I thought you were a boss tonight, Like that's what
Speaker 4: I thought. I just sort of assumed that you were
Speaker 4: in that crew, and I think part of it, which
Speaker 4: is really where I'm finally about to get to a question,
Speaker 4: which is ya, you seem to have found people or
Speaker 4: people have found you that you like to work with,
Speaker 4: and the relationships and the associations and the projects keep multiplying.
Speaker 4: Is that just because you guys enjoyed working together? Is
Speaker 4: there something about that crew I guess in particular that
Speaker 4: you keep wanting to go back into it. I guess
Speaker 4: just talk to me a little bit about that.
Speaker 1: That's so interesting. Yeah, I mean I always say I
Speaker 1: think it's just you really just connect with people. I mean,
Speaker 1: when you're working that intensely for that many days in
Speaker 1: a row, You're either going to really really like somebody
Speaker 1: and go like, hey we should do this again. You know,
Speaker 1: we're gonna say, were you going to say, like, this
Speaker 1: was a great experience. We don't need to repeat this,
Speaker 1: but it was good and I learned something and whatever,
Speaker 1: and there are it has been those experiences, you know. Specifically,
Speaker 1: it was Mark Wahlberg. We did Patriots Day, and I
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of scenes in that film, but
Speaker 1: those scenes that we had were really intimate and really emotional,
Speaker 1: and we just really connected. I really respect Mark as
Speaker 1: an actor so much. He's incredibly disciplined. It reminds me
Speaker 1: a lot of Tom Cruise actually, and there's just a
Speaker 1: I don't know, there's just a real quiet confidence that
Speaker 1: I just respect about him, and specifically in that role.
Speaker 1: And a couple of years ago, they were pretty family
Speaker 1: planned together, you know, and Mark was said, hey, what
Speaker 1: about Michelle. We had a good time, Like that was
Speaker 1: a drama and we had a good time making that.
Speaker 1: He was like, so he was like, this is you know,
Speaker 1: in action comedies, Like I think I think that we'd
Speaker 1: be good this. You know, we could, we could pull
Speaker 1: it off. And so for me, I was so grateful
Speaker 1: to get to reutine with him, because again, I think
Speaker 1: he's so great. He's one of these just great actors
Speaker 1: that just understands tone so well and can play the
Speaker 1: comedy and the drama and the action. I mean, he
Speaker 1: can really do it all. He's a really unique performer
Speaker 1: like that, and I just I doore working with him,
Speaker 1: no doubt we're going to get to do it again.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Oh is that a spoiler alert?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Maybe did something? No?
Speaker 4: All right? Do you do you have a preferred genre?
Speaker 4: I mean I worked in so many different types of
Speaker 4: movies action, comedy, deep, dark, boiling over drama. Is there
Speaker 4: something that you prefer? And if so or not, are
Speaker 4: you looking for a balance or do you not care
Speaker 4: about that? Do you not concern yourself with that? I?
Speaker 1: Yes, this is such a good question. It's funny because
Speaker 1: I've been doing this now for so long, over twenty years,
Speaker 1: and I really have dabbled in it all in all
Speaker 1: of different genres. I've kind of started out in the
Speaker 1: comedy space, you know, even the Heartbreak Kid, Made of Honor,
Speaker 1: the rom com com Baby Gone, then did a Shift, Action,
Speaker 1: and so all of those are real facets of me,
Speaker 1: you know, they're my personality traits. I really I love drama.
Speaker 1: I'm an emotional person. I love to connect and so
Speaker 1: I would say like that would be my first instinct.
Speaker 1: I loved the emotion. I love playing the heart and
Speaker 1: the soul and the nuance and all of those things.
Speaker 1: But I find comedy to be the most challenging, and
Speaker 1: I think that's why I'm drawn to comedy. I feel
Speaker 1: really grateful to be doing comedy now with Bad Monkey
Speaker 1: coming out with Vince Faughn and Bill Lawrence White loaded.
Speaker 1: I was in the middle of shooting a TV series
Speaker 1: for Netflix called Echoes a couple of years ago, and
Speaker 1: it was such an intense experience that I remember telling myself,
Speaker 1: I'm drinking comedy after this, like enough with the drama.
Speaker 7: It's like this is too much. It's like, oh my god,
Speaker 7: it's so exhausting. And then sure enough, you know, Bill
Speaker 7: the Lawrence called about three or four months later, and
Speaker 7: I thought, wow, heck, I really manifested that one quick
Speaker 7: with Bad Monkey. But I was so grateful because I
Speaker 7: really wanted to get back to my comedic roots and
Speaker 7: I and I and I am giving you a long
Speaker 7: winded answer here, but it was interesting going toe to
Speaker 7: toe with Vince because I was like, WHOA.
Speaker 1: I feel a little rusty. I was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I feel our little Dusty a little rusty, and he's click,
Speaker 1: you know, he im proms like lightning lightning fast. And
Speaker 1: that was a great challenge for me to get back
Speaker 1: in and understand, you know, get back into tones. Bill
Speaker 1: has really specific Tony's very like satirical, but he's also
Speaker 1: it's also super grounded and real and vulnerable at the
Speaker 1: same time. So you kind of play this, you kind
Speaker 1: of play that that balance. And so I would say
Speaker 1: I live in the space of dramedy. I would say,
Speaker 1: that's what I'm I'm gearing up to to do. Is
Speaker 1: something in the space that.
Speaker 4: Is such a hedge?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is, I know, it is.
Speaker 6: It is.
Speaker 1: It is. It's such a hedge. But it's so true though,
Speaker 1: and it's its own genre now. But I feel like
Speaker 1: that's the truest to life, to me, right and to
Speaker 1: all of us right, Like, I feel like that's the
Speaker 1: space in which we all live in. That's my life.
Speaker 1: I'm equal parts drama and I'm equal parts comedy. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's it. You know, I'm either laughing or I'm crying,
Speaker 1: you know, And so I think creatively that's where I'm
Speaker 1: kind of at. I'm kind of you know, and when
Speaker 1: I look at a lot of the work that I've done,
Speaker 1: you know, True Detectives. I mean, that's straight up drama.
Speaker 1: The Path was very much drama, you know, Bad Monkey,
Speaker 1: very comedic. White Lotus now it's like, we know, we
Speaker 1: know what that's onto it, that's its own genre. But
Speaker 1: I'm loving that.
Speaker 4: What is White Loatus?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think that's a comedy. It's it's
Speaker 1: I think it's a dark comedy. Yeah, I do. I
Speaker 1: think it's a dark comedy.
Speaker 4: What happens in season three, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: You know, I can't. I'd lose my home, probably take
Speaker 1: my children.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: All I can say is because it's been said before,
Speaker 1: you know, this season is is like one and two
Speaker 1: on steroids. It is very big. We have much bigger
Speaker 1: set pieces. We we spend a lot of time, of
Speaker 1: course in the White Lotus hotel, but we also venture
Speaker 1: outside of the hotel, and that's something I don't think
Speaker 1: that we've previously seen in the earlier seasons. We have
Speaker 1: a really big cast. It's it's even more international, and
Speaker 1: it's in Thailand, so there are very specific elements of Thailand.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of light and a lot of dark,
Speaker 1: and it's it's perfect for the tone of a white
Speaker 1: lotus because we can just explore all of that.
Speaker 4: Good answer, very good. I wasn't I wasn't even supposed
Speaker 4: to ask you, it says here, But I did anyway
Speaker 4: because I knew it. I knew you wouldn't. I knew
Speaker 4: you wouldn't answer. After Boston Public you, I mean, thankfully
Speaker 4: for you. You went on and you were doing a lot
Speaker 4: of film, but not so much television. True Detective kind
Speaker 4: of brought you back. But I mean that was like
Speaker 4: really early early iteration of this, like what do you
Speaker 4: call it? Very early iteration, very and so very film,
Speaker 4: almost like, well, here's a story that we want to
Speaker 4: take eight hours to tell instead of two correct, right, correct,
Speaker 4: instead of a movie.
Speaker 1: Yes. And I remember having those exact conversations because it
Speaker 1: was such an early iteration of television that people didn't
Speaker 1: even want to refer to it as television, right, right,
Speaker 1: because there was still that stigma, which of course no
Speaker 1: longer exists, but that was at the forefront of that.
Speaker 1: And I remember probably been saying, like, Matthew mcconnie's never
Speaker 1: done television. Matthew went on a big break and a
Speaker 1: big hiatus. You know, if you recall, and he'll say this,
Speaker 1: he was like, I didn't want to do wrong comms anymore,
Speaker 1: didn't want to do these comedies. I really wanted to
Speaker 1: to explore different genres and really push my work creatively.
Speaker 1: And on the heels of that came True Detective, and
Speaker 1: so I think people were surprised that that was something
Speaker 1: he was doing. So and then there was Woody, and
Speaker 1: then Nick hadn't you know, I think this was the
Speaker 1: first series that he'd written.
Speaker 4: Did that help bring you in?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, I mean listen, that writing brought me in.
Speaker 1: I mean obviously in Matthew and Woody, but the writing
Speaker 1: was so incredible. And I remember that Carrie sent me
Speaker 1: three of the episodes, I think the first two and
Speaker 1: then the real pivotal one for my character. And I
Speaker 1: can't remember what episode that was, but it was five
Speaker 1: or six, it was somewhere down the line. And when
Speaker 1: I read that one, I was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: I need to know. I need to know everything if
Speaker 1: between and I remember zooming with Carrie at the time,
Speaker 1: taking a meeting with him, and he was wonderful and
Speaker 1: I could tell that he was a very special creative
Speaker 1: and I thought, yeah, let's let's do it. And I'm
Speaker 1: so grateful I went on that journey because it was
Speaker 1: It wasn't long after I remember just being on set
Speaker 1: that I felt that it felt palpable, that I really
Speaker 1: did feel like we were embarking on something really special.
Speaker 4: Bad Monkey out well right now with Vince Vaughan, Jody Turner, Smith,
Speaker 4: Rob Delaney, amazing cast.
Speaker 1: Meredith Hagner.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, Meredith Hagner, I have to ask you, so,
Speaker 4: so Bill, you were allowed to improv?
Speaker 1: Oh? Yes, I mean the fact is, with Bill's writing,
Speaker 1: you don't you don't have to. You don't have to improv.
Speaker 1: I mean because his writing is genius. But he comes
Speaker 1: out of the world and it's like improv and writing,
Speaker 1: and so he's not pressure with his words. In fact,
Speaker 1: he's so quick that when he's on set and he's
Speaker 1: standing over by the monitors, he may think of a
Speaker 1: better line, what he thinks is a better line than
Speaker 1: what he wrote, you know. And so what happens with
Speaker 1: Vince and he, who have known each other for over
Speaker 1: thirty years, so they have a real comedic shorthand, is
Speaker 1: that you essentially turn up as prepared as you can
Speaker 1: be so that you can get the words on the page.
Speaker 1: So then when they when they say let's play, you
Speaker 1: just like you just get ready to roll because you've
Speaker 1: got Bill over at the monitors just like shouting different
Speaker 1: lines at you, different takes. And by the way, there's
Speaker 1: nothing It sounds terrible to say, and I shouldn't lean
Speaker 1: on it too much, but there is nothing more gratifying
Speaker 1: than hearing Bill Lawrence or Mike White like laughing over
Speaker 1: there at the It's just it's it's just the most
Speaker 1: like it fills your cup in a way. You're like, oh,
Speaker 1: I got I got it. I made you laugh, like
Speaker 1: I got your tone. And you know, because I consider
Speaker 1: these guys comedic geniuses, you know, So it was very
Speaker 1: much like that. And Vince is so funny and so quick,
Speaker 1: and even if I didn't say something that was right
Speaker 1: or funny, that their caliber and they just pick you
Speaker 1: right up and they roll with it and they make it.
Speaker 1: They make it good. So it was a really fun
Speaker 1: loose environment because I was coming off the heels, of
Speaker 1: course of doing a lot of dramatic stuff. So to
Speaker 1: come into a creative environment where like anything goes basically
Speaker 1: and Bill was like, I'm gonna push you so far,
Speaker 1: you're gonna you're gonna be so uncomfortable, you're not gonna
Speaker 1: want to do it, but just do it anyway and
Speaker 1: we'll figure it out and that we'll go this direction,
Speaker 1: you know. And I appreciated that because he gave me
Speaker 1: the opportunity to just make just make a jackass out
Speaker 1: of myself, you know, And that's kind of what you
Speaker 1: need to do. And that's why I say, you know,
Speaker 1: comedy is hard, because half the battle and comedy is
Speaker 1: just getting out of your own way, right. And then
Speaker 1: once you get out of your own way, and you're
Speaker 1: with supportive people who just love the process no matter what.
Speaker 1: They just like to have a good time, which is
Speaker 1: everything that Bill is and everything that Vince is, you know,
Speaker 1: you're going to be in good hands.
Speaker 4: I did a small role in a movie with Vince
Speaker 4: sixteen years ago. Now what's what's significant about this is
Speaker 4: this was during the other writer strike.
Speaker 1: Oh yes, it was two and eight because I just
Speaker 1: had my daughter and we were on strike and I
Speaker 1: was home. Yes, I remember it, yes, of course, So.
Speaker 4: The writers were on strike and we shot this movie.
Speaker 4: Vince was a producer, so he was able under his
Speaker 4: title of producer to alter the dialogue.
Speaker 1: Oh you're kiddings right.
Speaker 4: So writers couldn't. So when you were just telling that story,
Speaker 4: it was bringing back this like crazy flashbacks of us
Speaker 4: assembling in his trailer in the morning before shooting and
Speaker 4: essentially rewriting the script and then getting on set. And
Speaker 4: he had one of those I don't even know what
Speaker 4: you would call it, except like a classic Vince Vaughn
Speaker 4: monologue where he just goes on. And we were scheduled
Speaker 4: to do this for a day and a half, this
Speaker 4: extended scene. And I am telling you, I'm not exaggerating.
Speaker 4: Every single take this speech was different. This speech was
Speaker 4: dramatically different. It was it was you know, and there
Speaker 4: were words you're like, yep, I know what you mean,
Speaker 4: Like I mean, like ninety seconds ish of a speech
Speaker 4: that was different every single time. And now here's the
Speaker 4: story I don't think I've ever told. And I don't
Speaker 4: know if he would like me telling this story, but
Speaker 4: I guess we just were talking about him. So I'm
Speaker 4: going to tell it. On the second day that we
Speaker 4: were shooting this scene, and of course the coverage was
Speaker 4: on him to start with, and then it moved, and
Speaker 4: on the second day, where he was still ill improvising,
Speaker 4: not on camera anymore, by the way the cameras are
Speaker 4: directed at me and someone else, he found a joke
Speaker 4: that he liked, and so he said, well, we have
Speaker 4: to turn around. We have to get it. We have
Speaker 4: to get it again. We have to because I've found
Speaker 4: this thing. And this was the only other thing I'll
Speaker 4: say is this was not an intimate two person scene.
Speaker 4: There were like four of us who were sort of involved. Yeah,
Speaker 4: I don't know, one hundred extras, some of which may
Speaker 4: have been at home by this point that we're behind him.
Speaker 4: Everybody was called back in and we did another day
Speaker 4: because he had found he had found something in this monologue,
Speaker 4: and that's my memory of him, and I respect it.
Speaker 4: I respect the hell out of it.
Speaker 1: That's that's that's the interesting thing right about him. Because
Speaker 1: I finished the scene and I'm like, whoo, we're turning around. God,
Speaker 1: does that feel good? That feels great? What do I
Speaker 1: have to do tomorrow? You know what I mean? Of course,
Speaker 1: I'm like, is there at present as I am for
Speaker 1: the other side, of course, but like I like, at
Speaker 1: that point, like I let go of the words you
Speaker 1: know what I mean. I'm like, I'm I'm like, it's okay.
Speaker 1: But it just goes to show how much he loves
Speaker 1: his job and that his brain is just always clicking.
Speaker 1: He's always looking to find a joke to better himself.
Speaker 1: And he's just so smart. He's such an astute actor,
Speaker 1: you know, and all you gotta do is just sit
Speaker 1: down and hang out with him for fifteen minutes, like
Speaker 1: in between takes. And this guy just knows everything about everything.
Speaker 1: So it's no surprise that he can turn around and
Speaker 1: every take be different because he knows so much. He's
Speaker 1: so literate, you know, he's like a resource. He's like
Speaker 1: an encyclopedia of jokes and information that he could well,
Speaker 1: information that he can turns into jokes on a dime.
Speaker 6: You know.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Well that out now. I'm very very excited to
Speaker 4: see it. I tried to get an advanced copy, but
Speaker 4: nobody would send it to me. Uh. And then White
Speaker 4: Lotus season three. Of course, when is this coming out?
Speaker 1: Twenty twenty five? I think early twenty twenty five, so
Speaker 1: I don't know. I'm guessing I'm hoping maybe first quarter.
Speaker 4: How long were you in Thailand seven? I'm not digging.
Speaker 1: No, you're not. No, you're totally good. Seven seven months,
Speaker 1: seven months, yes, yes, months, Yes, it's seven months.
Speaker 4: Oh my god, I left. They have so much money.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, it's crazy. Seven months.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: You you basically when you sign on to do it,
Speaker 1: you basically sign up to just go to wherever you're shooting.
Speaker 7: Right.
Speaker 1: This is how they did season one and two for
Speaker 1: whatever that time period is. You know that that that
Speaker 1: shoot schedule is. And for us it was a six
Speaker 1: and a half six and a half seven months, And
Speaker 1: it was a no brainer for me because this is
Speaker 1: you know, I've always wanted to work with Mike White, fortunately,
Speaker 1: because it is such a big ensemble and there's so
Speaker 1: many multiple storylines that eventually the storyline that you're a
Speaker 1: part of will have a bit of a break and
Speaker 1: then another storyline. So I did get to come home
Speaker 1: for a week or two at a time. My family
Speaker 1: came out and visited for a few months, so I
Speaker 1: wasn't super disconnected, thank goodness, because seven months is a
Speaker 1: really long time, and oddly it went by so fast.
Speaker 1: It went by, so when you're you know, listen, we
Speaker 1: we were a beautiful, beautiful country surrounded by ocean, you know,
Speaker 1: beautiful hotels. I mean, this is not lost on me.
Speaker 1: This is a once in a line. Was like, this
Speaker 1: is seven months that I get, I get to be
Speaker 1: here and I get to do you know, it was
Speaker 1: pretty pretty rad. It was pretty rad.
Speaker 4: Well, congratulations on that and everything else. I am such
Speaker 4: a big fan of you and your work and your
Speaker 4: approach and you're the variety of projects and styles that
Speaker 4: you have been fortunate to do, and we have been
Speaker 4: fortunate that you have been able to do as well.
Speaker 4: You taking a little time off now after Thailand.
Speaker 1: I am I'm taking some time off. I'm taking some
Speaker 1: time off. Yeah, I'm going to chill out and be
Speaker 1: at home for a while.
Speaker 4: Well, good congratulations. I also do have to mention mac
Speaker 4: sack sack scene the new Tie West, a twenty four
Speaker 4: horror film. Are you are you happy with that now
Speaker 4: that that's done too?
Speaker 1: Yes? I really. I was such a huge fan of
Speaker 1: those first two films of X and Pearl. I wanted
Speaker 1: to collaborate with Tie so so badly on the third installment,
Speaker 1: and I said, you know, just whatever you got, whatever
Speaker 1: role you got, buddy, I'm in And I was excited. Man.
Speaker 1: It was such a cool cast and you know, led
Speaker 1: by just the incredible Mia Goth And it was a
Speaker 1: really really fun project. And it was the first project,
Speaker 1: no kidding, in about fifteen years that I got to
Speaker 1: shoot in la Is shot in la Yes, yeah, so
Speaker 1: I was like, wait, I get to shoot down the road.
Speaker 1: This is the best gig ever.
Speaker 4: That's awesome. Yeah, yeah, it's been a while for me
Speaker 4: as well. Well if you haven't seen, by the way, guys,
Speaker 4: all three of ty West horror films ex Pearl, Maxine
Speaker 4: check them out for sure and Bad Monkey out now. Yeah,
Speaker 4: available now. And of course no one will be watching
Speaker 4: White Lotus whenever Mike decides to send that out. Michelle,
Speaker 4: thank you so much, thank you, thank you so much
Speaker 4: for coming by. I appreciate it so much and I
Speaker 4: can't wait to see everything you've got going. Thank you
Speaker 4: so much, Thank.
Speaker 1: You so much. Such a pleasure to talk with.
Speaker 4: You, Michelle. That was great. Thank you so much for
Speaker 4: joining me today. I can't believe you're not giving us
Speaker 4: any intel on White Lotus. I thought we were closer
Speaker 4: than that. But I guess I'll just have to return
Speaker 4: those matching friendship necklaces I got for us. Anyway, check
Speaker 4: out Michelle in Bad Monkey. It's on now and White
Speaker 4: Lotus coming in the very near future for your listening pleasure.
Speaker 4: I'm going to be back next Tuesday, same time, same place,
Speaker 4: and we may be talking a little football. That's right.
Speaker 4: Week one of the NFL is upon us and we
Speaker 4: have a Hall of Famer. I'll talk to you next week.
Speaker 4: Off the Beat is hosted and executive produced by me
Speaker 4: Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer, Ling Lee. Our senior
Speaker 4: producer is Diego Tapia. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary.
Speaker 4: Our theme song Bubble and Squeak, performed by the one
Speaker 4: and only Creed Bretton